# What is the point of the "Final Destination" films?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-the-final-destination-films/539113>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 11, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-the-final-destination-films/539113 "2010-05-11T23:06:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-the-final-destination-films/539113/41 "2010-05-13T20:59:00Z")

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> [@Grumman](#):
>
> You’re contradicting yourself. If it’s really as futile as you and others suggest, _there is no right way of breaking the chain_. Death always gets his way, the characters always die in vain, and I always go find something better to watch.  
> I’m not complaining about downer endings, I’m complaining about endings which use the equivalent of [railroading](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Railroading) to render the characters’ actions meaningless.

Look, it’s… it’s _fantasy_. In the fictional universe of the FD films, there \*may \*be a right way of breaking the chain, and the characters keep on trying to find it. That attempt is what drives the narrative. Why is that so difficult to see?

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**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-the-final-destination-films/539113/42 "2010-05-13T21:45:10Z")

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> [@Grumman](#):
>
> You’re contradicting yourself. If it’s really as futile as you and others suggest, _there is no right way of breaking the chain_. Death always gets his way, the characters always die in vain, and I always go find something better to watch.

You keep missing the point. They always die in vain at the end (or in between movies). During the movie itself, they discover Death’s plan and learn how to break the chain. A line early in Final Destination 2 reveals that the survivors from the first movie saved each other’s lives dozens of time when the chain came back around for them.

It’s possible to cheat death, but like in real life, it is inevitable. The first movie was a truly awesome self-contained little story in that way. And it is one of my all-time favorite movies. YMMV on the sequels.

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