I just rewatched this movie for the first time in maybe 20 years and it completely retuned my perception of it. This film is a masterpiece in every sense of the word.
Gotta stick with the theatrical one myself. Of course they could show a ice melting and I would still enjoy it because of the awesome soundtrack but I digress... The ending shown in theaters was much better. It still has her lying to Joel. It still has the dark mood but the walk in the park momentarily removes them from the gloomy future we all know faces Lana. Plus they lighten them moment even more with two references to previous conversations: The conversation about Lana not having any money (becoming Joel) and the slight narration change where Joel's last line is "Time of your life, huh kid?" (becoming Guido). Now back to that soundtrack...one of the best of the 80's and certainly one of Tangerine Dreams very best. Still holds up completely.
Was Lana lying to Joel about her screwing his brains out while Guido and Vicky robbed his house and being a setup? Surely she did set him up, she screwed him over so many times in this film. Sexy yes, but one awful bitch.
Classic movie and with an incredible sound track. My favorite Tom Cruise movie other then Jerry McGuire. Jerry McGuire was sort of a grown up version of Risky Business. Both had similar themes in terms of getting out of your comfort zone, living for something bigger then the norm, and taking risks.. Rebecca Demornay was perfectly cast. She had that air of mystery about her.
Agreed on multiple counts. For Tom Cruise, this was his strongest film by far. Rebecca DeMornay is downright spell-binding; she should have at least been nominated for an Oscar. The chemistry between the two of them is pitch-perfect. And it was the tracks by Tangerine Dream that made me a big fan of their music.
The shot of the skyline at the end is perfect. The two of them, together, on top of the world. Joel better keep those sunglasses near him at all times, because his future is going to be bright.
He obviously loves her but she betrays him by letting Guido steal all the stuff from his house. I think this final scene is him accepting that he wants to protect her but the life she lived doesnt allow it
He keeps on going with this theme of life. Keep the people in his life, parents n relatives, proud of him by being a pristine cliche white business man. In reality, his business partners know why he is rich. The illegal side hustles that he runs via others, rather than put his name on it officially. Same as how he got into the college. His parents think their kid studied hard and aced the exams. In reality, he just gave the college admission interviewer dude, a great night, some new "contacts".
In My honest opinion, this was 80s noir at one of it's BEST, along the lines of The graduate, with it's style dark comedy. The Thief, Manhunter, Black Widow, are just some of what the 80s had to offer, as far as the stylistic form of noir film that i highly doubt can ever be reproduced again. Tangerine Dream knocked it right out of the ball park with a awesome music as always. Paul did an incredible Job directing this film. In my own interpretation of the ending, i feel Joel became a pimp with an elite upper class clientele, and Lana was his high class bottom girl.
I woudn't call it 'dark comedy', tho - that refers to comedy with a morbid undertone. One of the best 'noir' films of the 80s, that you dont mention here, was "Body Heat", even tho it was clearly influenced by "Chinatown".
Yea, I don’t think Joel becomes big pimp extraordinaire From a Variety article about this, the original and intended ending: “The film ends with a bittersweet scene of Joel trying to comfort Lana about her future, which he knows will be very different than his own.”
@@brianpeck4035 Joel neither lost his chance to go to that college, nor got into the college by studying and doing well on exams. This feels like a huge clue to what his career turns out like. His parents are blindfolded by him, they think their kid aced the exams, got into a great college. He will probably keep them blindfolded, become a pristine business man. But everyone in the working industry knows the real reason behind his success, are the secretive brothels or red light district kinda side hustle he develops. He never puts his name on something like that officially, has indirect ownership of stuff, u know how it goes. He gets the main credit, but will never be seen as the face of such a taboo thing. Hence making money won't be an issue. Overall, as long as he makes smart business moves, multiplies his taboo source of income, via legal sources, he'll do great. Hence his parents, relatives, being oblivious to his primary income source, only noticing his legal source of income, would be extremely proud of how successful he is financially.
I like how this ending shows the evolved love they share together in the end, but the darker uncertain look of the park in the original and with her teasing with him on how to pay and him doing it back in playful banter shows more of a kinship or even open endedness to their relationship.
This is the appropriate ending, both beautiful and melancholy. The pair embrace as they resign themselves to certain inevitabilities that will be wrought- both upon and by them- in their futures.
