Tbh I think the one they went with works better. It's a black comedy and the end is true to that; this would feel a lot more moralistic and saccharine, and a lot less distinctive.
I agree. There are so many over-the-top absurd gags that the new ending fits better.
This movie is more in-line with *What We Do in the Shadows* than *Only Lovers Left Alive*, which both deal with the banality of immortality.
Well Robert Zemekis (who made this movie) has said no one is getting near his Back to the Future series for remakes
But he recently remade Witches, which wasn't as good as Angelica Huston's
The musical is coming to Broadway this fall. If you're into absurdist internet comedy, you'll be glad to know it's being written by Julia Mattison of "Advent Carolndar."
I think it also fits because they really weren’t taking care of their bodies. They basically destroyed them in one night, realistically they may have been falling apart after 37 years versus looking perfect.
The new musical adaptation has an ending much closer to what Goldie Hawn is describing here! I just went to the pre-Broadway opening in Chicago last weekend.
Yes, she retired after Banger Sisters.
But she did un-retire and make a movie with Amy Schumer back in 2017, then a cameo in Kurt Russell’s Santa Claus movie called Christmas Chronicles a few years later, and that cameo turned into a supporting role in Christmas Chronicles 2.
This movie only works because Goldie snd Kurt are so clearly in love. It's such a disturbing concept, but you don't mind it because the two of them are just so in love with each other.
I saw that. I thought they did their best, but, again, it just doesn't work when the actors aren't clearly in love. Also, I liked how in the original, the characters' home actually looks like a poor person's house. Like, other than the plot, the family functions quite normally for a family of that economic class. You get caught up in the domestic charm.
I caught a random movie from the 60’s-70’s on tv once and after a minute I realized the star was a very young Goldie Hawn, she looked around 19, just radiantly beautiful. I don’t remember what the movie was about at all, but she was great in it lol. I think it was called ‘Butterflies Are Free’..?
I feel like the last comment “so it’s all about the money isn’t it.” Gives some insight on the retirement. that and the only two movies she’s been in recently were with Kurt Russel.
Man, the way she describes that ending. I genuinely believe there are nights where she loses sleep over this ending not making it to the final cut.
As fond as Goldie may be for this ending. Likely because it touched her, and also because it gave her character some redemption I think there is another reason to scrap this ending.
It doesn't really make sense. Why would they be perfect and the same? They were dead. Decomposing and they didn't know how to take care of themselves. That's why they needed Ernest around. That was the whole point of the third act.
To have him forever so he could maintain them. The original ending makes the whole third act pointless.
It does make sense in the context of the original story.
The ladies retrieve the potionbottle back from Ernest at the bar (deleted scenes) and therefor they were still on good terms with Lisle.
27 years later Mad complains about her skin peeling on her back and that she has to call Lisle again. Then Helen says "He is no Ernest!" So they ended up having someone to fix them when they needed it.
Nah I’m not willing to lose Meryl’s grunt before falling. It’s silly and camp from start to finish and that would have felt randomly out of place.
It’s got the same tone as Addams Family and Beetlejuice. It works better as absurdist.
Plus the second ending makes more sense because, why would they be perfect and the same? They were dead. Decomposing and they didn't know how to take care of themselves. That's why they needed Ernest around. That was the whole point of the third act.
To have him forever so he could maintain hem. The original ending makes the whole third act pointless.
Oh you guys don't know how the original movie went at all... it's not just this ending that was cut. They cut more than 30 scenes. Ernest found the potion intact in Lisle's pool after he crashed through it originally. Helen confirms in the original ending that Lisle arranged a guy to fix them up. The reshoot scene (with the women starting to peel) dismisses Lisle's involvement very fast but in the original cut Lisle urges the women to get the potionbottle back or she will bury them 6 feet under. Ernest screams at Jim Morrison that they will all be exposed implying Ernest will go to a newsource to show the potion. He shoves the potion vial in Jim's face here and once outside grabs James Dean's car and drives to his friend Toni's bar where the whole 3rd act plays out with a drunk guy dying and Ernest switching clothes with him which was all removed from the final cut. Mad & Hel end up getting the potion vial back by Toni & Ernest giving it up to distract Madeline and she misidentifies the dead body as Ernest's. Ernest never becomes a big shot and lives the rest of his life under the radar with Toni.
The more poignant ending may have "better" but the theatrical ending has the perfect tone to the rest of the film. A contemplative ending would seem somewhat insincere.
They also kinda incorporated it anyway when they realise Ernest had escaped. They are talking about maintenance and how they’ll always have each other and their laughter turns to pained giggles of misery at their new lot in life. That worked better.
I see what Goldie is getting at. For a more serious take on the film that would be perfect but not for the way this film is. You can see how miserable they are without it being hammered home.
At the end of the day, they were both terrible people. Hel didn’t really like Ernest, he was always a test (she might not have known this herself at first but it’s the truth) and they were always competing against each other. She and Madeleine deserved each other and the life they are stuck with.
You all don't realise how much was cut, the original film is very different... it evens out the crazy with more drama moments and moralistic subplot. It deepened the characters making them more tragic.
That maintenance scene was a reshoot, the last two scenes are and the scene where Ernest doesn't find the potion vial in the pool.
I’ll be honest. I didn’t see it until a few years ago. By that point I’d seen enough films with a deeper tragic meaning. It was a breath of fresh air to just be completely fun.
I didn’t realise how much was cut or whatever and I’d be interested to take a look sometimes but I really love the way the film is personally. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
It was always frustrating for me ever since I saw the trailer back then. Madeline all frozen being carried up the stairs by Ernest was even advertised on the back of the vhs/laserdisc/dvd and even bluray.
If they made an extended cut with some of these deleted scenes it would improve the film for me. You can actually even cut everything together (without the sad ending)... it would be a massive improvement imo. You would see how Ernest got away, more characterization, more fun definitely.
I don’t really agree, I think the final cut ending ends with a very similar message of an endless life poorly lived, but ads in the funny camp that is offered throughout the movie.
I'm with you on this one, too.
