Final Destination
| Final Destination series | |
|---|---|
| File:Final Destination thrillogy.jpg Thrillogy DVD Box Set | |
| Directed by | Films:: 1, 3 James Wong Film: 2 David R. Ellis |
| Written by | Story: James Wong Glen Morgan Characters: Jeffrey Reddick |
| Produced by | James Wong Glen Morgan |
| Music by | Shirley Walker |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release date | 2000 – 2006 |
Running time | 280 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $315 million |
The Final Destination series is the series of horror films created by James Wong and Glen Morgan, based on an unused X-Files script and characters created by Jeffrey Reddick and distributed by New Line Cinema. It centers on themes of determinism, predestination, and precognition, in relation to death (i.e. how to avoid, foresee or control it), as well as a related series of books (published by Black Flame) and comics (published by Zenescope Entertainment Inc).
Basic story and concepts
The premise is basically the same throughout the movies, as well as in the book series. A group of people, usually teenagers, are about to embark on a journey or vehicular transportation of some kind. One of the group has a premonition of a large catastrophe, that will prove deadly to most of the people present. To date, the events in the movies so far have included a plane flight explosion, a road trip pile-up, a roller coaster ride falling apart, and a subway derailment. In the books, there has been a nightclub cave-in, a metro bombing, a train collision, an elevator crash, a yacht sinking, a killer's death list, and an (unconfirmed) plane crash on a beach. In the comic books, the beginning accident involved several explosions at a hotel. The person with the premonition then tries to prevent the accident from happening by alerting the others. Since no one else has any way of knowing of the coming tragedy, practically none of them believe the visionary. Usually only a small group leave with the visionary, either because they were forced by the visionary, they were concerned about the visionary or his words, or they were forced to leave by others for causing a disturbance.
Soon after, the visionary sees they're helpless to stop the disaster, which happens exactly as foreseen, killing everyone who had not left. All the survivors see the visionary was right, and their view about them changes drastically. Over the next few days, weeks or months, the survivors begin to die in a series of bizarre freak accidents. Usually, the survivors will begin dying in the same order they would have, had they been present at the original disaster. The accidents are usually extremely gruesome. The death causes range from the common to the bizarre and elaborate (e.g. hanging by a rope, killed by a nail gun.) By the end of the movie, the visionary manages to find a way out of the dilemma they are in, having salvaged two or three of the others (see Final Girl), but there is always at least one final unexpected death at the end of the film, usually with a comedic undertone.
Plots
Flight 180 (2000)
Volée Air Flight 180 is the fictional flight route designator for the flight featured at the beginning of the film; most of the flight and subsequent crash was based on the real life crash of TWA Flight 800. It is assumed that the flight routinely flies from John F. Kennedy International Airport near New York City to Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris, France. On the night of the crash, Flight 180 is being operated by a Boeing 747-200 aircraft when it explodes on a 9:25 PM take-off just off Queens and burns up in the Atlantic Ocean on May 13, 1999, with the loss of 287 lives. Among the passengers are 39 high school students from Mt. Abraham High School and their chaperons. Several days later, the National Transportation Safety Board rules that metal fatigue had deteriorated silicon insulation on an electrical connector to the plane's scavenge pump, sparking electrical wires in a fluid line. This ignited a fuel tank in the fuselage and caused the explosion.
Several minutes before takeoff, one of the passengers, Alexander Chance Browning (Devon Sawa), has a premonition of the plane's explosion. He causes a minor uproar, and he gets himself thrown off the plane along with his best friend, Tod Wagner (Chad Donella), soon to be his girlfriend, Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), Carter Horton (Kerr Smith) and his girlfriend, Terry Chaney (Amanda Detmer), Billy Hitchcock (Seann William Scott) and Mrs. Valerie Lewton (Kristen Cloke). Alex is soon proved to be correct when Flight 180 explodes as predicted. As seen in the first film, the survivors soon learn that Alex's vision went against the death's design, which is not just a biological event but a nearly conscious force that causes people to die at a predetermined time. The survivors begin dying in the order they would have on Flight 180 (depending on the seating arrangement and a small diagram displayed on the news which explained how the engine exploded, which brought together the death order and seating) and he sets out to save them, which becomes the plot of the first film.
Despite its total destruction within the first few minutes of the film, the plane’s predestined effects allows Flight 180 to serve as a MacGuffin, and a Chekhov's Gun — evidenced by the death-related imagery in the pre-flight part of the film. Later in the series, the plane's flight number appears extremely frequently, and the characters occasionally associate it with the flight and take it as a bad omen. Appearances in the second film include a car crash on a back road that leads to the death of three survivors, which happens after an electronic construction sign that reads NEXT 180 FEET. In the second film when Kim just saw the premonition she saw a sign that said "Next 180" the same sign is seen in the third film. As well as in the third film in which the ID on the subway is 081, becoming 180 in the reflection of the train’s windows before crashing. More examples include a large neon sign that reads Le Miro 81. When it falls apart, it swings backwards and hits a character. From behind, the last letters read 18 o.
