Final Destination (2000)

Don't be so serious, and remember it's "fiction"

Ok, I am new to the "Final Destination" horror films, as horror is not my genre. I actually saw the 3rd one first, and became intrigued by the "cheating death or did they" plot. Last weekened, TNT had a showing of all 3 and for a lark I recorded them all (which will nicely fit on a 6 hour DVD).

I saw FD-1, and let me say, that it was interesting, and thought-provoking. It had it's moments and if you remember it's fiction, I think you will enjoy it better. As one person said, don't take it too seriously. You really don't want to keep running around scared to death and looking at everything like it's going to kill you.

None of us knows how we would react if something like that would happen to us. Would we panic, go insane, be grateful we were saved, be more careful, or wonder "was it really my time, and my selfishness to save my own butt caused the death of my friends". So, given all of the youth "I'm going to live forever" ideas, young kids who don't know how to deal with death (maybe they didn't have to) and fiction, it's worth 4 stars.

The movie starts out like life, you begin by thinking you got your whole life ahead of you, then you get to the airport.

Yes, a plane disaster, like we haven't seen or read about them before.

BUT, this one is a little different. One of the guys, Alex, is sitting in his seat for a moment (the whole numerology deal starts clicking; he was born 9-25, flight 925, ROW I (9) SEAT-25), then has a "vision or premonition" of the whole disaster. He freaks out & how many of us wouldn't?? He jumps up, alerting the crafts personnel and irritating a few other people (Kerr Smith's character--Carter). Teachers and students are dragged off the plane, and while chaos ensues, the crafts disembarks and explodes, as he said it would.

Of course the FBI being suspicious won't stop following him, even though the cause was "mechanical failure". The FBI doesn't believe in premonitions or the like.

That accident sets off a chain reaction to the whole death-master plan design. One by one, freakish accidents plague the survivors in the order they would have died had they stayed on the plane. Of course we don't know about such things as there are usually no surviors or instances where this has happened recently, so we don't know how true this theory is, it could make sense if you are open-minded.

Since Tod lost his brother on the flight, it is assumed he committed suicide, and he's the first to die. Then, it's the antagonist's girlfriend (Terry) who was next--killed quite freakishly after telling Carter to "drop dead". Then, the surviving teacher's freakish accident.

By this time, Alex realizes he might be able to cheat death and keep the others alive, and sets out to do just that. After saving Carter, another character (Billy) is rambling on about Carter being dead and is hit by a piece of debris from Carter's car versus train incident, leaving just Alex, Carter and the girl (Clear or Claire).

As of note, doors do not lock by themselves, BUT since he was on a train track, it is feasible the vibration from the coming train caused them to lock as they were the manual locks and relied on being "pushed down" (gravity/velocity type of thing??).

Since they figured they survived they run off, but Alex realizes Clear is next and sets out to save her, which he does. 6 months later they are in Paris (their "final" destination at the beginning), and after hearing the song "Rocky Mountain High", which preceded most of the other deaths, they realize they might not have cheated death and the movie ends with Carter sacrificing himself to save Alex.

And, as predictable there are going to be sequels.

FD-1 is pretty good entertainment, thought-provoking, plot is slightly recycled in the whole "teen death/slasher" genre, slightly over used "edge of seat" plot as well.

Watch it on the TV first. If you're really intriugued keep it on DVR or find the DVD cheap ($10 and lower), try Walmart $5 bin or thier $7.50 stack. If you must have the whole series, buy the triology on Amazon for under $25. October 14, 2008

super fun!

Final Destination has an array of famous people in it! Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Sean William Scott and a whole bunch more! This movie is wonderful, entertaining and creepy! Give this movie a try! October 9, 2008

Glossy horror flick.

Final Destination starring Devon Sawa and Ali Larter is pretty far-fetched but enjoyable to watch. Some of the death scenes are out of this world, too gory and disgusting. The first half of the film is the best but the rest drags and never picks up speed again. I recommend watching this film but stay away from the sequel, it's truly horrendous. August 5, 2008

I couldn't help myself. Some of the ways Death found its victims were unbelievable (and not in a good way).

And some of the ways people get killed will make you whisper, "Yeah, right!" under your breathe. The good thing though is that it was really gripping more often then not; nice amounts of action, a little blood here and there, and silly college-aged kids dying left and right.

It's been over a year since I watched this last and I honestly found myself being pulled in almost like it was my first time viewing it!

3.9 stars. July 28, 2008

JAMES WONG, OPUS 1

** 2000. Written and directed by James Wong. Six students and a teacher manage to escape a plane crash thanks to a premonition of Alex Browning, one of them. A few weeks later, Death starts to kill the survivors one by one. FINAL DESTINATION is basically a stupid movie about a good idea. There isn't here only one smart scene or idea, it seems that the director wanted to please the teen audience by delivering another pimply shocker and that's all. In these perspective, a film like Peter Jackson's The Frighteners (Director's Cut) which handles some of the themes of FINAL DESTINATION is a masterpiece! This one is unfortunately already forgotten. July 14, 2008

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