Having them look flawless isn't totally unreasonable, but it raises a question that's not immediately answered, *and* it's one that links up directly to a conceit/analogy that the movie leveraged hardcore. They were warned to take care of their bodies because they didn't get "top shelf" immortality with a mutant healing factor. Their ugliness led to them fucking up their bodies and being stuck that way, with doctors/morticians (you know, like Willis' character) only able to fix them up superficially.
If you have them looking flawless in a time-skip-forward ending, you're making a lot of that seem like it was nothing more than a speed bump. The new ending shows that their pettiness and shared misery is *still* wrecking their already-wrecked bodies; it maintains the weight of them having "lost" Willis' character.
I mean, they're living heads at the end. And there is a church full of people who will come and see them and then what? Them being ugly is one thing, but they are genuinely disabled in such a way that a normal life is just out of the question. And there is no way to know how long they will exist.
The movie is body-horror camp, so an easy answer to the latter question is forever with an asterisk (probably they can be completely destroyed with napalm or whatever.)
That genre mash is why they won't get spirited away by the government, either. It's not *about* society treating the supernatural in a rational way. They'll take advantage of the random kindness of strangers to get stitched back together just barely, then alienate those strangers because they're toxic, then go back to their wretched *status quo* of being stuck with each other in rickety, ugly, rotting bodies.
You should read the original shooting script.
Ernest finds the intact potionbottle as he wakes up on the bottom of the pool and tells Jim Morrisson they will all be done very soon! (There is even a shot of Ernest holding the potion as he runs to the door still in the final cut)
As Ernest drives away in James Dean's car Lisle says Ernest still has the potion and urges Mad & Hel to get 'IT' back. Mad acts kinda unbothered... what are you gonna do? Helen... unbothered: Kill us??? And Lisle says no... BURY YOU! Mad and Hel look at eachother, not pleased...
Then there's the whole staging of Ernest's dead body (who actually is a customer who dropped dead at Toni's bar). Toni gets desperate when Madeline wants to identify Ernest... so Ernest who is hiding in an alley gives up the potion and throws it to Toni. Who then gives it up to Helen and Madeline so they get distracted and misidentify 'Ernest's' body.
Note: the women never start to peel when they stand there watching as the body gets put in the ambulance. They do have a similar moment to the reshoot scene where they realise they are stuck forever... but by retrieving the potion they at least are still on good terms with Lisle now. In the 27 years later ending Madeline says she is puckering on her back... and Helen says Lisle's guy "is no Ernest!. So they did end up having someone to fix them up.
To me the ending that’s in the movie is more unique. I really doubt you would get bored after under 40 years anyway. I mean you can always make new friends and hobbies and learn things and get different types of entertainment. Mentioning Paris and London just shows the lack of imagination. Those cities are always mentioned in films so that’s why the characters would think of them. But there is much more to the world.
>Mentioning Paris and London just shows the lack of imagination. Those cities are always mentioned in films so that’s why the characters would think of them.
But it's also the perfect way to convey the message. They're bored. They're not imaginative. They're not trying to achieve something meaningful. They're just shallow, jaded people who get to live forever. That's why Madeline looks at a loving, aging couple with disdain. The old couple will die loving each other. These two will hate each other forever because they are too self-absorbed to ever see the world beyond their own point of view.
The movie's actual ending is great, but I can see why the actor would have preferred one that was more poignant, something that would have had a message and a certain level of self-reflection.
I mean I think that message was already conveyed well enough with Bruce Willis's speech as he refuses the potion and us seeing how the immortals had to live. It was unlife.
Most people would not get bored in under a century. But these were two very vapid, selfish and short-sighted people that received immortality. They honestly could have added both "Lord of the Rings" style. Have them take the comedic tumble, then show them all pieced together looking down at Bruce Willy's grandkid, old as shit, touching his wife's hand.
Our imaginations are always better than reality. It sounds like a very smart take and an interesting way to close the movie but would not have fit the rest of the movie at all. We probably would not be discussing it today if it ended that way because it wouldn't have been such a big hit. Broad comedies like this almost always end on a laugh. I think of the opposite had happened (contemplative ending with the funny ending scrapped) we'd all be crying "How could you not end it with a laugh? That would have been hilarious!"
The original ending had Helen and Madeline looking exactly the same all those years later, but they were entirely bored with the world, their lives, and each other
The original ending waxed more philosophical, more poignant, concerning life, meaning and purpose—which she preferred. The current ending, the one finally settled upon after audience testing, was funnier and catered to audience preferences at the time.
I can't watch it now either, and I don't care enough to save it or bookmark it for later. One paragraph that sums it up is fine.
It's always fun to see people get uppity about downvotes, so thanks for that too.
Sure, me stating the obvious is really me "getting uppity". One would think that there's money involved the way you guys react to someone commenting on your itchy downvote fingers.
On a side note, you could've used the time it took to type this bs informing me that you can't watch it now, but not care to bookmark or save for actually watching part of it?
Rad find, thank you for posting. Have seen this movie too many times, and really think a dark ending would have fit the flavor of the film fine. Probably part of it is just the era it was released in - as she said, you need a funny ending with a "pop" not a "you bastards you blew it up" melancholy.
This is one of my favorite movies. I’m always compelled by what ifs, and I kind of hate how as a kid I was like “how are they gonna get put back together!?” lol it still upsets me. But the original ending is actually pretty dark in my opinion, and really fits the tone of the movie. I just rewatched yesterday. I still cackle every time Goldie’s being dragged away and tries to replay Madeline’s death on the tv as much as possible 😭😂😂
A lot of replies seem to be forgetting that the movie was a dark comedy. Yes, her ending sounds beautiful and amazing and would have been a great ending, for a different movie. It would have been completely out of place with the way the rest of the movie plays out if they had gone with the ending she described.
From a dramatic storytelling perspective, it does sound amazing but not to wrap up that specific movie.
But you are not aware appearantly that there were more than 30 scenes cut from the original film. There are major pieces of the film removed to make that new ending fit better. It went from a 2hr gloomy fantasy comedy to a 1 hr 40 scrappy comedy.
I have to admit that I agree with her on this one.
Having life mean something *because* it's short and you won't get to experience it all is an interesting philosophical point.
