- Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Region: A
- Rating: R
- Discs: 2
- Studio: New Line
- Release Date: January 5, 2010
- List Price: $35.99[amazon-product align=”right”]B001GCUO52[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase The Final Destination in 3-D
on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop with us for more Blu-ray releases at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:2.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
More Screen Captures (9 Total)
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Film
It may be a bit of a strain to classify The Final Destination as a “horror” or “slasher” film, because in fact the franchise has really become no more than a glorified snuff series, and The Final Destination arrives — purportedly the fourth and last in the franchise — to wrap up the series. Unfortunately for genuine horror fans, The Final Destination, despite its valiant effort and spruced up 3-D effects that do manage to add a new level of excitement to the proceedings, is no more than a dull rehash of the original and still best film in the series.
A group of friends spend a day at the racetrack where one has a premonition of their deaths. Despite their misgivings, he convinces them they must leave, right before a major tragedy that ends up killing many people. The friends are all happy to escape, but they soon realize that all of the people who they helped to escape death that day are dying in freak accidents. Not only that, but they are dying in the very order that they died in the original premonitions.
The rest of the film is spent with the lead character Nick (Hunt Wyonorski) and his impossibly pretty girlfriend trying to cheat death and save the lives of the people on the list, including their own and their friends. The trouble is, can they ever truly escape the inevitably of destiny and dying?
Let’s face it, The Final Destination, is really about the voyeuristic thrill of watching the many ways in which someone can bite the dust, oh, and gorgeous people at that. There’s no other purpose for this unnecessary retread of a series that not even the 3-D can truly resuscitate.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Do yourself of favor and skip the anaglyphic (that’s the cheap, red/blue or magenta/yellow 3-D we’ve been getting since the 50’s) 3-D provided on this release. I always attempt to watch these versions and it always ends with me giving up in frustration within 15-minutes or so. Thank goodness the BDA has finally settled upon the new 3-D standard for Blu-ray players to deliver non-analglyphic 3-D in the home. Until these players (the Playtstation 3 is compatible with the new standard through a future firmware upgrade) and televisions hit the market, I need to stick with the standard “2-D” image.
The 2.40:1 VC-1 1080p/24 transfer looks great on this disc. Coming from an HD source, the picture looks very clean and more lifelike and realistic than it does film-like, but it’s still better than some other films meant for 3-D that I’ve watched in 2-D. At times there is some slight video noise present, but it is never distracting. Blacks are inky without much black crush and shadow delineation is fairly strong. Flesh tones are spot on and colors pop nicely. I did not notice any compression artifacts or edge enhancement.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack for The Final Destination is a full-on aural assault, as one might expect. There’s hardly a moment where some sound isn’t whizzing by your head or swirling around the room. When thing are a bit more calm, there is a fairly audible amount of low-level atmospheric effects in the surrounds and across the front channels. Low frequencies are definitely extended, so expect some rattling floorboards.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
All of the video supplements are provided in high definition and there are some informative details offered up on the visual effects for some of the more memorable scenes from the film.
The supplements provided on this release are:
Behind the Story:
- Body Count: The Deaths of The Final Destination (1.78:1; 1080i/60):
- Janet Explosion Death
- Samantha Engine Block Death
- Cowboy Racetrack Death
- Racist Fire Death
- Lori Escalator Death
- Gearhead Fence Death
- The Final Destination — Racecar Crash (2.35:1; 1080i/60):
- Storyboards
- Pre-Viz Animatics
- Visual Effects
- Mall Explosion (2.40:1; 1080i/60):
- Storyboards
- Pre-Viz Animatics
- Visual Effects
Additional Footage:
- Deleted Scenes (2.40:1; 1080p/24) — These deleted scenes are more like little snippets that barely register as a blip.
- Alternate Endings (2.40:1; 1080p/24) — Two alternate endings for The Final Destination.
Sneak Peeks:
- Exclusive First Looks at the New A Nightmare on Elm Street (2.35:1; 1080p/24; 0:01.59) — Have a sneak peek at the new film coming in April 2010.
- BD-Live
- Digital Copy
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
After four films this franchise, which was never that compelling to begin with, most definitely feels tired. Perhaps it is time that this series reaches its “Final Destination” even as New Line offers up a solid, reference-quality release on Blu-ray to tie up the series — we think.
BestBuy.com:
Purchase The Final Destination in 3-D
on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop with us for more Blu-ray releases at Amazon.com
