Being the anxious person that I am you’d think that I’d hate the Final Destination series, considering it plays on all the little anxiety inducing things that are in the back of your mind like a plane, or roller coaster crash, or bridge collapse, and even create new fears, like having your laser eye surgery turn deadly, but actually, I’ve always been a big fan of the movies. In a way, Final Destination is my Nightmare on Elm Street, or Friday the 13th, since I was growing up as the films were being released. Last week, I found that Syfy was playing Final Destination 3, and when I was watching it a lightbulb went off. Why don’t I channel my inner Rayzor, and do a list ranking the Final Destination films? I definitely have to do it asap so he doesn’t beat me to it, like he did with American Horror Story, although, I suppose I could still make my own post about that, because I would rank them differently than he did, but anyway FINAL DESTINATION. It seemed like the article would be easy to do, and basically write itself, because I have SO many thoughts about the movies, but then I realized that the ranking them part would not be so easy, since to me they don’t really differ in quality very much, and I love each of them. It’s going to be hard, but let’s do this, but be warned, there will be some spoilers in here, so if you haven’t seen all of them, tread with caution.
5.The Final Destination (2009)
Okay, first of all, I just kind of hate the title. Secondly, even though I still love it, I think it’s the most forgettable, and boring film of the franchise. I had to look the plot up in order to recall all of the deaths, and characters, which I didn’t have to do for any of the other films. This installment of the franchise begins with a group of friends and other patrons surviving a horrible accident as a car crashes at a race and sends tires and other things into the crowd, and eventually making the stadium collapse. At the lead of the film is the BEAUTIFUL Bobby Campo who recently starred in MTV’s Scream as the english teacher, Seth Branson. I do think the way the ending scene switches from a normal scene to the view of an x-ray is really neat, though.
- Final Destination (2000)
Honestly, it kind of pains me to put the first movie this low on the list, but currently I think that’s where it should be. Before I get into thoughts about the movie specifically, let me tell you kiddos a little story. On July 17, 1996, Trans World Airlines flight 800, taking a group of students from JFK to Paris for a field trip exploded minutes after it took off. A couple hours later, and thousands of miles away, I was born. The crash loosely inspired the very first horrifically deadly accident in the film franchise, so clearly, I was born to love these movies. The first character in the franchise that audiences see having a premonition, and saving friends from their death (for a short period, that is) is teenage Alex Browning who is played by Devon Sawa. Hmm, his last name is one letter away from mine, another sign perhaps? The film also stars Ali Larter, who later stars in one of my favorite tv shows of all time, Heroes, and American Pie star, Seann William Scott, who’s character is just as annoying in this as he is in American Pie. Besides the fact that I hate that character, there really isn’t anything that is holding the film back from being higher up on the list, but instead the other films added more things to them that propelled them further, and made them better, which makes sense, and is really how franchises should be; Getting better, instead of getting worse, like a large sum of franchises do.
3) Final Destination 2 (2003)
Three years later the second film in the franchise was released. Final Destination 2’s big disaster is the one that caused everybody to be weary of log trucks, the deadly route 23 pile up. What’s interesting about the survivors of this incident is that unlike all the other films, there isn’t a core group of friends among them. Instead, the main character Kimberly survives while her friends die, and eventually connects with the rest of the survivors as they all try to stop their imminent deaths. This film also includes the reappearance of Ali Larter’s character Clear Waters, who is the only one that came out of the first film alive. She is the only character that was on death’s list to be an active part of multiple films in the franchise. Another unique thing about the second film is that it’s revealed that each of the characters who survived the pile up, had already escaped death once before, thanks to the Flight 180 crash.