Route 23 Pileup (2003)
The second movie begins following the Flight 180 explosion, on Route 23. A log truck's chain supports break off and the logs crash into the cars behind, killing 26 people in the ensuing chaos. But Kimberly Corman (A. J. Cook) had a vision that allowed her to stop several people from gaining access to the highway. The pile-up happens but Kimberly's friends Shaina, Frakie and Dano are killed when a truck carrying cars drives off the roadway and smashes into their car, killing them instantly and nearly killing Kimberly.
Afterwards, Route 23 is hardly mentioned, apart from a news report after Evan's death. The only other reference to the accident is while in the vision, Kimberly drives past a sign that says 'Next Service 23 Miles'.
Devil's Flight (2006)
The third movie begins long after Flight 180 on a roller-coaster called Devil's Flight. The roller-coaster breaks down, and when Frankie Cheeks (Sam Easton) drops a camera, the carts derail, plus the hydraulics rupture and the track is partially broken further on. However, Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) foresees this, and gets the people off the ride. Martin Short, Michael J. Fox & Jack Nicholson Are the only cast to return but David chadwick Made his first Flim
Note: Although Frankie gets off the ride, the ride still derails due to the breakage.
Cast & Characters
Flight 180
| Character | Played by | Age (of actor playing): |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Chance Browning | Devon Sawa | 22 |
| Clear Rivers | Ali Larter | 24 |
| Carter Horton | Kerr Smith | 28 |
| Billy Hitchcock | Seann William Scott | 24 |
| Ms. Valerie Lewton | Kristen Cloke | 32 |
| Terry Chaney | Amanda Detmer | 29 |
| Tod Waggner | Chad Donella | 22 |
Route 23 pileup
| Character | Played by | Age (of actor playing): |
|---|---|---|
| Kimberly Corman | A.J. Cook | 24 |
| Officer Thomas Burke | Michael Landes | 29 |
| Eugene Dix | Terrance Carson | 32 |
| Rory Peters | Jonathan Cherry | 21 |
| Kat Jennings | Keegan Connor Tracy | 32 |
| Nora Carpenter | Lynda Boyd | 37 |
| Tim Carpenter | James Kirk | 17 |
| Evan Lewis | David Paetkau | 24 |
Devil's Flight
| Character | Played by | Age (of actor playing): | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wendy Christensen | Mary Elizabeth Winstead | 22 | |||
| Kevin Fischer | Ryan Merriman | 23 | |||
| Julie Christensen | Amanda Crew | 20 | |||
| Ian McKinley | Kris Lemche | 28 | |||
| Perry Malinowski | Maggie Ma | 24 | |||
| Erin Ulmer | Alexz Johnson | 20 | |||
| Lewis Romero | Texas Battle | 24 | |||
| Frankie Cheeks | Sam Easton | 27 | |||
| Ashlyn Halperin | Crystal Lowe | 25 | |||
| Ashley Freund | Chelan Simmons | 24 | Jerry Ross | David chadwick | Unkown |
Series statistics & trivia
General
- In all, there are 25 characters in the entire series. Of that, 13 were men and 12 were women. 7 were in Flight 180, 8 in the Route 23 pileup, and 10 on Devil's Flight rollercoaster derailment. Of the actors that have portrayed by nationality, 14 were Canadian, 10 were American, and one (Jonathan Cherry) unknown. By age, 18 were between 20 to 29, 5 were 30 and over and one each were under 20 (Tim Carpenter) and unknown (Rory Peters).
- The series grossed $53 million in the original, $46 in the second, and $54 million in the third, making the total of $153 million in the US.
Records
- Fewest characters in one film: 7 in Flight 180.
- Most characters in one film: 10 on Devil's Flight.
- Oldest Character (of actor playing)
- Entire Series: Nora Carpenter, Route 23 pileup, 36
- Flight 180: Ms. Valerie Lewton, 32
- Route 23 pileup: Nora Carpenter, 36
- Devil's Flight: Ian McKinley, 28
- Youngest Character (of actor playng)
- Entire Series: Tim Carpenter, Route 23 pileup, 15
- Flight 180: Tod Waggner, 22
- Route 23 pileup: Tim Carpenter, 15
- Devil's Flight: Erin Ulmer, 20
- Average age (of actor playing)
- Entire Series: 25.5 years
- Flight 180: 25.9 years
- Route 23 pileup: 26.9 years
- Devil's Flight: 24.3 years
Recurring elements
- Tony Todd is the only actor that has been in all three Final Destination movies.
- Writers paid tribute to the band The Ramones in each installment of Final Destination.
- Each movie includes an unexpected death at (or toward) the end of the film.
- Each movie references the number 180 in some way.
- Wind is usually a sign that death is near.
- At least one death in each film has to do with fire.
- In all three movies, the first death is the most drawn out.
- The third death is (in both books and all movies except the third) the most violent and gruesome
Post-production
In contrast, some of at least two actors from each film have appeared in other films they co-starred on, including She's the Man, the remake of Black Christmas, and Wrong Turn 2. Also, many actors who were all Canadian have starred in the CTV drama, Whistler.
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