I love both versions. The movie in its own (without endings) forces you to question what drives human nature. It's hard to admit it but money is probably it, tied along with emotions. As much as we tell ourselves we are good people and try to be it, money is something human race has become dependent on and sooner or later, everyone needs it. The theatrical ending makes it seem like Joel goes to college with a very big lesson learned and more understanding of the power money, eager to apply his new found knowledge into more socially accepted "business" and open to the possibility to take "risky" ones again. This director's ending also teaches him a lesson, however, as in the theatrical one he learned about the power of money, in this one he learned more about the other human driving force, emotions. What "human fulfilment risky business" would you deal? Money or emotions?
I think the real meaning of the movie is hinted at in the title: taking a chance in hopes of making a better life - or at least gaining useful life experiences.
Omg...I just watched the movie, came on here to find reviews and stumbled across this. I never heard of this much less seen it. Uh... my reaction - thank god they went with what we saw in the theaters, it was much better. The lighthearted humor was a perfect ending. This is an all time 80s classic.
Watching Risky Business countless times I think the ending of the movie could be perfected by simply mixing elements from both endings together, Joel and Lana would be walking in the park and would have the conversation they had in the signature room and of course it would end with 'time of your life huh kid?' which sounds much more witty than isn't life grand. Or, the two could be mixed together: 'time of your life huh kid?........ Isn' t life grand'. I just think the movie has to end during the night, it fits the whole tone of the film much more.
ILOVE TOM SINCE TEENAGER, SINCE I SAW THIS FILM THE FIRST TIME 1983 AND TODAY IN 2024 I LOVE HIM MORE . TOM IS THE NUMBER ONE, THE LOVE OF MY LIFE ❤❤❤❤❤
Paul Brickman is one of those rare talents whose creative works Hollywood should never have modified in any way. If you hire a genius, don't second guess him. Just listen to him. I sincerely wish Paul Brickman would come back, now that there is a healthy indie scene, and create new work.
@Mr. Joe Yes, it WAS an entertaining teenager movie. And if the Powers That Be had let him shoot the ending he had wanted, it would have been so much more.
@Mr. Joe First, keep to the subject without trying to pivot away from it or obfuscate it with additional arguments. Second, a lot can happen in 40 seconds. Imagine Casablanca with its final 40 seconds substantially different; it becomes a completely different film, as Risky Business would have been. Coincidentally, I grew up in Highland Park, Illinois where Risky Business was filmed, and my family was good friends with Seymour Popeil (Popeil Brothers, then Ronco) who lived in a penthouse on half of the top floor of the Drake hotel, where the confrontation scene between Cruise and De Mornay (and then Pantoliano) was filmed. Just a little tidbit of interest.
@Mr. Joe Yes, I agree. All first drafts are shit, and everything after the first draft is rewriting, rewriting, rewriting... Then you lock it away in a drawer and don't even think about it for six months. Then do a re-read and realize the entirely different direction the story should have taken in the middle of the second act. And then it's rewriting, rewriting, rewriting... My father, whose Goyisher name was "Bud Chase" because "Arthur Erwin Churvis" was "too Jewish" for television in the fifties, was a writer, producer, and director. He was Phyllis Diller's writer back before I was born. Did you see that movie "You've Got Mail"? Remember the electric typewriter Greg Kinnear's character fawned over and owned three of? It was an Olympia Deluxe Electric Report, which was the exact same typewriter my father wrote all his copy on at home. I have an even closer relationship with the film "Ordinary People." I came into contact with a lot of this stuff because of my mother and father, who were early pioneers in television.
Is this ending showing us them in the future? He says "I wonder where we might be 10 years from now", it's clearly daylight in the room as you can see the sun shining on her face, then after he says "closer", it's suddenly night time and the guy that was behind her appears to be a different guy. The camera is now at a distance. Is this so we can imagine that they aged and that this is now them 10 years from now, on top of the world? Or maybe I'm completely wrong and the sunlight and other aspects in the scene changes are just the typical "oops" things that happen when you've tried to film the same shot all day and filming then has to take place at night so everyone can go home.
Thank you so much for this post.I did not realize there was an alternate ending after watching it a few times I can get a better sense of the difference from the original ending.It seem Joel an Lana are a little more desperate.I was also curios as to how much of the film was art imitating life,since there is some great character development in the film.
Even since I saw this movie, I always suspected there was originally a different ending, but I always thought the original ended with him raking the leaves, just the way it started, but much wiser after learning some hard lessons about life, love and business. I prefer this more downbeat end with Joel and Lana in the Signature Room, but I like the "Time of your life, eh kid" line better if you're going to go down that route.
