final destination movie review

Final Destination

“Final Destination” observes the time-honored formula of the Dead Teenager Movie: It begins with a lot of living teenagers and dooms them. But the movie, made by two veterans of “ The X-Files ” TV series, is smarter and more original than most DTMs. It has mordant humor, Rube Goldberg death traps and sophomoric but earnest discussions of fate. Also an opening sequence that assures this film will never, ever, be shown on an airplane.

The movie begins with a high school class boarding a plane for a class trip to Paris. Alex ( Devon Sawa ), one of the students, has a vision, vivid and terrifying, of the plane exploding in flight. He jumps up to get off, has a fight with another student, and ends up being ejected along with five other students and a teacher. Then the airplane takes off and, you guessed it, explodes mid-air.

This scenario is of course in the worst possible taste in view of the real-life fate of TWA Flight 800, also bound for Paris with students aboard. I will observe that and not belabor it. The explosion is a setup for the rest of the movie, in which it appears that the survivors also may be marked for death–and that Alex is psychic and can foresee their deaths.

Can he really? That’s where the movie gets interesting, since instead of using his eerie precognitions as a gimmick, it allows the characters to talk urgently about their feelings of doom and helplessness.

The film in its own way is biblical in its dilemma, although the students use the code word “fate” when what they are really talking about is God. In their own terms, in their own way, using teenage vernacular, the students have existential discussions.

“Final Destination” isn’t all dialogue, however, and there’s a weird disconnection between the words and the action. One after another, the characters die, almost always because of a bizarre chain of connected events. To describe them would be to spoil the fun–if that’s what it is–as lightning, natural gas, knives, trains, power lines and flying metal shards are choreographed by fate (or You Know Who).

Why must these students die? Well, everybody does. Why should they be the exception? As the movie opens they’re filled, like most teenagers, with a sense of their own immortality and gradually their plight wears them down.

The movie is neither quite serious nor quite ironic; sometimes it’s funny, but in a creepy way rather than in the breezier style of the “ Scream ” movies. The very last shot, set in Paris but filmed in Canada (during a last-minute reshoot in January), is a shaggy dog trick. I laughed, I guess, but the movie really deserves better. My guess is the original ending was more considered, but New Line was afraid of it.

The director is James Wong . He and co-writer Glen Morgan worked on “The X-Files,” “ 21 Jump Street ” and “Millennium.” They haven’t made a great or distinguished film, but working within a tired genre with a talented cast, they’ve brought unusual substance and impact to the DTM. The vision of the airplane crash is remarkably scary, and other scenes, like a car stopped on railroad tracks, work–even though they’re cliches–because of the dialogue and the motivations of the characters.

“Final Destination” will no doubt be a hit and inspire the obligatory sequels. Like the original “Scream,” this movie is too good to be the end of the road. I have visions of my own.

I foresee poor Alex making new friends and then envisioning their deaths as they embark on ocean liners, trains, buses and dirigibles. It’s a funny thing about Hollywood: It can’t seem to get enough of dead teens. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Devon Sawa as Alex Browning
• Kerr Smith as Carter Horton
• Kristen Cloke as Valerie Lewton
• Ali Larter as Clear Rivers
• Glen Morgan
• Jeffrey Reddick

Directed by

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Final Destination

After getting a premonition about a plane crash on his school trip, Alex, a student, saves a few of his classmates. However, their situation gets complicated when death starts chasing them. After getting a premonition about a plane crash on his school trip, Alex, a student, saves a few of his classmates. However, their situation gets complicated when death starts chasing them. After getting a premonition about a plane crash on his school trip, Alex, a student, saves a few of his classmates. However, their situation gets complicated when death starts chasing them.

• Glen Morgan
• Jeffrey Reddick
• 843 User reviews
• 114 Critic reviews
• 39 Metascore
• 3 wins & 5 nominations

Top cast 40

• Alex Browning

• Clear Rivers

• Carter Horton

• Valerie Lewton

• Agent Weine

• Agent Schreck

• Tod Waggner
• (as Chad E. Donella)

• Billy Hitchcock

• Terry Chaney

• George Waggner

• Larry Murnau

• Christa Marsh

• Blake Dreyer

• Barbara Browning

• Ken Browning

• Mrs. Waggner
• Mr. Waggner
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia The story was originally going to be the concept for an episode of The X-Files (1993) , which was inspired by Sole Survivor (1984) . In this movie, a woman who was the sole survivor of a plane crash starts to be haunted by dead people that Death uses temporarily as vessels trying to kill her to correct its plan, and killing everyone who suspect about it.
• Goofs (at around 10 mins) When Alex pushes Tod shortly before boarding the plane, Tod says "Ow that hurt". But when he says "That hurt" his mouth is not moving.

