Radio Flyer (1992)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: David Mickey Evans, Richard Donner
Starring: Adam Baldwin, Elijah Wood, John Heard, Lorraine Bracco
Genres: Drama
The flying machine works--Bobby flies off, never seen again, but mother and brother get a postcard. Yet, there is some consideration that older Mike's story was a complete fabrication.
Emily
Factual error: In the scene where Bobby and Mike go into the comic book store, you can clearly see a Transformers comic on the shelf. But the movie is set in the late 1960's/early 1970's....and Transformers did not come out until the 1980's.
Question: At the end of the movie, did Bobby really fly off in the Radio Flyer plane or did Mike make that story up?
Answer: The script's ending was ultimately changed by director Richard Donner from what writer David Evans had originally written. In the original ending, it was made clear that the Radio Flyer had actually worked and it was seen hanging (actually floating) next to the Wright Brother's plane in the Smithsonian. Donner instead wanted the ending to be a "Rorschach Test", meaning the viewer sees the ending as he or she wants. So if you perceive it as working and Bobby being free or you see it as Bobby committing suicide, etc, it's meant as a reflection on you. However, Evans has said that he never intended the ending to be, or allude to, suicide, but because of the script changes, he understands how people could make that conclusion.
Bishop73Answer: He flew off alright - straight to heaven!
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Answer: Yes. He actually did fly off. Adult Mike even tells his two sons that sometime after Bobby flew off, he began receiving postcards from Bobby from every place he traveled to and still keeps sending postcards to him.