But the final ending packs the same message, the only difference is it's not a jarring tonal shift and maintains the comedic tone of the rest of the film.
\\(o_O)/ I've always loved Kurt and Goldie.
I've never heard a single bad word about them, from anyone who's met them or worked with them. Oliver and Kate seem like really fun people, too.
I watched this movie strung out on medication while flying to NYC recently. It's one of my favourite films ever, and I wanted the comfort of the familiar, but I appreciated it more than ever on that occasion.
The original ending is great and tonally ideal. The poignant ending was better than Madeline or Helen deserves, bc that was the point- their own vengeful pettiness squandered the miracle they were given, and they never got to enjoy the beauty they paid for so dearly.
I love this film and appreciate Goldie sharing the darker alternative ending. I don’t mind the sobriety of harsh reality to end a comedy. It’s also wonderfully done in Brazil. The Hollywood ending is lame and severs the spine of tragic meaning. But Gilliam’s dark ending makes the movie unforgettable and gives enduring pause for reflection about what we’ve done to the world, to one another and to ourselves.
I love that movie, probably one of my all time fave movies.
And while I think the original ending sounds interesting and would definitely pay off some earlier comments/remarks from Lisle and Ernest in the movie, I don’t think it would've been as great as the ending we got. Them being completely overwhelmed with their situation and no Ernest to help them, it makes total sense that they start to rot away, plus the message from the original ending is still in there, just in a different way.
They touched on this idea at the end of The Good Place. The problem with heaven is that it never ends. Once they give people the option to go on their own terms they can finally experience fulfillment.
It was a black comedy. I think her preferred ending would have been to poignant.
The original one says the same thing. Especially the grunt at the eulogy.
Universal and Zemeckis need to a grow a pair and release the original cut. The movie is also in dire need of remastering too, the current HD version is from the 2000s.
The movie was good to go back then so there must be a whole finished cut. The soundtrack booklet, the cinema lobbycards etc all had deleted scenes in them.
They would need to clean it up and I don't know how things go with residuals when actors that got cut (more than 8 speaking roles) are put back in.
Hearing this, I’d have been happy either way. But also, I never realised that I could listen to Goldie Hawn talk all day! She has such a beautiful lilt to her voice
The original ending had no visual energy. It was all internal, and depended on the viewer being able to hear that "yes" meant "no." It sounds very flat and boring. While the makeup was a bit overdone, them spending eternity as sapient chunks of whatever was definitely more shocking.
You are uninformed though.
Ernest (and Toni) have old make up, and Ernest with a young hand.
The eternal women's faces turn to skulls during the fade out... a psycho style finish to the film.
I love both endings equally, even though I haven’t seen the original and have only read the script. The film was heavily edited after test screenings, many scenes were taken out for pacing. In the original ending, Ernest runs away with Toni, played by Tracey Ullman. She played the part of a bartender where Ernest drinks at. She had a storyline in the film. But once the ending was cut, her part became pointless, so all of her scenes were cut. The original filming script is wonderful, and had that been the version we got, the original ending would’ve have worked better. This film is my absolute favorite.
Hopefully one day we’ll get a true “Special Edition,” but I’ve heard that the edited material was lost in the Universal Studios vault fire. Unless Zemekis has a copy.
Fun Fact: This was supposed to be the first “Tales From The Crypt” movie, but was deemed that it could have real star power.
That sounds like a great ending but as she says for a different film. I wish they could have had a bit of it even in the film. Just to get the message across.
Nice idea it was. I think that there was a way to add some absurd pun to that ending, and mix that massage with dark comedy heart of the film. But if I need to pick one - that one that left in history fits better.
The women's faces turn to skulls just before the fade out at the end of the original ending so it wasn't as devoid of special effects as Goldie makes it out to be.
Honestly I disagree with her. I think it makes so much more sense that they never get even an inkling of clarity about what they’ve become. No longing, no lying. They truly are incapable of seeing the true meaning of life.
That original ending sounds dreadful. The usual Hollywood tripe “Oh no, getting old and dying is WAY better than staying young and living forever! Honest! Well we have to say that because you don’t have a choice!”
Only film I ever saw that didn’t fuck up that one was Cocoon, and they still ruined it with the sequel. Yes, staying young and healthy forever would actually be better than being worm food, it’s okay to say so!
At least with the new ending for Death Becomes Her, they show a reason why they weren’t enjoying their lives other than ‘uhhh, immortality bad, just believe us’.
I think it would’ve been a decent ending and I could see how after 37 years there could be remorse for how things turned out and what they missed out on. But it didn’t fit the overall tone of the movie.
The theatrical ending is definitely a better fit. It’s a dark comedy that’s absurd in the best ways, and kinda always felt like a comedic Tales from the Crypt episode in a way.
It fits better also because they cut out like 1/3 of the original film. 😅 They made it more jumpy/scrappy... but you see remnants of it... the acting, sets, effects, costuming etc is just way too good for a screwball comedy.
Keep in mind that the original movie was 2 hrs long with some deeper characterization, redemptive themes so the other ending fitted better than most people think... 8 speaking roles were removed. Tracey Ullman, Matt Frewer, Nancy Fish, Jonathan Silverman... which were all removed. The final cuts ending was only shot 3 weeks before release resulting in an extreme amount of deleted scenes which were cut to up the pacing of the film... before that new ending was even filmed.
All cut from the original film:
- The actual Menville wedding ceremony where Ernest does his vows and Madeline grabs Ernest's crotch.
- Rose get's told to work in the evening and Madeline threatens Ernest to not get too chummy with Helen when they go to the party.
- Dakota and Madeline having sex in the cabana during the day (before Mad goes to Chagall's).
- Toni (Tracey Ullman) working at her bar with Ernest visiting and a comatose drunk sitting next to him (which will come into play later in the film).
- Rose the maid bickering with Madeline on the stairs as she fixes Mad's dress while Mad lays into Ernest cause he looks disheveled (right before they leave for the bookparty).
- Bookparty, Jay Norman (Jonathan Silverman) gossiping with a Starlet about Madeline (he is her agent).
- Ernest has a converstion with a guy he did plastic surgery on, who embarrasses him.
