Rating: 
Summary: Modern Gothic with an all-star cast
Review: 'Masterpiece' is not a word that springs readily to mind when describing "Flatliners", but Joel Schumacher's modern Gothic melodrama is played completely straight, with none of the campy self-indulgence which spoiled his earlier stab at the genre, "The Lost Boys" (1987). Careful not to signpost too many of the inherent religious overtones, Peter Filardi's script provides roles for some of Hollywood's Brightest Young Things (Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, amongst others) as unlikely med students whose experiments with the near-death experience (NDE) leads inevitably to a confrontation with the sins of their past. Ignoring the wider implications of the NDE, Filardi and Schumacher focus instead on the individual traumas of their glamorous cast, thereby trivialising the subject. Nonetheless, the film certainly LOOKS spectacular, employing an outre lighting scheme and a fabulous neo-Gothic set design as a means of illustrating the narrative's thematic concerns, though a handful of critics appear to have wilfully misread this aspect of the production. Watch out for Kiefer Sutherland's first 'vision' in a back alley (chapter 8) - one of the creepiest moments in American cinema that this writer has EVER seen...Like most of Columbia Tristar's early DVDs, this disc offers no more than a superb anamorphic letterbox version of the film (along with a full-screen print for anyone who's interested). There's no trailer, but that's a small price to pay for the superlative quality of the transfer itself.
Rating: 
Summary: SOME LINES SHOULDN'T BE CROSSED...
Review: ...OR SHOULD THEY ? IT'S NOT JUST THE ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES - IT IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE. REAL PROBLEM WITH REALISTIC ANSWER TRYING TO ANSWER WHAT'S AFTER DEATH. BEST ACTORS YOU COULD CHOOSE TO THIS MOVIE - KIEFER SUTHERLAND, KEVIN BACON, OLIVER PLATT, JULIA ROBERTS AND WILLIAM BALDWIN. WIDESCREEN AND FULL SCREEN VERSIONS ON ONE DVD. NO STOOPID, GETTING ON YOUR NERVES COMMERCIALS, NO TRAILERS (HOWEVER, THEY COULD GIVE THE TRAILER OF THE MOVIE ITSELF). JUST THE PLAIN MOVIE - SOMETHING EXCELLENT !
Rating:
Summary: EXELANT A MUST SEE!
Review: A really good movie this is! It almost makes you like the psyco of the movie(Nelson aka Keifer Sutherland) This si a movie for everyone. I truelly touches your heart while it freaks you out.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing drama
Review: Although 'Flatliners' is certainly not spectacular it's definitely a movie to watch, if only for its bright young before-they-were-famous cast. The movie has Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, Alec Baldwin and Kiefer Sutherland as university students that can bring a person to the point of death and then bring them back to life so that they can describe their near-death experience. This is without doubt an intriguing premise and the movie does well to focus on the horrific hallucinations that the group experience rather than on the religious connotations. Whether it's Kevin Bacon seeing a small child singing to him on the subway or whether it's another kid with a baseball bat, the theme of the past coming back to haunt you is well evoked and genuinely creepy at times. The near death experiences themselves are also visually arresting. However, this could have been done better, and there are several holes in its plot such as the innocence of children and whether they really deserve to be haunted by what they did when they were younger. Plus the fantastic cast can all be remembered in better roles, especially Kevin Bacon, who is outstanding with whatever role he's given. Still, 'Flatliners' is entertaining enough when it resides in horror, and if it's placed in this genre then it's relatively intelligent.
Rating: 
Summary: kids dont try this at home...
Review: An avant-garage group of medical students experiment upon themselves to indulge in an intriguing theory. Nothing like a near death experience so they say to kickstart the ongoing monotony of ones daily grind. Well these students prove that and more. If only their professors could see them now. This is definitely living life on the edge. Led by the manic Nelson played appropriately by Kiefer Sutherland and Rachel, a very tense but competent Julia Roberts this disparate group decide to go further where no man or woman has gone before, and returned to tell the tale. Each of the main characters submits and goes under, and returns safely to tell there own astonishing experience. Alone however each person discovers one startling side effect of their journey into the unknown. Enough said. Intriguing is the only word I can find to describe this synopsis. What it would be like to see the other side. I personally am willing to wait years for the experience which will probably come to us all. Schumachers medical school must have the gloomiest study halls in america complete with gargoyles and dimly lit lecture theatres. The whole plot I decided was not entirely implausible which is why it worked for me. I was also touched by the redemption scene between Winnie and David. Wouldnt we all live our lives differently if we could see the results of some of our actions. But in the end it is a cautionary tale of how our sins do sometimes catch up with us. But not like this...so please kids, dont try this at home.
Rating:
Summary: compare with SAVED BY THE LIGHT
Review: Compare this movie with SAVED BY THE LIGHT: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF DANNION BRINKLEY starring (co-incidently) Eric Roberts. Both handle the subject of experiencing (first hand), after death, the pain you have caused others. I cannot decide which one is better, perhaps the latter.
Rating:
Summary: Scientific search for God
Review: Everyone has moments in their life they wish they could re-invent. This movie is about what happens when you don't face your sins after they have come back to haunt you.
The five main characters have moments in their past brought to life by an unproved medical proceedure that forces them to face the things they have done or experienced. What it comes down to though, is that you have to face your sins eventually, or they will destroy you.
Amy Davies
Rating:
Summary: An unquestionable masterpiece
Review: Flatliners is a remarkably audacious, wildly original exploration of one of the taboo topics of science and religion. Like Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, this film cannot be considered an all-time classic due to a highly opinionated viewpoint that may deeply offend some viewers. However, as far as direction, acting and suspense are concerned, few films rival Flatliners in its all-around splendor. Underneath a deceptively linear and seemingly simplistic script, there is much symbolism and underlying subtlety to be found in Schumacher's brilliant vision. Unlike the roller-coaster scenes of The Lost Boys that never materialize to be anything more than a misplaced piece of high-style imagery, the eerie, sometimes sacrilegious images that are thrown into the plot of Flatliners in a seemingly random fashion (the statues observed by the main character in the beginning, the merciless display of surgical operations) serve their purpose in implying the motivations and internal conflicts of the characters. Charged with alternatingly surprising and desperately predictable scenes, Flatliners is an exciting experience that will either frighten you or fascinate you but definitely will not leave anyone indifferent.
Rating:
Summary: Suspense-filled, dramatic, downright eerie
Review: Flatliners is an all-time great. The realistic possibility of the plot makes you wonder, "what if?". You won't find a more exciting, dramatic, action-packed classic than this.
Rating: 
Summary: Gormet dog food
Review: Great cast, great cinematography, great acting, horrible movie. If you liked this movie you are sick.
|