Bludworth : In death there are no accidents, no coincidences, no mishaps, and no escapes.

• Crazy credits The opening credits are done in a ghosting format.
• Alternate versions The version aired on TV, in the U.S., on the Sci-FI channel, silences the profanity and cuts away right before the death sequences.
• Connections Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Erin Brockovich/Onegin/Final Destination/Deterrence (2000)
• Soundtracks Rocky Mountain High Written by John Denver and Mike Taylor Performed by John Denver By arrangement with The RCA Records Label of BMG Entertainment

User reviews 843

• Sleepin_Dragon
• Oct 8, 2023
• How long is Final Destination? Powered by Alexa
• When Alex and Clear go to the mortuary and talk to Bludworth, he says that the only way to stop Death is to disrupt the order in which they die in. When Alex saves Carter's life before he dies from the train, shouldn't that have disrupted the order and prevent Death from claiming the rest?
• Is "Final Destination" based on a book?
• Who is Bludworth?
• March 17, 2000 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Destino final
• Vancouver International Airport, Sea Island, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
• New Line Cinema
• Zide-Perry Productions
• British Columbia Film Commission
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $23,000,000 (estimated)
• $53,331,147
• $10,015,822
• Mar 19, 2000
• $112,880,294

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 38 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Final destination.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 21 Reviews
• Kids Say 64 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

By Afsheen Nomai , based on child development research. How do we rate?

Teens fear the reaper in this so-so thriller.

Parents Need to Know

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…

Why Age 18+?

As a plane explodes we see the terrifying effect on the passengers inside (e.g.

Some strong language at the very beginning of the film (teenagers using foul lan

Brief shot of a couple making out. A main character picks up a Penthouse magazin

Any Positive Content?

The main character tries to do good by attempting to save the lives of those he

Violence & Scariness

As a plane explodes we see the terrifying effect on the passengers inside (e.g. people burning, lots of blood), a teenager accidentally hangs himself, a boy's head is cut in half by a flying piece of metal, a woman's throat is slashed and she is stabbed by knives that fall off a kitchen counter. There are other violent scenes where Death tries to take people's lives but fails.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Some strong language at the very beginning of the film (teenagers using foul language).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Brief shot of a couple making out. A main character picks up a Penthouse magazine and we briefly see an interior photo of a naked woman.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

The main character tries to do good by attempting to save the lives of those he thinks are going to die. He is also willing to give his own life to save another.

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. There is very little sexual content aside from a make-out scene and a glimpse of a naked women in a magazine. Profanity is limited to our introduction to the high school students at the beginning of the film. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (21)
• Kids say (64)

Based on 21 parent reviews

NOT FOR KIDS

Interesting premise is played out in a graphic strong violence way, what's the story.

If the grim reaper has chosen our time, can we escape it? Does death have a design? If so, and we figure it out, can we change it? These are the questions high school senior Alex (Devon Sawa) begins to ask. Just after taking his seat on a flight, Alex has a very vivid vision that the plane carrying himself and his classmates on a field trip to France will explode shortly after takeoff. He freaks out, and is taken off the plane with five others who somehow get caught up in his hysteria. Sure enough, as Alex and a classmate argue at the gate, the plane takes off without them and explodes. One-by-one those six who escaped the plane begin to die under curious circumstances. Alex becomes convinced that the six of them cheated Death and now Death is coming to get them in the order they would have died on the plane. Alex, still having visions, is determined that if he can figure out Death's design, he can save the lives of those who got off the plane.

Is It Any Good?

FINAL DESTINATION has a convincing enough plot, unfortunately one that by now has become cliché. So desperate is this film to create an aura of suspense and foreboding that by the end of the film, any object in existence could be a weapon in the hands of the grim reaper. This certainly makes for suspense, but not good suspense.

Perhaps the film loses a lot of ground here when, in the opening sequence of the film, the camera lingers on the cover of the book Death of a Salesman . This is the degree to which the filmmakers are trying to spook us and fail; by referencing the title of a book that has nothing to do with the death of anyone. Watching this film merely becomes a countdown to gore as curiosity over "how" someone will get it overshadows any curiosity over "who" will get it. Overall, the film proves disappointing.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about death and/or the concept of destiny. Are our lives pre-determined, or do we have free will? To what degree are we able to control what happens in our lives?

