Geographical settings are vaguely implied, but are about as nonspecific as can be: we witness a stockcar racing complete with all of the stereotypical Southern white trash denizens such an event amasses at the beginning of the film, but soon the action moves to a very conventional Los Angeles environment (even though we’re still in the same movie — we definitely suspect that the movie may take place in a city of some sort, but we’re pretty much left in the dark beyond that). Oddly enough, for a Hollywood-made film, all of the businesses and locations appear to be entirely fictitious. Fortunately though, Pepsi has crossed over into this reality to receive a little bit of product placement.
Much like its predecessors, it is a disturbingly-simplistic splatter film (which is always preferred to the wiles of direct-to-video torture porn the industry is also in love with), and anyone looking for more than just blood and entrails in a film like this should know better. That said, though, The Final Destination is definitely a breeze to sit through, and is the perfect candidate for Bad Movie Night with your friends following a few stiff drinks.
On Blu-ray, The Final Destination receives a more-than-adequate 1080p/VC-1 transfer, presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Colors are bright and distinguishable, especially during the film’s many bloody moments, and black levels are solid all the way through. The disc boasts both a flat 2D version of the film as well as a anaglyphic 3D presentation, to which two pairs of glasses are included in the packaging. The 2D version is a lot easier on the eyes than the 3D one, as a majority of the effects simply don’t seem to work all that well. This, of course, is nothing new: we haven’t seen a good home video presentation of 3D since…well, ever.
Both versions of the film include a kick-ass DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, which is guaranteed to bring Death-a-knockin’ to your door if you turn it up too loud. Since a great deal of the film is nothing but action and dialogue (well, meaningful dialogue) is kept to a bare minimum, the DTS mix is able to stay afloat throughout. A Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack is also available, as are English (SDH) and Spanish subtitles.
Article comments
1 - J. Newcastle
"much like any 2D Michael Bay film"
Nice.
2 - Blu Beard
Aargghh, it tickles me funny bone how you call out scalawags for not knowing the Queen's English then mistakenly call "the" an adjective.
3 - Luigi Bastardo
Doh. An oversight on my part. Thanks for pointing out my appropriately fitting goof, Blu Beard.