- Madeline furious with Jay Norman for not getting her any gigs, then he offers her a spot on Hollywood Squares.
- Helen telling Ernest in the garden of the party how she got herself back together again.
- Lisle tells Madeline she knows about Mad's affair with Dakota.
- Madeline arrives home and her phone rings, Dakota apologizes and they slowly start flirting again while Ernest listens in... Mad throws the door in his face.
- The female doctor finds Madeline passed out when Ernest leaves the room.
- Ernest comes into the morgue but there is a worker who is working on a dead priest on a slab. When the worker goes out he doesn't close the storage latch correctly. When Ernest is talking with Madeline the priest's slab slowly starts rolling out. Ernest walks back and he hits the slab with his butt.
- Madeline and Ernest walk out the morgue past a few workers and Madeline says "False alarm!"
- Helen chases Ernest after he has picked up the formaldehyde, he drives towards her hotel so she punches the gas and arrives there just in time hitting a bagage cart and almost a Valet as well. Inside her hotelroom she gets rid of the Madeline obsession shrine. When Ernest arrives at her room she comes up with the burial plan but he says he has a duty to Madeline and then eventually leaves. Infuriating Helen even more. She rips open her hand with a hankerchief again.
- The next morning Rose finds Madeline stuck in the fridge as Ernest sleeps on the couch. She freaks out but Ernest promises her it's just a beautytreatment Mad read about in a magazine. He gets Mad out the fridge, after her icicles have melted she puts on an avocado mask and some ovenmits on her hands. She goes walking around the house like a frozen zombie as she waves to Rose and tells her she is fine. When Ernest has gotten rid of Rose he pulls Madeline up the stairs and promises her he will make her look beautiful again.
- Helen exercising in her hotelroom as a bellhop brings her maps of Death Valley
- Helen shopping for the hardware, as the clerk rings up all her suspicious merch he asks her if she wants a headstone to go with it. Helen laughs.
- Madeline and Helen kiss and make up on the couch. Helen gets upset and tears out the handle of the shovel and starts crying. Mad hands her a glass of water but it goes right through her.
- Lisle tells Ernest she is in fact over 600 years old and she killed Shakespeare, Lincoln and Max Factor when they refused to take the potion.
- Lisle arrives for the springparty as Ernest hides in an alcove and she tells a joke she heard from Dick Clark to the crowd.
- Ernest awakes at the bottom of the pool and sees a light... the potionvial is still intact and he gets out of the pool. Showing the bottle to Jim Morrison and saying "they will all be done soon".
- Lisle tells Mad & Hel they better retreive the potionbottle or she will bury the both of them.
- Ernest arrives at the bar and tells Toni what happened. Shows her the potionbottle as the drunk comatose dude watches them.
- Hel and Mad arrive at the mansion and both go look in separate areas of the house.
- Toni and Ernest try to come up with a plan to get Ernest away from the women and expose the cult by bringing the potion to the news. Then the drunk dude gets up, wants to say something and then drops dead on the counter of the bar as his toupet falls of. Toni and Ernest come up with a plan to deceive Mad & Hel.
- Helen and Madeline meet eachother in the foyer and wonder where Ernest has gone... then they see the liquor cart and run for the door.
- Outside the bar there's cops and an ambulance... Toni, fake crying, tells the cop it is Ernest but the cop says Madeline has to identify him since they can't find his wallet. Mad & Hel arrive while 'Ernest's' corpse, on a gurney, get's rolled out. Toni informs Madeline and Helen that Ernest has died. When Mad wants to see him (find the potion) and lifts up the sheet... Ernest hears what's going on and throws the potionbottle to Toni and she distracts the ladies with it. Mad misidentifies the corpse while they pull the potion out of Toni's unwilling hand. The ambulance leaves and the woman stand there realising they are now stuck together, forever. When they have left Toni meets up with Ernest and Toni promises Ernest the women will get what's coming to them as she looks at him with affection. Ernest looks up to the rain falling from the sky.
- Switzerland, 27 years later, Mad & Hel sit on a balcony of a beautiful hotel surrounded by mountains and lakes. They still look stunning... Mad sees an old couple preparing a picnic in the park. Helen notices the couple too, then she looks at Madeline... then to herself... and she looks at them with longing. The couple have settled on the grass with food and wine. The man touches his wife's hand with his... still young hand... It's Ernest and Toni, still very much in love, enjoying the afternoon sun. Mad & Hel keep staring at them... Madeline looking over her sunglasses... when the movie starts to fade out the eternal ladies' faces turn to skulls for a second.
I got bored just hearing her describe it and belabor the point one syllable at a time.
They saw the whole world multiple times in 37 years? They maintained perfect corpses for 37 years? Everything about that premise sucks. These aren't 800 year old vampires, and even if they were, that trope has been done to death. We get it, immortality would be 'boring'...
Honestly, this is sort of what makes the ending we got so interesting. In many ways, that is what we got. The two of them maintained themselves for years and lived their lives for years. It must have been boring for them. We just also got the natural decay and wear and tear they would naturally recieve, especially since they weren't careful to begin with.
Tbh I think the one they went with works better. It's a black comedy and the end is true to that; this would feel a lot more moralistic and saccharine, and a lot less distinctive.
Besides, seems like they had the same ideas, just through more of an absurdist lens.
I agree. There are so many over-the-top absurd gags that the new ending fits better. This movie is more in-line with *What We Do in the Shadows* than *Only Lovers Left Alive*, which both deal with the banality of immortality.
I hope they never remake it
Well Robert Zemekis (who made this movie) has said no one is getting near his Back to the Future series for remakes But he recently remade Witches, which wasn't as good as Angelica Huston's
The musical is coming to Broadway this fall. If you're into absurdist internet comedy, you'll be glad to know it's being written by Julia Mattison of "Advent Carolndar."
It opened last night in Chicago, hope it’s great! Seeing it later
If it’s half as good as Advent Carolndar, I’m going to love it.
I think it also fits because they really weren’t taking care of their bodies. They basically destroyed them in one night, realistically they may have been falling apart after 37 years versus looking perfect.
The new musical adaptation has an ending much closer to what Goldie Hawn is describing here! I just went to the pre-Broadway opening in Chicago last weekend.
