Final Destination is a 2000 horror
film about a group of students who 'cheat death' by avoiding a plane crash when one has a premonition of their deaths, but
soon after, they begin dying one by one in mysterious freak accidents.[1] The script was originally written by Jeffrey Reddick as a
spec script for the X-Files. (Director
James Wong worked as a writer, producer and director on that series.) The story
has some interesting similarities with an episode of The Twilight
Zone titled "Twenty-Two". The film is distributed by
New Line Cinema. The DVD was released on September 26 2000.[2]
The film was the first in the Final Destination series, and was followed
by Final Destination 2 (2003) and by Final Destination 3 (2006). It also spawned a series of related novels, the Final Destination books. Recently, Zenescope Entertainment has begun producing a series of Final
Destination comic books mini-series called Final Destination: Death Never Takes a
Vacation, featuring a trip to Cancún gone wrong.
Final Destination takes place on Long Island.[3] Locations such as Jones Beach and
John F. Kennedy International Airport are shown. Nassau County is mentioned. However, Vancouver
International Airport stood in for JFK.[4]
Plot
Shortly after boarding a plane to go on a class trip to Paris, Alex Browning (played by
Devon Sawa), has a vision that the Boeing 747 Volee Air
Flight 180 is going to explode during takeoff. Alex tries to get off the plane, causing a commotion, and he, one of his teachers,
and several other students get off the plane, having been either forcibly removed or voluntarily leaving to take care of Alex.
Only moments later they witness the plane explode shortly after takeoff, killing every one on board, including his best friend
Tod's twin brother George and Alex's and Tod's girlfriends Blake Dreyer (Christine
Chatelain) and Christa Marsh (Lisa Marie Caruk). While the survivors are initially
relieved, their solace is short-lived, as a series of freak fatal accidents begins to claim them.[5]
Cast and characters
Clear Rivers (
Ali Larter), the main female character of
Final Destination
- Alexander Chance Browning (Devon Sawa): Alex, the main character, has a
premonition that Flight 180 will explode. Making a scene before take-off, he and six other
people get off the plane and witness the disaster. He would have been the last person to die on the plane.
- Clear Rivers (Ali Larter): Clear feels a
connection with Alex because he has no friends, and believes his frantic assertions that the plane will explode. She is not
thrown off the airplane like the other students, but exits of her own volition. At first, she does not believe the concept of
Death's design, but eventually does. She would have been the sixth person to die on the plane (although presumed to be last to
die throughout most of the film).
- William "Billy" Hitchcock (Seann William Scott): On Flight 180, Billy is
lucky enough to get caught in the middle of Carter's and Alex's fight and gets kicked off with them. He is the jokester of the
group. He would have been the fifth person to die on the plane.
- Carter Horton (Kerr Smith): Carter is an athlete who deeply resents Alex. He gets
kicked off the plane for fighting with Alex after Alex causes a commotion about how the aircraft is going to explode. (We are
also led to believe Alex and Carter were not friendly even before Flight 180.) He later accuses Alex of being behind the crash.
He would have been the fourth person to die on the plane.
- Valerie Lewton (Kristen Cloke): Ms. Lewton is one of the teachers supervising
the trip to Paris. When Alex and Carter fight on the plane, she and another teacher get off to settle the two students. Finding
out that Alex, Carter, and Billy got kicked off the plane, Ms. Lewton tells the other teacher to go back while she stays behind
and catches a later flight. When Flight 180 explodes, she becomes very depressed and makes plans to move out of town, feeling she
sent the other teacher to his death. She would have been the third person to die.
- Terry Chaney (Amanda Detmer): Terry is Carter's girlfriend. After trying to
break up the fight between Alex and Carter, she follows Carter off the plane. Sick of Carter's antagonism towards Alex, she is on
the verge of breaking up with him. She would have been the second person to die on the plane.
- Tod Waggner (Chad E. Donella): Alex's best friend. When Alex gets off the plane,
Tod's brother, George, tells him to accompany Alex. George dies on the plane, and Tod's father blames Alex for the crash. As a
result of this, Tod's friendship with Alex is strained. He would have been the first person to die on the plane.
- Agent Wiene (Daniel Roebuck): He investigates the Flight 180 case, following
Alex around and suspecting him of being behind it.
Deaths
Original Design
Death's original design was for Flight 180 to explode, killing everyone on board. However, Alex's premonition and the commotion he makes leads to his and several others' getting off the plane, thus saving
them. In Death's original design, they would have died in a specific order: Tod, Terry, Ms. Lewton, Carter, Billy, Clear, Alex
(though he later determines that because he switched seats and ended up sitting next to Tod, his and Clear's positions are
switched). Alex determines this based on schematic reports of the technical failures causing the plane explosion. However, Clear
does not die after Alex because Alex prevents his own death, thus changing the order.
Actual deaths
The order in which they actually die is different because some get saved and moved to the end of the order. In most of the
instances, a dark reflection of sorts can be seen, usually signifying that Death is nearby.
Tod Waggner: Death by strangulation.
Tod goes into the bathroom, and the door closes behind him, as though part of Death's intent to minimize interruption. Water
leaks from the toilet and as Tod reaches for clothes on a clothesline, he slips on the water and into the line. The force of the
fall causes the wire to wrap tightly around his neck and he falls into the tub, spilling shampoos and containers. The wire chokes
him, blood vessels break in his eyes and he slips on the spilled contents in the bath. Unable to stand up, he spies a pair of
nail clippers and struggles to reach them to cut the wire. He is unable to do so before the lack of oxygen causes his death. The
water then retreats to the toilet as if it never leaked out. His father believes it was suicide and blames Alex for making Tod
feel guilty. This is the first and only time that "Death" is seen as a malevolent force.
