Flatliners1990
Flatliners (1990)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: While it boasts an impressive cast, striking visuals, and an effective mood, Flatliners never quite jolts its story to life.
Flatliners Videos
Flatliners Photos
Movie Info
Watch it now
Cast
as Nelson Wright
as Rachel Mannus
as David Labraccio
as Joe Hurley
as Randy Steckle
as Winnie Hicks
as Billy Mahoney
as Rachel's Father
as Young Nelson
as Young Winnie
as Anne
as Uncle Dave
as Young Labraccio
as Ben Hicks
as Terry
as Rachel's Mother
as Bag Lady
as Bridget
as Edna, the Ward Nurse
as Terminal Woman
as Housewife
as Near-Death Patient
as Man on Crack
as Nurse
as Latin Woman
as Latin Husband
as Latin Wife
as Latin Orderly
as Waitress
as Medical Student
as Young Labraccio
as Little Girl
as Beth
as Jill
as Professor
as Playground Kid
as Playground Kid
as Playground Kid
as Joe's Woman
as Joe's Woman
as Joe's Woman
as Joe's Woman
as Joe's Woman
as Joe's Woman
as Joe's Woman
as Joe's Woman
as Joe's Woman
as Joe's Woman
as Joe's Woman
as Young Nelson's Friend
as Young Nelson's Friend
as Doctor
as Latin Orderly
as Doctor
as Joe's Woman
News & Interviews for Flatliners
Critic Reviews for Flatliners
All Critics (46) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (22) | Rotten (24) | DVD (3)
Goofily self-important.
Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin Bacon all bring conviction to these scenes, and William Baldwin, as the most irresponsible of the students, continues to suggest an electric screen presence that rivals his brother Alec.
Except for the performances by Roberts and Bacon, which occasionally redeem it, Flatliners is exasperating, a compelling concept unfulfilled.
All I remember is that, just before I came to, there was a sudden burst of brightness. At last the movie was over, and someone had turned on the lights in the theater.
The movie's problem, like many others recently, is that it isn't any deeper, dramatically or psychologically, than its own trailer. It is the trailer: the long version.
It`s much to Schumacher's credit that Flatliners, for all of its crazy excess, does not turn into camp. Despite two or three bad laughs, the picture retains a basic conviction.
Audience Reviews for Flatliners
"Med students explore to see what might lie beyond death" might be the advertisement, but what one gets is the old bait-and-switch. Instead of that exploration we get pseudo-Freudian analysis delivered by runway cute actors. What happens after death? One's perm still looks good, baby ... and Zoolander pout. Filmed in Chicago.
Super Reviewer
This mild horror thriller about a couple of medicine students who are trying to find the threshold between life and death did not age very well. There is a lot of neon light, fog machines and late 80s sounds. That does make for a very unique atmosphere and is a prime example of the films of that era. The story itself is pretty interesting and has its gloomy and wonderfully mysterious moments, in the end we all wonder what's happening after death. This movie's answer may be a bit naive, but is told in a enthralling way. People can say about Schumacher what they want, but given a decent script the man can film compelling tales. This is no exception and still works for a few goosebumps over Halloween.
Super Reviewer
A film I really feel as though I should have watched sooner. The idea seems so genius to me I don't know why it took me this long to watch it. Flatliners focuses on a bunch of medical students that briefly kill themselves and bring themselves back to life in order to explore the afterlife. However, they each bring back a sin from their past that now haunts them. The idea of experimenting with death is a fascinating one, and I feel like they could have done more with it. Perhaps exploring the nature of time, and mortality itself. Instead we get a very heavy handed anti-bullying message. Quite what near death experiences and past sins have in common I'm not sure. Had the characters been classified as terminally ill and wanted to make a mends themselves, that I could understand. Instead, as we see four characters do the experiment, it becomes very repetitive, and after Bacon comes to peace with his past it doesn't seem all that dangerous. I loved theearly 90's feel, and some of the bizarre visuals. Why exactly is the medical school in a cathedral or something? Why does Kevin Bacon abseil down a wall when he leaves school? A film where I would actually welcome a remake, as long at it took the core idea and explored it in a different way.
Super Reviewer
Flatliners Quotes
There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.