The Final Destination horror movie franchise proved death has a design, but not all such designs are created equal in the entertainment department. Made on a fairly modest budget of $23 million, the first Final Destination movie burst onto the scene in 2000, taking horror fans by storm. While Final Destination generally operates as a slasher movie, it comes with the twist of involving a slasher one can't see, which also happens to have nearly limitless power to manipulate a victim's environment in order to knock them off.
That's because Final Destination's slasher is Death itself, which while never physically personified in any of the films, is a presence that looms over each and every scene. It's possible to escape the clutches of Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees, try and avoid sleep to outrun Freddy Krueger, and not play with any weird puzzle boxes to stay clear of Pinhead. Death is a force beyond time and space, and facing off with it is a challenge even the most capable of humans is destined to lose.
With a sixth Final Destination movie currently in development, now seems like a great time to revisit the five prior Final Destination films, and take stock of their strengths and weaknesses. With that in mind, here's all the Final Destination movies, ranked worst to best.
A common thread among the Final Destination series is that the kills are almost always great, and pulled off with spectacular special effects befitting a much higher budgeted production. The Final Destination - seemingly intended to end the series, judging by that title - is no different, especially the absolutely vicious escalator death late in the film. Unfortunately, the opening massacre at a race track is the weakest in the series to date, and the cast of characters is entirely forgettable. Even the harsh death of the really racist guy, which should be fun, is hampered by his cartoonishly bigoted behavior, leading to an almost Looney Tunes-esque feel.
By the point of Final Destination 3, the franchise's formula had really started to sink in. While formula isn't necessarily a bad thing if it's executed well each time, Final Destination 3 is definitely on the lower end of the quality spectrum, although better than its immediate follow-up. The opening premonition-based massacre takes place on a theme park roller coaster this time out, and while the concept is a novel one, it's not quite a home run success. Some of the other kills also kind of blend together, with lots of head splats. The tanning bed death is pretty great though. Helping things is a talented main cast, headed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the character trying to avert Death's plan this time out. Ryan Merriman and Kris Lemche provide capable backup too. Notably, this is the only Final Destination movie not to have Tony Todd's mysterious Bludworth character appear on camera, although he does appear via a vocal cameo.
The most recent Final Destination film, Final Destination 5 served to reinvigorate the franchise creatively, and it's a shame things went dormant afterward. The requisite opening premonition massacre takes the form of a suspension bridge collapse this time, and it's a breathtaking, heart-stopping sequence full of gory deaths, near misses, and absolute chaos. The sequel's other kills are also varying degrees of good, with the botched laser eye surgery scene being the harshest, although a gymnast who ends up turning into a pretzel is jaw-dropping too. To top it off, Final Destination 5's final twist is extremely clever, and ends things on a high note.
Some fans would rank Final Destination 2 at the top of the list, and in terms of sheer fun factor, it might well deserve that ranking. While the original Final Destination had to spend time establishing the plot and rules of the series, Final Destination 2 lets loose, going crazy right off the bat with its opening massacre, an amazingly complex series of car crashes on a highway that have to be seen to be believed. The part involving logs falling off a truck still inspires memes to this day. Final Destination 2 also benefits from the return of Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), one of the original film's leads, as well as a capable new lead in the form of future TV star AJ Cook.
As fun as Final Destination 2 is, 2000's original Final Destination wins out, due to being the first application of its creative premise, as well as actually trying to be scary, while the sequels mostly focused on gore and fun. Devon Sawa stars as Alex Browning, a high school student who has a premonition that the plane he just boarded is about to blow up. He freaks out, and gets himself and a few other students kicked off the flight. The plane does explode, leaving the survivors to try and stave off Death's attempts to reclaim their lives. The result is some really creative deaths, especially for Alex's poor teacher, who gets an almost Rasputian demise. It's easy to see why Final Destination was a hit, and hopefully the reboot will prove to be a welcome return to relevance.
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