US ending:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxI_UwYThgU
Our ending:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGCU8y2bD9o&feature=PlayList&p= F99AE5FCA53C7B0B&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=96
You have to give the Americans points for pure cheekiness...It says Hyde on their uniforms.
Elvira mistress of the dark is the coolest woman ever.
DCI Gene Hunt (UK) coolest man ever.
UK ending, hands down. There's a greater emotional impact, and the characters are more believeable.
In fairness the Moral Watchdogs would have been crying bloody murder if the U.S. tried to go for the UK ending, so I don't hate the writers for that.
They still could have tried harder for sincere emotional impact. Like maybe Sam is very sad to say goodbye to his friends, but he knows deep down he belongs in 2008. Or something.
The American ending sounds dumb when you write it out on paper, actually seeing it doesn't make it any better.
But I have noticed, over on the boards for the U.S. version that opinion is very evenly split between love and hate, even from those who are unfamiliar with the UK version.
Some say it's the most brilliant thing since Newhart, others say it's the dumbest since Dallas.
I don't think you can make a comparison just based on watching the endings. You need to watch both series all the way through. The UK ending fits well with the darker, more psychological theme of that version, whereas the US ending works pretty well with the lighter, more campy way in which that was played. And the US writers said all along they were going with a different ending. I won't say I loved the US ending, but it was strangely satisfying.
shareI agree that I should probably watch the whole of the US series before making a comparison, but that ending was so slow and anti-climactic that it's sort of put me off watching the US series at all. But if I ever get the chance to see it, I'll give it a go because I am a fan of Harvey Keitel and there wasn't enough of him for me to judge his Gene Hunt.
BTW, didn't like that daft joke about them being on a gene hunt: that was lame.
The US ending (and series) was terrible.
The UK one was subtle, well acted and written, clever, emotional...well everything the US one was not really.
I feel sorry for US fans, the way they dumbed down the whole thing and made it all "literal" was just pathetic really.
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he is God.
The US ending epitomises everything that is wrong with American TV.
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ABC/Disney make dismal remakes of anything (they just loused up Eastwick despite a reasonably talented cast). Why bother? Just show the British versions and be done with it.
LOM starts its free tv run in the US this Friday on many PBS stations. In the SF Bay Area it will be on KTEH.
Speak freely while you still can
I like the American ending. But I LOVED the UK ending. I am glad I saw the American version first, otherwise, I would have been disappointed by it.
The American ending tied things up well in a Hollywood ending kind of way. It made sense, but was sappy. Ray comparing his Neoro-stim with Sam's was perfect. Maybe the first time I agreed with Ray the entire series.
The UK ending tied things up, AND made me think. I still am not sure if Sam did the right thing.
The US ending's embarrasingly bad.
But it did happen