u/W0LFPAW89

A common question that I've seen over the years is "Who is giving these people premonitions?" If it's Death giving the visions, why would it give Kimberly visions on how to cheat death through new life? And if it's an alternate life force giving the visions (the opposite of Death), why do people still die after being given the premonitions?

Example: in FD2, Kimberly is talking with Thomas and suddenly has a vision of pigeons flying around her. They race to the dentist office to intervene and Kimberly tries to warn Nora and Tim about the pigeons to which Tim sees the pigeons and runs into them, creating the chain of events that leads to him getting crushed by the glass. Had Kimberly not warned them about the pigeons, they would have walked away (although probably killed elsewhere through different means).

What if a future movie explores the idea of premonitions and the victims have to determine which visions are meant to help them and which are meant to hurt them.

I love that something as simple as a broken branch on the ground is suddenly a lethal weapon. Further, it's not like it suddenly fell in the way or anything, it was always there. That's something I love about the first movie is that you get the impression that these people are alive in a world that's not meant for them to be in. The bus that hit Terry didn't appear out of thin air, the train that hit Carter's car was always going to cross at that time, the gas truck pulling out as they were driving recklessly was going to pull out onto that street whether they were driving on that street or not. Life and actions continued on after Flight 180 and they are now playing 'Frogger' with existence itself. The sequels seem to have ordinary settings and then suddenly a gust of wind tips something over and starts the chain reaction leading to a huge Rube Goldberg kill but I love the simplicity of the first movie where everyday life suddenly being something to watch out for.

1. The scene at the racetrack with the shrapnel hitting Nadia in the throat is a cool death that would have worked better for Andy instead of him falling and getting his head impaled (in 3D). She could still have had her head knocked off by a tire like in the final version, but flying shrapnel was too cool a death scene to waste.

2. The scene with Nick and Lori watching the news coverage delves more into their college life (their future career aspirations, Lori working on a class project), and Nick wanting to embrace life after a brush with death. FD1 had high school students, Fd2 had strangers, FD3 had classmates, FD5 had coworkers, FD6 had family, but FD4 had a cool blend of friends and strangers and this scene would have elaborated a bit more on their lives

3. Andy's alternate death looks better from the front as opposed to the final version where he was unrealistically cut into cubes (which unfortunately was another side effect of the 3D craze at the time)

4. Hunt's alternate death is more elaborate with the out of control cart and falling lamp post which fits into the Rube-Goldberg vibe of accidents better than a simple "fell onto a drain which gradually increased pressure", not to mention seeing the full body shot of him with his abdomen imploding and rib cracking looks a bit cooler than the final version

5. Janet walking through a busy intersection without getting hit is brilliant because she is getting over her fear of death and this explains why at the movie theater she's saying "you guys are nuts, it's over!" because if she was meant to die, she would have gotten hit so she honestly thinks she's officially beaten Death.

6. George attempting to cut his wrist with a blade and the blade breaking is a unique way to show that you can't die if it's not your turn because that should have been a sure way to cut yourself so if the blade breaks in your hand, Death is not coming for you (leading everyone to believe that they finally cheated Death once and for all)

7. George's speech about given a second chance and what you plan to do with it is also a powerful message and plays into the movie's themes of Luck, Being in the Right Place at the Right Time, and Being Given a 2nd Chance at Life.

Ultimately, these scenes were cut to make the movie more "fast paced" which led to an 82 minute runtime (counting end credits) so not only did the movie feel too fast and short, it also cut some interesting mythology from the lore of Death and more dialogue about luck and second chances could have made this movie feel more respectable. Had they done this along with a little bit better acting and special effects and I feel this movie would have been a respectable member of the Final Destination franchise instead of being the black sheep of the films that everyone likes to shun.