All 5 of the Final Destination movies, ranked from best to worst

A sixth Final Destination movie is finally in the works and reportedly will be released in 2025. Final Destination: Bloodlines, from directors Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky, doesn't have many details yet, but we do know the film will star Tony Todd, Richard Harmon, Brec Bassinger, and more.

With Bloodlines on the horizon, we're ranking the first five movies in the franchise from best to worst.

Final Destination 3 (2006)

A film that single-handedly kept a significant portion of viewers from ever using tanning beds, Final Destination 3 is easily my favorite of the franchise and boasts the most memorable characters. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is a standout, as her character’s arc and growing closeness to fellow survivor Kevin (Ryan Merriman).

There were many great kills and transitions in this movie, the tanning bed scene (and the cut to two coffins) is a standout, but so is the crazy roller coaster sequence that kicks it all off. Final Destination 3 dives right into the fun and doesn’t hold back.

Final Destination 5 (2011)

Funnily enough, the last Final Destination released (so far) stands out as my favorite. The fact it wound up being a clever stealth prequel connecting back to the beginning helped boost it toward the top, as did its many memorable death scenes, like Olivia’s terrifying LASIK surgery gone wrong and Dennis’ horrifically getting his flesh singed off when he’s showered in hot tar, burning him alive. It’s not often a film can deliver on its fifth outing, but Final Destination does just that. 

Final Destination (2000)

It's the movie that started it all. Death begins stalking the survivors of a plane crash one by one, each one killed off in strange and unique ways. Final Destination is great, but I do think some of the follow-up movies really took the formula and ran with it, improving on what they establish in the original 2000 film.

Final Destination 2 (2003)

I know some people were vehemently disagree with me but I never really got the love for Final Destination 2. Don’t get me wrong, the opening sequence with the logging truck is excellent filmmaking and that specific death is probably as often remembered and discussed as the tanning bed sequence in Final Destination 3, but after the terrific opening, this movie went downhill from there. It felt muddled and unsure of what direction to take the story following from the first film.

The Final Destination (2009)

I don’t hate any of the Final Destination movies. Even at their worst, and this one certainly is, they’re still tremendously entertaining. The fourth film in the franchise, The Final Destination goes way off the rails with some of the silliest death scenes in the entire series. A race car track? A car wash? A dream sequence escalator death?! There’s also a weird amount of racism in this film that makes for an uncomfortable watch.

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