- Final Destination 5 (2011)
The fifth and most recent entry in the Final Destination series starts by having a group of coworkers survive a bridge collapse, when Sam, played by Nicholas D’Agosto, who like Ali Larter, is later featured in the tv series Heroes, has a vision of the accident and urges his fellow bus passengers to exit. Final Destination 5 definitely has the best, and nastiest death scenes. The only scene in the whole franchise that is truly hard for me to watch is the scene where one of the survivors dies while practicing her gymnastics routine. Although I handle watching the other deaths in the movie better, I still think they’re really gross, and terrifying. Like why did they have to go and make this girl die during laser eye surgery? I’m probably going to have to have laser eye surgery eventually because I’m already very much like Velma from Scooby Doo, who is completely lost and useless without her glasses. Anyway… In previous films, the mortician Bludworth, played by Tony Todd, tells the survivors things like they can’t cheat death at all, or new life is the only thing that can cheat death, and he becomes even shadier than he already is in Final Destination 5, when he tells this group something different, that you can cheat death by killing someone, and therefore living for as long as they would have lived. A character seemingly does this, by accidently causing someone else’s death. Sam’s friend, and boyfriend of the gymnast lady, decides he also wants to try out this little theory, but can’t bring himself to kill a stranger. Instead, he decides to be a little bitch and try to kill Sam’s girlfriend, since she didn’t die in the premonition, and therefore would survive this mayhem. Thankfully, his plan fails miserably, and he gets what’s coming to him. Sam, and girlfriend survive, and Sam ends up deciding to take a job in Paris that he was offered earlier in the movie, so they are seen on their flight at the end of the movie. Wait a minute…flight to Paris? That seems suspicious… Maybe because soon after they board a group of teenagers including one who seems to be freaking out are kicked off of the plane. Of course we as the audience know that this is the group of survivors from the first film, making this film a prequel, which was the icing on the top of the cake of this great movie. Sam however, is not aware that something is wrong until he hears flight attendants discuss that the boy freaking out said he had a vision of the plane crashing. By the time he hears this, and realizes that he is caught in the middle of another death trap, it’s too late, and the plane starts to meet its fate. I love, loVE, LOVE this ending, and although it is the most obvious connection between the films, I think it is the best.
1.Final Destination 3 (2006)
The third installment in the franchise has always been my favorite. The deathly event that the characters played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Ryan Merriman, escape is the roller coaster crash. Both had starred in other horror films previous to the release of Final Destination 3, but 10 year old me knew them from some of the best Disney Channel Original Movies around, Sky High for Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and The Luck of the Irish, and Smart House for Ryan Merriman. I know I had at least seen part of the second one before this, because I always thought about it when I saw a log truck, but didn’t remember anything else from it, so I guess the third movie was the first one that I ~really~ watched. I remember a conversation I had with a friend about it the year it came out, after it was released on dvd, like it was yesterday. I was 10, and in the 5th grade, and he said something about the scene with the girls at the tanning salon, but I was confused because what he said isn’t what happened when I watched it, then he explained that there was a feature on dvd where you could choose different options that would affect how each death scene played out. A couple of years ago my friends and I had a Final Destination marathon, and went through every option on the dvd to see each possible outcome, and let me tell you, it took a while. Another reason that I’m ranking the third movie as number one is because I think it has the best ending scene. The ending to the fifth movie is a close second, but I think the ending to the third is the best because it still seems like it fits with the story of this particular movie, while to me, all of the other endings (with the exception of the fifth) just seem like random scenes, that have very little correlation with the rest of the film, and were only written, and tacked on to the end to make them go out in style. They didn’t really add anything else to the movies, but the ending of third one definitely did. If I’m not mistaken, it’s also the only ending where the person who had the premonition in the beginning had another one at the end. Oh, and yet another way that this film stands out from the others is the fact that each character’s death is predicted in photos that were taken on the night of the first deadly incident. Let me just round this off by saying that back in July I went to an amusement park, and as if I wasn’t paranoid about there being a mishap on a roller coaster enough, the guy sitting next to me was sneakily holding a camera to record the ride, so I was having some serious deja vu, and felt like I was in this movie.
While the rankings of the first, second, and fifth films could all easily be switched around just depending on my mood, or which one I’ve watched most recently maybe, I’d say that The Final Destination will always be my least favorite, and Final Destination 3 will always be my favorite. The whole franchise contains so many easter eggs, and cool connections to each other that make it truly unique.How would you rank the films? Let us know in the comments, or on facebook, or twitter! Be sure to tune into The Horror Syndicate Live through our facebook page, or youtube channel tomorrow night a 8/7 central, where you can hear the rest of The Horror Syndicate’s team’s opinions on the franchise!
