If only it was final
I would have loved to be the fly on the wall during the pitch for this film. Imagine this…
Writer: So we get teens together for a horror/thriller.
Studio: Go on.
Writer: Instead of a standard serial killer, we use death as the killer.
Studio: Death as the killer?
Writer: Death as the killer.
Studio: So you’re going to use Death as a killer?
Writer: Yeah (shifts a bit uncomfortably).
Studio: So Death is going to try to kill people.
Writer: Yeah (rubs hands together).
Studio: Hmm… perfect!
I give the filmmakers kudos for not wanting to make another slasher film where teenagers die one-by-one. I give them props for not going that direction. Of course, the only difference between that film and this film (Final Destination if I haven’t mentioned the name yet) is that instead of a crazed maniac trying to kill kids, it’s Death trying to do the little bastards in. I just didn’t enjoy this film one bit, it all seemed too illogical for me to believe. To make Death (yes, I capitalize his name because he’s a meta-physical being in the film — a noun if you will) into an obvious OCD character that can’t accept failure is a bit of a stretch for the imagination. I would believe that vultures protected a dark crystal from muppets before I could possibly let this movie take over and manipulate my imagination.
Before I go further, here is the story:
Alex Browning, and friends, are going to France. Alex has had a bad feeling about the flight prior and has a short dream of the flight blowing up. Instead of laughing it off, Alex decides to make a scene and get off the plane, with four other angry friends (and a teacher) following. As Alex is berated, the plane he predicted would blow up actually does. Instead of hugging him and thanking God they’re alive, the teenagers choose to treat him like a freak and exclude him. From there, Death wants to finish what he started/missed.
The movie is shallow at best, really not developing much of a story of how/why Alex can see these things. It would be nice if that would have been explained to a solid extent. Anyway, the idea that Death is after these individuals only shows you how rich kids are really full of themselves. Out of all the free world, why would Death focus his efforts on these kids? It’s simply not logical! I’m not saying that horror movies require logic, as some really good ones aren’t the least bit logical, but this is about as far left-field as it gets with logic. If logic were a left-fielder on this team, he would never get a chance to catch a ball of reason. That’s how far the logic is away from this storyline. Of course, who am I to question the storytelling of James Wong, who gave birth to the first episode of the X-Files and of such a dramatic hit as Dragonball Evolution.
Anyway, I wanted to give you an example of how this movie would have worked, but I just cannot think of a way. I don’t mean to be insensitive to an artist’s work, but I just can’t think of how this story would genuinely fit into a coherent, supported storyline.
I feel bad for being so critical, but it wouldn’t feel right for not being critical.
As for its appearance on Blu-ray, its really good visually and audibly. I think you’ll get a good picture in HD and a really great remastered soundtrack. These types of films really benefit from the HD treatment and it shows in Final Destination.
As for the features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– Commentary from director, writer, editor
– Actor commentary
– Isolated Score with commentary from composer
– Additional Scenes and Alternate Ending
– Two featurettes
– Theatrical Trailer
The features aren’t that bad on this Blu-ray. You can get plenty of insight from James Wong and crew about what they were shooting for, which helps a bit. You get some good deleted scenes and a questionable alternate ending. The featurettes aren’t that bad either, as you can see how much people really believed in the project (it’s good to see).