Being that I work in the haunted house industry and have always loved a good horror film (of which there are so few nowadays), you might say that I have an interest in death. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an obsession, but how people die kinda fascinates me. Hearing stories of those who have almost died is also rather interesting (not talking about near-death experiences), and how they ‘escaped’ death. I’ve even had two of my own, where I should have died according to the laws of physics… but it ended up not being my time… either time… thank God! One film that I felt took the idea of escaping death and ran with it in a very original way was 2000’s “Final Destination.” In it, we had a group of teenagers who escape dying in a plane crash when one of them has a premonition. The problem is… death has a plan… and if you don’t follow that plan… death comes a knockin’.

This first film was clever, creative and turned death into a living entity, bent on getting its way. The writers were very ingenious in how they allowed death to build its little mousetraps meant to make you breathe your last.

But then something happened. Or I should say… sequels happened. Only VERY occasionally sequels can turn into an awesome franchise. But most of the time, the beat a dead horse… no pun intended. This has become the case with the “Final Destination” franchise. There was a second film, which was still pretty decent and offered up a cohesive storyline to carry death’s little hobby… and entertain fans. Once they moved into a third outing, it became more about how cleverly the writers could design a death and to heck with characters and plot. Not to say it wasn’t still fun to watch, but it’s nice to get a little story stimulation in between bloody demises. It started to be treated like a porn film, “who cares about plot… give me the money shots!!”

We are now up to “The Final Destination”, where we find a (tell me if this sounds familiar) group of people hanging out at a racetrack. One of the attendees has a premonition of a car wreck that takes out everyone in and around where he is sitting. Of course, we don’t know it’s a premonition at first… or rather we do if we’ve seen the other movies. He quickly gets a bunch of the people out and away only to find that death doesn’t give up so easily. Like the previous installment, it’s still kind if a fun watch, but there’s no real plot other than to watch everyone get picked off in ‘clever’ ways.

That’s really all I have to say about the movie itself. You’ll know if you’re the kind of person that doesn’t care about plot over body count. I will say that New Line’s Bluray release is pretty sweet overall as far as quality and content. I’ll start with the only thing that doesn’t work for me and then on to the good stuff. And that is… the 3D. Oh right, I didn’t mention that. This installment of the series is ‘comin’ at ya’ in 3D. While I’m sure this was all fun and games in the theaters, where you get those awesome polarized glasses, here we still have to put up with the fact that 3D at home simply doesn’t work so well. The included glasses are of the old fashioned red lens/blue lens type, which only means the headache is more real to you when the screwdriver hits you in the eyes. Stick to watching the 2D version and giggle when you see things that are supposed to be coming out of the screen… at least you won’t have a headache.

So back to the good. Being that it is a Bluray, I can tell you that the video and audio are actually outstanding. The image is crystal clear (in the 2D version) and the sound is mixed very well and completely immerses you in the action, if you have a decent surround sound system. The studio also did a pretty good job of adding extras to the package to make it even more worth your while. The absolute best of these, from a special effects perspective, is “Body Count”, which goes into great detail about how they pulled off most of the deaths. You can also check out two major scenes of the movie and see how they were able to spice them up digitally. You get a kind of before and after, and I still continue to be blown away to see what can be added this way, that you never would notice otherwise.

You’ll also find a bunch of deleted scenes, a handful of which are actually kind of interesting. There are also two alternate endings, a claim that I question. One of them is very interesting and I was glad to have the opportunity to see it, while the other felt more like a quick-clip filler. It was kind of a cheat if you ask me. I also made sure to check out the 1st look at the “New Nightmare on Elm Street.” Even after seeing this, I still question the necessity of a remake, but oh well. I should note that this set also includes a DVD of the film (if you want to let the kids borrow it) and a Digital Download (thankfully the 2D version… I can’t imagine looking at my iPhone with those little glasses…).

So bottom line, “The Final Destination” does offer several cool deaths (if you can call dying cool), so if that’s all your looking for it fits the bill. Personally I could have used a little more plot to feel full.

Hey, who turned on the stovBLAMMMMMMMM

Directed by: David R. Ellis
Starring: Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Mykleti Williamson
Extras: 2 Alternate Endings; Previsualization and Storyboards; Body Count; Additional Scenes; Digital Download; 1st Look at All New nightmare on Elm Street
Specification: 1080p (2.4:1); DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Studio: New Line
Release Date: 1/5/2010
MPAA Rating: R
http://www.newline.com

We'll give The Final Destination 3D (Bluray) a B-.