Final Destination

This article is about the franchise as a whole. For the first film in the series, see Final Destination (film). For other uses, see Final Destination (disambiguation).
Final Destination

DVD set containing all five films
Directed by Final Destination 1, 3
James Wong
Final Destination 2, 4
David R. Ellis
Final Destination 5
Steven Quale
Produced by Glen Morgan
Warren Zide
Craig Perry
Toby Emmerich
Jeffrey Reddick
James Wong
Screenplay by Final Destination 1, 3
Glen Morgan
Final Destination 1, 3
James Wong
Final Destination
Jeffrey Reddick
Final Destination 2
J. Mackye Gruber
Final Destination 2, 4
Eric Bress
Final Destination 5
Eric Heisserer
Story by Final Destination 1
Jeffrey Reddick
Final Destination 2
Jeffrey Reddick
J. Mackye Gruber
Eric Bress
Based on Characters
by Jeffrey Reddick
Starring Devon Sawa
Ali Larter
Kerr Smith
A.J. Cook
Michael Landes
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Ryan Merriman
Bobby Campo
Shantel VanSanten
Mykelti Williamson
Nicholas D'Agosto
Emma Bell
Tony Todd
Music by Final Destination 1, 2, 3
Shirley Walker
Final Destination 4, 5
Brian Tyler
Distributed by Final Destination 1, 2, 3,
New Line Cinema
Final Destination 4, 5
Warner Bros.
Release dates
Final Destination
March 17, 2000
Final Destination 2
January 31, 2003
Final Destination 3
February 10, 2006
The Final Destination
August 28, 2009
Final Destination 5
August 12, 2011
Running time
Total (5 films)
455 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget Total (5 films)
US$154 million
Box office Total (5 films)
US$665,080,639

Final Destination is an American horror franchise composed of five films, comic books and novels. It is based on an unproduced spec script by Jeffrey Reddick, originally written for the X-Files television series, and was distributed by New Line Cinema. All five films center around a protagonist that has a premonition of a terrible mass-casualty accident that will kill numerous people, including themselves and the other characters. The protagonist and several other people manage to escape from the scene of the accident, before it happens, but are later killed in a series of bizarre accidents that frequently resemble Rube Goldberg machines in their complexity.

The series is noteworthy amongst others in the horror genre in that the "villain" of the movies is not the stereotypical slasher, but Death itself (very occasionally seen as a fleeting shadow), which manipulates the environment with the intent of claiming the lives of those who managed to escape their fates.

In addition to the films, a novel series (which includes the novelizations of the first three films) was published throughout 2005 and 2006 by Black Flame. A one-shot comic book titled Final Destination: Sacrifice was released alongside select DVDs of Final Destination 3 in 2006, and a comic series titled Final Destination: Spring Break was published by Zenescope Entertainment in 2007.

Films

Final Destination (2000)

High school student Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) boards Volee Airlines Flight 180 with his classmates for a field trip to Paris, France. Before take-off, Alex has a premonition that the plane will explode in mid-air, killing everyone on board. When the events from his vision begin to repeat themselves in reality, he panics, and a fight breaks out, which leads to several passengers being left behind including Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), Carter Horton (Kerr Smith), Billy Hitchcock (Seann William Scott), Valerie Lewton (Kristen Cloke), Terry Chaney (Amanda Detmer), and Tod Waggner (Chad Donella), who witness the plane explode moments later. Afterwards, the survivors begin to die one by one through a series of bizarre accidents, and Alex attempts to find a way to "cheat" Death's plan before it's too late. Six months later, Alex, Clear, and Carter travel to Paris to celebrate their survival, believing they have finally cheated Death; however, after Carter is crushed by a giant neon sign, they realize that Death's plan is still in action.

Final Destination 2 (2003)

Main article: Final Destination 2

One year after the first film, college student Kimberly Corman (A. J. Cook) is heading to Daytona Beach for spring break with her friends Shaina, Dano, and Frankie (Sarah Carter, Alex Rae, and Shaun Sipos) En route, Kimberly has a premonition of a massive car pile-up on Route 23, killing everyone involved. She stalls her SUV on the entrance ramp preventing several people from entering the highway, including state trooper Thomas Burke (Michael Landes), Eugene Dix (T.C. Carson), Rory Peters (Jonathan Cherry), Kat Jennings (Keegan Connor Tracy), Nora and Tim Carpenter (Lynda Boyd and James Kirk), Evan Lewis (David Paetkau), and pregnant Isabella Hudson (Justina Machado). While Officer Burke questions Kimberly, the pile-up occurs as she predicted. In the days following the accident, the survivors begin to die one by one in a series of bizarre accidents. After learning about the explosion of Flight 180, Kimberley teams up with Clear Rivers, the only survivor of the first film and Flight 180, to try to save a new group of people from Death. This time the survivors are told that only "new life" can defeat Death, and must stay alive long enough for Isabella to have her baby. It is later revealed that Isabella was never meant to die in the pileup, and Kimberly drowns herself in a lake so that she can be resuscitated by emergency staff, thus granting her "new life"; saving her and Thomas.

