Ever since watching “Heart Of The Beast” there has been something needling my brain about the ending. And it’s taken a few days of rumination to pin it down. But first let me say that this is an excellent must-see movie, one of the best out of Hollywood in years.

To put it simply, Odin seems to move on from the death of Belmont too easily.

They did an outstanding job of showing the deep emotional bond between Odin and Belmont throughout the whole movie, thru all the hardships they endure and thru brief combat flashbacks. Belmont knows he’s dying and not going to make it, so he writes a note and gives Odin “One last mission. Find the road.” Odin knows that Belmont has passed during the night and at daylight heads for the road, his last mission. No problems up to this point.

At the road Amber finds Odin in the middle of the road. She finds the letter that Belmont wrote the night before briefly explaining what happened, who Odin is, gives instructions for his care, and says not to come looking for his body. She smiles and after some hesitation and a wistful look back, Odin goes with her and they drive off.

I would think that Odin, as a combat trained canine, would somehow try and bring someone back to Belmont even though he knows Belmont is dead. I understand that having Odin die because he refused to leave Belmont is not the best ending for a movie.

I would think that someone who read that letter and found a combat trained dog would make some attempt to find Belmont or at the very least come back with some help and have Odin take them to where Belmont is. After all it is only Odin that knows he has already passed. All that people would know is that Belmont might be still alive. Odin completed his mission; he found the road. Why doesn’t he go back?

I don’t really have any suggestions as to what a better ending would look like. But to me, the bond between Belmont and Odin that they spent so much time building seems to be reduced to almost nothing.

I’ll be the first to admit that I sometimes miss the subtle nuances in films sometimes but I feel like there is something missing in all of this.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: B92F,

Considering that I have seen photos (whether it's staged or not I cannot say) of a dog laying on his deceased master's gravesite and a K-9 going crazy getting to see his handler in the hospital for the first time since the officer was shot on duty I have difficulty believing that the dog in this case would be so cavalier as to appear to be saying "Welp, that one is gone, time to hook up with this new human."

Someone beat you to it.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935/m/2990020125

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 229DAK:
Someone beat you to it.

This post is about just the ending of the movie. I didn't want to post there due to this one containing spoilers.

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:
Someone beat you to it.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935/m/2990020125

I don’t think so. This thread, as the OP stated is just a discussion about the movie ending, and obviously anyone interested in seeing the movie (who hasn’t as yet) would be advised to heed the “Spoiler Alert” attached to this post.

For myself, I thought about Odin running down to the road and I agree the bond between two warriors should be exceptionally strong, but hey, I was satisfied.

His note DID say that he “was dead” and specifically stated, “don’t come looking for me.” I thought that was a pretty nice resting place for a 34 year SOF soldier.

TMats: I'm really not dissatisfied with the ending. I guess I think that maybe there should have been more hesitation on Odins part. Maybe a step or three towards where Belmont lay. And it was a really nice resting place.

The Jack London short story “To Build a Fire” plays on OPs line of thinking. Man goes out in Yukon wilds with his trusty, beloved Husky. Gets trapped in snowstorm, falls in river, begins freezing. Attempts to build a fire with frozen limbs and digits, and finally dies. Dog merely takes notice then turns and roams off to safety. So even though they’d bonded…

To add my thoughts: I think the 'finder' of Odin looked to be Native. I believe the intent of the script was that as a native, they would understand the desires to be left in place and adhere to his wishes.