Final Destination 3 DVD: Review By Travis Young

I am a fan of the first two movies. The concept of cheating death is very intriguing and the inventive deaths are entertaining to watch (and as sick as that may sound, it's true). As long as the deaths are good and the dialogue is passable, then I say keep on bringing us these Final Destination movies. This latest chapter in the popular Final Destination series, FD3, is about a high school girl who has a premonition of a rollercoaster crash right before she gets on it. Now this is a great concept and since I'm a huge fan of roller coasters and roller coaster crashes, I thought this would be pretty cool. Unfortunately, I found the big crash pretty ridiculous. The plane crash in the first movie and the freeway crash in the sequel were so good because not only did they look great, but more importantly it looked realistic. Final Destination 3's coaster crash is honestly laughable. I don't know everything there is to know about how roller coasters work, but I can at least tell when something looks fake.

Despite my disappointment of the big roller coaster crash, the other kills are worth checking out. The deaths are what make these movies good and thankfully the makers of this one made sure they got that right.

Choose Their Fate!

This is a pretty cool new feature. During certain points of the film you are given two choices. One of them will play out just like the theatrical cut and the other will give you a change. Someone might be saved by your decision or they may still die, but just in a different way. Honestly, while this is a neat feature, it's nothing to go crazy over.

It's All Around You

An animated short about death, odds, and coincidences. It's pretty interesting and worth checking out if you can't get enough of the whole "death is coming for you" thing.

Extended Police Station Scene

There's nothing new or interesting to see here. Just a sentence or two of added dialogue.

Dead Teenager Movie Featurette:

Several different people such as Roger Ebert, an editor for Fangoria magazine, and a few Horror movie enthusiasts come together to discuss the popularity of these "Dead Teenager" movies. These are movies like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on El Street that have the same kind of characters (hot blonde, jock, skeptic) and the same basic plot formulas that all end with a lot of teenagers getting killed. They talk mostly about their appeal to the young audiences who watch them and it is fairly interesting to listen to. Roger Ebert is probably the worst guy to talk to for his opinion on Horror flicks, but it is at least interesting to hear what he has to say. Other than that, there's nothing really new that is said here.

Commentary

Final Destination 3 director James Wong is joined by his co-writer Glen Morgan and director of photography Robert McLachlan. They give some insight into how they were able to capture certain scenes and they also tell us about some subtle hints that foreshadow different people's deaths. It's somewhat interesting, but nothing special.

"Kill Shot" Making of Final Destination 3

A very in-depth and long making of video. Lots of interviews with the directors and actors as well lots of information about each key scene.

2.35:1 - Widescreen. Although I didn't like the roller coaster scene, I have to admit that it looked good. The bright colors of the different rides reflecting in the dark looked great. Other than that, this is pretty standard looking.

English. Spanish Subtitles. 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. There's nothing memorable here. You get some loud tones whenever something bad happens or is getting ready to happen, but that's about it.

I'm digging this cover. Blood-red colors in the background with many screaming riders on a looping deadly coaster. If I had known nothing about this movie and just saw the cover, I would have most definitely picked it up just based on that awesome cover.

Final Destination 3 is another good addition to the Destination series. If you're a fan of either of the two previous movies, then you should get exactly what you would expect from this one. A decent movie with some great deaths.