Flatliners (1990)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Joel Schumacher

Writer (WGA):

Peter Filardi (written by)

Release Date:

10 August 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Some lines shouldn't be crossed.

Plot:

Medical students bring themselves near death; their experiment begins to go awry.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Medical | Medical Student | Afterlife | Nightmare

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Kiefer Sutherland	...	Nelson
Julia Roberts	...	Dr. Rachel Mannus
Kevin Bacon	...	David Labraccio
William Baldwin	...	Dr. Joe Hurley
Oliver Platt	...	Randy Steckle
Kimberly Scott	...	Winnie Hicks
Joshua Rudoy	...	Billy Mahoney
Benjamin Mouton	...	Rachel's Father
Aeryk Egan	...	Young Nelson
Kesha Reed	...	Young Winnie
Hope Davis	...	Anne Coldren
Jim Ortlieb	...	Uncle Dave
John Duda	...	Young David (as John Joseph Duda)
Megan Stewart	...	Playground Kid
Tressa Thomas	...	Playground Kid

Also Known As:

Línea mortal (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Linha Mortal (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Çizgi ötesi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Dödlig puls (Sweden) [sv]
Egyenesen Át (Hungary) [hu]
Flatliners - Ein schöner Tag zum Sterben (West Germany) [de]
Flatliners - Es gibt Grenzen, die man nicht überschreiten sollte (Germany) (DVD title) [de]
Flatliners - Heute ist ein schöner Tag zum Sterben (West Germany) [de]
Flatliners - Taxidiotes stin alli zoi (Greece) [el]
Hráci se smrtí (Czechoslovakia: Czech title) [cs]
Hráci so smrtou (Czechoslovakia: Slovak title) [sk]
Kav Ha-Dmama (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
L'expérience interdite (France) [fr]
Leg med døden (Denmark) [da]
Lignes interdites (Canada: French title) [fr]
Linea mortale (Italy) [it]
Linia zycia (Poland) [pl]
Raja tuntemattomaan (Finland) [fi]
Tanka linija smrti (Serbia) [sr]
Tanka linija smrti (Slovenia) [sl]

Runtime:

115 min | Finland:110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | CDS (digital 35 mm prints) | Dolby (analog 35 mm prints)

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) (TV rating) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Brazil:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #30218)

Filming Locations:

Bensenville, Illinois, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

When David Labraccio (Kevin Bacon) goes to visit Winnie Hicks ('Kimberly Scott') to "atone" for taunting her, he mentions that they both went to "S.B. Butler" school as kids to remind her who he was. Writer Peter Filardi included this as a nod to his hometown in southeastern Connecticut, where there is a real "S.B. Butler" elementary school, near downtown Mystic, CT.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When everyone is preparing to put Nelson under for the first time, Nelson squeezes the syringe squirting fluid out of the needle then taps on the syringe to force any bubbles to the top of the syringe. This is the opposite of the way you actually get all of the air out of a syringe.

Quotes:

Rachel: See you soon.

Movie Connections:

References Don't Look Now (1973)

Soundtrack:

PARTY TOWN

Chilling, Eerie, & Good

Although Flatliners is 15 years old, tonight was my first time ever seeing it. I had heard about the movie Flatliners, but there was never a buzz about it to make me go out and rent it or make a point to see it period. Well, I caught it on one of the premium channels and I must say that it was very good.

This movie was about some brilliant young medical students deciding to explore death. They have figured out a way to cause a person to die briefly and bring him/her back to life. Besides the all-star cast, this movie had some serious bite to it. Just the very thought of exploring death is riveting enough, but I really thought the writer & director did an excellent job in giving a different yet hair raising view. This was no generic attempt to thrill, frighten, and make one's mind race... this was the real deal.

Instead of making it an empty, superficial, star-studded thriller, this movie had substance. A nail-biter, white knuckle, edge-of-the-seat, hard nose thriller. I give it an 8/10.