Final Destination 3 (2006)

Main article: Final Destination 3

Five years after the explosion of Flight 180 and four years after the pile-up on Route 23, high school student Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), visits an amusement park for grad night with her friends Kevin Fischer (Ryan Merriman), Jason Wise (Jesse Moss), and Carrie Dreyer (Gina Holden). As Wendy and her friends board the Devil's Flight roller coaster, Wendy has a premonition that the ride will crash, killing everyone on board. When Wendy panics a fight breaks out and several people leave or are forced off before the accident occurs, including Kevin, Wendy's younger sister Julie (Amanda Crew), Ian McKinley (Kris Lemche), Perry Malinowski (Maggie Ma), Erin Ulmer (Alexz Johnson), Lewis Romero (Texas Battle), Frankie Cheeks (Sam Easton), and Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin (Chelan Simmons and Crystal Lowe). When the survivors start to die one by one in a series of strange accidents, Wendy and Kevin set out to save those who remain. Most of their attempts are futile, with the exception of Julie, and themselves, leading them to believe they have cheated death. However, the three "coincidentally" cross paths five months later and are killed in a horrifying subway accident.

The Final Destination (2009)

Main article: The Final Destination

Six years after the explosion of Flight 180, five years after the pileup on Route 23, and one year after the Devil's Flight roller coaster derailment, college student Nick O'Bannon (Bobby Campo) visits the McKinley Speedway for a study break with his friends Lori Milligan, Janet Cunningham, and Hunt Wynorski. While watching the race, Nick has a premonition that a race car crash will send debris into the stands, causing the stadium to collapse on the guests. When Nick panics a fight breaks out and several people leave before the accident occurs, including, Lori (Shantel VanSanten), Janet (Haley Webb), and Hunt (Nick Zano), security guard George Lanter (Mykelti Williamson), and spectators Jonathan Groves (Jackson Walker), Andy Kewzer (Andrew Fiscella), Samantha Lane (Krista Allen), Carter Daniels (Justin Welborn), and Nadia Monroy (Stephanie Honoré). Once again, the survivors are killed in a series of strange accidents except for Janet, who is rescued just moments before her death. This leads the remaining survivors to believe that they have cheated Death, until Nick has another premonition of a disastrous explosion at a shopping mall, which he manages to prevent, saving him, Lori, and Janet. Two weeks later, Nick realizes the mall disaster vision was only meant to lead them to where Death wanted them to be.

Final Destination 5 (2011)

Main article: Final Destination 5

Sam Lawton (Nicholas D'Agosto) is on his way to a corporate retreat with his colleagues. While they cross the North Bay Bridge Sam has a premonition that the bridge will collapse, killing everyone on it. Sam manages to persuade several of his co-workers to get off the bridge before the accident occurs, including Molly Harper (Emma Bell), Nathan Sears (Arlen Escarpeta), Peter Friedkin (Miles Fisher), Dennis Lapman (David Koechner), Olivia Castle (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), Isaac Palmer (P. J. Byrne), and Candice Hooper (Ellen Wroe). After Candice and Isaac die in bizarre accidents, Sam is warned that Death is still after the survivors and told that if he wants to live he must kill someone who was never meant to die on the bridge, and claim their remaining lifespan. Olivia and Dennis are killed before they have a chance to save themselves, but Nathan claims the lifespan of a co-worker when he accidentally causes his death in a warehouse accident. Peter attempts to kill Molly, jealous that she survived instead of Candice. He eventually gains the lifespan of an investigating agent, but is killed by Sam before he can kill Molly. Sam and Molly later board a plane to Paris, which is later revealed to be Flight 180 from the first film. It is therefore revealed that the fifth film was a prequel, and all of its events had taken place prior to the rest of the film series. Unable to get off the plane, both are killed in the resulting explosion. The landing gear is sent towards New York City and crashes into a cocktail bar, killing Nathan, since the co-worker whose life he claimed had a terminal illness and was due to die any day.

