Final Destination (R)

Teens fear the reaper in this so-so thriller.

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Movie details

Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Directed By: James Wong
Cast: Ali Larter, Devon Sawa
Running Time: 33 minutes
Release Date: 03/16/2000
Video/DVD Release Date: 09/26/2000
Genre: Classic
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA Explanation: violence and terror, and for language

Parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie 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 no sexual content or drug use. Profanity is limited to our introduction to the high school students at the beginning of the film. While not overly gory, the film's treatment of death could scare younger children.

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?

Message
Violence
Sex
Language

Message

Social Behavior:

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.

Consumerism:

Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco:

Violence

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.

Sex

Brief shot of a couple making out. A main character picks up a Penthouse magazine (we see only the cover of the magazine).

Language

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

Common Sense says

What's the story?

Reviewed by Afsheen Nomai

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.

Other choices

The Grudge

The Ring

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All Reviews

There are 7 reviews.

Posted on 11/17/08 by irene_lol Kid contributor, age 16

Extremely good.

I love this film. It has suspense...

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Posted on 05/13/08 by J-dog21 Kid contributor, age 13

Edge of seat whole time!!!

Great movie, but there is a lot of blood. Good movie for teens. Strong language. (F-word said quite frequently)

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Posted on 07/28/07 by Anonymous Kid contributor, age 13

So Good

This is one of my favorite movies, but I would not recommend it to somebody who will be going on a plane soon. The main character (Alex) does good and risks his life to save others. Pretty violent, but not much of anything else.

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Posted on 04/08/07 by dklink Kid contributor, age 12

an exciting horror/thriller for anyone aobut ages 13+

*CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS* this movie is one that will keep you up all night thinking about death. in this movie, a pathologist examines a teenager that accidently hung himself and thats where the 2 main characters discover that death has a plan, and by getting off the plane that one character knows is going to crash, he and his friends are entitled to new priveleges on how they are going to die. one by one, all characters "accidently" diein several gruesome ways. some of the deaths you may think will be gory are actually not too bad. the idea that a high schooler gets his head cut off by a flying piece of metal is gruesome, but there is almost no blood shown. the character's death which is the most violently shown is that of one of the teachers. she has a crack in her mug where she has vodka in and it drips all around the house wherever she goes. and then when her computer explodes because it gets wet, a piece of glass goes into her throat and blood squirts out. then she goes to the kitchen to get a rag which just HAPPENS to be sitting on a rack of knifes and then 1 knife goes into her heart, then her house blows up. one character is hit by a bus,only some blood splatered on characters, and then there is an explosion that nearly kills 2, but they servive