The Grey (spoilers -discussion about the ending)

[JasonEvans]

So, folks who have seen the new Liam Neeson flick, The Grey, I have a simple question... did he live or die at the end?

I saw this movie about a month ago and it never occurred to me that he might have lived. He is in the den, he is tired and weak, the alpha is about to take him on for entering the den. Even with broken bottles strapped to his hands, he is toast... right?

But, a friend who saw it last night was convinced he lives. Here is what she wrote--

The reason I think he lived is based on several things--1) I believe he told the other survivors that if you kill the alpha then the others will leave you alone 2) the symbolism of being in the den after he challenged God--he found himself in the "lion's den" where he could face off w/ the alpha, which would give him his best shot at surviving 3) he was able to fashion a weapon and had the GPS for rescuers to find him if he was wounded, which says to me that he wanted to survive and be found 4) he chose not to end his life at the beginning of the movie and chose to fight for his life at the end. To me, it's the old "God puts you where you need to be, but gives you free will to decide your fate". I really, really believe he lived. He just had to face life and death on the same day to realize how much he wanted life.

Make any sense? I really liked this movie!

-Jason "interested in knowing what others thought" Evans

[accfanfrom1970]

It never occurred to me that he lived...I thought both the alpha and he died. I would have liked to think he might have lived, but didn't see anything
at the end, after the credits, that lead me to believe he survived. I really wanted someone to find the wallets at the end or after the credits...

[JNort]

Is this movie worth watching? I have seen the previews everywhere but I think every last one looks terrible. It does not show anything to let you know what the movie is about let alone the genre. I have hear many good things about it though which makes me ask whether I should go see it.

[Udaman]

It's an interesting thought. I loved how he taped the knife and the bottles to his hands so he couldn't drop them. Yeah, a wolf can cause major damage, but so can a guy with a knife. In that battle, I would imagine him having a great chance of winning.

I liked the movie. It was much better than I thought it would be. But, I had a few major, major, major issues with it.

1) After the plane crash, in that weather, and with that wind, without gloves your hands would be useless in minutes and have frost bite soon after that. He went for a while with no gloves.

2) Walking around like they were, their noses would have had severe frost bite.

3) There's no way they would have let the guy trail in the back like he did to get attacked. Liam would have told them that a pack targets the weakest and the trailing person, so they would have walked in a tight group.

4) After he fell in the water, he would have entered hypothermia almost immediately. It was super cold and he had no dry clothing. That would have killed him right there.

5) After he was the last one - the wolves would have attacked him immediately.

6) There's no way he could have gone to their den. No way.

OK...so it's fantasy...and given that, the fact that he did make it to their den, and all the points brought up by JE's friend, makes me think that it was symbolic, and yeah, he certainly could have won at the end. Makes the ending better, for sure.

[accfanfrom1970]

Did everyone stay for the credits and see the shot at the very end...after all the credits? Did that clear up anything?

[JasonEvans]

Did everyone stay for the credits and see the shot at the very end...after all the credits? Did that clear up anything?

I had not seen this until just a few minutes ago.

The post credits scene shows a wolf, likely the Alpha, on the ground taking a labored breath... perhaps its last breath. I guess the implication is that Liam killed the Alpha, though it is far from clear. We don't see Liam to know what happened to him.

Here, someone filmed it. Watch this before YouTube takes it down.



-Jason "doesn't really clear anything up to me, though the possibility that Liam survives is greater after seeing that" Evans

[urville]

I had not seen this until just a few minutes ago.

The post credits scene shows a wolf, likely the Alpha, on the ground taking a labored breath... perhaps its last breath. I guess the implication is that Liam killed the Alpha, though it is far from clear. We don't see Liam to know what happened to him.

Here, someone filmed it. Watch this before YouTube takes it down.



-Jason "doesn't really clear anything up to me, though the possibility that Liam survives is greater after seeing that" Evans

Rewatch it, the wolf is breathing and the top of his head is visible... he is laying on it.

[Blue in the Face]

Rewatch it, the wolf is breathing and the top of his head is visible... he is laying on it.

Yeah, Neeson is resting his head on the wolf at the end. Prior to that, it was certainly nice of the wolf to wait for Neeson to tape the weapons to his hands before attacking. Very courteous.