Final Destination 3 Information

Final Destination 3 is a 2006 American supernatural horror film, and the third film in the Final Destination series. It was directed and co-written by James Wong, who also directed and co-wrote the first film, and was produced by Wong and his writing partner Glen Morgan, with franchise producers Craig Perry and Warren Zide. Released on February 10, 2006, the film performed well at the box office despite a mixed reception from critics.

Plot

Wendy Christensen, a senior high school student and a photographer visits an amusement park with her boyfriend Jason Wise, best friend Carrie Dreyer and Carrie's boyfriend Kevin Fischer on their senior class field trip. As they board the Devil's Flight roller coaster, Wendy has a premonition that it will suffer many malfunctions, resulting in the deaths of everybody on board. When events from her vision begin to repeat themselves in reality, she panics and attempts to stop the coaster from being launched. Wendy and several others leave or are forced off the ride - Kevin, best friends Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin, athlete Lewis Romero, goths Ian McKinley and Erin Ulmer, and alumnus Frankie Cheeks. Moments later, the roller coaster crashes, killing all the remaining riders, including Carrie and Jason, devastating Wendy.

Afterwards, Wendy learns from Kevin about the explosion of Flight 180 and the subsequent events that killed the survivors. Wendy, believing that Kevin is mocking her, dismisses this theory. Later on, Ashley and Ashlyn are killed when their tanning beds malfunction and burn them alive when the salon manager cannot save them because he has been locked out. Realizing Death may be after them, Wendy and Kevin set out to save the remaining survivors, using what they believe to be omens contained in photos that were taken of them prior to the crash. Frankie dies next at a drive-thru when a runaway truck crashes into the back of Kevin's truck, causing the engine fan in Kevin's truck to blow out and slice off the back of Frankie's head. The next day, they try to save Lewis at the gym. However, he doesn't believe them, and then two iron weights from the machine he is using swing down and crush his head.

They find Ian and Erin working at a hardware store. As they explain to them what is going on, Ian speculates that if the last in line were to kill themselves, it would ruin Death's plan and save the remaining survivors. Wendy manages to save Ian as he is about to be crushed by planks of wood, but one of the pieces of falling plywood causes a small bag of sawdust to burst, prompting Erin to stumble backwards onto a nail gun and is shot repeatedly through the head. This leaves Ian devastated, which causes him to resent Wendy.

Wendy learns that her sister Julie was also on the coaster and rushes to the county fair in an attempt to save her. She and Kevin are able to prevent Julie from being impaled on a harrow. Wendy then asks Julie who was sitting next to her on the coaster. Her question is answered when Julie's friend, Perry Malinowski is impaled by a flagpole launched by a rope tied to a horse, as Wendy, Julie and Julie's other friend Amber Regan watch in horror.

Wendy saves Kevin from a fireworks explosion caused by the commotion and is confronted by a deranged Ian, who blames her for Erin's death. Another explosion sets off fireworks which nearly hit Wendy and Ian, but instead strike a nearby cherry-picker holding a large sign. As Ian shouts that Death cannot kill him, the sign falls from the cherry picker and crushes him in half. Wendy believes the sign was meant for her, but Ian intervened and inadvertently took her place.

Five months later, Wendy is on a subway train with her roommate Laura and her friend Sean and spots Kevin and Julie. Suddenly Wendy has a premonition that the train will derail, causing their deaths. The three try to stop the train in vain, and the screen cuts to black with the sound of screeching metal being heard. Their fates are left ambiguous.

Cast

• Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Wendy Christensen
• Ryan Merriman as Kevin Fischer
• Kris Lemche as Ian McKinley
• Alexz Johnson as Erin Ulmer
• Texas Battle as Lewis Romero
• Sam Easton as Frankie Cheeks
• Chelan Simmons as Ashley Freund
• Crystal Lowe as Ashlyn Halperin
• Amanda Crew as Julie Christensen
• Maggie Ma as Perry Malinowski
• Ecstasia Sanders as Amber Regan

Production

Development

Final Destination 3 was originally considered as the final part of the trilogy and was in talks since the time of Final Destination 2s release, according to the interviews of FD2. The idea of death omens appearing in photographs was taken from the 1976 horror classic The Omen, in which characters are impaled and decapitated.

Casting

See List of characters in the Final Destination series#Final Destination 3 (2006) for more information

On March 21, 2005, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman, co-stars of The Ring Two, portrayed the main characters Wendy Christensen and Kevin Fischer. Winstead's performance was met with generally positive reception from critics. James Berardinelli says she "does as competent a job as one could expect in these dire circumstances." Felix Gonzalez, Jr. speaks positively of Winstead and Merriman's performances, saying "the film is not entirely unwatchable. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman are likeable in the lead roles." In the DVD features, it is revealed by James Wong that he originally intended for Wendy to be a perky blonde. Winstead, who had previously auditioned for the previous two films, eventually won the role as she reportedly brought emotion and character that impressed Wong and Glen Morgan.

