"New Line has produced an excellent DVD package for James Wong's Final Destination, despite the fact that beyond its novel premise the film is just another teen slasher flick of limited appeal. Presented in anamorphic widescreen, the film looks absolutely terrific, maybe as good as home cinema can get. The Dolby Digital 5.1 Sound is impressive on a more subtle level, but is certainly never found wanting. Beyond the so-so theatrical trailer and some DVD-ROM features, there are some fine extras on this disc. Of the two featurettes, the 20-minute study of a real-life psychic is the less interesting, although it may be of real value to anyone interested in the subject. The 13-minute look at test screenings is more compelling, illustrating with humor the enormous bearing they can have on a movie's final edit. This ties in nicely with the inclusion in the deleted scenes section of a strangely sentimental alternate ending, which was passed over after test screenings in favor of the crowd-pleasing ending eventually used. The feature commentary by director Wong, producer Glen Morgan, editor James Coblentz, and (intermittently) writer Jeffrey Reddick is mainly standard fare, but with some good insight and interesting background (apparently Tobey Maguire was the first choice for Devon Sawa's role!). The commentary by Sawa and three of the other cast members is more light-hearted but actually quite dull. A third commentary of sorts is provided on the film's isolated score, with composer Shirley Walker offering a truly fascinating insight into the process of creating music for a motion picture. However silly Final Destination might be as a film, the presentation and content of this DVD are absolutely outstanding."