FAQs
Why is the number 180 significant in Final Destination? ›
The number 180, also known as the 180 curse, is a recurring ominous and common number and is a key element of the Final Destination series. It usually marks the imminent death of a character.
What is the most brutal Final Destination? ›9/9 Billy's Death by Shrapnel – Final Destination
One of the more gruesome deaths comes when Billy Hitchcock is beheaded by a piece of flying shrapnel. In the minutes leading up to his death, Billy and a few others from the original plane crash were in a car when it stalled out on the train tracks.
Parents need to know that Final Destination has intense scenes of violence and gore peppered throughout. The death of the victims in these scenes is not caused by another person, but instead by circumstance and "chance" instigated by the shadowy figure of Death, who is sometimes seen as a blur in the background.
Which Final Destination is best Reddit? ›Final Destination 2 — the sequel imo is the best one in the series, it improves upon every aspect of the first movie: the opening disaster, a higher bodycount, and had some of the more realistic deaths out all the movies (except the barbed wire one).
Which Final Destination is best Quora? ›If your going by overall quality and enjoyment its Final Destination 2 & slightly Final Destination 3 but Final Destination 2 has the best opening from all five films and deaths as well so edge to Final Destination 2 however the best written and most shocking and original hands down goes to Final Destination 5.
How many people died flying 180? ›Volée Airlines Flight 180 (also known as Flight 180) was an international flight on a Boeing 747-200 destined for Paris, France that exploded shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy Airport on May 13, 1999, killing all 287 passengers onboard and at least one person on the ground.
Are the deaths in Final Destination possible? ›The Final Destination franchise is known for their brutal and over-the-top kills and an LA-based Law Firm has calculated which deaths are most common. A Los Angeles-based law firm has calculated which Final Destination deaths are most likely to happen in real life.
Is it possible to survive in Final Destination? ›In Final Destination 2, Kimberly Corman beat death by attempting to drown in a lake then she "died" for a short period of time before she was resurrected by the doctor thus granting new life and becoming one of the only two survivors who did not die by end of the series.
What was the worst death in Final Destination? ›1. Plane crash (Final Destination 5)
What killed everyone in Final Destination? ›Five months after the death of Ian McKinley (Kris Lemche), the final kill in the main story, the three survivors (played by Winstead, Ryan Merriman, and Amanda Crew) reunite by chance on a crowded subway train. Suddenly, Wendy has another premonition: She sees the train derail, killing everyone aboard.
Did flight 180 really happen? ›
Flight 180 has been confirmed to be loosely based on the real life disaster of TWA Flight 800 that occurred on July 17, 1996 near East Moriches, New York en route to Rome, with a stopover in Paris, with high school students and had also experienced an in-flight explosion due to a spark igniting the Center Wing Track.
Is Final Destination ok for a 12 year old? ›Obviously because it's a horror/action movie there's quite a lot of violence and swearing so it is definitely not for kids.
Is Final Destination 1 Inappropriate? ›The Final Destination is rated R by the MPAA for strong violent/gruesome accidents, language and a scene of sexuality.
Is Final Destination like Saw? ›Saw is my all time favorite series, but it's also a much different series than Final Destination. Saw has a more gory aspect to it, which I love. Final Destination is more of an adventurous series about death, where Saw is more of serious 'don't take your life for granted,' series.
Is Final Destination 2 worth watching? ›Final Destination 2 is legitimately an excellent movie; it's a fun and suspenseful film that manages to improve on the original in every way while also standing entirely on its own.
Should I watch Final Destination in order? ›Production order or timeline order? In all honesty it doesn't make that much of a difference if you watch them in production order or timeline order, just make sure you watch them! The Final Destination films are inventive horror movies that offer plenty of thrills and a large dose of kills.
Is Final Destination 1 and 5 connected? ›Final Destination 5 is a 2011 American 3D supernatural horror film directed by Steven Quale and written by Eric Heisserer. It is the fifth installment in the Final Destination film series and a prequel to the first film.
