Final Destination - New Line Platinum Series

Rating:
Summary: Intereting premise, but dissapointing execution.
Review: I'm a lover of horror films, and I really wanted to like this one. The premise of this film seemed interesting to me, but its execution is severely lacking. It never manages to convey a sense of urgency, or even the inevitability of the deaths closing in on the characters. Part of the cause for this is that the mysterious fates that are stalking the characters do so in a rediculous fashion... and then they bother to hide the "accidents" as suicides.


Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly refreshing!
Review: The first thing I would like to say about "Final Destination" is that it's not "Final Destination 2." For those of us who saw both films, you know what I'm talking about. If not, I am referring to the first ten minutes of the second film, which surely ranks as one of the finest, most breathtaking ballets of gory mayhem in American horror in the last ten years. That said, I thought the first "Final Destination" a good, not great film. Perhaps the best thing going for this film is its originality. While "Final Destination" and its sequel borrow several elements from the tried and true slasher formula, both do something quite different with this tired genre. And a tired genre it is considering the number of straight to video slashers arriving in a video store near you number roughly a couple of billion a month. Many horror fans worry that the rapid increase in the amount of by the numbers horror movies threatens the future of the genre. This concern is understandable yet premature. As long as somewhat original films like "Final Destination" come along from time to time, I don't think we have much to worry about. At least I hope so.

"Final Destination" begins by introducing us to Alex Browning (Devon Sawa), your typical All-American kid getting ready for a trip to Paris sponsored by his high school French club. But something doesn't seem right. Sinister warnings pointing toward an imminent disaster keep popping up. For example, the digital clock in his bedroom flashes the number of his impending flight. Once he arrives at the airport with his classmates and chaperones, it's a bit disconcerting to notice that the word "terminated" appears next to his flight number on the arrival/departure board. Coincidence? Maybe, but things soon get much, much worse once the kids get on the airplane and it takes off. Something horrible happens to the plane soon after lifting off the runway, namely the rapid disintegration of the aircraft into a ball of fire. We see people sucked out of a rift in the side of the plane, flames roaring through the passenger cabin, and people screaming as they burn up. Talk about seeing something that will soak you in sweat! These opening scenes successfully play on the fear most of us have about perishing in an airplane disaster. We almost feel cheated when Alex suddenly wakes up, and realizes that the disaster was nothing more than a bad dream. Or was it?

Unfortunately, what Alex Browning saw in his nightmare unfolds right before his very eyes. The same conversations occur on the plane, as do the same events. He's so alarmed by the similarities between his dream and reality that he begins panicking, starting a ruckus on the plane that embroils him in a confrontation with class jerk Carter Horton (Kerr Smith). The result of this yelling match is the immediate removal of Browning, class loner Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), Horton, Horton's girlfriend, and one of Alex's friends from the plane. While the authorities severely reprimand the kids for their atrocious behavior, the plane takes off and promptly blows up over the runway, killing everyone on board including the rest of Browning's classmates. Now the authorities express real interest in Browning's dream. But in the interim the survivors of the explosion assume different attitudes toward Alex Browning. Horton's hostility increases exponentially. A teacher left behind because of the fracas also expresses real suspicion about her clairvoyant student. Clear Rivers, however, becomes quite interested in Alex Browning. What's more interesting is what happens soon after the accident. Browning's friends begin to die in horrific ways. Why? Because his dream thwarted "death's design."

Alex and all of the survivors were supposed to perish in that plane crash. Since they lived through the catastrophe, their lives imperil the future. At least I think that's the reason. The greatest strength of "Final Destination" is how death must go to extraordinary measures to make sure these survivors meet their doom. In this respect the grim reaper, although never physically actualized, stands in for the typical slasher maniac. Instead of dispatching various characters with such boring and unimaginative devices as sharp farm implements, something more baroque is in order. The torturous path water takes in a bathroom results in Alex's friend slipping and falling into the shower whereupon he expires from a nasty strangulation. The best atrocity by far happens in a very sudden and unexpected encounter between a bus and Horton's girlfriend. Needless to say, the other survivors drop off one by one in extremely imaginative and painful ways. Fortunately, there is nothing painful about the production values, special effects, and acting in "Final Destination." Most of the actors do a good enough job with their roles, even "Dawson's Creek" refugee Kerr Smith. No one is going to win any awards for their performance here, but the acting is better than most of the histrionics we see in horror movies. Be sure and look for veteran horror actor Tony Todd in a small role as a creepy mortician.

I ultimately enjoyed "Final Destination," although not as much as I liked the sequel. In the second installment of what looks like an enduring series (there are plans to make a third entry), the filmmakers cleverly linked the two films together while at the same time ramping up the gore to horrific levels. As a big fan of sauce heavy films, I appreciated the extra effort. The second film's DVD also contains a lot more extras than this one. Still, you do get a few trailers, behind the scenes stuff, and a couple of commentary tracks on the "Final Destination" disc. Give this one a watch--there are worse ways to pass a couple of hours.















Rating:
Summary: one of the best horror flicks ever!!!!!!!!
Review: FINAL DESTINATION is one of my favourite films because it was completely original... death following you not a typical slasher.... this is the first movie i was shocked and appauld by...in the middle of the movie, i had to walk out of the theater and one point... this movie changed the game of all horror flicks....

the sequel is a great one too... it is as shocking as the first but this one takes the cake....

all i can say i will never look at airplanes the same ever....


5 stars out of 5


Rating:
Summary: Don't Take It Too Seriously And You'll Enjoy It
Review: "Final Destination" is a pretty good flick considering that it's filed under the "Teen Slasher" title. The concept of Death coming after those who have thwarted their fate seems fairly original to me. I don't recall any other movie using this concept.