Movie Details

• In theaters : March 17, 2000
• On DVD or streaming : September 26, 2000
• Cast : Ali Larter , Devon Sawa , Kerr Smith
• Director : James Wong
• Inclusion Information : Asian directors, Female actors
• Studio : Anchor Bay Entertainment
• Genre : Horror
• Run time : 98 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : violence and terror, and for language
• Last updated : August 31, 2024

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Every Final Destination Movie, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes

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With news about Final Destination 6 making headlines recently, it's time to take a look back at the previous five films, or, in this case, how Rotten Tomatoes ranks them. A franchise that started over 20 years ago and ushered in a new villain to horror that we all fear: death. But not death in the form of a killer with a bloody mask or a creature on the prowl, but rather death itself, the force that takes our lives away.

Rotten Tomatoes may have been a little hard on these films. But fans flocked to them, forgiving some cringy dramatic moments and praising the elaborate death sequences, which is really the reason why people pay the price of admission to these films. In anticipation for the new Final Destination 6 down the road, here's how Rotten Tomatoes ranks the first five installments.

5 The Final Destination (2009) - 27%

What was originally supposed to be the final installment ended up not being that, and it also ended up not being loved by critics either. The Final Destination received a 27% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the worst of the franchise. Most viewers agree with the critics; it really is the weakest of the franchise and has a tiresome tone to it. The deaths are not as elaborate, the acting is poor, and unlike past films, you really cared about the characters.

There isn't enough time to get too invested in these. The movie never misses a beat to have us get involved in the lore of it all. There was also not really anything new about it, even in terms of exposition.

Related: Final Destination 6: 10 Actors We Want to See in the New Movie

4 Final Destination (2000) - 36%

It's strange, the movie that started off a franchise has this low of a score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics seemed to hate Final Destination for the over the top performances of its characters, as well as the poor execution of the material. However, moviegoers in March 2000 found the movie to be a thrill ride that never lets up. Thus creating a massive franchise that would follow. Sometimes audiences just want to have fun at a horror movie, and that's what they get here. With an ensemble cast , the movie was released when the genre was beginning to look for its new batch of movies to define an era.

3 Final Destination 3 (2006) - 43%

43% on Rotten Tomatoes could still be deemed low, but in this part of this franchise, that's actually pretty good for a third installment. Final Destination 3 has cool kills that were highly prevalent at the time of its release. The infamous tanning bed kill stands out to many. There is a lot of amusement and thrills in the opening roller coaster premonition. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is a perfect lead for this new installment. It's just a fun movie that shocked audiences with how good it actually was.

2 Final Destination 2 (2003) - 50%

Three years after the release of the original, the highly anticipated Final Destination 2 was released. Let's start with the obvious: the film's opening is a massive highway car wreck that makes any millennial nervous around a logger truck. It is one of the elements of the film that defines the whole franchise. The kills in this one are bigger and better and, frankly, trump the previous movie. One thing this franchise was good at doing early on was making you anxious rather than scared.

Final Destination 2 expands on that. Having you enter every scene where you know something awful is about to happen, you just don't know how or when death is going to fully strike. Scares in horror movies are often compared to the set-up of a joke. That analogy is on full display in a lot of these death scenes; attention to even the smallest detail still gets a big payoff.

Related: Final Destination 2: What Happened to Every Character

1 Final Destination 5 (2011) - 63%

Who would have thought the fifth installment of this franchise would have the highest score out of all of them on Rotten Tomatoes? Why, you may ask? Well, here are some reasons. Final Destination 5 benefits from the use of 3D quite well. A gimmick mostly used at some point in a horror franchise actually fits in the movie. Five also doesn't have cringe-worthy performances in it. These have been plagued by overly dramatic deliveries that, at times, are laughable. It feels big in scale with the opening bridge sequence. And lastly, there is the twist. Spoiler alert ahead if you have never seen Final Destination 5.

It is indeed a prequel and not a sequel. It is actually set before the first one. And we learn this in the final part of the film, as it ends where the first began, as Sam (Nicholas D'Agosto) and Molly (Emma Bell) are getting on the plane that kicked off the franchise. Once you see Alex (Devon Sawa) and Carter (Kerr Smith), your jaw can't help but hit the floor. In a franchise known for its formulaic thrill ride full of scares and anxiety. It was a nice change of pace to see a twist like that.

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Final Destination Reviews

[James] Wong fills the finest moments of his flick with the kind of self-aware suspense that you know is contrived and insincere but can’t wait to see how it builds to a grisly and blood-soaked climax.

