Finally rewatched since childhood

What was it you felt was missing from the ending?

For me (and for many viewers) the ending is immensely satisfying. It's a film about reconciliation with the past, rediscovering lost passions & dreams, coming to terms with paths not taken, the bond of family—here I think of the repeated opening & closing line of I Never Sang For My Father, "Death ends a life, but it does not end a relationship." But in that film, the long-sought & hoped for reconciliation between father & son never does take place. Field of Dreams offers the possibility that it can take place even after death—for us, not by supernatural means, but by re-assessing that relationship. We also get that in the film The Way, in which a father must reconcile with his dead son.

So, for me, the film is about coming to terms with the past, and with the ghosts we carry with us. Ray does just that, which is why it's so satisfying. For me, at least.

I think the ending is what really sold the movie. I remember really liking it and talking about how great a baseball movie it was all throughout the 90's. Then, in 2000 I recorded it off the TV and fast forwarded all the way to the end. I watched the ending about 10x in a row and now I can't stand Field of Dreams anymore lol.