Future

On February 1, 2011, Tony Todd said in an interview with Dread Central that if Final Destination 5 was a success at the box office, then two sequels would be filmed back-to-back.[1] On August 23, 2011, when asked whether he would be directing a sequel, Steven Quale elaborated, "Who knows. Never say never. I mean, it'll be up to the fans. We'll see how this one performs internationally and if it makes as much money as the fourth one, I'm sure Warner Brothers will want to make another one."

Structure of the films

The movies are different in themselves, but all have the same theme and structure.

The movies begin traditionally with the main character in a place prone to accidents (an airport, a highway, an amusement park, a race track, and a suspension bridge, respectively). They start to realize that something strange is going on. There are ironic signs such as plates, numbers, music, people, talking characters or places in poor storage conditions. All this refers to death or accidents. Soon after, the main character says they have a strange sensation and then an accident starts claiming several victims. The main character snaps out of it and they conclude that it was a dream or a premonition: the vision ends a few moments before the actual accident happens and the main character concludes that it was true, because some things they saw in the premonition start happening. This is the time to try to prevent. Confusion always happens, causing some who should die in the accident to survive. But some people (either friends, colleagues or even strangers) end up dying in the accident. A memorial happens and the main character realizes something is still wrong. After a few survivors die, the main character seeks an explanation and realize that Death is seeking one by one, and in the same order that they should have died in the accident. The character begins to have premonitory visions concerning the upcoming deaths. At that time, some characters come together to prevent death, while others disagree, thinking that's insane, and eventually die. Generally, the main characters survive to the end. But the film ends when the main characters think they have defeated death - but it was just waiting for the right moment to strike again.

Signs

Signs are always present throughout the films, and some just are perceived by the protagonist and others can be perceived by other characters. They can be words, visions, signs, photos, banners, songs, numbers and etc. The visions are present in detailed forms on the first, second and fourth films. They must decipher who is the character and how they will die, which is not always clear. The same happens in the third film, however, unlike visions, the characters have photos. On the 5th film, the victims themselves recognize the signs (finger cut or broken picture, for example). Some songs are also present in the movies like "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver (who died in a plane crash), "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC in Final Destination 2, "Turn Around, Look At Me" by The Lettermen in Final Destination 3, "Dust In The Wind" by Kansas in Final Destination 5. The number 180 (flight number of the first film) is an important number in the franchise. It appears in all the films, referencing Death.

Examples of signs

Death

Death is represented in the films as an evil presence that follows the characters. There is no representation of Death in the movies, but in Final Destination it is portrayed as a dark shadow seen by many characters. There are no answers on how the main character manages to have a premonition, but according to William Bludworth (present in the films): "In death there are no accidents, no coincidences, no mishaps, and no escapes." It is known that Death has a scheme for everyone alive and that every person's actions can decide the way they will die.

The way Death acts in the movies makes this information true. Each object or action of the character can help in the event of death. An example of this is in the first death of Final Destination 2, where Evan Lewis throws the spaghetti out of his apartment, he later ends up slipping on it and gets impaled by an escape ladder. Death sometimes acts supernaturally (moving objects mysteriously) or naturally, such as machine malfunctions, winds knocking things over, and explosions.

Death's Plan

The survivors end up dying in the same order that they should have died in the initial accident (but in reverse order in Final Destination 2). Some movies don't show Death's entire 'list', and some survivors don't have their death shown in the premonition. Death's list is in a fixed order; a person cannot die before it's their 'turn', and if a particular person is saved, Death moves to the next listed person. When the list is complete, Death restarts its cycle. The protagonist of a given film is always the last on the list (even in Final Destination 2, where Kimberly is initially the first person on the list, but becomes the last by surviving until nobody else is alive).

Flight 180 and connections

As shown in the second film, deaths are connected with each other (flight 180 survivors indirectly engaged with the highway survivors), and so on. Clear Rivers says Death was working in the opposite way to repair the edges left in the first film and that leaving the airplane changed the whole scheme of Death. Thus, we can say that the death of all the characters in the franchise are connected to the flight 180 survivors. Had they not come out and had Sam not left the bridge before the airplane crash, all the characters of the films would already be dead.