I think the "love on a train" night both was AND wasn't a setup. I think what Lana was saying that, yeah, she set him up (it's obvious the way she kind of looked away in shame) but also she wanted to have sex with him on the train because she had really fallen for him.
Pretty much. At the beginning she considered Joel nothing more than a client who she stole from but thanks to "saving," her from Guido she grew to consider him more. He wanted to know more about her which upset her, but she started to fall for him once he came back and wanted to work with her. I always interpreted it that she fell for him thru the movie and it peaked during the scene with the Princeton examiner. You can tell with that shot of her face of both how amazed she was of him and how proud of him she was. He was on his way to making something of himself while she was wasting her life. Perhaps she felt some regret for setting it up which shows up at the end. So she decides to help Joel by getting the Princeton guy laid and more or less getting him in there, and she gives in to her feelings and has genuine sex for the first time. Powerful scene in more ways than 1. It's not for the music or what goes on, but what both characters are going thru. Genius stuff.
Great analysis. If we think about it, there's enough evidence here and there in the movie to back all of this up. Many mainstream movies of the past were almost like cinema arts films; they were better and "deeper". It's a shame that we've lost a lot of that today.
drlee2 That's what I was thinking ! Yes, Lana set up Joel because she needed money to be free from Guido. But she also loves Joel and honestly wanted to make love on a real train. We can see 2 sex scenes in a movie and I will not lie I love both of them. But the 1 sex scene has no emotions and feelings - just a hooker having sex with a client. In the second scene on a train Lana and Joel are having sex and you can feel that they are honestly inlove. Love this movie !!!!!
I don't see how this is different. Even after the first time I saw it in the theater, I said it was a setup. Guido, Vicki and Lana worked together to strip joel of all his earnings. Even the way Lana denies the allegation, she looks away during her denial. In other words she can't look joel in the face. The only thing this ending tells me is that even after everything that has happened, both Joel and Lana may actually feel something for each other.
I'm not on board with your analysis. Joel has no desire to be lana's, or any other girl's, pimp. He wants to go to college to be a legitimate businessman. He wants lana to be his girl. He doesn't want to turn her out. He loves her. So, he's still the mark. He got played by Guido, Vicki and Lana. In this scene he confronts Lana by saying, "Hey, did you play me?" She says "No," but in a way that tells us that she was in on it. Joel doesn't react like pimp would. He reacts like a love struck sucker by saying, basically, "I don't care if you played me or not. I just want you to be happy." So, Lana still has the upper hand and can manipulate Joel.
O.K. Brandon C. Sites. Tonight, in order to make my point abundantly clear to you, I'm going to start writing the screenplay for "Risky Business II." When I am done, you will understand the true nature of Joel and Lana's relationship and what really happened that serene Chicago evening thirty-three years ago. Also, I promise that all the actors from the original movie, who are all surprisingly still alive today, once they read the script will agree to reprise their original roles and Tangerine Dream will agree to write a musical score that will be so good that it will make the score from the original seem like cavemen beating on rocks.
This was a hidden gem for me. I am a movie fan to my core and this was, among three other movies, the first of my collection on VHS. Her character always struck me as having a crystalline will. She is expressing a rare vulnerability here. He responds with something along the lines of: everything will be all right. Her response is: why? Why should I put my faith in you to make things better? It is a very honest response that speaks to her background. Despite that, she acquiesces. Always loved this movie and the Director's cut has only enhanced my enjoyment.
Everything about this film screams pure class, from the storyline, Tangerine Dream soundtrack, the acting and actors and the Chicago location....I don't believe another location would have worked as well. All aspiring film-makers should watch this film and learn from Mr Brickman's skill and talent, it's superb, it truly is.
This one is the best for sure. Can't beat that last shot. it also makes more sense the them walking around near the lake. Also her in his lap at the end it powerful. Damn good.
@@mikiex Yup. He "Was" in school. Brickhouse told the audience in Minneapolis MN after a screening Guido was Lana's brother and was "so sick he was actually pimping out his sister"... however in the movie they thought that plot point was to gross.. 😆
He should have stuck with this ending. Millions time better than the one featured in the original. LOVE THIS. Dark, moody, humorous, and dedicated; stays completely true to the tone of the film.
This ending is so great. She's lying. He knows. He doesn't care because he can handle it. This is the beginning of a probably very bad relationship. Sometimes you've just got to say "What the fuck?"