Clues
- Alex threw a magazine at an owl in his room and a page caught in his fan and shredded the paper. A piece flew onto his knee
and it read 'Tod'.
- The song "Rocky Mountain High" came on the radio in the bathroom.
- Also, "Tod" is German for "death". Likely intentional since "Todd" is the more common spelling of the name.
- In the opening a small doll is hanging from the ceiling.
- When the two girls ask Alex to switch seats with them, Tod makes several gestures to say no, one of which is him hanging
himself.
Terry Chaney: Death by blunt force trauma.
Carter argues with Alex outside of a coffee shop, and Terry gets angry and explains she's moving on and getting over the plane
crash. She backs up onto the road as she speaks and tells Carter to 'drop fucking dead'. A bus plows into her at high speed,
splattering blood everywhere.
Clues
- While Alex was talking to Clear, he saw the reflection of a bus approaching in the window, but when he turns around, it is
gone.
- Right as the plane blows up after the premonition a poster of a bus can be seen behind Terry.
Ms. Valerie Lewton: Death by penetrating trauma, incineration, and loss of blood
Ms. Lewton is in her house pouring some hot tea into her mug. She sees it has the school logo on it and, thinking of the
explosion, flings it away. She then pours some cold vodka into the cup, rather than replacing the tea. The sudden temperature
change causes the mug to crack, to which she is oblivious. She walks from the kitchen with the dripping mug to where her computer
is. As she leans over her computer, the liquid drips inside, causing sparks and smoke. As she inspects the computer, the monitor
explodes, throwing a shard of glass into her neck. She promptly pulls it out, causing the bleeding to worsen. She stumbles into
the kitchen, followed by a trail of fire igniting the line of spilled vodka. The vodka bottle in the kitchen explodes, knocking
her over. Still bleeding, she reaches a towel on the counter, unaware that it is draped over a knife block. She pulls on the
towel and a large carving knife tips out and into her chest. Alex bursts in (knowing she was next in line), sees her in the
kitchen and tries to help. The oven blows up, knocking a nearby chair into Ms. Lewton and propelling the knife deeper in. Alex is
unable to save her and runs out of the house; a few seconds later, the whole house goes up in flames.
Clues
- Ms. Lewton puts on a record, which ironically is "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver, which also played right before Tod's
death. John Denver died in a plane crash.
- While Alex is on his way to Ms. Lewton's house, he sees a man raking some burning leaves. As the ashes surround him, he
realizes it's a clue and breaks into a run.
- As Lewton leaned over her computer, you can see a dagger decoration on her door pointing at her. When the shard of glass hits
her neck, she backs up into the door with the knife picture on it.
- While Alex is watching TV, a program about leaky gas stoves comes on, hinting at the exploding stove in Ms. Lewton's
house.
Billy Hitchcock: Death by decapitation.
After Alex gets Carter out of the car stalled on the tracks in the path of an approaching train, the group is standing near
the tracks arguing. A piece of metal shrapnel from the car is propelled up from the speeding train and decapitates Billy.
Clues
- Billy is nearly run over multiple times by Carter's car, and it eventually leads him to his demise.
- While Alex was in Carter's car, he saw a reflection of an incoming train, even though they weren't near the railroad.
- When Carter is driving wildly, Alex notices that his seat belt is broken. He yells for Carter to stop but when he looks down
again, the belt is no longer broken.
- Before Carter's car is crushed by the train, he sees a shadow (Death) on the hood of his car
- When Clear, Billy, and Carter were in Carter's car trying to find Alex, Billy was Freaking out thinking that he was next.
this is the following script:
Note: Alex intervened in Carter's death, so it skipped to Billy.
Carter Horton: Death by blunt force trauma.
Seeing a bus headed towards Alex, Clear screams at him to get out of the way. A string of events causes a neon sign to swing
free from its frame and towards him, but Carter intervenes and saves Alex. The sign swivels back towards Carter. (This is the end
of the movie; the credits roll immediately after this shot in the theatrical ending.) The death is confirmed in
Final Destination 2.
Clues
- Behind the three survivors, a singer is singing "Rocky Mountain High" in French.
- A gust of wind blows a glass of red wine over onto Alex's paper. It spills over his name, resembling blood.
- When the neon sign is detaching, the lights flicker off except for 'o81'. When the sign is about to hit Carter, it reads
'18o'.
- There's a close-up of some guy taking out veil(cow meat) out of a truck. Somewhat punny, it symbolizes what Carter's gonna
be- dead meat.
Alex Chance Browning: Death by head trauma
A brick falls on his head, killing him. The death is confirmed in Final Destination 2.
Clear Rivers: Death by incineration
Clear is killed in Final Destination 2 in an explosion. She had been helping another group of survivors.
Alternate ending
The scene on the beach where Clear tells Alex about her family's past was extended. Clear was telling Alex how they must take
action and do something big while they still had the time. Clear and Alex ended up having sex and Clear later becomes pregnant
(the scene where she finds out was deleted.) When Clear is next on Death's list, Alex saves her from the exploding car, but
sacrifices himself to do so and dies. Nine months later, Clear gives birth to a baby boy (which she names Alex) and by doing
that, she ruined Death's design because Clear creating life was not meant to be. She and Carter became close friends and they
visit the Flight 180 memorial. Clear states that even though they defeated Death this one time, they only won a chance at a full
life, because for everyone, there is always that one day. A falling leaf drops and
the credits roll.
Influence on sequel
The concept of new life defeating death was incorporated into the storyline of Final
Destination 2.
Rating
Final Destination received an R
rating in the United States for violence and terror, and for language. In the
United Kingdom, it received a 15 rating. In Ireland it
received an 18, for violence, horror and language.[6]
References
External links
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