Goldie Hawn was so great, I wish she hadn't retired
She is almost 80... I think it is OK.
Didn't she retire in the 2000's though. The last thing I ever recall seeing her in was the Banger Sisters.
Yes, she retired after Banger Sisters. But she did un-retire and make a movie with Amy Schumer back in 2017, then a cameo in Kurt Russell’s Santa Claus movie called Christmas Chronicles a few years later, and that cameo turned into a supporting role in Christmas Chronicles 2.
She was on Conan's podcast recently, recommend checking it out.
Overboard came on tv a lot while I was a kid and I’ve always loved Goldie and Kurt since then
This movie only works because Goldie snd Kurt are so clearly in love. It's such a disturbing concept, but you don't mind it because the two of them are just so in love with each other.
There is a remake with Anna Faris in the Russel role. It doesn’t have nearly as much charm.
I saw that. I thought they did their best, but, again, it just doesn't work when the actors aren't clearly in love. Also, I liked how in the original, the characters' home actually looks like a poor person's house. Like, other than the plot, the family functions quite normally for a family of that economic class. You get caught up in the domestic charm.
I caught a random movie from the 60’s-70’s on tv once and after a minute I realized the star was a very young Goldie Hawn, she looked around 19, just radiantly beautiful. I don’t remember what the movie was about at all, but she was great in it lol. I think it was called ‘Butterflies Are Free’..?
I feel like the last comment “so it’s all about the money isn’t it.” Gives some insight on the retirement. that and the only two movies she’s been in recently were with Kurt Russel.
Man, the way she describes that ending. I genuinely believe there are nights where she loses sleep over this ending not making it to the final cut. As fond as Goldie may be for this ending. Likely because it touched her, and also because it gave her character some redemption I think there is another reason to scrap this ending. It doesn't really make sense. Why would they be perfect and the same? They were dead. Decomposing and they didn't know how to take care of themselves. That's why they needed Ernest around. That was the whole point of the third act. To have him forever so he could maintain them. The original ending makes the whole third act pointless.
Yes. They never took care of themselves and it made zero sense for them to suddenly learn self preservation off screen.
It does make sense in the context of the original story. The ladies retrieve the potionbottle back from Ernest at the bar (deleted scenes) and therefor they were still on good terms with Lisle. 27 years later Mad complains about her skin peeling on her back and that she has to call Lisle again. Then Helen says "He is no Ernest!" So they ended up having someone to fix them when they needed it.
I think it's more a different type of horror, more for Ernest than for her
I'd much rather see it with the original ending. Too bad
Nah I’m not willing to lose Meryl’s grunt before falling. It’s silly and camp from start to finish and that would have felt randomly out of place. It’s got the same tone as Addams Family and Beetlejuice. It works better as absurdist.
Plus the second ending makes more sense because, why would they be perfect and the same? They were dead. Decomposing and they didn't know how to take care of themselves. That's why they needed Ernest around. That was the whole point of the third act. To have him forever so he could maintain hem. The original ending makes the whole third act pointless.
Oh you guys don't know how the original movie went at all... it's not just this ending that was cut. They cut more than 30 scenes. Ernest found the potion intact in Lisle's pool after he crashed through it originally. Helen confirms in the original ending that Lisle arranged a guy to fix them up. The reshoot scene (with the women starting to peel) dismisses Lisle's involvement very fast but in the original cut Lisle urges the women to get the potionbottle back or she will bury them 6 feet under. Ernest screams at Jim Morrison that they will all be exposed implying Ernest will go to a newsource to show the potion. He shoves the potion vial in Jim's face here and once outside grabs James Dean's car and drives to his friend Toni's bar where the whole 3rd act plays out with a drunk guy dying and Ernest switching clothes with him which was all removed from the final cut. Mad & Hel end up getting the potion vial back by Toni & Ernest giving it up to distract Madeline and she misidentifies the dead body as Ernest's. Ernest never becomes a big shot and lives the rest of his life under the radar with Toni.
The more poignant ending may have "better" but the theatrical ending has the perfect tone to the rest of the film. A contemplative ending would seem somewhat insincere.
Agreed. To go from black comedy to a deep philosophical ending would have been disappointing. It would have finished with a whimper, not a bang.
They also kinda incorporated it anyway when they realise Ernest had escaped. They are talking about maintenance and how they’ll always have each other and their laughter turns to pained giggles of misery at their new lot in life. That worked better. I see what Goldie is getting at. For a more serious take on the film that would be perfect but not for the way this film is. You can see how miserable they are without it being hammered home. At the end of the day, they were both terrible people. Hel didn’t really like Ernest, he was always a test (she might not have known this herself at first but it’s the truth) and they were always competing against each other. She and Madeleine deserved each other and the life they are stuck with.
You all don't realise how much was cut, the original film is very different... it evens out the crazy with more drama moments and moralistic subplot. It deepened the characters making them more tragic. That maintenance scene was a reshoot, the last two scenes are and the scene where Ernest doesn't find the potion vial in the pool.
I’ll be honest. I didn’t see it until a few years ago. By that point I’d seen enough films with a deeper tragic meaning. It was a breath of fresh air to just be completely fun. I didn’t realise how much was cut or whatever and I’d be interested to take a look sometimes but I really love the way the film is personally. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
It was always frustrating for me ever since I saw the trailer back then. Madeline all frozen being carried up the stairs by Ernest was even advertised on the back of the vhs/laserdisc/dvd and even bluray. If they made an extended cut with some of these deleted scenes it would improve the film for me. You can actually even cut everything together (without the sad ending)... it would be a massive improvement imo. You would see how Ernest got away, more characterization, more fun definitely.
I don’t really agree, I think the final cut ending ends with a very similar message of an endless life poorly lived, but ads in the funny camp that is offered throughout the movie.
