The best version of Final Destination 3 is something most fans can’t see today. The third installment in the Final Destination series is often regarded as one of the weaker films. It’s not as bad as 2009’s The Final Destination, but it features a variety of flaws that are too grand to overlook.
This mostly comes down to the film featuring some below-par death sequences and a story that doesn’t quite match the highs of the fan-favorite film, Final Destination 2. However, on the original DVD release, a better version of the film came with every copy.
“Choose Their Fate” was an option that made Final Destination 3 into a “Choose Your Own Adventure” type of story. Whenever certain scenes appeared, the viewer would get to choose between two options.
One would play the original scene from the theatrical cut, while the other would play an unused scene that – for one reason or another – didn’t make it into the final film. It was obviously a unique way to enjoy Final Destination 3, but also a way to experience an even better iteration of the narrative than the one that played out on the big screen.
Choose Their Fate Featured Better Versions Of Deaths In The Film
One of the most notable changes with the “Choose Their Fate” feature was how it adjusted the gruesome deaths in Final Destination 3. Every death scene featured a new way that the person dies, whether it was a simple pigeon flying into someone or Ashlyn escaping her tanning bed, only to be shocked to death while trying to save Ashley. There were a ton of cool new ways to see people’s demise with this feature.
The best, by far though, was Lewis Romero’s. In the original film, the scene drags on as Wendy tries to piece together how he will die while she and Kevin try to convince him in a weight room of Death’s plan. It leads to various things going off after a slow buildup before his head eventually gets crushed by weights.
In the “Choose Their Fate” edition though, all of this is skipped in favor of him being instantly killed by the weights when they walk in. It’s a hilarious moment that calls back to Terry’s death by bus in the first Final Destination that punctuates that Death can strike at any time without any warning.
One Character Was Savable With Choose Their Fate
Throughout Final Destination 3, only two survivors of the roller coaster crash were saved by Wendy and Kevin when Death was about to take them. Though Ian and Wendy’s sister, Julie, did eventually die by the end, they were the key players to show that Death’s plan could be skipped for a brief period.
However, with “Choose Their Fate,” an additional survivor could have been saved. In the scene where Wendy and Kevin are trapped in a drive-thru line, they honk to get the attention of the car in front of them. If the viewer chose to honk again, they would realize it was Frankie, leading to them getting out of their car and saving him before his head is chopped up by their car’s engine.
What’s even better is that later in the film, Frankie is shown being carried away by the police. Viewers then got the option to say if they believed Frankie worth saving. If they chose “yes,” an entire 10-minute sequence would play showing Frankie’s footage following being saved and how he ended up arrested by the police. It’s a funny little addition to a game-changing moment in this version of the film.
Choose Their Fate Secretly Confirmed The Death Of Final Destination 2’s Survivors
The most interesting addition to the “Choose Their Fate” feature is how it ties into Final Destination 2. If the viewer’s choices lead them to the iconic theatrical ending featuring the subway crash, a shot of a homeless man is shown. When his newspaper blows away in the wind, the viewer is given the option to read it.
The article states that Kimberley Corman and Thomas Burke, the survivors of Final Destination 2, actually died when they ran into each other at a hardware store. They’re pushed by a runaway vehicle into a woodchipper, where they meet their untimely end.
This reveal has since been considered non-canon with Final Destination Bloodlines as William Bludsworth confirmed that they had managed to survive and get off Death’s list. However, it’s a cool little scene that showed that no one, not even Kimberly Corman, could escape Death.
Additions like these make the “Choose Their Fate” feature a must-watch for fans of Final Destination 3. However, it can only be found on DVD copies of the film. All formats moving forward do not feature the option. Because of this, the best version of the film could go largely unseen. However, if fans can find a DVD copy of the film, it’s well worth the time to view this better version of Final Destination 3.
- Release Date
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February 10, 2006
- Runtime
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92 minutes
- Director
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James Wong
- Writers
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James Wong, Glen Morgan
- Producers
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Craig Perry