Avoiding Death

Saving the next person is practically impossible. So there are several theories of how to defeat the Death:

Cast and characters

List indicator(s)

  • (v) indicates the actor or actress used only his or her voice for his or her film character
  • (f) indicates the actor or actress did not appear in any new footage for the film; footage from an earlier film was used.
  • (photo) indicates the actor or actress appeared in a photograph for the film.
  • (s) indicates that the actor did not appear, but a CGI skeleton represented that character and their mode of death.
  • A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
Character Film
Final Destination
(2000)
Final Destination 2
(2003)
Final Destination 3
(2006)
The Final Destination
(2009)
Final Destination 5
(2011)
William Bludworth Tony Todd   Tony Todd
Clear Rivers Ali Larter   Ali Larter (s) Ali Larter (f)
Alex Browning Devon Sawa Devon Sawa (photo)   Devon Sawa (f)
Carter Horton Kerr Smith Kerr Smith (photo)   Kerr Smith (f)
Billy Hitchcock Seann William Scott Seann William Scott (photo)   Seann William Scott (s) Seann WIlliam Scott (f)
Valerie Lewton Kristen Cloke Kristen Cloke (photo)   Kristen Cloke (s) Kristen Cloke (f)
Terry Chaney Amanda Detmer Amanda Detmer (photo)   Amanda Detmer (f) Amanda Detmer (f)
Tod Waggner Chad Donella Chad Donella (photo)   Chad Donella (s) Chad Donella (f)
George Waggner Brendan Fehr   Brendan Fehr (f)
Larry Murnau Forbes Angus   Forbes Angus (f)
Christa Marsh Lisa Marie Caruk  
Blake Dreyer Christine Chatelain  
Agent Weine Daniel Roebuck  
Agent Schreck Roger Guenveur Smith  
Kimberly Corman   A. J. Cook A. J. Cook (photo)  
Thomas Burke   Michael Landes Michael Landes (photo)   Michael Landes (f)
Eugene Dix   T. C. Carson   T. C. Carson (f)
Rory Peters   Jonathan Cherry   Jonathan Cherry (s) Jonathan Cherry (f)
Kat Jennings   Keegan Connor Tracy   Keegan Connor Tracy (s) Keegan Connor Tracy (f)
Nora Carpenter   Lynda Boyd   Lynda Boyd (s) Lynda Boyd (f)
Tim Carpenter   James Kirk   James Kirk (f)
Evan Lewis   David Paetkau   David Paetkau (s) David Paetkau (f)
Dano Estevez   Alex Rae   Alex Rae (f)
Frankie Whitman   Shaun Sipos   Shaun Sipos (f)
Shaina McKlank   Sarah Carter   Sarah Carter (f)|
Brian Gibbons   Noel Fisher  
Isabella Hudson   Justina Machado  
Wendy Christensen   Mary Elizabeth Winstead   Mary Elizabeth Winstead (f)
Kevin Fischer   Ryan Merriman   Ryan Merriman (f)
Julie Christensen   Amanda Crew   Amanda Crew (f)
Ian McKinley   Kris Lemche Kris Lemche (s) Kris Lemche (f)
Erin Ulmer   Alexz Johnson Alexz Johnson (s) Alexz Johnson (f)
Lewis Romero   Texas Battle Texas Battle (s) Texas Battle (f)
Ashley Fruend   Chelan Simmons Chelan Simmons (s) Chelan Simmons (f)
Ashlyn Halperin   Crystal Lowe Crystal Lowe (s) Crystal Lowe (f)
Frankie Cheeks   Sam Easton Sam Easton (s) Sam Easton (f)
Perry Malinowski   Maggie Ma Maggie Ma (s) Maggie Ma (f)
Jason Wise   Jesse Moss  
Carrie Dreyer   Gina Holden  
Nick O'Bannon   Bobby Campo Bobby Campo (f)
Lori Milligan   Shantel VanSanten Shantel VanSanten (f)
Janet Cunningham   Haley Webb Haley Webb (f)
Hunt Wynorski   Nick Zano Nick Zano (f)
George Lanter   Mykelti Williamson Mykelti Williamson (f)
Andy Kewzer   Andrew Fiscella Andrew Fiscella (f)
Samantha Lane   Krista Allen Krista Allen (f)
Carter Daniels   Justin Welborn Justin Welborn (f)
Nadia Monroy   Stephanie Honoré Stephanie Honoré (f)
Jonathan Groves   Jackson Walker  
Cynthia Daniels   Lara Grice Lara Grice (f)
Sam Lawton   Nicholas D'Agosto
Molly Harper   Emma Bell
Peter Friedkin   Miles Fisher
Agent Block   Courtney B. Vance
Nathan Sears   Arlen Escarpeta
Dennis Lapman   David Koechner
Olivia Castle   Jacqueline MacInnes Wood
Isaac Palmer   P. J. Byrne
Candice Hooper   Ellen Wroe
Roy Carson   Brent Stait
John (Roy's friend)   Roman Podhora

Novels

Throughout 2005, publishing company Black Flame released a series of Final Destination books which faithfully follow the premise of the films, with each involving a group of people who find themselves targeted by Death after surviving a catastrophe of some sort due to a character experiencing a precognitive vision.

