Current Events > Final Destination: 2 > 5 > 1 > 3 > 4 *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

2 is an amazing horror movie. Great kills, mostly engaging characters, a fun twist on the formula. Its a great time, and I can also think of very few horror movies that influenced people on as huge of a scale as the log truck kill in the highway pileup. Great movie, genuinely.

5 was a solid return to form for the franchise after the shit show that was 4. Some of the best kills in the series, a plot that actually takes itself (kinda) seriously, while also still being fun and silly at times, another fun twist on the formula, and also a weirdly awesome plot twist at the end.

1 hasnt aged quite as well overall in terms of kills and effects, but it did a great job of setting the tone and outline for the franchise. It had fun characters, and despite some cheesy moments is probably the one that takes itself the most seriously. Also had a pretty big impact on people being afraid to fly, especially in retrospect coming out right before 9/11.

3 is fun, but VERY goofy. MEW is the only genuinely likable character, everyone else is pretty obnoxious. Had some iconic kills and fun moments, but the climax especially is on the weaker side for me. The weird kinda outta nowhere revenge plot line from the emo kid, the show down at the 4th of July(?) festival, the mystery of who was the hidden person in the photo on the coaster just being some rando friend of MEWs sister just kind of a let down, which is a shame, the first 2 thirds of the movie are overall pretty fun.

The roller coaster accident also doesnt look all that great honestly. >_>

4 sucks ass. Least favorite by a long shot. Not a lot of memorable kills, the opening mass accident is kinda lame, the effects are lacking, the characters arent memorable, the plot doesnt even attempt to do anything even kinda fun with the formula its just a huge let down, and Im just thankful it didnt completely kill the franchise. 5 weirdly did tho which is crazy cause its a way better movie, but at least we finally have Bloodlines coming out soon.

I agree with your rankings, though I might swap 2 and 5

3 might be my favourite. The first one I saw and I love the goofiness. But they are all great and it's so close between them

I went through all the movies a year or two ago, and I was preparing myself to how bad 4 would be due to everyone hating it so much, but its really not that bad. Yeah, its the worst one, but its still entertaining and enjoyable, like all the other ones.

I always considered 1 the best.
the new one Im excited for, but dont like how it almost seems like its going comedic

Its 2. Opening scene crossed my mind on a road I traveled. I think the 2nd or 3rd had the impalement by tree at a farm. I have seen that a few times living in a area with locations similar to that

My biggest problem with 4 aside from paper-thin characters is that it's from that era of films where 3D was the big buzzword so the film was made with 3D in mind and it shooows lol. It looks awful compared to its predecessors that came before it

I put 1 and 2 above the others just cause of the connected narrative.

dhampire1 posted...

I always considered 1 the best.
the new one Im excited for, but dont like how it almost seems like its going comedic

The franchise has always had some comedic elements, but youre right, it does look like they might be leaning more heavily into that, so well see how well it lands. I do think that the best ones in the franchise are the ones that take themselves a little more seriously, but well see.

BlueAnnihilator posted...

I put 1 and 2 above the others just cause of the connected narrative.

As much as I love (most) of the movies, part of me does wish that they had kept Clear Rivers around as the franchise main character, she got done kinda dirty at the end of 2.

I agree with your ranking

DavidZ2844 posted...

I went through all the movies a year or two ago, and I was preparing myself to how bad 4 would be due to everyone hating it so much, but its really not that bad. Yeah, its the worst one, but its still entertaining and enjoyable, like all the other ones.

I showed my roommate all of them a couple years ago and they said the same thing. The whole thing just feels so watered down to me, I just dont get as much enjoyment out of it compared to all the others. In every category 4 pales against even 3 which I would consider the second weakest entry, but even then its twice as good as 4 IMO.

Bump

Bout to rewatch 4 tonight, been a while, maybe Ill hate it slightly less

I liked 1.

2 was ok. The final death of the movie was more slapstick comedy than horror and at that point I was done. Didnt give the others a chance

bfslick50 posted...

I liked 1.