‘I think we’re both going to hit a big”. The reality is you know her life would never be a happy ending. I read that the men sitting behind Joel symbolize where he’d be in 10 years.
This was the better ending…. Better than the theatrical ending, because this ending is more realistic, where the theatrical ending was more like a John Hues movie. And although this movie was not a total reality portrayal, this ending served a more sobering point and vague, therefore effective narrative.
I much prefer this ending..I would have taken her with me .. I wouldn't have even gone . I would just stay with her. It's real love. Whys it gotta be so tough.. that young love . That feeling . It really captured me this film.. from my era. I didn't like the other ending it makes me sad that they gotta not stay together. I loved her . Even though its a movie I felt that love...she is a very beautiful woman as well.. if was me ... I would hold her and never ever let her go...
Whatcha got on you? I got $20! $20...what are we gonna do? Can I owe it to 'ya? Owe it to me? Will you take a check? Do you think I'd accept a check from you? You see...They are still loving and playful! LOVE IT!
To be honest, I can't understand why the director's that pissed off that they replaced this ending. The studio ending has a real moral ambiguity and dark undertones to it, they're just a bit more apparent in this version.
This ending is quite dark. The theatrical ending is more fitting for this type of film which has comedy elements to it, even though their continuing relationship is a little hard to believe. The theatrical ending to The Butterfly Effect however, was absolutely abysmal.
The One Man Army My feeling is that David Chase was shooting for a big payday down the road. That's why he left us with nothing. No ending. A big blank. I think he firmly believed that a "Sopranos" movie was somewhere in his future. So, his ending was perfect for that. The movie could still go in alot of different directions. That was going to be his big payday. However, he new he would have to give Gondolfini a little time before he would agree to be Tony Soprano one more time. You see with that nondescript ending he could pick up the story anytime, one year later, 4 years later, etc. Then Gondolfini died and so did Chase's big payday. Unfortunately, it is us fans who are left holding the bag, which bites.
Six months later on January 2017 I saw Eyes Wide Shut. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman loved working with Stanley Kubrick on that film. I saw Risky Business a couple of months after I saw A Clockwork Orange. Have you seen Eyes Wide Shut and A Clockwork Orange?
Love this ending, but also don't mind the other ending either, it just happens to feel a little more tacked on (but not badly tacked on, as at least Joel & Lana end up back at their beginning, but in opposite roles).
Original ending to me beats this. That backdrop and the buildings at night was such a distinct and memorable bit of cinematography. I also like the way the studio ending pays back some earlier themes (the morning after conversation, stealing Guidos line).
Seems like in the orig one they end up together. Even though they won't see each other for a while. This one is still good. I read an interview with cruise and he said that this ending really expresses the love he has for her.
@@jedimyndtryck I disagree. I feel that the way they leave it is better. The ambiguity makes the scene memorable because, like life, the future is unknown. As they embrace, you can sense that an empathize. What they had was special, but they both know that it isn't logical that they continue on like that. Joel is going to Princeton, NJ while Lana will most likely continue to be a Call Girl in Chicago. They are at a fork in the road. They both know that life cannot and will not be the same now. To end up together is the stuff of fairy tales. Joel will go off and get the best education money can buy and most likely end up as a future executive with the "perfect family" while Lana will inevitably fade into the recesses of his mind as she continues her life as one of many sex workers in Chicago. Sad but true.
Both are fine but he's still a privileged rich kid that gets away with it, still get's into Princeton (happy ending), and gets a girl on his lap. I mean i get that for some this is darker. For me want it darker, get him disowned, don't get the stuff back, lose princeton, become her pimp. That's dark. Actions should have consequences
I know. I love this movies but I don't see all of the deep, dark meaning of the ending that everyone else is seeing. A gullible teen gets rolled by a hooker with a heart of gold and he grows up a little in the end and... Scene. Great movie (one of my favs) but maybe I'm missing something. 😂
The original ending is he doesn’t get into Princeton David Geffen named change it because he thought no one wanted to see a movie where the main character I forget his name doesn’t get in to Princeton. He was right. I like the changes that he made Brickman do
I'm back . Do you know, what was really the magic ? ( +He Leaves Blowing ) When she enters the house, & here also. The Leaves.. I can feel September October.
I don't see why the director got so pissy they didn't use this ending. Other than it being the one he preferred, I don't see it changing the tone or "message" of the film all that much, save for being a little more "adult."
