It's that time again; time to witness the path of death as we follow its destination to the last and often gruesome final breath of so many victims. I have really enjoyed the Final Destination series since the original film came out way back in 2000. A film that had some smart and original ideas, while delivering some fantastically fun death scenes. That film laid out the ground work for what would be two sequels, that while bringing nothing really new to the table, just flat out delivered on some of the most entertaining and "Oh Shit!" death scenes put to celluloid. These films aren't changing the face of horror cinema - they are what they are, and what they are, is fun. I go to see a Final Destination movie to have a good time and to see what the filmmakers will do "this time" to up the ante of the deaths and to see how insane the sometimes ridiculous paths leading up to the often gory and satisfying demises will unfold.I consider the Final Destination franchise to be one of the best and most consistent we have had in quite some time representing the horror genre in theaters. CGI and all. The fourth (and final? as the title would lead us to believe) film in the franchise, The Final Destination, will makes its way into theaters August 28th and it will of course, be in 3-D. 3-D is so played out, but for Final Destination, it is a franchise that gimmicks fit in well with. Not that I need any gimmicks to go and see this film.
In honor of The Final Destination, I have compiled a few of my favorite death scenes from all three films. A good portion of them are from the second movie in the series, and that is due to it being my favorite of the Final films and it also having the best deaths of all three. Only one I really wanted to post, but couldn't, was the tanning bed scene from part 3 - I just could not find a decent video. I love that scene though!
Hope you enjoy these wonderful scenes of mutilation and chaos as much as I do, and if there are any ominous winds in your vicinity, you may want to get the hell outta dodge!
Of course, I have to include the car crash opening from Final Destination 2 - one of the most frighteningly realistic car crash scenes put to film.
I love every one of these and can't wait for THE Final Destination. To me, THIS is how you create a franchise. Yes, part 2 & 3 are complete formula, but at least they bring new ingredients, unlike the far less imaginative F13 series. Now that I think of it, FD is sort of the Nightmare on Elm Street entries for the 21st century.
ReplyDeleteKeeping with formula is totally fine for the series. Way too many films try to get too smart with things, and end up with ridiculous and pointless logic, or explanations that are not needed. The presence of "Death" for example, is left to only being a presence, no silly back-story to try to explain why or where this presence came from and why it does what it does. It's just death, and that is all the explanation there needs to be.
ReplyDeleteThat is why the second FD worked so well, you knew how everything worked from the first film, so in the second one, they took what worked and just ran with it (and this continued into the 3rd film). Made it bigger and better with the deaths and didn't try to over explain anything. FD 2 is like Aliens...kind of.
The Final Destination series is top shelf as far as I'm concerned. Because there's no villain to wear out, it's pretty much a perfect set-up for a franchise. I agree that Part 2 is the best to date but I have a feeling that the new film is going to blow past it.
ReplyDeleteI hope that The Final Destination will be as good as the other films, Jeff and what a bonus would it be if it were better than the second film?! They could make 50 of them, and they would still be wildly entertaining I'm sure. Plus, they come out far enough from one another so it doesn’t get old, or tiring.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that people agree with me on the strength that FD has as a horror franchise. It definitely isn’t brought up enough when talking about current horror cinema and it should be.
Of the three I hate to admit the second is my least favorite, though ironically I think it has the best deaths (plate glass death = AWESOME). 3 was charming in the "We know this is played out already, so we are just going to have fun with it and drop the seriousness" sense, but the original will always be my favorite since the idea was fresh and original. The second just takes itself waaay to seriously for me to have any fun with it.
ReplyDeleteI havent watched any of the previews for this one as not to spoil it, but the 3D should make for a shit-ton of fun if done right!
I am wicked excited for the new film, and the 3-D will hopefully deliver the gore in third dimensional spades!
ReplyDeleteAnd like I said, I love the second film the best because of how awesome the deaths are, but the original FD is a very smart horror film that was much needed at the time it came out.
I actually didn’t really care for the third movie when I first saw it in theaters. I thought it was okay, but after a few more television views, I have learned to really like the movie quite a bit. And as I said in the post, I love the tanning bed death scene!
Thanks for stopping by, Carl!
I adore the first film. It has contributed greatly to my fear of flight. I've only seen 1 & 2. I wasn't super impressed with 2, but I did enjoy it. That car crash scene was sick! I also enjoyed the way the character deaths were tied to the first films deaths.
ReplyDeleteThank you for drumming up old loves ;-)
You're welcome!
ReplyDeleteI would bet that you aren't alone with the fear of flight confirmed by seeing Final Destination, Christine. That was a terrifying scene, and I do think that the car crash scene in the second film is very realistically frightening too. A lot of people have a fear of flying and driving, making those the perfect settings to exploit when trying to get a scare out of the general audience. Doesn't really work on me, cause I'm so manly and all!
The end of August is shaping up to be a lot of fun! District 9, Inglorious Basterds, Final Destination, and even Rob Zombie's H2 (I was completely against going to see this, but the trailers have made me VERY curious to go check it out). Oh, and the new Jeremy Piven movie looks fucking hilarious and will definitely be getting some of my money. Unfortunately none of the bullshit theaters where I live are able to show movies in 3D, so that kinda sucks.
ReplyDeleteAugust is definitely the month for genre releases, and all of the movies you bring up are films that I am eagerly wanting to see (the District 9 TV spots are so great!). That is including H2...I liked the first film more than many, as in, I thought it was okay. There was some serious potential that was muddled with way too much being crammed into one movie. With the sequel, it looks like it will be its own movie and far enough removed from the original Halloween to not have the stigma of being a remake. Plus, the look of Myers if sick. I am sure I will post something about it as the release gets closer.
ReplyDeleteAs for your 3-D issue, that is a bummer, but I'm sure you will not miss the extra $3 it costs to see it in that format. However, not having the option is pretty lame indeed. Also, I'll watch just about anything with Piven in it! Thanks for commenting, Aaron!
I've only seen the first two installments of this series. The opening plane crash in the first film still makes me break out in a cold sweat. Maybe its my own cautious attitude towards flying, but i thought it was one of the most upsetting things when i saw it. the opening scene of the second one got my heart racing too - the way it was set up was just great - adrenaline-pumping stuff!
ReplyDeleteThe plane crash is very scary and the perfect way to instigate the fear that so many people already have about flying. In addition, as you said, the car crash was set up so well, and when the action begins, it was all payoff from that point on. They are both frighteningly realistic scenes, that are also a blast to watch with how adrenaline pumping they are. Good mix of horror and excitement.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, James!