X
- 1990
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 55 m
- 1990
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 55 m
Summary A group of medical students subject themselves to near death experience in order to explore the afterlife, but when they return they are haunter by what they saw.
Directed By: Joel Schumacher
Written By: Peter Filardi
- 1990
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 55 m
- 1990
- R
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 55 m
Flatliners
55
8.1
Where to Watch
Summary A group of medical students subject themselves to near death experience in order to explore the afterlife, but when they return they are haunter by what they saw.
Directed By: Joel Schumacher
Written By: Peter Filardi
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
55
60% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
20% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
20% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
55
60% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
20% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
20% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Flatliners is a strikingly original, often brilliantly visualized film from director Joel Schumacher and writer Peter Filardi.
Flatliners is a heart-stopping, breathtakingly sumptuous haunted house of a movie.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 126 User Ratings
8.1
78% Positive
98 Ratings
98 Ratings
13% Mixed
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
10% Negative
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 126 User Ratings
8.1
78% Positive
98 Ratings
98 Ratings
13% Mixed
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
10% Negative
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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Flatliners (1990) directed by Joel Schumacher who's made a few good films has an allstar cast such as Julia Roberts (Sleeping with the Enemy), Kevin Bacon (Hollow Man),William Baldwin (Sliver), Kiefer Sutherland (The Lost Boys, Mirrors) and Oliver Platt (Indecent Proposal).... FLATLINERS is a film about five medical students who take part in seeing if there's anything beyond death or if they can die or be brought back or being in the state of a vegetable and see who can handle it the longest and survive or something stupid. It's a silly film and it could of been better but Flatliners does deliver in terms of suspense and it grabs holds of the viewer and keeps them in it's grip until the credits roll. It's not a bad film and excellent performances especially by Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon and Kiefer Sutherland.. Good film however I'd avoid the recent remake that came out recently as it looks crap and remakes never work if hardly ever.
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Flatliners is an original, intelligent thriller, well-directed by Joel Schumacher. I only wish it had been restructured so we didn't need to go through the same crisis so many times.
Their performances lend the movie a touch of class, even if they can't make up for the superficial writing and Schumacher's anything-for-a-jolt direction.
The look is overpowering enough to delay--though not forever--examination of the plot, which has to pull a fast one at every turn to keep moving and which eventually makes a mockery of plausibility.
You may go into Flatliners hoping for a psychedelic mindblower, but the film is about as exciting as staring at a lava lamp for two hours.
Far-fetched as the premise is, I was willing to give the film the benefit of the doubt for the sake of the impressive cast. But as Flatliners rolled along, its pretentiousness became increasingly toxic.
As underappreciated as this movie gets, Flatliners is the example of what this movie really is. There's a new film of Flatliners has come out four months ago and it's not well received by audience giving it bad reviews thinking that it's god-awful. Not to say that the original is overlooked it's because it has flaws that are noticeable which is something I know about. I would that the original is much better than the remake. I know that the original has flaws that I didn't know of but that doesn't mean the movie is bad, it's just overlooked by everyone. There's some good cast in this and that's including Kiefer Sutherland. He plays the leader of the vampire's from The Lost Boys directed by Joel Schumacher. In this one, he plays a medical student named Nelson Wright and he has four classmates. There's Rachel Manus played by Julia Roberts, Dave Labraccio played by Kevin Bacon, Joey Hurley played by Alec Baldwin's brother, William Baldwin and Randy Steckle played by Oliver Platt. They're both responsible for the bad things they did in the past. Nelson Wright is responsible for the death of the kid called Billy Mahoney cause he was bullying him and after years of Billy's death Nelson has nightmares about Billy beaten him up. Rachel Manus feels responsible for her father's death and feels horrible about it. David Labraccio feels bad about making fun of a little girl called Winnie Hicks. Joey Hurley is haunted by the video tapes of women sleeping with him afraid that his girlfriend might leave him. And ask for Randy Steckle, he doesn't do anything at all. All he does is doing what he does best no matter what so ever. Now all they gotta do is go to the medical bed to face their past of what they did. The cinematography is great and it's so similar to The Lost Boys. I mean when you look at it, it shows people wearing Halloween costumes dancing and partying, looking at the beautiful views from the islands and yes, it's directed by Joel Schumacher. He makes cinematography look like 80's style. Billy Mahoney who is bullied by Nelson years ago bullies Nelson throughout the movie is the scenes where I can't stop laughing because of his reactions. Like the scene where Billy spits on Nelson's face and he screams and funny for me though he has nightmares like I said in the beginning. There's one full scene that I legitimately remember is the scene where Winnie Hicks calling David names on the train. Once again looking back at The 100 Greatest Insults in Movies on YouTube and whilst I'm watching Flatliners now and remember the scene I said "Oh God, I know this." That would be quite hilarious. I also finding it funny that five characters had to say "1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, breathe." multiple times to make that someone is alive or dead. Flatliners is not only one of Joel Schumacher's overlooked films but some of his most underappreciated. It may be one of the weaker films but I can't help but getting thrilled by this. Joel directed some of his memorable films like The Lost Boys, Falling Down, Phone Booth which I haven't seen these two yet and The Phantom of the Opera. If you are a fan of Joel Schumacher like I do, maybe check this one out. If you are a huge fan of The Lost Boys like me then I would suggest watching these two movies starring Kiefer Sutherland with your friends and have a good time and get thrilled. Now I know the remake is been badly executed but I haven't seen it yet and I know that Kiefer Sutherland is in it. If you're not getting bored watching The Lost Boys and Flatliners then I would say that every day is not a good day to die.
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A fantastic concept conveyed well by the talented cast. Sadly the set designs and bizzare lighting choices alongside some odd direction and editing choices firmly age the material and detract from an otherwise compelling watch. The screenplay is excellent and holds up well.
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The idea of what is after death looked original and had a lot to say in favor, but it fails to define which genre of films it corresponds to because it does not cause anxiety in the viewer, and in the last act he falls flat on his face with a very cheesy ending. In the defense of it, of the filmography of J. Schumacher, it is not as terrible as those that would do long after Batman (1995 and 1997).
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Flatliners, the movie's got an interesting plot, which is about these five medical students who are wanting to learn what the afterlife is about.
The movie's got a great idea and it's even got some really good scenes, which show us what it's like in the afterlife or trying to test it out.
Also, the acting isn't amazing throughout this movie and the same goes for the dialogue, which feels like it's getting read from a script on the set.
The action scenes throughout this movie are honestly hilariously stupid because they try too hard to be some what scary and it doesn't work for them.
Overall, it's got some really good moments but in my opinion it lacks good acting and pretty much the same goes for the dialogue.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 2 Nominations
