All 5 ‘Final Destination’ Movies, Ranked

Debuting at the turn of the millennium, Final Destination has swiftly bisected, impaled, and decapitated its way to a place among the best horror franchises. Spanning five movies (with a sixth on the way), each of the movies always begins with a high-concept disaster, such as a plane crash or a rollercoaster derailment, and shows the devastating effects of such an accident. But it was all a premonition of the future, and as the protagonist saves themselves and others from the disaster, they learn that Death does not like to be cheated.

What makes Final Destination so great, and what everyone knows the series for, is its death scenes. Rather than featuring a bad guy in a mask, the villain of this franchise is the Grim Reaper itself. Death claims its victims through freak accidents, with the best Final Destination deaths utilizing chain reactions to devastatingly gruesome effect. But with a franchise that has been as remarkably consistent as Final Destination, how does each film stack up against each other? The best Final Destination movie will have the perfect mix of thrills, chills, and creatively wicked death scenes. And while every movie is good, some are great, and at least one is already iconic.

5 ‘The Final Destination’ (2009)

Director: David R. Ellis

Nothing says rest and relaxation like watching NASCAR racers drive around at death-defying speeds, and that’s what Nick (Bobby Campo) and his friends find themselves doing on a nice, sunny afternoon. But when Nick has a vision of the cars crashing and sending deadly debris into the crowd, he gathers his friends and exits the stadium alongside some strangers. Death does not like to be cheated, however, and it is soon racing towards the survivors like an out-of-control car.

The Final Destination is unanimously agreed upon as being the weakest entry in the series, an unnecessary fourth movie that ruined a great trilogy. The deaths are the worst and most uninspired in the franchise, some of the acting is questionable, and its lean 82-minute runtime means it never makes a pit stop to take a breath and make audiences care for its characters. Even the worst Final Destination movie is still enjoyable, though, and it is a fun, mindless way to kill time as Death records a killer lap.

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4 ‘Final Destination 3’ (2006)

Director: James Wong

On the eve of high school graduation, the senior students spend the last night of their teenage years chasing thrills at an amusement park. As they are locked into a gravity-defying rollercoaster, the ride soon falls apart and plummets its occupants to their deaths. Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) manages to save herself and a few of her classmates, but they are destined to stay young forever as Death loops back to get them.

Final Destination 3 feels a bit formulaic after the first two movies, with the series walking a fine line between self-parody and camp. The innovative thrills that made the franchise a hit are almost gone, replaced with increasingly elaborate and gruesome death scenes that are as entertaining as they are absurd. However, it is still a lot of fun and a nice throwback to the teen movies of the 2000s. Winstead is the strongest of the series protagonists and offers the first signs of her acting talent while supported by an entertaining cast who play their clichéd characters perfectly. Among the standouts are the snarky emo couple and the bubbly besties Ashley (Chelan Simmons) and Ashlyn (Crystal Lowe), whose deaths via sun-tanning beds remain one of the series’ most brutal and memorable.

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3 ‘Final Destination’ (2000)

The one that started it all, Final Destination begins with a plane explosion that kills everyone onboard, including a high school French class traveling to Paris. However, Alex (Devon Sawa) is gifted a vision of the disaster before it occurs and gets thrown off the plane alongside five classmates and their teacher. Despite being given a second chance, the survivors begin to die in freak accidents, and Alex realizes Death is coming to collect what is owed, and he tries to find a way to save them all once again.

Arriving at a time when the horror genre was drowning in Scream clones, Final Destination was a breath of fresh air as it dropped the masked killer trope for an invisible, unavoidable villain that can strike at any time. This bold take on the slasher formula results in one of the best slasher movies of all time. The film remains fresh today, with a tight narrative, a cast of familiar faces, and a refreshing plot. The first Final Destination has been surpassed by two of its sequels in quality and staying power, but it remains a fan favorite that has made people second-guess their every action after viewing. Always check both ways for buses before crossing the road.

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2 ‘Final Destination 5’ (2011)

Director: Steven Quale

What’s worse than being forced to go on a work retreat with the office? Having that same retreat interrupted when the bridge your bus is traveling on collapses and kills everyone onboard. Sam (Nicholas D’Agosto) avoids the tragedy along with his co-workers, thanks to the franchise’s gimmick of a well-timed vision before the catastrophe. Of course, it is not long before Death comes back to put this company and its employees in the ground.

If The Final Destination felt like the series had run out of ideas, Final Destination 5 brought the franchise roaring back to relevance as it provides one of the best and most original entries in the series. The opening bridge collapse is a marvel to behold, while the creative deaths are a big step up from the last movie. Having the characters be co-workers is also a nice change from the teens and strangers that featured in the other entries. Final Destination 5 ends with an unpredictable and shocking twist that instantly elevates it near the top of the saga’s entries, featuring arguably the most traumatizing death in the saga.

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1 ‘Final Destination 2’ (2003)

Director: David R. Ellis

Everybody knows Final Destination 2, as it is the cause of millennials’ collective anxiety at seeing a log truck on the road. Road tripping with her friends, Kimberly’s (A.J. Cook) holiday is cut short after narrowly avoiding a horrific pile-up on a busy highway. Haunted by a feeling that the terror is not over yet, Kimberly’s fears come true as those she saved are savagely killed before a survivor from the first movie comes back to try and help her save those that remain.

The opening car crash is an amazing feat of stunt work and the Final Destination‘s crowning achievement, to the point where it’s among the greatest disaster scenes to be put on film. The deaths in Final Destination 2 are also the best in the series and perfectly one-up the kills from the first movie through greater gore and a more tongue-in-cheek tone. The result is one of the best horror sequels ever; Final Destination 2 strikes the perfect balance between shocking horror, humor, and excitement. It’s the best film in the series and one of the best horror films of the 2000s, a true gem of millennial cinema that only gets better with time.

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NEXT: 10 Scariest Horror Movies Where You Don’t See the Monster