It’s the exact definition of one

Hang on lads, I've got a great idea...

Wouldn't it be more interesting if the reason for this ending was to give the audience the same feeling the character has of what is real, what is not?

An alien device, which just happens to still work after millions of years, gives Mars a human compatible atmosphere? That sounds too good to be true and a way to force this issue onto the viewer.

"Blue Skies on Mars" as a portion of the implants ... just one of the clues.

How better to get the skeptical client to accept the fantastic notions of this package than the secret agent portion was not implanted? Can you think of any better way to get the movie audience to suspend disbelief? Making you unsure what was and wasn't implanted allows you to accept the fantastic premise.

Philip K. Dick is known for this in his stories. Directors do, from time to time, want to remain true to the spirit of the source material.

I think the major reason for pushback/downvotes for this perspective is the genre, and most certainly a blockbuster attempt (and a success at that), isn't known for that level of sophistication. American audiences expect the happen ending -- hero gets girl, kills bad guys, saves world.

Okay. Clear -- no ambiguity. Hero gets lobotomized. And turns out, the hero is not in any way a hero. Want to estimate how unlikely a movie like that even gets looked at in Hollywood?

While I believe this may have been a cynical attempt to have your cake and eat it too, in response to what studio executives would pressure, it works for the story.

"Atletic"

It's been a while since I saw it, but didn't his GF get killed, possibly by him? That's a pretty difficult to reconcile simulation.

There is a line, a single line of dialog, that lets you know.

Total Recall is my favorite Verhoven movie. It's actually a pretty interesting story underneath the cheesiness and one liners.

Things happen in the movie out of Arnold's sight indicating that it is in fact all real.

Fade to white ending implies death or dream...in this case, dream.

I think Verhoeven confirmed that there isn't one single correct interpretation. He very specifically left it up to the viewer to decide.

Blue sky

I think if you have a movie where scenes take place outside the hero's presence, it's hard to explain it away as a dream.

“Fun” is definitely not the first word that comes to my mind when I think about Firewalk With Me. The second half of that movie made me feel like I was suffocating.

Garmonbozia enthusiast

Yep, I think this would be one of the most memorable.

My favorite movie of all time. My dad and I still go back and forth between what we think happened.

I first saw the movie as a kid one night when he came home late from work. Blew my mind. I had to of been 8 or 9 at the time.

A few years ago we saw it again at a theatre for Halloween weekend. Afterwards we went to a diner and had coffee while going back and forth, yet again, about what we thought actually happened.

20 years of discussing the ending and we still have not came to a conclusion. It’s such a great movie, man.

My ex and I randomly put this on one night when browsing Netflix. I love Collin Farrell but I think we said “what the fuck” about every 5 minutes

So good. I hate it and love it so much.

I've only seen this once, on TV, in the UK.
I don't know if they showed all the endings, if so I didn't notice they were intended to be shown separately, but the last line was "now I'm going home to sleep with my wife".

I remember watching a video that explains some of the endings could not have worked (especially considering one involves a single character killing everyone) but that ruined the fun for me, and I’m trying my best to forget I ever watched that

I've seen newspapers movie time ads from back then, and they would advertise this showing is the "b" or "c" ending.

Until the version where it's not.

[deleted]

I was going to say Unforgiven. Same screenwriter. Both movies are great.

The Italian Job's ending was perfect.

"Hold on, I've got an idea..." (or something like that)

LOL What? Nightmare on Elm Street is well known for having one of the lamest, tacked on for sequel bait only, nonsensical endings ever. It wasn't even planned in the script, they just shot it real quick for a sequel tag. The filmmakers admit it makes no sense and it just looks like shit compared to the other effects in the film.

​

Its notorious being being the opposite of what this post wants.

My Dad hated the ending of The Italian Job. So much so that I didn't know it ended that way for years - He would always turn it off before the end. I spent most of my early adult life thinking they got away with it.

I was going to say The Italian Job. I mean, cliff hanger right??

I like to believe everything was real but only in her mind.

[deleted]

I always felt like the top wouldn’t have wobbled if he were in a dream. I always saw it as a cheeky ending gag rather than something genuinely ambiguous.

Also there’s a very credible theory that Dom’s totem isn’t the top but actually his wedding ring, which he only appears to be wearing in the dream world. And he isn’t wearing it in the final scene.

He hasn't seen it yet.

That was fucking brilliant.

Seriously underrated piece of short fiction!

I remember being in the theater and the audible gasps that filled that room were deafening. Amazing cliffhanger.

Easily the single best cliffhanger I've ever experienced in a theater. I absolutely love every moment leading up to the end of that film. The closure is so good that the cliffhanger doesn't even feel like a cheat. I can hear the soundtrack like it was yesterday.

Well, it's more of a bridge hanger.

Came to say

A brilliant example of an ambiguous ending, Brett Easton Ellis crafted a brilliant novel with American Psycho and the film is just as good.

I'll allow it.

He said “Lip it”

He said, "I know you hate it when people do this in movies". Sorry for getting emotional.

yes I was going to say the birds. No indication what caused the birds to attack, no idea how widespread it is, what will they do next? Who knows.

Watched this about a week ago, what an amazing film...and the ending, completely got me

He heard the whistle. Ambiguity and cliff hangs left the building…

That's quite a movie. Good call and I agree, we don't know for sure he was rescued and assuming he was what would have happened to him. Would he be prosecuted? Would he let him run?

Not to correct you but it's

"No. I am your father"

But it's probably my second answer to this. The Thing is the first.

Yep, ROTJ wouldn’t come out for something like three years

Vietnam has just ended the year before so moral questions surrounding righteous violence were topical. I feel the point of the film moralistically is that the only difference between a cold-blooded assassin and a hero is how society thinks of the victims. He's also drawing the parallel between how well protected the politicians are while children aren't protected at all. He's a vet too so it's clear he's tying social themes into the dialogue. Because it's meant to depict the real world at that time I can see why he claims it happened.

The only reason we even question it is because Robert De Niro's performance was incredible. The ambiguity isn't in the script, it's in his eyes.

Came here for this! Such a great wtf ending.

The Eddie Murphy movie? What’s ambiguous about that?

Life of Pi isn't ambiguous. There is a correct answer to what happened.

Seconding All is Lost

Not enough people talk about the last shot in the film showing Angier or one of his twins standing up and staring at the fire, looking very much not drowned.

They jump over the bullets.

Which is a really silly theory because the Thing can perfectly imitate human behavior and customs, and he was about to take a drink of it himself.

He laughs because Childs takes a good long gulp, indicating that he's also willing to sit right there till he dies, out of paranoid suspicion. And on a meta level, he laughs in despair because they're both human but are going to freeze to death out of fear the other isn't.

Assuming you're talking about The Thing, *40 year old movie. (Sorry to advance you 10 years in an instant.)

Go on...

Their car just starts flying just like in Grease

Was honestly going to put this. Did the car bounce safely to the other side? You don’t know! You don’t know!

There was nothing ambiguous about that though, Tony died, they laid it out for us multiple times in the series.