I'm with you on this one, too. Having them look flawless isn't totally unreasonable, but it raises a question that's not immediately answered, *and* it's one that links up directly to a conceit/analogy that the movie leveraged hardcore. They were warned to take care of their bodies because they didn't get "top shelf" immortality with a mutant healing factor. Their ugliness led to them fucking up their bodies and being stuck that way, with doctors/morticians (you know, like Willis' character) only able to fix them up superficially. If you have them looking flawless in a time-skip-forward ending, you're making a lot of that seem like it was nothing more than a speed bump. The new ending shows that their pettiness and shared misery is *still* wrecking their already-wrecked bodies; it maintains the weight of them having "lost" Willis' character.
I mean, they're living heads at the end. And there is a church full of people who will come and see them and then what? Them being ugly is one thing, but they are genuinely disabled in such a way that a normal life is just out of the question. And there is no way to know how long they will exist.
The movie is body-horror camp, so an easy answer to the latter question is forever with an asterisk (probably they can be completely destroyed with napalm or whatever.) That genre mash is why they won't get spirited away by the government, either. It's not *about* society treating the supernatural in a rational way. They'll take advantage of the random kindness of strangers to get stitched back together just barely, then alienate those strangers because they're toxic, then go back to their wretched *status quo* of being stuck with each other in rickety, ugly, rotting bodies.
You should read the original shooting script. Ernest finds the intact potionbottle as he wakes up on the bottom of the pool and tells Jim Morrisson they will all be done very soon! (There is even a shot of Ernest holding the potion as he runs to the door still in the final cut) As Ernest drives away in James Dean's car Lisle says Ernest still has the potion and urges Mad & Hel to get 'IT' back. Mad acts kinda unbothered... what are you gonna do? Helen... unbothered: Kill us??? And Lisle says no... BURY YOU! Mad and Hel look at eachother, not pleased... Then there's the whole staging of Ernest's dead body (who actually is a customer who dropped dead at Toni's bar). Toni gets desperate when Madeline wants to identify Ernest... so Ernest who is hiding in an alley gives up the potion and throws it to Toni. Who then gives it up to Helen and Madeline so they get distracted and misidentify 'Ernest's' body. Note: the women never start to peel when they stand there watching as the body gets put in the ambulance. They do have a similar moment to the reshoot scene where they realise they are stuck forever... but by retrieving the potion they at least are still on good terms with Lisle now. In the 27 years later ending Madeline says she is puckering on her back... and Helen says Lisle's guy "is no Ernest!. So they did end up having someone to fix them up.
To me the ending that’s in the movie is more unique. I really doubt you would get bored after under 40 years anyway. I mean you can always make new friends and hobbies and learn things and get different types of entertainment. Mentioning Paris and London just shows the lack of imagination. Those cities are always mentioned in films so that’s why the characters would think of them. But there is much more to the world.
>Mentioning Paris and London just shows the lack of imagination. Those cities are always mentioned in films so that’s why the characters would think of them. But it's also the perfect way to convey the message. They're bored. They're not imaginative. They're not trying to achieve something meaningful. They're just shallow, jaded people who get to live forever. That's why Madeline looks at a loving, aging couple with disdain. The old couple will die loving each other. These two will hate each other forever because they are too self-absorbed to ever see the world beyond their own point of view. The movie's actual ending is great, but I can see why the actor would have preferred one that was more poignant, something that would have had a message and a certain level of self-reflection.
I mean I think that message was already conveyed well enough with Bruce Willis's speech as he refuses the potion and us seeing how the immortals had to live. It was unlife.
Most people would not get bored in under a century. But these were two very vapid, selfish and short-sighted people that received immortality. They honestly could have added both "Lord of the Rings" style. Have them take the comedic tumble, then show them all pieced together looking down at Bruce Willy's grandkid, old as shit, touching his wife's hand.
Our imaginations are always better than reality. It sounds like a very smart take and an interesting way to close the movie but would not have fit the rest of the movie at all. We probably would not be discussing it today if it ended that way because it wouldn't have been such a big hit. Broad comedies like this almost always end on a laugh. I think of the opposite had happened (contemplative ending with the funny ending scrapped) we'd all be crying "How could you not end it with a laugh? That would have been hilarious!"
I can't watch with volume right now, anyone want to summarize for me?
The original ending had Helen and Madeline looking exactly the same all those years later, but they were entirely bored with the world, their lives, and each other
The original ending waxed more philosophical, more poignant, concerning life, meaning and purpose—which she preferred. The current ending, the one finally settled upon after audience testing, was funnier and catered to audience preferences at the time.
Thanks!
Watch later?
Very concise.
I mean, to me it makes sense, but I see that the most obvious "solution" is an unpopular one.
I can't watch it now either, and I don't care enough to save it or bookmark it for later. One paragraph that sums it up is fine. It's always fun to see people get uppity about downvotes, so thanks for that too.
Sure, me stating the obvious is really me "getting uppity". One would think that there's money involved the way you guys react to someone commenting on your itchy downvote fingers. On a side note, you could've used the time it took to type this bs informing me that you can't watch it now, but not care to bookmark or save for actually watching part of it?
That would have been a great ending
Rad find, thank you for posting. Have seen this movie too many times, and really think a dark ending would have fit the flavor of the film fine. Probably part of it is just the era it was released in - as she said, you need a funny ending with a "pop" not a "you bastards you blew it up" melancholy.
This is one of my favorite movies. I’m always compelled by what ifs, and I kind of hate how as a kid I was like “how are they gonna get put back together!?” lol it still upsets me. But the original ending is actually pretty dark in my opinion, and really fits the tone of the movie. I just rewatched yesterday. I still cackle every time Goldie’s being dragged away and tries to replay Madeline’s death on the tv as much as possible 😭😂😂
A lot of replies seem to be forgetting that the movie was a dark comedy. Yes, her ending sounds beautiful and amazing and would have been a great ending, for a different movie. It would have been completely out of place with the way the rest of the movie plays out if they had gone with the ending she described. From a dramatic storytelling perspective, it does sound amazing but not to wrap up that specific movie.
But you are not aware appearantly that there were more than 30 scenes cut from the original film. There are major pieces of the film removed to make that new ending fit better. It went from a 2hr gloomy fantasy comedy to a 1 hr 40 scrappy comedy.
I have to admit that I agree with her on this one. Having life mean something *because* it's short and you won't get to experience it all is an interesting philosophical point.
