(re-posting from another board)
I have never once been able to predict how an Agatha Christie murder mystery would go in advance, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I'm too much in awe of how she, as a writer, thinks, and the incredible way she put together such complex puzzles where every piece fits so perfectly.
I go out of my way to avoid knowing what's coming. In the case of DOCTOR WHO on the Sci-Fi Channel, I had to shut off the sound and avert my eyes because at every single commercial break they ran promos for next week's episode during THIS week's. Idiots. I may have been the only person in the US who was actually surprised when, at the cliffhanger halfway thru David Tennant's 1st season finale... (CENSORED!!!!!) ...showed up.
"a genuinely well-written story should pay to re-read/re-watch/re-whatever, so that, even knowing exactly what is going to happen in it, the story should still be enjoyable."
Classic example for me: DEATH ON THE NILE (1978). I had NO IDEA where it was going, who did it or why. But it was so well-told, that by the end of the movie, I was not only STUNNED, I was able to follow every single plot point, and remember them. 2 weeks later-- my Dad (who enjoyed it as much as I had) and me went to see it AGAIN-- and enjoyed it JUST as much. It was an entirely different experience, and has been ever since (I must have seen it a dozen times by now). But in cases like this, you ONLY get ONE chance to see it "cold"-- not knowing in advance. I consider it downright CRIMINAL for anyone to blow the surprises on a thing like that.
And I've had it happen more than once.
"He was on Earth ALL THE TIME!"
"The bad guy is REALLY HIS FATHER!"
"It's the only murder mystery where EVERYBODY DID IT!"
And then there's the one I came up with myself...
"The killer is the ONLY ONE who COULDN'T POSSIBLY have done it."
I loved APOLLO 13. A lot of that had to do with being very much interested in the space program since a very young age.
I do think "historical" films are in a genre of their own. Similar to Biblical films. I doubt anyone watches something like THE LAST DAYS OF SODAM AND GOMORRAH and is surprised by what happens to the city at the end.
However, many stories are designed to have surprised. In those cases, I cannot fathom why ANYONE would want to know details in advance. In the case of MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, my best friend BLEW THE ENDING for me before I ever got a chance to see it. As a result, I never got the chance to see it "cold", and will never know if KNOWING the ending in advance is why I wound up not liking it in the long run.
"The last page often dosn't reveal much"
"BLAM!"
"How COULD you?"
"it was EASY."
...and...
"She was a double agent. YES, I said WAS. The bitch is DEAD now."
"Personally I don't like spoilers. Personally I like the personal satisfaction of figuring out the plot of a book/show/movie/video game before it ends. If I am spoiled on it, then I lose the fun of trying to decipher the ending before it happens. That being said I do also enjoy re-reading/watching something as well, so I can see how the creator crafted the complete tale and tied it all together."
I think that's exactly how I feel. I like having the chance to experience something NOT KNOWING in advance what's going to happen, whether I can figure it out or just go along for the ride and be surprised.
Then, on repeat viewings, you can see just how good (or not) a story is. If it REQUIRES "surprise" to be entertaining, I think something's wrong.
SOYLENT GREEN, apparently, was a "mystery" that was totally ruined as soon as people found out the ending. Worse, I get the feeling that movie, by its very existence, turned an important social problem into a trivia joke, to the point where nobody's wanted to deal with it head-on for decades since. (over-population)