What is the message of Final Destination? ›Death itself tries to set things right by killing all of those who have disturbed the balance of life and death. The series plays on themes of fatalism, predestination, precognition, fate vs. free will, luck, etc. James Wong directed Final Destination (2000) and Final Destination 3 (2006), with David R.
Which Final Destination movie has the log truck? ›So about the highway disaster in Final Destination 2 … In the second film, our protagonist, Kimberly Corman, has a vision where logs come loose from a semi-truck, causing a major accident on the highway. One of the logs smashes into a police officer's window, which creates a series of events that kills numerous others.
What is the deadliest plane crash in history? ›...
Tenerife airport disaster.
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 27 March 1977 |
| Summary | Runway collision in fog |
| Site | Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Ciudad de La Laguna Airport) Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain 28°28′53.94″N 16°20′18.24″W |
| Total fatalities | 583 |
What caused Flight 800 crash? ›
...
TWA Flight 800.
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | July 17, 1996 |
| Summary | In-flight breakup due to fuel tank explosion caused by short circuit |
Flight 828 was a service of Montego Air from Montego Bay, Jamaica to John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, New York. The aircraft departed on April 7, 2013 carrying a total of 191 passengers and crew.
Is Final Destination realistic? ›Well, you may be surprised to learn a lot of the movie's kills are based on real-life injuries. With Final Destination's 22nd anniversary coming our way, one of LA's leading personal injury law firms confirmed which of the franchise's kills have actually injured people in real life.
Is Wendy dead in Final Destination? ›In her premonition, Wendy died by falling on the roller coaster tracks. In her actual death, she died on the trains tracks. The voice of the mortician from the first two movies played the conductor on the train.
Is bludworth dead? ›Trivia. Many fans have long theorized that Bludworth is the very personification of Death or a major representative of it. However, this has been confirmed to be false by the producers.
Who is the creepy black guy in Final Destination? ›Deleted scenes cover two subplots of Alex and Clear, an alternate ending where Alex dies after rescuing Clear from the live wires, Clear bearing a baby which she names Alex, and Clear and Carter finishing as the only survivors of the film.
Is Kimberly in Final Destination 3? ›Mary Elizabeth Winstead, the actress who played Wendy in Final Destination 3 auditioned for the role of Kimberly, but she was replaced by Canadian actress A.J. Cook. Kimberly alongside Thomas Burke are the only characters that were able to successfully cheat death in the franchise.
What Final Destination has the escalator? ›1/10 Escalator Execution - Final Destination 4
Even escalators aren't exempted from Final Destination 4 as it was one of the most gruesome ways they invented to kill off one of the participants in Death's design. Before the escalator chewed up someone and digested her whole, a movie theater explosion took place.
Trivia. Hunt Wynorski is referenced in the opening credits of Final Destination 5 by water splashing on the screen.
Who dies first in Final Destination? ›
| Position | Name | Cause of Death |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Tod Waggner | Struck by falling radio |
| 2. | Terry Chaney | Died in Flight 180 explosion |
| 3. | Valerie Lewton | Incinerated in Flight 180 explosion |
| 4. | Carter Horton |
Dan recounts the plot of this movie. Angie D'Amico dies in a tanning bed just like Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin did in Final Destination 3. The movie poster is shown. Mentioned by Caroline.
Is Final Destination iconic? ›Final Destination is an iconic 00s horror franchise with five installments between 2000-2011 and a sixth film following first responders planned for 2022.
Is Final Destination 2 Based on a true story? ›Final Destination 2's highway pile-up is said to be inspired by a 125 vehicle pile-up that happened on Interstate 75 in Catoosa County, Georgia, which resulted in the death of 4 people and caused around 40 additional injuries.
Why did clear rivers survive? ›Clear is in the hospital giving birth to their son, Alex Browning II. As it turns out, she and Carter survived the entirety of Final Destination because they were able to cheat death's design with two key methods of exempting themselves from it: new life and the death of the final person in the original design.
What is the entity in Final Destination? ›William Bludworth, Final Destination.