2 was ok. The final death of the movie was more slapstick comedy than horror and at that point I was done. Didnt give the others a chance

I can get that rubbing people the wrong way, but I like that the series has a weird tongue in cheek kinda sense of humor, while also still fully embracing the horror element. Wouldnt call them horror comedies per se, but they definitely have a sense of humor, even the first one.

JKwaffle posted...

As much as I love (most) of the movies, part of me does wish that they had kept Clear Rivers around as the franchise main character, she got done kinda dirty at the end of 2.

Even kid-me was kinda annoyed that the character reappeared just to die unceremoniously.

And even though I enjoyed 3, it was at that point I realized there wasn't any intent to take the premise seriously and further it to a conclusion, so I kinda checked out after that.

Was it 5 or 4 that connected to 1?

dhampire1 posted...

Was it 5 or 4 that connected to 1?

5

I just watched the series and... already forgot what half of them were about lmao.

I thought they were all equally enjoyable. 5 gets big points for the huge reveal at the end that it's a prequel and for establishing a genuine connection between movies, which 2 only did through one dialogue scene and with the inclusion of the one survivor girl from the first one. But it loses an equal amount of points because imo the deaths were just weak, like the gymnast lady - they set that scene up for a good five minutes just to have her fling awkwardly af in a half second clip and her corpse didn't even make sense.

Otherwise... I don't think any one was particularly better than the others. Like, they never really expanded on the concept of cheating death or death's machinations, they just repeat it in different ways. Recurring references like "180" never really go anywhere and serve moreso as easter eggs than... anything interesting or meaningful. And whenever they did introduce a potentially cool new mechanic, like the death pictures in 3, the potential was wasted.

So... yeah idk I'd just put an equal sign between each of them.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I mean, lots of people get smashed in these movies

Bump

Rewatched 4; still not great, but I think I enjoyed it slightly more this watch through than the last.

The 3D gimmick didnt bother me quite as much this time, and I forgot that the pool death is actually kinda cool. And the x-ray replay of past kills in the franchise in the opening was actually pretty cool.

Rest of the movie still sucks tho.

It's really fun to bring up 3 when standing in line for an amusement park ride.

swap 2 and 5 and this is my exact ranking. I appreciate how dark 5 gets (the opening bridge disaster in particular is great) but 2 is above all else in my opinion extremely entertaining.

I like these movies. Except for 4. 4 sucks.

Just rewatched 5 and finished my pre-Bloodlines rewatch of the series.

Man, 5 does almost overtake 2. Might have the best overall characters and relationships, had an actually decent romance, a new twist on the rules with the killing someone and gaining their life thing, and god damn, that plot twist at the end is legit so damn good but also kinda depressing since the 2 leads are pretty damn likable.

2 I think still squeaks by as my favorite, but it also just feels like the quintessential Final Destination movie.

Bump

I just got back from a long business trip involving multiple flights to multiple places. Most of my travel time was spent trying not to think about Final Destination 1. So I guess it was pretty effective.

Was 4 the one with the random dolphin sound?

JKwaffle posted...

Rewatched 4; still not great, but I think I enjoyed it slightly more this watch through than the last.

The 3D gimmick didnt bother me quite as much this time, and I forgot that the pool death is actually kinda cool. And the x-ray replay of past kills in the franchise in the opening was actually pretty cool.

Rest of the movie still sucks tho.

The 3D gimmick is mostly why FD4 and SAW VII nearly killed their own franchises. They weren't engaging and just looked terrible and just feels like more effort was put into working them into the movie rather than working on the story and kills.

BlueAnnihilator posted...

Even kid-me was kinda annoyed that the character reappeared just to die unceremoniously.

And even though I enjoyed 3, it was at that point I realized there wasn't any intent to take the premise seriously and further it to a conclusion, so I kinda checked out after that.

that guy saves someone though so Im in the other boat where I felt like it was a good brick joke that showed deaths plan had only skipped them instead of ending the chain.

it was a goofy scene but it was thematically cohesive which makes it work well to me.