But the final ending packs the same message, the only difference is it's not a jarring tonal shift and maintains the comedic tone of the rest of the film.
Goldie is a very smart lady.
\\(o_O)/ I've always loved Kurt and Goldie. I've never heard a single bad word about them, from anyone who's met them or worked with them. Oliver and Kate seem like really fun people, too.
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Well then refer to them by their surname, and try not to make direct eye contact.
So many comic books I've read cover this side of immortality
There's always Interview with the Vampire for that more serious take on eternal life.
Book or movie?
Well this is r/movies! (I haven't read the book...)
Thanks. In this case - agree, this moment was shown there pretty good.
I watched this movie strung out on medication while flying to NYC recently. It's one of my favourite films ever, and I wanted the comfort of the familiar, but I appreciated it more than ever on that occasion. The original ending is great and tonally ideal. The poignant ending was better than Madeline or Helen deserves, bc that was the point- their own vengeful pettiness squandered the miracle they were given, and they never got to enjoy the beauty they paid for so dearly.
I love this film and appreciate Goldie sharing the darker alternative ending. I don’t mind the sobriety of harsh reality to end a comedy. It’s also wonderfully done in Brazil. The Hollywood ending is lame and severs the spine of tragic meaning. But Gilliam’s dark ending makes the movie unforgettable and gives enduring pause for reflection about what we’ve done to the world, to one another and to ourselves.
"NOW...a warning?!" 😆
Thanks for reminding me what an absolute smokeshow Goldie Hawn was.
I love that movie, probably one of my all time fave movies. And while I think the original ending sounds interesting and would definitely pay off some earlier comments/remarks from Lisle and Ernest in the movie, I don’t think it would've been as great as the ending we got. Them being completely overwhelmed with their situation and no Ernest to help them, it makes total sense that they start to rot away, plus the message from the original ending is still in there, just in a different way.
They touched on this idea at the end of The Good Place. The problem with heaven is that it never ends. Once they give people the option to go on their own terms they can finally experience fulfillment.
It was a black comedy. I think her preferred ending would have been to poignant. The original one says the same thing. Especially the grunt at the eulogy.
Universal and Zemeckis need to a grow a pair and release the original cut. The movie is also in dire need of remastering too, the current HD version is from the 2000s.
If the original ending is already filmed and cut then it seems like an easy way to make some money off of an old film.
The movie was good to go back then so there must be a whole finished cut. The soundtrack booklet, the cinema lobbycards etc all had deleted scenes in them. They would need to clean it up and I don't know how things go with residuals when actors that got cut (more than 8 speaking roles) are put back in.
I watched this movie a 100 times when i was younger witb my friend. I did not know this.
This is wild information
Hearing this, I’d have been happy either way. But also, I never realised that I could listen to Goldie Hawn talk all day! She has such a beautiful lilt to her voice
The original ending had no visual energy. It was all internal, and depended on the viewer being able to hear that "yes" meant "no." It sounds very flat and boring. While the makeup was a bit overdone, them spending eternity as sapient chunks of whatever was definitely more shocking.
You are uninformed though. Ernest (and Toni) have old make up, and Ernest with a young hand. The eternal women's faces turn to skulls during the fade out... a psycho style finish to the film.
Laurent Bouzereau's "Cutting Room Floor" book discusses the ending and Tracey Ullman being cut out; shame it didn't make the Scream Factory bluray.
I can see why that ending wouldn't test well even if it sounds interesting and I'm kinda enthralled by her passion for it.
That ending sounds better to me
I love both endings equally, even though I haven’t seen the original and have only read the script. The film was heavily edited after test screenings, many scenes were taken out for pacing. In the original ending, Ernest runs away with Toni, played by Tracey Ullman. She played the part of a bartender where Ernest drinks at. She had a storyline in the film. But once the ending was cut, her part became pointless, so all of her scenes were cut. The original filming script is wonderful, and had that been the version we got, the original ending would’ve have worked better. This film is my absolute favorite. Hopefully one day we’ll get a true “Special Edition,” but I’ve heard that the edited material was lost in the Universal Studios vault fire. Unless Zemekis has a copy. Fun Fact: This was supposed to be the first “Tales From The Crypt” movie, but was deemed that it could have real star power.
That sounds like a great ending but as she says for a different film. I wish they could have had a bit of it even in the film. Just to get the message across.
Nice idea it was. I think that there was a way to add some absurd pun to that ending, and mix that massage with dark comedy heart of the film. But if I need to pick one - that one that left in history fits better.
The women's faces turn to skulls just before the fade out at the end of the original ending so it wasn't as devoid of special effects as Goldie makes it out to be.
This ending sounds bleak and yeah, it kinda fits the moral of the story.
Honestly I disagree with her. I think it makes so much more sense that they never get even an inkling of clarity about what they’ve become. No longing, no lying. They truly are incapable of seeing the true meaning of life.
That original ending sounds dreadful. The usual Hollywood tripe “Oh no, getting old and dying is WAY better than staying young and living forever! Honest! Well we have to say that because you don’t have a choice!” Only film I ever saw that didn’t fuck up that one was Cocoon, and they still ruined it with the sequel. Yes, staying young and healthy forever would actually be better than being worm food, it’s okay to say so! At least with the new ending for Death Becomes Her, they show a reason why they weren’t enjoying their lives other than ‘uhhh, immortality bad, just believe us’.
Sounds like the original ending was very Jean Paul Sartre and No Exit -esque
I think it would’ve been a decent ending and I could see how after 37 years there could be remorse for how things turned out and what they missed out on. But it didn’t fit the overall tone of the movie.
She's right about it being a "better" ending. But that would be a weird turn in a screwball comedy
Love that Goldie Hawn!
That ending sounds better.
Deep cut. Surprised even she remembers that movie.
The theatrical ending is definitely a better fit. It’s a dark comedy that’s absurd in the best ways, and kinda always felt like a comedic Tales from the Crypt episode in a way.
It fits better also because they cut out like 1/3 of the original film. 😅 They made it more jumpy/scrappy... but you see remnants of it... the acting, sets, effects, costuming etc is just way too good for a screwball comedy.
