Throughout the 2000s, the Final Destination franchise jumped into the top-ten most profitable horror franchises of all time. The original, directed by James Wong, created by Jeffrey Reddick, and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, featured a horrible plane explosion foreseen by the main character (Devon Sawa), and death comes for those he helped avoid its plan. The film spawned four more sequels, all with different accidents and a similar premise to the first film. With the news that Final Destination 6 has finally been green-lit with HBO, and has been attached to writers Guy Busick (Ready or Not), Lori Evans Taylor (Wicked Wicked Games), and producer Jon Watts (Spider-Man: No Way Home), we’ve decided to rank the films in the franchise, from worst to best.
5 The Final Destination (2009)
A true sufferer and representative of Hollywood’s mid-to-late 2000s push of films being shot and released in 3D, The Final Destination, the fourth film in the franchise tried to lure fans back to the series with its promised tagline, “Death Saved the Best for 3D”—how wrong they were. The franchise brought back director David R. Ellis (Final Destination 2) to direct, and this film followed Death’s revenge on those who survived a massive accident at a NASCAR racetrack. The Final Destination’s effects were a far cry away from even the cheaper displays in the rest of the franchise, and felt more likened to a straight-to-video or early 2000s SYFY original film. None of the actors were memorable, and the dialogue was chock-full of meta 3D film advertisements, even having a death scene take place during a 3D theater experience. This was also the only film in the franchise where horror icon Tony Todd wasn’t involved in some fashion. Though seen as a critical failure, the film was a financial success, quadrupling its budget, setting the interest for more films, and going against its own name as this wasn’t the final film in the series.
4 Final Destination 3 (2006)
Final Destination 3 brought back original director James Wong with hopes to continue the magic that the first two films conjured. Unfortunately, a good performance by a young Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and a cool opening accident involving a roller coaster going off the rails wasn’t enough to get there. The third film was filled with story inconsistencies, even stepping on its own logic within the first few scenes of the film. Trying to evolve from the rules of Death’s plan in the first two films, a new concept was added, where Death left specific clues to who would be next in line for demise. The film gave us some of the more fun death scenes in the series, like the tanning bed disaster, but overall, couldn’t hold up to the previous films.
3 Final Destination 5 (2011)
The most recent film in the franchise, directed by series newcomer Steven Quale, was a positive jump from the two previously mentioned films. The opening scene involving a bridge collapse was probably the second-scariest scene in the franchise, and the effects were well-done. With that being said, gratuitous 3D scenes constantly threatened the quality of the film throughout. The cast was surprisingly fun, including David Koechner (Anchorman), P.J. Byrne (The Boys), and Emma Bell (The Walking Dead). Tony Todd reprised his role as The Mortician after a two-film absence, and introduced a new cool concept that the only way to actually cheat Death is to take another life, and that life’s years would be granted to you. Final Destination 5’s ending has a surprisingly effective twist, too.
2 Final Destination (2000)
The first Final Destination film did two things better than the rest of the franchise. Firstly, it introduced the concept of Death’s plan and rules, and stuck to it throughout the film, without convoluting any of the storyline. And secondly, Devon Sawa and the supporting cast were the most relatable and likable in the entire series. The first film established the concept as essentially a slasher film with no limitations placed on any kind of physical presence. In a recent interview with the franchise’s creator, Jeffrey Reddick, the first film was based on the real-life story of a woman who got off a plane before takeoff, because of her mother’s premonition that the plane would crash. Shortly after takeoff, the plane crashed, killing everyone aboard. The success of the franchise lays directly on the success of the first film, which absolutely smashed its 23-million-dollar budget with a worldwide gross of more than 112 million.
1 Final Destination 2 (2003)
Most of the time when it comes to horror, it’s hard to beat the original. However, Final Destination 2 takes the original film and bumps everything to a new level. The opening accident scene involving the logging truck is one of the most memorable scenes in the entire horror genre, let alone the franchise. That scene by itself has caused an entire generation of people to be weary of driving behind logging trucks on the interstate. The sequel was also created by Jeffrey Reddick, who enjoys this one more than the original. David R. Ellis was masterful with the direction, showing off the best effects the entire franchise would ever offer, bringing back (and killing off) characters from the original film, and evolving the concept to give the audience the most clear and only successful way to cheat Death’s plan. Tony Todd reprises his role in delivering grim news to the main characters, and the audience is given the most frightening and entertaining death scenes in the franchise, both in the initial accident and the subsequent acts of Death’s revenge.
