VOTD: Are These The 10 Best Closing Shots Of All Time?

Just last month, we called your attention to a countdown of what CineFix believed were the Top 10 Opening Shots of All Time. But every movie that starts with an iconic shot must also come to an end, and now we have a list of what CineFix thinks are the Top 10 Closing Shots of All Time. The closing shot of any film can be even more important than the opening shot as it's the last impression the film gives you before you leave the theater. So let's see if you agree with these picks for the best closing shots in cinema.

Here's the video countdown for the Top 10 Closing Shots of All Time from CineFix:

If you happen to be somewhere you can't watch the video, here's the list of movies:

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
  • A Serious Man (2009)
  • The Piano (1993)
  • Gangs of New York (2002)
  • Fight Club (1999)
  • Inception (2010)
  • The Searchers (1956)
  • Stalker (1979)
  • The 400 Blows (1959)
  • Casablanca (1942)
  • Fight Club and Inception are no-brainers when it comes to the best closing shots in more recent memory. And it's no coincidence that The Searchers ended up on this list after also being on the list for the Top 10 Opening Shots of All Time, mostly because the opening and closing shots mirror each other, basically as bookends.

    One of the more surprising picks is Gangs of New York, especially since it's not exactly Martin Scorsese's best movie. But the time lapse of New York with the graveyard in the foreground is quite a powerful shot, showing the change not just in the city's landscape, but in its personality when compared to the gritty history we just saw unfold in the film.

    As for the top pick, it's hard to argue with an iconic shot as the one that ends Casablanca. That's just pure film history right there.