WHAT’S IT ABOUT
Alex Browning (Devon Sawa), is embarking on a trip to Paris. Alex experiences a premonition — he sees the plane explode moments after leaving the ground. Alex insists that everyone get off the plane and 7 people including Alex, are forced to disembark. All watch as the plane actually explodes in a fireball. He and the other survivors have briefly cheated death, but will not be able to evade their fate for very long. One by one, these fugitives from fate fall victim to the grim reaper.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
I went back myself and saw the very first “Final Destination” that began it all, in 2000. You know what? This film still packs a punch even after all these years. If you enjoy horror that plays with your mind and makes you paranoid about everyday things, this is well worth your time. So here’s the story: Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) is this high school kid getting ready to go on this field trip to Paris. While waiting to board, he has this incredibly vivid vision that the plane is going to explode. He freaks out, gets into a fight with one of his friends, and manages to get himself and a few other students and a teacher thrown off the plane. Minutes later, the plane literally explodes in the same way it did in his premonition. Rather than being hailed as a hero, Alex becomes the number one suspect for the investigation. I mean, how did he know, right? But that is not even half of it. Death, on the other hand, does not appreciate being cheated. The survivors begin to die one by one in these insane freak accidents that are completely random but are all actually part of Death’s plan to reinstate the natural balance. First of all, the concept is genius. In all other horror films, you can prevent being murdered by the murderer by not going to the creepy old abandoned house or by not reading from the evil book. But Death? You can’t escape Death. It’s going to get you regardless, and that’s the scariest part of this film. The kills are so well executed. They’re not arbitrary; they’re these complicated Rube Goldberg devices that create tension like nothing else. The film toys with you – you believe the character is going to die in a certain way, and something else entirely occurs. Like when Terry gets hit by the bus? I literally leaped out of my seat! The film never allows you to anticipate how and when the next death will occur. What actually enables it to succeed is that everything seems so normal. Death does not exploit supernatural forces or anything else – normal objects and normal situations made lethal. Having watched this film, I was side-eying my shower, my kitchen knives, and pretty much everything in my home for days. As opposed to the typical horror film where characters exist solely to die in new and creative ways, “Final Destination” provides us with characters we can care about. Devon Sawa’s Alex is highly credible as this kid who is suddenly saddled with visions he can’t interpret and with guilt for those he was not able to save. Clear Rivers (Ali Larter) begins as this stereotypical popular girl and develops into a character with genuine depth and will to survive. Even the doubting cop, Agent Weine (Daniel Roebuck), is made to feel like an actual person instead of a roadblock. Tony Todd as mortician Bludworth is simply iconic with his unsettling discussions about the design of Death. Every scene he’s in gives me the heebie-jeebies. He says that line about how “Death doesn’t like to be cheated” with such utter menace that it’s remained with me for years. What’s so great about “Final Destination” compared to other horror films is the way it scares. Most horror films attempt to scare you at the moment, but this one you take home with you. After you’ve watched it, you begin to see potential death traps everywhere. That water pool beside an electrical outlet? Possibly deadly. That loose screw on your ceiling fan? Time to get a repairman in ASAP. The film doesn’t depend on jump scares (though it has some great ones). What it does is create this amazing tension where you’re just waiting around for something horrific to occur. You know it’s coming, but you don’t know when and how. That tension is the source of the film’s power. The film is not flawless, obviously. Some of the dialogue has become rather cheesey-sounding now, and some of the special effects haven’t aged well at all. There are a few places where the rules of Death’s game do feel like they’re being made up as the characters go along. And yes, the ending is a bit rushed following the great suspense buildup in the rest of the movie. But these are small complaints given what the movie does correctly. As a horror movie from 2000, it’s held up remarkably well, and its influence on the genre is enormous. “Final Destination” revolutionized horror films by making a franchise out of a series where the killer is not this person who is wearing a mask or some supernatural being – it’s Death itself. That was new then. The film showed that horror can be psychological and not just visual. The film also paved the way for a horror franchise to be successful. Its formula – premonition, cheating death, death seeking revenge in creative forms – has birthed six movies to date. Each employs the same broad template but increasingly more and more extreme death scenes. The original “Final Destination” deserves its place as a horror classic. It’s clever, creative, and genuinely frightening in a way that haunts. It takes a simple concept – you can’t escape death – and turns it into a nerve-wracking thriller that makes you paranoid about everyday life. What I love most about it is how it balances the elaborate death sequences with actual character development and an interesting story. It’s not so much about the deaths; it’s about the psychological tension of knowing death is coming for you and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. If you’ve only watched the more recent films in the franchise, do yourself a favor and go back to the start. The original “Final Destination” set the bar high with its perfect combination of psychological horror and gory death sequences. It’s not goriest horror movie or most intricately plotted, but it is one that remains with you long after the credits roll. So yes, I’m gonna go ahead and give this 8/10. It loses points for a couple of the effects and dialogue now being a little dated, but the idea that it was built on is so great and the follow-through so great that it remains one of the most influential horror movies of the 2000s. If you haven’t watched, what’s wrong with you? Just perhaps don’t watch it before boarding an airplane.
OUR RATING – AN O.G. 8
MEDIA
- Genre – Horror
- Street date
- Digital – April 7, 2009
- Blu-Ray/DVD – April 7, 2009
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size 1.85:1
- Sound – English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
- English: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles – English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras
- Audio Commentaries – Not one but three tracks are included.
Director James Wong, writer/producer Glen Morgan, editor James Coblentz and screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick (recorded separately) make up the first, and discuss at considerable length the technical details of the shoot, the many story changes (including the ending) and constructing the elaborate death sequences. There are even some fun tibdits on alternate casting choices. A meaty, solid commentary.
The second track features the cast, including Devon Sawa, Kerr Smith, Chad Donella and Kristen Cloke. It’s fun track if slighter than the first, with everyone seeming to enjoy being on set and working with each other. Not too much depth here — it gets kinda old fast — but fans of these actors should enjoy it.
Finally, we get an isolated score (in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround), with the gaps filled in by commentary with composer Shirley Walker. As a fan of film scores, I love when studios include these tracks on their Blu-ray and DVD releases; I wish it was a standard feature on all releases.
- Deleted Scenes (SD) – We get three scenes here, and for once these are absolutely essential viewing. The complete, original ending sequence is presented, and it’s remarkably dissimilar to the theatrical ending. I prefer it on some levels — intellectually, at least — though there’s no denying it’s dramatically inert and would have undoubtedly been a letdown if left in the finished film. That said, the new ending they did come up with wasn’t all that much more satisfying, either…
- Featurette: “A Look at Test Screenings” (SD, 13 minutes) – One of the most informative featurettes you’re likely to see on a DVD. For once, the test screening process is laid bare, and the filmmakers (including ex-New Line CEO Robert Shaye) are utterly honest about how it affected the final cut of ‘Final Destination.’ A must-watch.
- Featurette: “Premonitions” (SD, 20 minutes) – This contextual featurette profiles Pam Coronado, a self-professed “intuitive investigator” aka psychic with a high success rate. Call me a cynic, but I remain skeptical, and demand more proof than we get here. Still, an interesting watch.