Flatliners

The medical student Nelson Wright (Kiefer Sutherland) invites Joe Hurley (William Baldwin), David Labraccio (Kevin Bacon), Rachel Mannus (Julia Roberts) and Randy Steckle (Oliver Platt), who are friends from his class, to participate in a near death experiment where he will die for one minute to see whether there is afterlife or not. After the successful result, Nelson tells that there is something afterlife and hides that he saw the boy Billy Mahoney that he used to bully with his friends. The next to try is Joe, who likes to secretly videotape women that he has sex. He stays dead for a longer time and has an erotic experience. Then the atheist David is the next to try the experiment for a longer time. He sees the black girl Winnie Hicks that he used to bully at school, and later he is haunted by her. David tries to convince Rachel Mannus to avoid the experiment but she is already dead when he arrives at the university. Soon Rachel is haunted by her deceased father that she believes died because of her. David learns that Nelson is haunted and injured by Billy Mahoney and discovers that they are haunted by their sins and atonement is the only way out. What will happen to them?

"Flatliners" is a suspenseful horror film directed by Joel Schumacher in 1990 with a great cast. The storyline of afterlife, sins and atonement is original and well-resolved. Unfortunately this great storyline was recently used in a totally unnecessary remake. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Linha Mortal" ("Mortal Line")

Flatliners has all the ingredients of a good Joel Schumacher film - intelligent, youthful characters, stunning cinematography, a gripping story, and excellent performances. It's escapist fun but it's done very well and resonates with a positive spiritual message despite the unnerving precedings.

Schumacher has a knack for spotting talented young actors, and all of the main five here have gone on to greater things (see the cast list). Their believable performances help to raise this movie well above average. Kiefer Sutherland shines in his egotistical med-student role.

The cinematography really stimulates the right side of the brain, which is what I love about Schumacher; his use of light and location create images that stick. A disturbing nightmarish atmosphere is created which unsettles you while you watch the film and haunts you when you go to bed - reminded me of The Lost Boys.

This is a film that takes an awesome premise - curious students want to find out what's after death, and successfully follows it through into a scary, gripping tale of redemption. One of Schumacher's best; highly recommended.

Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin Bacon showcase their talents and give compelling performances, as usual. This might even be one of Bacon's best roles. Unsurprisingly, Julia Roberts was the weakest part of the film, in terms of acting and casting. Oliver Platt proved himself to be a reliably consistent side-character actor, and William Baldwin's performance was decent to mediocre (at least better than Roberts'). The suspense was gripping throughout most of the film, from the "experiment" procedures to the after-math following each one. Overall this film was suspenseful, presented some interesting thoughts and ideas on a controversial subject, and provided some commendable performances. The premise was very provocative here and it was one of the earliest films to show Generation X's ambition despite the suppression by the Baby Boomers. It was also very true to the nihilism that embodies Generation X.

Hmmm.... Since I love Kiefer Sutherland so much, my review might be a little biased. He was, however, pretty good in Flatliners. A wonderful idea for a movie, and a great gothic-type thriller. Sutherland's guilt and fright at the return of boy he taunted terribly when he was young (I'll try not to give away the rest) seemed genuine, especially since he seems drawn more often than not to act characters that are a**holes (there was really no other way to put it). As a young medical school student, his research into life after death draws his friends into dangerous situations and a great finale. The medical school did seem a little sub-standard, though, I will admit. Kevin Bacon is great in Flatliners, as is one of my favorite sarcastic actors, Oliver Platt. William Baldwin's also a cutie and did okay, and though I'm not a Julia Roberts fan, so did she. The plot will draw you in and keep you on the edge of your seat, and there's an interesting dark atmosphere pervaded by a lot of red and blue for emotional impact. A good movie.. I'd give it at least an 8 out of 10

As the remake is coming out this week, I want to see how the original did, and I am not disappointed. This movie is a thriller without gore. The idea of forcing near death experience is intriguing and the stories around the characters are interesting. But what made it super special is that it featured the best stars at the time -- Julia Robert, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer, Oliver Plat and William Bacon, all together in one movie. And all the stars delivered their great performances. As for the remake, the bad news is it is very hard for it to surpass the original as the latter set such a high standard. But the good news is we can always have the original to be appreciated, in case the remake is a flop.