Final Destination (New Line Platinum Series)
by James Wong
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DVD details
Actor: Ali Larter, Devon Sawa, Kerr Smith, Tony ToddDirector: James Wong
Brand: NEW Line Home Video
Producer: Richard Brener
Producer: Brian Witten
Producer: Glen Morgan
Producer: Craig Perry
Producer: Warren Zide
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-06-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: N5061
Studio: New Line Home Video
Product features:
- Horror tale with a twist, Final Destination tells the story of teenager with strange premonitions about death and the mysterious accidental deaths that follow his life. Directed by X-Files veteran James Wong.Running Time: 98 min. System Requirements: Starring: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Tony Todd, and Seann William Scott. Directed By: James Wong. Running Time: 98 Min., Color. Th
DVD Reviews of Final Destination (New Line Platinum Series)
DVD Review: Surprisingly refreshing!
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Description of Final Destination (New Line Platinum Series)
Horror tale with a twist, Final Destination tells the story of teenager with strange premonitions about death and the mysterious accidental deaths that follow his life. Directed by X-Files veteran James Wong.DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
DVD ROM exclusive web site
Documentaries
Music Only Track
While hardly a spiritual upgrade of the slasher film, this high-concept teen body-count thriller drops hints of The Sixth Sense into the smart-aleck sensibility of Scream. Helmed by X-Files veteran James Wong, who cowrote the screenplay with longtime creative partner Glen Morgan, Final Destination is an often entertaining thriller marked by an unsettling sense of unease and scenes of eerie imagery. It suffers, however, from a schizophrenic tone and a frankly ludicrous premise. A high school Cassandra, Alex Browning (Devon Sawa of Idle Hands), wakes from a preflight nightmare and panics when he's convinced the plane is doomed. His ruckus bumps seven passengers from the Paris-bound plane, which immediately explodes into a fireball on takeoff, but fate hasn't finished with these lucky few and, one by one, death claims them. Wong brings such a funereal tone to these early scenes of survivor's guilt and inevitable doom that the already far-fetched film threatens to veer into unplanned absurdity. Thankfully, the tale loosens up with a playful morgue humor: one of the victims winds up the splattered punch line to a grim joke and elaborate Rube Goldbergesque chains of cause and effect become inspired spectacles of destruction. Final Destination is a pretty silly thriller when it takes itself seriously, and the filmmakers play fast and loose with their own rules of fate, but once they stick their tongues firmly in cheek, the film takes off with a screwy interpretation of the domino effect of doom. --Sean Axmaker
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