Ranking the Final Destination movies

Since 2000, the Final Destination horror movie series has been thrilling audiences (and killing victims) with a succession of films which place huge spectacle at the forefront of each picture. The series – which revolves around a group of young people, who find themselves caught up in a series of life-threatening incidents – has delighted millions of horror fans the world over, and has built up a loyal following in the process.

Some of those fans will tell you their favourite movie is the original picture in the series, 2000’s Final Destination, while others will opt for one of the sequels as their go-to movie of choice. Of course, other fans will tell you all five films are great and it is difficult to pick one over the other.

But if we were to cut to the chase, get down to brass tacks, and decide once and for all which is the best Final Destination movie of them all, how would we decide? Could we maybe rank the films?!

Why, of course we could. Everyone loves to rank movies these days, and there are plenty of rankings around – you just need to know where to look.

And with this in mind, today I am going to look at a few sets of rankings for the Final Destination movies, to try and figure out which is the best movie of the bunch (if possible). These ranks will look at each film’s popularity on sites such as IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, as well as the box office results of each picture, via Box Office Mojo.

But before we get started, here’s a quick reminder of the films in order:

• Final Destination (2000)
• Final Destination 2 (2003)
• Final Destination 3 (2006)
• The Final Destination (2009)
• Final Destination 5 (2011)

As you can see, there are five movies in total, beginning with Final Destination, and running through Final Destination 2, Final Destination 3, the confusingly titled The Final Destination (which is NOT the final movie), and Final Destination 5.

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IMDb

OK, first up, let’s take a look at the rankings of the Final Destination movies according to the Internet Movie Data-base (IMDb). Users of IMDb leave reviews and scores for the movies, which in turn get turned into a score out of ten, and this is how the Final Destination movies shape up.

• Final Destination (2000) – 6.7/10
• Final Destination 2 (2003) – 6.2/10
• Final Destination 5 (2011) – 5.9/10
• Final Destination 3 (2006) – 5.8/10
• The Final Destination (2009) – 5.1/10

As you can see from the list above, the original Final Destination ranks highest, with Final Destination 2 following close behind. Final Destination 5 then comes in third, followed by Final Destination 3.

The film that is regarded as the least popular entry is the fourth film in the saga, The Final Destination.

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Rotten Tomatoes

Up next is Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles scores from critics, as well as members of the general public. The scores/percentages highlighted below are taken from the collective opinions of professional critics only and are as follows:

• Final Destination 5 (2011) – 62%
• Final Destination 2 (2003) – 48%
• Final Destination 3 (2006) – 43%
• Final Destination (2000) – 35%
• The Final Destination (2009) – 27%

As you can see from this list, Final Destination 5 takes the top spot as the ‘best’ Final Destination movie, followed by Final Destination 2. Final Destination 3 comes in third, with Final Destination in fourth.

Bringing up the rear (again) is The Final Destination, which the critics believe is the worst movie in the series.

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Box Office Mojo

And finally, onto the box office results, taken from Box Office Mojo. These results highlight how well each movie performed internationally during their theatrical release.

• The Final Destination (2009) – $186,167,139
• Final Destination 5 (2011) – $157,887,643
• Final Destination 3 (2006) – $118,890,272
• Final Destination (2000) – $112,880, 294
• Final Destination 2 (2003) – $90,941,129

Now, here is where things change considerably with regard to The Final Destination. While the film might not rank high on IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes, it is financially the most successful film in the series, with over $186 million in the bank.

The second most successful is Final Destination 5, followed by Final Destination 3. Meanwhile, the original Final Destination comes in fourth.

Bringing up the rear is Final Destination 2, which is another interesting result in itself. If you look at the rankings for IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, Final Destination rates in second place on both accounts, and yet here it is listed as the least successful movie out of the collection.

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So, what do these rankings tell us? Well, they offer mixed results in all honesty.

From a critical stand point, the scores vary, so it’s difficult to determine a ‘best’ movie out of the bunch. However, Final Destination 2 is seen as a strong entry in both critical rankings, while The Final Destination is viewed as the weakest entry.

Meanwhile, from a commercial stand point, The Final Destination performed the best at the box office, while Final Destination 2 performed the worst!

Ultimately, the critical rankings are always subjective and likely to change over time. As for the financial results, these can be down to various factors (publicity, screen availability, etc) and nothing more.

So, which is the best movie of the bunch? Well, I guess that’s up to you to decide.

Personally, I have a soft spot for Final Destination 3, but I do agree with the critical results above that Final Destination 2 is a strong entry regardless, so should always appear high on any list. On the flipside, my least favourite is The Final Destination, which I believe is the weakest overall (although, it is still enjoyable).

But enough about me, what about you? How would you rank all the Final Destination movies? If you’re a fan of the series, leave a comment with your rankings.

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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about the Final Destination movies – I hope it has proved useful. For more posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.

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