In April 9, 2005, Ginger Snaps actor Kris Lemche and Canadian singer Alexz Johnson took the roles of goths Ian McKinley and Erin Ulmer. One of the critics wrote in The Philadelphia Inquirer: "The characters are so loathsome, you're glad to see them go. Except for two: the goth couple Ian and Erin. He's a cynical know-it-all, like Dennis Miller with black fingernails; she's like Parker Posey with raccoon mascara..". Jesse Moss, who was also starred in Ginger Snaps, joined the film to play Jason Wise, Wendy's boyfriend. Texas Battle, known to star in Coach Carter, portrayed athlete Lewis Romero. Chelan Simmons, who portrayed in television films It and the 2002 television remake of Carrie, took the role of popular girl Ashley Freund. Underclassman's Sam Easton portrayed school alumnus Frankie Cheeks and Novice actress Gina Holden played Kevin's girlfriend Carrie Dreyer.

Crystal Lowe joins the cast as student Ashlyn Halperin. Tony Todd, who appeared in the first two films of the franchise, did not return for his role as a mortician but provided the voices of the devil statue at the roller coaster and a subway conductor in the end.

Other cast members, Amanda Crew portrayed Wendy's sister Julie Christensen, Maggie Ma and Ecstasia Sanders portrays Julie's friends Perry Malinowski and Amber Regan. Dustin Milligan, Cory Monteith and Harris Allan appeared in the film by small roles.

Filming

The filming took place in Vancouver. The amusement park used in the film is Playland, featuring the Corkscrew roller coaster.

Music

Soundtrack

1. "Smokin" " Performed by Boston
2. "Amos Moses" " Performed by Jerry Reed
3. "Turn Around, Look At Me" " Performed by The Lettermen
4. "New York City" " Performed by the Statler Brothers
5. "One Step Forward" " Performed by The Desert Rose Band
6. "Bed of Rose's" " Performed by the Statler Brothers
7. "Turn" " Performed by Eddie Rabbitt
8. "I Love a Rainy Night" " Performed by Eddie Rabbitt
9. "Love Train" - Performed by Tommy Lee (main theme)
10. "Killing Time" - Performed by (hed) p.e.
11. "Make The World Go Away" - Performed by Mickey Gilley
12. "Tribal Dance" - Performed by 2 Unlimited
13. "Turn Around, Look At Me" - Matt Ellis
14. "Love Rollercoaster" - Performed by The Ohio Players

Release

Box office

Final Destination 3 grossed $19,173,094 on its opening weekend. At the end of its run, March 30, it made $54,098,051 in North America while grossing $63,621,107 overseas, for a worldwide gross of $117,719,158. For a time, it was the highest grossing film in the Final Destination franchise until the arrival of 2009's The Final Destination, which grossed $186,167,139 worldwide.

Home media

The film was released on DVD on July 25, 2006 in both widescreen and fullscreen. There is a second disc of special features, including three documentaries. Two of these documentaries involve the making of the film, while the third is about the final girl character in horror films.

The DVD also includes an optional "Choose Their Fate" feature which allows the viewers to make different decision at few points in the film. Most provide only a minor alternate scenes, but the first choice allows the viewer to stop the four characters from getting on the roller coaster before the premonition, ending the film immediately.

Reception

Critical Response

Final Destination 3 has received mixed reviews from critics. Rating site Rotten Tomatoes reports that the film holds a 45% approval rating, based on 114 reviews and an audience rating of 69%. BBC film reviewer Stella Papamichael described the reference to the 9/11 attacks as tasteless and gave the film a rare 3 star out of 5, after awarding the first installment four stars and the second three. Most critics agreed that the film was "running out of ideas", that there was nothing new the series could offer, other than the theme of death. Positive reviews praised the death scenes, such as the tanning bed and nail gun deaths, describing them as "gruesome" and "painful". Most of the critics praised Winstead's performance, stating: "...the real tragedy is that promising young actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead must endure this torture."

Accolades

The film was nominated in the 33rd Saturn Awards for the Best Horror Film and the Best DVD Special Edition Release for the Thrill Ride Edition in May 10, 2007. It was also nominated in the 2006 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards for the Highest Body Count, Line that Killed (Best One-Liner) for Crystal Lowe, Most Thrilling Killing for the drive-thru scene and the Sickest FX (Best Special FX).