Grim ending? (SPOILERS)
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Sorcerer
mattjoes — 15 years ago(September 11, 2010 09:43 PM)
So, is the ending as grim as it's been made to be? As it's so eloquently described in the trailer, these four men were "trapped in a life that was also a death". Jackie survived the trip and got his money, but had nowhere to go, knowing that he would be exposed to the mob if he came out of hiding. He had no real opportunity to escape from his misery, except for death, which he earned. Considering the circumstances, isn't that the happiest outcome he could have hoped for? These men's fates weren't sealed when they hopped aboard the trucks, but in the prologue of the film. That is, for me at least, the most grim part of this story.
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SampanMassacre — 15 years ago(November 12, 2010 12:47 PM)
Orson Welles said something funny about films with happy endings, that they "depend on the movie ending before it's finished."
basically, roy's character was doomed because the mob wanted him - and they usually get what they want. of course, vinnie made this happen quicker, but the true ENDING of this movie was when roy was offered a job as a driver, and seemed as if he'd have a new life, but, realizing he had nowhere to go, and was stuck in that town, the camera moves in slowly to a close-up as he didn't speak, realizing: he was dead already. vinnie and that cool looking hitman simply sped up the process.
i wonder this though: did they kill the american oil guy, the bartender, the old hag - as in, did they go in shooting everyone or just take out Roy? -
Noir-It-All — 14 years ago(October 09, 2011 07:49 PM)
Weren't there armed guards sitting in the bistro at the end? It would have been nice if they defended Scanlon. I know, I know, the mob guys had better guns, they knew what they were doing, etc.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne -
nitebelow — 14 years ago(December 31, 2011 10:32 PM)
The ending was open to debate. No way those guys would have gone in and gunned down Scanlon without repraisal. The oil rig chief was pretty much a mafia don himself down there - the fact that he was allowed to pack heat in that banana republic showed that. If the goons decided to whack Scanlon then and there things would have likely gone badly.
The thing is, if they did kill Scanlon, I doubt he would mind. -
Noir-It-All — 13 years ago(July 01, 2012 11:51 AM)
Maybe another reason that Scanlon was ready to die was because, having completed a set of good deeds, he had been redeemed? He helped to refit those old trucks. He was forced to team up with someone, a hit man, who he hated but overcame that and the hit man saved his life. He worked well with the French and Palestinian team. Thanks to his success, the company was able to put out the fire.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne -
Demarates — 12 years ago(January 10, 2014 09:44 AM)
For all we know, it was the oil rig chief who informed the mob. If Scanlon gets whacked, he doesn't cash his check and the oil guy pays zilch for the job
When I'm gone I would like something to be named after me. A psychiatric disorder, for example. -
MrBelette — 11 years ago(April 25, 2014 02:48 PM)
Now that Friedkin decided to add the sound of a gunshot for the blueray edition it's not that much open anymore.
We're supposed to believe that the mafia and the oil company work together so they bribe the local officials and eliminate Scanlon so he will never get money. What reprisal by who ? He's the only one who is marked from thez start, the other ones all work together and pull the strings. -
Arseweb — 13 years ago(July 01, 2012 04:23 PM)
I always thought that in that moment, just after he'd looked at the
envelope, Scanlon was thinking "hey, maybe I'll go to Paris".
I don't see why he'd feel trapped there. Now that he had his new
identity backed up with a passport, he'd be better off on the move
again rather than staying there. -
jmillerdp — 11 years ago(July 19, 2014 12:23 AM)
[Obviously, Ending Spoilers from Both "Sorcerer" and "The Asphalt Jungle"]
I write this because it hit me upon just seeing "Sorcerer" again.
When Scheider asks if he has a little time before his plane leaves, he is told yes. Then, he has a dance with a woman from the bar he has been frequenting since he first arrived in town. And, by staying for that dance, his fate is sealed as the thugs arrive to kill him.
In "The Asphalt Jungle," the German mastermind is on his way to escape the law when he has the cabbie he's hired stop at a roadside bar. They were about to leave, when the German wants to stay so he can play one more song in the jukebox and watch a young girl dance. Staying for that extra song seals his fate, as the police show up to arrest him.
That thought gave seeing the ending of "Sorcerer" again an extra jolt for me. Two potentially doomed men sealing their own fates by staying in a bar for one more song.
p.s. How screwed up in the head am I that I had a big smile on my face watching the end of "Sorcerer?" Impossibly bleak endings do it for me, I guess!
"I. Drink. Your. Milkshake! [slurp!] I DRINK IT UP!" - Daniel Plainview - "There Will Be Blood" -
Badlands1 — 9 years ago(October 25, 2016 12:10 PM)
It's weird the two hitmen at the end 1) the mob guy 2) his buddy who owed him the favour from the beginning, and got him the passport for $2000.. So his buddy double crossed him, and is going to kill him at the end.. Well I guess money talks.
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Guely — 2 years ago(August 02, 2023 01:20 AM)
There is another version that finish when Scheider arrives alone and exhausted walking with the nitro to the big fire. In the same version the characters previous criminal lifes are showed as a flashback when they are already in Dominican Republic.