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List Price: $27.95 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 147367
Released: January 20, 1998 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
What if you could stop your heart to simulate a temporary death, and then be revived so you could describe your near-death experience to others? The mysteries of life--and the afterlife--compel five medical students (Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt) to experiment with their own mortality, and what they discover has unsettling psychological implications. That's the intriguing premise of this neo-Gothic horror thriller, directed by Joel Schumacher (Batman & Robin) with his typical indulgence of vibrant colors and hyperactive, hallucinogenic style. The movie borders on silliness at times, and the near-death recollection of memories results in some repetitious scenes, but the dynamic young cast takes it all quite seriously, which is what keeps this gaudy thriller on the edge. The fascinating premise could have been made into a better film, but Schumacher's mainstream excess doesn't stop Flatliners from being slick, occasionally even provocative entertainment. --Jeff Shannon
Flatliners Reviews:
Flatliners 
2008-09-05 - Flatliners is an old favorite of mine - Along with Oliver Platt, fun to see Kevin Bacon, Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland and William Baldwin in a great film about the consequences of our actions.
This movie shouldn't leave you.
2008-07-31 - I have to agree with other review that state's this movie should have us to believe about the sins we make in our lives and how they can come back to haunt us in some shape or form. The thing I enjoy about this film is that all their conflicts come to a positive resolution. But besides that its a good thriller. It also implies that death isn't going to end everyones problems even after they come back from it. Even if you hated this movie it does have good points to it.
Death's kinda like an MTV video -- without the accompanying hit pop tune...
2008-05-05 - From Columbia, the studio that gave us both THE INTERNS and THE NEW INTERNS, comes this gaga thriller that should have been called "The New AGE Interns." Kiefer Sutherland is the mad scientist who convinces his med school pals to accompany him when he checks out whether there's life after death. "I don't wanna die," he explains. "I wanna come back with the answers to death." Needless to say, no one ever thinks to ask him, "What was the question?" Instead, his cronies (Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt) are more interested in whether their heart-stopping experiments will get them profiled on "60 Minutes." Sutherland insists that, yes, "Fame is inevitable" (which, come to think of it, does explain his career) though Bacon warns everyone, "Die and be a hero someday, but don't die to be a celebrity." Of course, Bacon could afford to talk this way since -- having survived the crash-and-burn of earlier movies like QUICKSILVER -- he'd already come back from the dead.
So what happens when each star dies, then returns? Well, first the good news: Death's kinda like an MTV video -- albeit without the accompanying hit pop tune -- but even so, it's comforting to know that in the afterlife, we'll each have our own personal cinematographer (though only stars with famous relatives seem to rate aerial photography from a helicopter).
On the down side, extras follow you back into the here and now. Why? (Glad you asked.) "We've experienced death and somehow we've brought our sins back," Sutherland says, "and they're pissed." Uh-huh. As if this could explain why Roberts is haunted by the ghost of her dead dad (maybe she's guilty of her movie father's suicide?), or why Sutherland is stalked by a small tyke wearing a red hood (maybe he's guilty of his real father's movie career? -- this menace first turned up terrorizing Donald Sutherland back in 1973's DON'T LOOK NOW). As if anything could explain Baldwin's seeing the spector of comely babes in black and white who murmur, "We can stop whenever you want," "Of course I'll still respect you," and "We don't have to do anything, we can just lie together in our underwear." (Our guess is that he must be guilty of insulting the art director who made the TV commercials hawking Calvin Klein's Obsession.)
In the up-to-the-minute psychobabble of the day, the movie urges us to "Face your fears." So we did just that: We decided to watch this movie all the way to end. (Only one mystery lingers when FLATLINERS is over: Why did Julia Roberts ever want to work with director Joel Schumacher again? They reteamed the following year for DYING YOUNG but they died here first.)
THE ITEM HAS NOT BEEN DELIVERING 
2008-04-28 - THIS THREE ITEMS HAS NOT BEEN DELIVER
FLATLINERS (BLU-RAY)
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (HD DVD)
THE POLAR EXPRESS (HD DVD)
300 (BLU-RAY)
I AM LEGEND (BLU-RAY)
PLEASE CHECK THE DATE FOR DELIVER
Outrageously entertaining. 
2008-02-09 - If you can get past Joel Schumacher's grandiose stylistic tics (i.e. a medical school that seems to operate amidst Roman ruins), "Flatliners" is a fun movie about medical students who experiment with near-death experiences. Seeking to explore unexamined parts of their psyches, they end up confronting much, much more than they bargained for. The story doesn't bear much scrutiny, but Schumacher builds more than enough suspense to hold our interest, and the young performers--Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon and Oliver Platt--deserve very high praise. (OK, so William Baldwin is in it too, but he does less damage than usual.) If you're looking for a Friday-night thriller, "Flatliners" is several cuts above that genre's average.
