After scaring up a franchise record $257 million at the worldwide box office, Final Destination Bloodlines is now available on home video.
The releases is accompanied by an audio commentary from directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein. In addition to a variety of tidbits about the making of the film, they point out hidden Easter eggs, references, and inspirations.
Here are 16 details you might have missed in Final Destination Bloodlines…
1. Flight 180
The number 180 is featured throughout the Final Destination franchise, dating back to the Flight 180 explosion in the original film.
Paul’s car, which he uses to drive Irene to the Skyview in the prologue, has the license plate FL8-18E, a reference to the doomed flight.
2. Circle Motif
The film features a circle motif, with the shape involved in many of the deaths and incorporated into the production.
“We really worked with Rachel O’Toole, our production designer, to put as many circles in the film as possible,” said Lipovsky. “Circles are involved in almost every death in the movie, and so there’s a lot of circular designs throughout the whole film.”
“It’s kind of a metaphor for how the movie is structured,” Stein adds.
3. Titanic
The man falling from the Skyview dance floor and hitting a beam on the way down is, as Lipovsky puts it, a “not-so-subtle homage to Titanic” where a man fell from the sinking ship and hit the propeller.
4. Returning Stuntman
Stunt performer Dustin Brooks, who played a student that died on Flight 180 in the original Final Destination and did stunts on several of the sequels, worked as a stunt coordinator on Bloodlines and appears as a Skyview patron engulfed in flames.
“He was 17-years old when he was pulled out of the plane in Final Destination 1,” Stein notes.
Brooks recently received an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement for developing a naked burn gel, which he first conceived for the tanning bed deaths in Final Destination 3.
5. Society of the Snow
The insert shot of a woman’s leg breaking during the Skyview disaster was inspired by Society of the Snow, the film based on the true story of a rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes Mountains.
“When the plane crashed, they did all these body parts snapping,” Lipovsky explains.
“We stole that shot from them,” Stein adds.
6. Mortal Kombat
New Line Cinema was working on Mortal Kombat II at the same time as Bloodlines, making it easy to feature Erik playing Mortal Kombat 1 in the film.
“They were making Mortal Kombat II at the same time we were making Final Destination Bloodlines,” said Stein. “So when we need a violent video game cutaway, we thought Mortal Kombat would be the perfect thing.”
7. Shared License Plate
Stefani’s license plate is RFK 575, the same tag on the car belonging to Kerr Smith’s character, Carter, in the original Final Destination.
8. It’s Not You That I’m Afraid Of
While Darlene’s mention of “Clear River Hospital” is the most obvious homage to Clear Rivers, it’s not the only nod to Ali Larter’s Final Destination character.
Stefani visiting her mother’s compound parallels the scene in Final Destination 2 when the disaster survivors visit Clear in the mental institution. Both sequences feature the line, “it’s not you I’m afraid of.”
“These scene’s a bit of an homage to FD2 when they go to see Clear Rivers in the insane asylum, where they have to put their stuff away,” says Lipovsky. “It’s kind of an interesting set up. I’ve always loved that sequence.”
9. Jon Watts Grave
Several real names on the graves in the cemetery scene were digitally changed to the names of crew members.
One prominent gravestone reads Watts, a reference to Spider-Man director Jon Watts, who produced and conceived the story for Bloodlines.
“We shot this in a real cemetery, so we had to erase some of the actual names and put in special names that we put in there as homages,” Lipovsky explains.
10. Theme Reprise
The original Final Destination theme, composed by Shirley Walker for the 2000 film, is used twice in the film: once during the backyard barbecue scene and again in Bloodworth’s final scene.
11. Death Foreshadowed
Erik’s demise via MRI machine is foreshadowed by a light-up magnet decoration on the wall of the tattoo shop where he narrowly escapes death.
The parlor’s street address, briefly seen on the front door, is 1969 — the year of the Skyview disaster.
12. Red Fish Delivery
The delivery truck that almost hits Erik is Red Fish Delivery, a reference to red herring — a storytelling device that intentionally misleads the viewer, which takes its name from a fish.
“Everyone knows what are called ‘bus hits’ in Final Destination, where someone walks into the road and gets mowed over” Lipovsky explains. “We knew the audience, when we showed this shot, would know that he’s about to get run over — because that’s how it’s always shot, just like this, but it misses him.”
13. Poster Brought to Life
The shot of metal pieces rupturing through the skull tattoo on Erik’s stomach recreates the Final Definition 5 poster, which features a skull with rebar going through it.
“We designed the pieces of the wheelchair to go through in the exact pattern as that poster,” Stein confirms.
14. Log Truck Misdirect
An obvious nod to Final Destination 2, the logging truck that cuts off the RV as they leave the hospital is an intentional misdirect so viewers did not expect the deadly logs in the finale.
“When you work on an FD movie, the first thing people say to you is ‘logging truck,’” said Stein. “It’s just one of the most iconic images from the entire franchise, so we always knew we wanted to have a logging truck and logs in the movie.”
He continues, “This was a really fun way to show the fans the logging truck and make you think ‘Okay, that was their homage to the logging truck,’ so they don’t expect it again.”
15. Jeffrey Reddick Tribute
Dr. Reddick, the father of Charlie’s prom date, is named in honor of Jeffrey Reddick, the writer of the original Final Destination.
The character’s daughter, Jenny, is named after an assistant who helped Lipovsky and Stein come up with ideas for the ending.
16. Mystery Easter Egg
Lipovsky and Stein mention another Easter egg hidden in the Skyview lobby but opt not to point it out.
“There’s a very deep Easter egg buried in this lobby somewhere that we’re not gonna talk about,” Stein teases. “But for the true FD detectives out there, you might be able to figure out the secret Easter Egg we put in the wide shot of the lobby.”
“Very deep,” Lipovsky concurs. “Maybe the deepest.”
Final Destination Bloodlines is available now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital.
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