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Just saw Flatliners (1990) for the very first time, on Blu-ray. Amazing horror/suspense film - I'm surprised I had missed it for this long.
The story about about a group of young medical students who conduct "experiments" on themselves to see if they can "kill" someone & then bring them back to life soon after was very disturbing. And, the film is incredible; extremely creepy & atmospheric, especially the dream sequences that each character has when they are "dead" and also the recurring "nightmares" that they all have after coming back to life.
The Chicago-based Autumn/Halloween setting is very appropriate as well, especially the scenes outside the college with the bonfire/people in costumes/etc.
I also like the scenes of the almost-deserted city streets at night; empty diners; gothic sculptures; neon lights; etc. There was a lot of work put into the visual "look" of the film to create a palatable sense of unease/creepiness - and it worked.
Even though the movie was released in 1990 - it definitely has a late '80's vibe re: the synthesizer music, hair-styles, etc. - which makes sense since it was almost certainly filmed in '89.
I typically don't like JR as an actress (I hated Pretty Woman), but she's great in this.
Last edited by The Big Lebowski Dude; 08-14-2017 at 09:14 PM..
Remake looks like a by the numbers cable TV film. They did a similar themed film with Olivia Wilde a fee years ago. Reminded me of the dreadful remake of the Fog and The Stepfather that were geared toward a TV show audience. Nina is great, but this film will Flatline. I predict a flop.
The original focused on how the death experience was personal and unique, giving it substance. Was a great film.
I have 0 interest in seeing a re-make of Flatliners. The original was classic & iconic, even though I just recently saw this. I can't see a re-make coming close to being as good.
I have 0 interest in seeing a re-make of Flatliners. The original was classic & iconic, even though I just recently saw this. I can't see a re-make coming close to being as good.
Just saw Flatliners (1990) for the very first time, on Blu-ray. Amazing horror/suspense film - I'm surprised I had missed it for this long.
The story about about a group of young medical students who conduct "experiments" on themselves to see if they can "kill" someone & then bring them back to life soon after was very disturbing. And, the film is incredible; extremely creepy & atmospheric, especially the dream sequences that each character has when they are "dead" and also the recurring "nightmares" that they all have after coming back to life.
The Chicago-based Autumn/Halloween setting is very appropriate as well, especially the scenes outside the college with the bonfire/people in costumes/etc.
I also like the scenes of the almost-deserted city streets at night; empty diners; gothic sculptures; neon lights; etc. There was a lot of work put into the visual "look" of the film to create a palatable sense of unease/creepiness - and it worked.
Even though the movie was released in 1990 - it definitely has a late '80's vibe re: the synthesizer music, hair-styles, etc. - which makes sense since it was almost certainly filmed in '89.
I typically don't like JR as an actress (I hated Pretty Woman), but she's great in this.
I agree about JR and the movie's "late 80s vibe". In that era, the country was finally coming to grips with the history of the Vietnam War with films like "Platoon", "Hamburger Hill", etc. Julia Roberts brought a lot of realism to her character - a young girl whose father, a Vietnam Veteran, committed suicide. She blamed herself, which psychologists would refer to as the "ripple effect" for survivors of suicide in the family. The flashbacks and haunting brought extra intensity of drama to her scenes.
Another dimension of good acting was with the hyper-competition of academic perfectionism between the medical students. It was set in Chicago at an elite private medical school. The scenes were very realistic about medical school's "gunner" mentality of students competing for the elite residencies like dermatology, radiology, etc. The one guy who jokes about it was brilliant with his timing.
The religious message of "Divine Retribution" was very strong in this movie. For the older Generation X the drama from that implication was powerful. But I don't know if today's largely secularized youth would react in the same way - religious identification has largely faded in 2017 compared to the late 1980s. A Catholic parent who had been an 80s teen likely has a non-religious son or daughter who doesn't even attend Mass, so the film's "Divine Retribution" and "Atonment" themes may not come across as strongly. But for Generation X the film was awesome - one of the best.
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