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67%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #571
...out of 13,969 movies
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Alex Browning is among a group of high school students readying themselves for a trip to Europe. When he suddenly has a premonition their airplane will crash, he screams to warn the others but instead he is thrown off of the plane.
--IMDb
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Review by Crispy
Added: August 14, 2011
In a nutshell, victims in horror movies usually find themselves running from death. Usually, it comes in the form of vampires, werewolves, long haired Asian girls or a hulking zombie in a hockey mask, but what if Death didn't take a form at all?
While most people would be insanely jealous of high school senior Alex Browning and his upcoming class trip to Paris, he is more worried about actually getting there as he's terrified of flying. Indeed, the entire day leading up to the flight he's washed over time and time again by feelings of apprehension. Still, he sucks it up and boards the plane. Perhaps he should have listened to instinct, because shortly after takeoff the plane is violently ripped apart before it explodes in midair. Just as he's burning to death, Alex snaps awake to discover the exact conversation repeating itself. Knowing full well the flight is doomed, he flips out and attempts to warn anyone who will listen, but his surreal cries fall on deaf ears and all he accomplishes is getting himself and six other people kicked off the plane. Needless to say, his classmates aren't too happy with Alex's outburst, until their plane actually explodes of course. Despite dealing with a mixture of gratitude and fear from his fellow survivors and considerable attention from the FBI due to his vision, Alex just wants to move on with his life. However, he quickly realizes his unnatural premonition has greater consequences, and the remaining survivors begin to die in seemingly freak accidents. It soon becomes apparent that these seven souls were never supposed to walk off that plane, and Death itself is on a mission to set things straight.
OK, maybe when it's spelled out like that it sounds pretty cheesy, but it's the execution that really sells it. See, it's not like Death takes the form of a grim reaper with a scythe; no, Death doesn't take a form at all. Instead, Death's MO is to create a little change that sets in motion a Rune Goldberg-esque chain of events eventually leading to a violent end. For example, a woman pours herself a drink, and the cup suddenly cracks without her knowledge. As she's walking around the house, she's dripping all over the place, including her computer, which promptly explodes. It's a completely new concept and adds a new level of sinister to the movie. It's a lot easier to get away from some corporal being than having to be on guard at all times for a random brick that's dislodged itself from the roof above you. There's very little originality in the modern world of horror, but Final Destination definitely picks up points in that department. Not to mention that there's some very nice effects on display for these deaths. Nothing in the way of excessive gore or anything, but there's plenty of red to keep you happy.
Also helping matters is that our group in front of the camera isn't too bad either. Devon Sawa and Ali Larter are our leading couple, and they're surrounded by Seann William Scott between American Pie movies, Kerr Smith playing the douchebag with Amanda Detmer as his girlfriend, and Kristen Cloke as Alex's teacher. None of them turned in award winning performances, but they were all comfortably on the right side of that good/bad line, and in a movie like this, that's above and beyond the call of duty.
Sure, the franchise is currently falling victim to excessive-sequel syndrome that plagues a lot of horror series, but in 2000, everything was still fresh. Original concept, some decent visceral images, and acceptable acting; what more do you want from a horror movie? 8/10.
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#1:
A FIRE INSIDE
- added 10/26/2004, 12:53 AM
I enjoyed this film. I've watched it a few times
and it hasn't gotten too old. I love the death
scenes, but i have to agree with Jeff that the
plot was pretty weak. It's definately worth a
rental, and it's on HBO every now and then, so
look out for it if you want a good film.
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#2:
bluemeanie
- added 06/01/2005, 06:22 AM
Very clever premise and the execution of that
premise is nice to see unfold. Some of the acting
is more than a little tepid, and the dialogue
could have been improved upon, but this is a
genuinely intelligent horror film with an
attractive cast. 7/10.
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#3:
chad _isnt_fat
- added 07/22/2005, 07:30 AM
Now look this is the thing to watch. u must get it
NOW
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#4:
George Snow
- added 09/21/2015, 12:32 AM
I just watched the four in a row, and I enjoyed
the hell out of this series. The originality of
the kills was pretty impressive in this era. All
of the acting was fine, and I didn't really have a
problem with the "unique" plot. If you just go
with it, it's a fun ride.
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