Alex Browning boards Flight 180 for his senior trip to France. But before the plane can even take off, he gets a creepy premonitions of the plane exploding. Gripped by the intensity of his vision, he determines he must get off the flight. His intuition saves him. He and five others watch from the terminal as their plane erupts into a ball of fire. It seems they’ve cheated death—but “death” isn’t finished with them yet. Can Alex keep saving his himself and his friends by trusting his instincts? Hardly. If he could, this movie would never have been made.
Positive Elements: Scarce. Alex and his fellow survivors pull together in an effort to escape “death” and stay alive.
Spiritual Content: It’s twisted to be sure, but Final Destination subtly invites horror fans to think about the eternal matters of life and death. Also, a Hari Krisna passes out pamphlets at an airport. At a memorial service, a pastor recites from the book of Ecclesiastes. One character is accused of being a witch and a warlock (both are false accusations). A man declares, “Gods don’t die. Gods live, we die.”
Sexual Content: Sneaking a peek at a Penthouse magazine, a teenager briefly views an image of a topless woman (it is implied that he also wishes to see a female friend naked). Afraid his death is imminent, a teenage boy regrets not fondling a girl. Girls wear low-cut blouses. A couple makes out in public.
Violent Content: During a catastrophic event, people are shown bleeding while intense heat melts a man’s flesh. An unfortunate few are sucked out of an airplane to certain death. A cord strangles a man in a shower stall. Fluids are extracted from a corpse at a mortuary. A bus runs over a pedestrian at full speed (the audience is spared the actual impact, but blood spatters from the collision all over onlookers). A shard of glass impales a woman and knives pierce her body. Scrap metal serves as an instrument of decapitation. A dangerous rescue results in electrocution.
Crude or Profane Language: The f-word and s-word are integral parts of the dialogue. God’s name is abused five or six times and other profanity appears as well.
Drug and Alcohol Content: A woman pours a glass of vodka. Some friends sip beer and wine at a restaurant.
Other Negative Elements: Two unnecessary scenes feature men sitting on toilets going to the bathroom.
Summary: Final Destination vainly seeks to entertain with pointless dialogue and horrific violence. The film deserves a subtitle, 101 Ways to Die. With large quotients of creativity devoted to finding new ways for people to meet their maker, death is ultimately trivialized. It’s almost a game. And every time a character seems to bring interest to the story, the plot shifts gears to include more profanity and gory details.