In the Final Destination series, Death (also known as The Grim Reaper) is an active, cunning, volatile, supernatural, personified force, and the series' primary antagonist, though its actual malevolence is debatable.
In Final Destination 2, Clear reveals to Route 23 pile-up survivor Kimberly Corman that Alex died by being bludgeoned on the head by a dislodged brick from a nearby building.
Should I watch Final Destination in order? ›Production order or timeline order? In all honesty it doesn't make that much of a difference if you watch them in production order or timeline order, just make sure you watch them! The Final Destination films are inventive horror movies that offer plenty of thrills and a large dose of kills.
Why is Final Destination 4 called the final destination? ›Final Destination 4's original title was The Final Destination. It was intended to be the last movie in the franchise. 34. The Final Destination is the only movie in the franchise where Tony Todd does not appear as William Bludworth.
Which Final Destination has the plane crash? ›Volée Airlines Flight 180 (commonly referred as Flight 180) was a Boeing 747 airliner departing from JFK Airport in New York City en route to Paris, France which exploded on takeoff killing everyone aboard on May 13th, 2000. It is the first major disaster of the series seen in Final Destination and Final Destination 5.
Which Final Destination has the roller coaster? ›
Final Destination 3 stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman, and takes place years after the first film. Winstead plays Wendy Christensen, a high school graduate who has a premonition that a roller coaster she and her classmates are riding will derail.
Is Final Destination 1 and 5 connected? ›Final Destination 5 is a 2011 American 3D supernatural horror film directed by Steven Quale and written by Eric Heisserer. It is the fifth installment in the Final Destination film series and a prequel to the first film.
Is Final Destination 2 worth watching? ›Final Destination 2 is legitimately an excellent movie; it's a fun and suspenseful film that manages to improve on the original in every way while also standing entirely on its own.
Is Final Destination campy? ›The horror franchise Final Destination dominated the 2000s as the movies combined ridiculous campy features — similar to Sharknado, and horrific gory deaths. The movie was able to seamlessly substitute reality for dramatics as the kills are attributed to the supernatural force, Death.
Is it possible to survive Final Destination? ›According to William Bludworth, only new life can beat Death. In an alternate ending of Final Destination, Clear Rivers had a baby with Alex Browning (although he is dead), so she and Carter Horton beat Death.
Who is the villain in Final Destination? ›Death, also known as the Grim Reaper, is the main antagonist of the Final Destination film series.
What was the big accident in Final Destination 4? ›Theatrically, the McKinley Speedway disaster is the fourth major disaster of the series, as seen in The Final Destination, and the final disaster chronologically, given the events of Final Destination 5.
Was there a real Flight 180? ›Flight 180 has been confirmed to be loosely based on the real life disaster of TWA Flight 800 that occurred on July 17, 1996 near East Moriches, New York en route to Rome, with a stopover in Paris, with high school students and had also experienced an in-flight explosion due to a spark igniting the Center Wing Track.
Is Final Destination based off a real story? ›The Final Destination kills are actually based on injuries that do happen in real life. You may think there is absolutely no way that every death scene in the Final Destination films could actually happen in real life. Well, you may be surprised to learn a lot of the movie's kills are based on real-life injuries.
Does anyone survive Final Destination 1? ›Deleted scenes cover two subplots of Alex and Clear, an alternate ending where Alex dies after rescuing Clear from the live wires, Clear bearing a baby which she names Alex, and Clear and Carter finishing as the only survivors of the film.
Is Final Destination 3 Scary? ›
Overall, some of the deaths shown on the screen may be distressing and scary for some people, especially for anyone under the age of 14. Honestly, the film is really unrealistic, and quite comedic at times.
How many people died in Final Destination 3? ›Final Destination 3
Carrie Dreyer - Killed when the roller coaster crashed. Jill - Killed when the roller coaster crashed. Marcus - Killed when the roller coaster crashed. Elle Dana - Killed when the roller coaster crashed.
Dan recounts the plot of this movie. Angie D'Amico dies in a tanning bed just like Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin did in Final Destination 3. The movie poster is shown. Mentioned by Caroline.