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Flatliners 2017? There was a previous one? (some will say)
Okay, so it was almost 30 years ago and it’s going to make me sound really old when I say that 1990’s Flatliners was one of my favourite films of all time, but that’s the case. Director Joel Schumacher brought some incredible style to the movie, including bathing individual scenes in one whole, striking colour.
Then we have Flatliners 2017… which loses all that and looks as bland as bland can be. It centres around a group of medical students who experiment on effectively killing themselves so they can have “near death” experiences, bringing up past tragedies in their lives until the shit starts to hit the fan.
In this version, Ellen Page is clearly Kiefer Sutherland’s Nelson character*, although the ginger one onscreen gets to say his line, “It’s a good day to die”, albeit with none of the panache.
(*even though he’s in this too! What a shill!)
Overall, it looks like a bloody awful remake. I really can’t see the point. It lacks all the original’s flair and the students just each come across some different weird stuff going on. Beyond that, it looks like a carbon copy…
Flatliners 2017 is released in the UK on September 29th.
Director: Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Writers: Peter Filardi, Ben Ripley
Also stars: Nina Dobrev, Diego Luna, Kiersey Clemons, Charlotte McKinney, James Norton, Tyler Hynes, Beau Mirchoff, Steve Byers, Elena Khan, Daniela Barbosa
Check out the trailer below and click on the poster for the full-size image:
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.