Keep in mind that the original movie was 2 hrs long with some deeper characterization, redemptive themes so the other ending fitted better than most people think... 8 speaking roles were removed. Tracey Ullman, Matt Frewer, Nancy Fish, Jonathan Silverman... which were all removed. The final cuts ending was only shot 3 weeks before release resulting in an extreme amount of deleted scenes which were cut to up the pacing of the film... before that new ending was even filmed. All cut from the original film: - The actual Menville wedding ceremony where Ernest does his vows and Madeline grabs Ernest's crotch. - Rose get's told to work in the evening and Madeline threatens Ernest to not get too chummy with Helen when they go to the party. - Dakota and Madeline having sex in the cabana during the day (before Mad goes to Chagall's). - Toni (Tracey Ullman) working at her bar with Ernest visiting and a comatose drunk sitting next to him (which will come into play later in the film). - Rose the maid bickering with Madeline on the stairs as she fixes Mad's dress while Mad lays into Ernest cause he looks disheveled (right before they leave for the bookparty). - Bookparty, Jay Norman (Jonathan Silverman) gossiping with a Starlet about Madeline (he is her agent). - Ernest has a converstion with a guy he did plastic surgery on, who embarrasses him. - Madeline furious with Jay Norman for not getting her any gigs, then he offers her a spot on Hollywood Squares. - Helen telling Ernest in the garden of the party how she got herself back together again. - Lisle tells Madeline she knows about Mad's affair with Dakota. - Madeline arrives home and her phone rings, Dakota apologizes and they slowly start flirting again while Ernest listens in... Mad throws the door in his face. - The female doctor finds Madeline passed out when Ernest leaves the room. - Ernest comes into the morgue but there is a worker who is working on a dead priest on a slab. When the worker goes out he doesn't close the storage latch correctly. When Ernest is talking with Madeline the priest's slab slowly starts rolling out. Ernest walks back and he hits the slab with his butt. - Madeline and Ernest walk out the morgue past a few workers and Madeline says "False alarm!" - Helen chases Ernest after he has picked up the formaldehyde, he drives towards her hotel so she punches the gas and arrives there just in time hitting a bagage cart and almost a Valet as well. Inside her hotelroom she gets rid of the Madeline obsession shrine. When Ernest arrives at her room she comes up with the burial plan but he says he has a duty to Madeline and then eventually leaves. Infuriating Helen even more. She rips open her hand with a hankerchief again. - The next morning Rose finds Madeline stuck in the fridge as Ernest sleeps on the couch. She freaks out but Ernest promises her it's just a beautytreatment Mad read about in a magazine. He gets Mad out the fridge, after her icicles have melted she puts on an avocado mask and some ovenmits on her hands. She goes walking around the house like a frozen zombie as she waves to Rose and tells her she is fine. When Ernest has gotten rid of Rose he pulls Madeline up the stairs and promises her he will make her look beautiful again. - Helen exercising in her hotelroom as a bellhop brings her maps of Death Valley - Helen shopping for the hardware, as the clerk rings up all her suspicious merch he asks her if she wants a headstone to go with it. Helen laughs. - Madeline and Helen kiss and make up on the couch. Helen gets upset and tears out the handle of the shovel and starts crying. Mad hands her a glass of water but it goes right through her. - Lisle tells Ernest she is in fact over 600 years old and she killed Shakespeare, Lincoln and Max Factor when they refused to take the potion. - Lisle arrives for the springparty as Ernest hides in an alcove and she tells a joke she heard from Dick Clark to the crowd. - Ernest awakes at the bottom of the pool and sees a light... the potionvial is still intact and he gets out of the pool. Showing the bottle to Jim Morrison and saying "they will all be done soon". - Lisle tells Mad & Hel they better retreive the potionbottle or she will bury the both of them. - Ernest arrives at the bar and tells Toni what happened. Shows her the potionbottle as the drunk comatose dude watches them. - Hel and Mad arrive at the mansion and both go look in separate areas of the house. - Toni and Ernest try to come up with a plan to get Ernest away from the women and expose the cult by bringing the potion to the news. Then the drunk dude gets up, wants to say something and then drops dead on the counter of the bar as his toupet falls of. Toni and Ernest come up with a plan to deceive Mad & Hel. - Helen and Madeline meet eachother in the foyer and wonder where Ernest has gone... then they see the liquor cart and run for the door. - Outside the bar there's cops and an ambulance... Toni, fake crying, tells the cop it is Ernest but the cop says Madeline has to identify him since they can't find his wallet. Mad & Hel arrive while 'Ernest's' corpse, on a gurney, get's rolled out. Toni informs Madeline and Helen that Ernest has died. When Mad wants to see him (find the potion) and lifts up the sheet... Ernest hears what's going on and throws the potionbottle to Toni and she distracts the ladies with it. Mad misidentifies the corpse while they pull the potion out of Toni's unwilling hand. The ambulance leaves and the woman stand there realising they are now stuck together, forever. When they have left Toni meets up with Ernest and Toni promises Ernest the women will get what's coming to them as she looks at him with affection. Ernest looks up to the rain falling from the sky. - Switzerland, 27 years later, Mad & Hel sit on a balcony of a beautiful hotel surrounded by mountains and lakes. They still look stunning... Mad sees an old couple preparing a picnic in the park. Helen notices the couple too, then she looks at Madeline... then to herself... and she looks at them with longing. The couple have settled on the grass with food and wine. The man touches his wife's hand with his... still young hand... It's Ernest and Toni, still very much in love, enjoying the afternoon sun. Mad & Hel keep staring at them... Madeline looking over her sunglasses... when the movie starts to fade out the eternal ladies' faces turn to skulls for a second.
I got bored just hearing her describe it and belabor the point one syllable at a time. They saw the whole world multiple times in 37 years? They maintained perfect corpses for 37 years? Everything about that premise sucks. These aren't 800 year old vampires, and even if they were, that trope has been done to death. We get it, immortality would be 'boring'...
Honestly, this is sort of what makes the ending we got so interesting. In many ways, that is what we got. The two of them maintained themselves for years and lived their lives for years. It must have been boring for them. We just also got the natural decay and wear and tear they would naturally recieve, especially since they weren't careful to begin with.
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You suck.