Full Review | Aug 28, 2024

Even more than two decades on, it’s hard not to be completely engrossed in the survivors being imperilled by everything from natural gas, knives, trains, power lines and metal shards.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 2, 2023

This clever twist on the slasher sub-genre is good, gory fun and features one of the best death scenes ever put on film.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 29, 2020

A movie that traps you and leaves you wanting for more gruesome adventures. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 12, 2020

It commits hard to what it's depicting and how badly it wants to amuse & disgust the audience.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 30, 2015

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Sep 7, 2011

Teens fear the reaper in this so-so thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 1, 2011

Becomes little more than a typical--if highly atmospheric--slasher film, complete with the cheesy dialogue and gimmicky conclusion.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 3, 2010

...an innovative (and unexpectedly influential) exercise in horror.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 29, 2009

...glib, well produced, and reasonably well acted, adding up to slick pop drivel.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Apr 25, 2009

Generates a respectable amount of suspense and takes a few unexpected turns while covering familiar territory.

Full Review | Mar 27, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 7, 2008

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 27, 2007

About as subtle as an amplified death rattle--only not quite as fun to listen to.

Full Review | Original Score: D- | Sep 16, 2007

This portentous chiller is a nasty piece of work.

Full Review | Jan 26, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Tedious and derivative, it will soon be long forgotten.

Full Review | Original Score: 52/100 | Feb 17, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | May 14, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 0/4 | Feb 17, 2003

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• DVD & Streaming

Final Destination

Content caution.

In Theaters

• Devon Sawa as Alex Browning; Ali Larter as Clear Rivers; Kerr Smith as Carter; Kristen Cloke as Ms. Valerie Lewton; Seann William Scott as Billy; Chad Donella as Tod

Home Release Date

Distributor.

• New Line Cinema

Positive Elements   |   Spiritual Elements   |   Sexual & Romantic Content   |   Violent Content   |   Crude or Profane Language   |   Drug & Alcohol Content   |   Other Noteworthy Elements   | Conclusion

Movie Review

Alex Browning boards Flight 180 for his senior trip to France. But before the plane can even take off, he gets a creepy premonitions of the plane exploding. Gripped by the intensity of his vision, he determines he must get off the flight. His intuition saves him. He and five others watch from the terminal as their plane erupts into a ball of fire. It seems they’ve cheated death—but “death” isn’t finished with them yet. Can Alex keep saving his himself and his friends by trusting his instincts? Hardly. If he could, this movie would never have been made.

Positive Elements: Scarce. Alex and his fellow survivors pull together in an effort to escape “death” and stay alive.

Spiritual Content: It’s twisted to be sure, but Final Destination subtly invites horror fans to think about the eternal matters of life and death. Also, a Hari Krisna passes out pamphlets at an airport. At a memorial service, a pastor recites from the book of Ecclesiastes. One character is accused of being a witch and a warlock (both are false accusations). A man declares, “Gods don’t die. Gods live, we die.”

Sexual Content: Sneaking a peek at a Penthouse magazine, a teenager briefly views an image of a topless woman (it is implied that he also wishes to see a female friend naked). Afraid his death is imminent, a teenage boy regrets not fondling a girl. Girls wear low-cut blouses. A couple makes out in public.

Violent Content: During a catastrophic event, people are shown bleeding while intense heat melts a man’s flesh. An unfortunate few are sucked out of an airplane to certain death. A cord strangles a man in a shower stall. Fluids are extracted from a corpse at a mortuary. A bus runs over a pedestrian at full speed (the audience is spared the actual impact, but blood spatters from the collision all over onlookers). A shard of glass impales a woman and knives pierce her body. Scrap metal serves as an instrument of decapitation. A dangerous rescue results in electrocution.

Crude or Profane Language: The f-word and s-word are integral parts of the dialogue. God’s name is abused five or six times and other profanity appears as well.

Drug and Alcohol Content: A woman pours a glass of vodka. Some friends sip beer and wine at a restaurant.

Other Negative Elements: Two unnecessary scenes feature men sitting on toilets going to the bathroom.

Summary: Final Destination vainly seeks to entertain with pointless dialogue and horrific violence. The film deserves a subtitle, 101 Ways to Die . With large quotients of creativity devoted to finding new ways for people to meet their maker, death is ultimately trivialized. It’s almost a game. And every time a character seems to bring interest to the story, the plot shifts gears to include more profanity and gory details.

Positive Elements

Spiritual elements, sexual & romantic content, violent content, crude or profane language, drug & alcohol content, other noteworthy elements.

Jonathan Bartha

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