Comics

The first Final Destination comic book, entitled Sacrifice, was published by Zenescope Entertainment and came packaged with a limited edition DVD of Final Destination 3 sold exclusively at Circuit City. The premise of the story involves the survivor of a terrible accident and his friend Jim, who continually experiences images of other people's deaths, isolating himself from the rest of the world to escape the visions that torment him. Zenescope later released a five issue miniseries, subtitled Spring Break, which involves a group led by Carly Hagan being stalked by Death after surviving a hotel fire and becoming stranded in Cancún, Mexico.[2] The miniseries was later released in a trade paperback collection, which included the Sacrifice comic as bonus content.[2]

Reception

Box office performance

Film Release date Box office gross Box office ranking Budget Ref(s)
North America Outside North America Worldwide All time
North America
All time
worldwide
Final Destination March 17, 2000 $53,331,147 $59,549,147 $112,880,294 #1,187 $23 million [3]
Final Destination 2 January 31, 2003 $46,961,214 $43,465,191 $90,426,405 #1,372 $26 million [4][5]
Final Destination 3 February 10, 2006 $54,098,051 $63,621,107 $117,719,158 #1,166 $25 million [6]
The Final Destination August 28, 2009 $66,477,700 $119,689,439 $186,167,139 #907 $40 million [7]
Final Destination 5 August 12, 2011 $42,587,643 $115,300,000 $157,887,643 #1,523 $40 million [8]
Total $263,455,755 $401,624,884 $665,080,639 $154 million
List indicator(s)
  • A dark grey cell indicates information is not available for the film.

Critical and public reception

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore
Final Destination 34% (94 reviews)[9] 36 (28 reviews)[10] B-[11]
Final Destination 2 48% (109 reviews)[12] 38 (25 reviews)[13] B+[11]
Final Destination 3 43% (115 reviews)[14] 41 (28 reviews)[15] B+[11]
The Final Destination 29% (94 reviews)[16] 30 (14 reviews)[17] C[11]
Final Destination 5 61% (129 reviews)[18] 50 (24 reviews)[19] B+[11]

Spinoff works bibliography

Comics

Novels

  1. Rhodes, Natasha (2005-03-15). Final Destination: Dead Reckoning. Black Flame. ISBN 1844161706.
  2. McIntee, David (2005-03-15). Final Destination: Destination Zero. Black Flame. ISBN 1844161714.
  3. Levene, Rebecca (2005-06-07). Final Destination: End of the Line. Black Flame. ISBN 1844161765.
  4. Roman, Steven (2005-09-13). Final Destination: Dead Man's Hand. Black Flame. ISBN 1844161773.
  5. Collins, Nancy (2005-11-29). Final Destination: Looks Could Kill. Black Flame. ISBN 1844163164.
  6. Rhodes, Natasha (2006-01-03). Final Destination. Black Flame. ISBN 1844163172.
  7. Collins, Nancy (2006-01-31). Final Destination 2. Black Flame. ISBN 1844163180.
  8. Faust, Christa (2006-01-03). Final Destination 3. Black Flame. ISBN 1844163199.
  9. McDermott, Andy (2006-08-01). Final Destination: Death of the Senses. Black Flame. ISBN 1844163857.
  10. Johnson, Alex. Final Destination: Wipeout. Black Flame. ISBN 1844164098.

References

  1. "Exclusive: Tony Todd Talks Final Destination 5! Parts 6 and 7 Already in the Cards?". Dread Central. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2011. They expanded my part, and the producer told me as we were leaving Vancouver that if it opens at Number 1 – which statistically it has – they're going to shoot the next two simultaneously.
  2. 1 2 See: #Further reading
  3. "Final Destination (2000)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  4. "Final Destination (2003)". IMDb. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  5. "Final Destination 2". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  6. "Final Destination 3 (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  7. "The Final Destination". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  8. "Final Destination 5". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  9. "Final Destination". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  10. "Final Destination". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  12. "Final Destination 2". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  13. "Final Destination 2". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  14. "Final Destination 3". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  15. "Final Destination 3". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  16. "The Final Destination". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  17. "The Final Destination". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  18. "Final Destination 5". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  19. "Final Destination 5". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved September 6, 2012.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Final Destination
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.