As most of you probably know, the story starts out with a young man(Devon Sawa) having a vision of Flight 180, the flight he and his classmates happen to be on, exploding into a ball of flames. He freaks out, gets himself and some of the other students and a teacher booted off of the plane and shortly thereafter, his vision becomes truth. He's considered a prime suspect for planting a bomb on the plane.

One by one, however, his classmates begin to die in some rather unorthodox ways. The agents tailing Sawa happen to notice that he has been around when most of these deaths occur, further incriminating him. Sooner or later Sawa, Ali Larter, and a few of the other surviviors realize that Death is hunting them down in the order that they should have died in the plane explosion.

This is where the train goes off the tracks. The plot gets a little bit loopy and things get rather silly as Death picks off the survivors one by one. The death scenes are rather original, and some of them make you cringe for a second as Death narrowly misses his victims. Of course, you have to wonder how Death can pull off a plane explosion, but can't manhandle a few puny high schoolers after they avert him the first time around. Just don't take this movie too seriously, and I'm sure everything will be okay. Look beyond the absurdities and you'll love every minute of it.

Overall, this isn't a bad flick. The story, though somewhat absurd, is original and the pacing of the film is perfect. The acting is solid, though Sawa seems a little bit stiff compared to the others. Ali Larter does a fine job as the loner who is the first to believe in Sawa's character. All of the death scenes are morbidly entertaining. I'm sure everyone has heard about the scene with the bus. If not, keep your eye out for it. It's one of the quickest, most violent deaths I've seen in the past few years. Also, look for the guy from "Candyman."

Recommended to teen slasher fans who like gore more than actual scares and anyone who just wants a neat popcorn flick to kill a little time. This one is entertaining enough to fill that need.

Rating:
Summary: Will you really want to see it more than once?
Review: Final Destination is a sort of slasher movie minus the slasher. The plot is ludicrous - centering around Alex (Devon Sawa), a high school kid who has a disturbing premonition of his class's aeroplane to Paris exploding, leaves the plane with others in a panic, and witnesses the plane explode and 'Death's' ensuing macabre pattern unfold.

The acting is not great, and quite how Alex is able to forsee death is never explained. The movie has about as much depth as your normal teen slasher movie. But, in it's favour, it is original, and on first viewing provides sufficient suspense to make it watchable. And the DVD has some interesting extras such as the crowd testing shots. But I would rent it from the video store rather than buy it. After you know how and when the characters die, will you really want to watch it again?

Rating:
Summary: You Don't Like This!
Review: I'm about to get on a plane in about 2 weeks, for the second time only in my whole life, and boy, I shouldn't have watched this movie! The other night I was bored, and decided to compare my list of DVDs to my list of DVDs I've reviewed, and discovered there's about 50 that I have not reviewed! So to get the ball rolling, I thought I'd review the first ever DVD I ever got! (It was also the first commentary I ever watched, and apart from Miss Congeniality, I'll never watch one again!)

I'd originally seen this at the cinema, and started to get into the whole DVD phenomenon, albeit a couple of years behind everyone else. 221 DVDs later - I don't smoke, rarely drink, or do drugs, so this is my vice, and a constant source of amusement among the people I work with! I also get very much teased about liking this movie when I started college.

This movie still scares me four years on, even though I've seen it a million and one times. I get quite jumpy, and the thought of getting on a plane after seeing this sickens me (even if it is an hour long, internal flight). The extras also freak me out, especially the quiz, which tells you the exact date you're going to die. I can't remember the exact date now, but it was quite far away. It freaked me out so much the first time I did it, I've never dared do it again, to find out if the date changes. Apart from the usual generic garbage, that's the only extra I've ever truly hated on a DVD.

There are quite a few great actors in this, although apart from the lovely Ali Larter, they haven't done too much else in movies, or set the box offices alight. I've seen a picture of Devon Sawa from his latest movie, and he's fairly lost his OK looks from this and starring in Eminem's "Stan". Apart from Dawson's Creek, the gorgeous (his cheekbones, his eyes, nice) Kerr Smith's only reasonable 'hit' has been Cruel Intentions 3, a straight to DVD sequel sequel!!! (Which I will probably get now I know he is in it) Tony Todd is also the evil mortician guy, who was originally in Candyman. Seann William Scott also appears in a small and insignificant role and he later ends up getting brutally decapitated.

The only good thing about the commentary was that the amount of stuff the director points out, cool little facts & stuff. The whole 9:25 stuff is absolutely wicked, and I love how they managed to incorporate it all. The woman at the check-in desk at the airport tells Alex that the plane leaves at 9:25, which is the same as his birthday (25th September). When he gets on the plane he sits in seat I (which is the 9th letter of the alphabet) and the seat is in row 25. In scenes not shown in the final cut of the movie, but in the deleted scenes Alex and Clear's baby is born at 9.25. (Which can get confusing, as Alex & Clear's relationship suddenly turns from friendly, to a more intimate relationship, without explaining why, unless you watch the deleted scenes.) There's also a luggage cart, which has 666 written on the top of it and during the very dull opening credits, all of the deaths in the movie are foreshadowed. There is a hanging doll, a guillotine, and a picture of a knife in someone's chest. Continuously throughout, music by John Denver is played, who I'd never heard of until I 'watched' the commentary, and found out about him.

I've never understood why some people don't like this movie, but prefer the second one. It's always strange when people do that. I found the second one good, but sometimes (like now, for instance), I find I can't remember a single stand out thing about it.

This is a great movie, and it's terrific to see a teen slasher flick with a different concept for once. Sure, they all die in same ways to other teen slasher flicks: flying heads, a girl being totally crushed by a giant bus (you NEED to watch that scene frame by frame, cos it's fantastic), a woman getting caught by 'accident' inside a house on fire and much more. Just don't attempt to do the quiz OK?