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Subway is out now on 4K Steelbook, and with the tagline of “An underground story where lives intertwine”, as that suggests, everything that matters takes place underground and we begin by seeing Fred (Christopher Lambert – Highlander 4K Special Edition Boxset) take cover from some dinner-suited men, which were after him in the car chase opening the story. We learn that he’s broken into the safe of Héléna (Isabelle Adjani) and is demanding 10,000 Francs in return for what he stole; And she’s playing hardball.
He meets up with The Roller (Jean-Hugues Anglade – Betty Blue, Braquo), who snatches handbags and other items – around 11 times a week according to the police – because it’s easy to do so on rollerskates, and the film takes in some other characters who frequent the underground: The Florist (Richard Bohringer), The Drummer (Jean Reno – Leon 4K Steelbook), a black weightlifter called Big Bill (Christian Gomba, and the man who wants to track down both Fred and The Roller, Inspector Gesberg (Michel Galabru).
As time goes on in Subway, we see the events of what goes on down there between the characters, as well as of Héléna, who stumbles upon the underground network of tunnels whilst still in pursuit of Fred and the papers she wants him to give back. Fred, himself, starts to organise a band made up of all the musicians he comes across.
The first time I saw this, when it was released on Blu-ray in 2009, while I was initially gripped by the wonderful ’80s electropop soundtrack, as it all progressed, back then, the film just didn’t seem to have any direction and there was nothing to make you particularly care about any of the characters.
On a rewatch, Subway is a weird film that I’ve got more into this time round. Still, nothing much really happens, but then sometimes, films like that can be entertaining.
Classic 1985 Luc Besson Action Movie! – DVDfeverGames
For a few asides, it’s a bit odd when amongst Héléna’s papers, he says he wants to keep the picture of her that was amongst them, since it shows her as a 9-year-old!
Plus, there’s obviously zero health and safety when he tries to blow a safe up, and risks getting HIMSELF blown up!
With the cops being named Batman & Robin, Inspector Batman’s “Merde” gets translated as “Fuck“, and “Shit” is a straight forward “Shit“! I’m sure my French lessons translated the first one as the last one?
Oh, and there’s a couple of amusing moments which stood out, such as Gesberg harassing the flower seller, threatening violence, which is pretty funny, done in a passive-aggressive style. Plus, some of the other cops, drinking at a table in a cafe that’s closing up, and the owner rudely takes away their table, making them look a bit exposed!
The film, as it always has been when being presented correctly, is 2.39:1. It’s in 2160p high definition, and for the most part, the picture is nicely detailed throughout and reflects well Luc Besson’s sharp eye for direction, filling the image with his 2.39:1 anamorphic vision, whether it’s the close-ups of any of the key cast’s faces or the dank Parisian underground.
There’s a slight blur in one scene, but that’s down to how it was filmed. Either way, the picture is stunning throughout, and looking damn good for a film made 40 years ago. For the record, I’m watching on a Panasonic UB450 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player.
Oddly, though, while both French and German dialogue tracks have a basic 2.0 surround soundtrack, French only has a 5.0 track, while German has 5.1! Erm… why? Subtitles are in English SDH and German. It’s obviously not a bullet-fest, despite everyone pointing guns hither and thither, but the music is fantastic, as previously mentioned.
And yet again, just 12 chapters for the film.
For the extras – all of which are new to this release, there’s an incredible 80-minute Making Of Subway (1:19:56), which is split into four chapters, and shows plenty of behind-the-scenes footage, including the car stunts, the editing process, plus shooting in the actual subway underground – simply by just walking down there to see where they could access as opposed to obtaining special permission!
Five new interviews are also included, each being split across two chapters, although each has a brief chapter at its start and end for some credits.
Firstly, there’s actor Jean-Hugues Anglade (18:11), talking about directing the aforementioned ‘making of’, plus his work with Luc Besson including Nikita, and how for Subway, they were all so much younger back then, as it was over 40 years ago when the filming was done.
The others are editor and co-writer Sophie Schmit (30:33), assistant director Didier Grousset (20:17), assistant set designer Didier Naert (28:30) and composer/songwriter Michel Jonasz (16:39), talking about Arthur Simms, singer of It’s Only Mystery.
It’s only after watching the film that I realised Arthur Simms died in 1987, so would’ve been around just 34!
Subway is out now on 4K Blu-ray Steelbook, as well as the 2009 release on Blu-ray, and an earlier one for DVD.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
7 10 8 10 |
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OVERALL |
9 |
Cert: 
Running time: 102 minutes
Year: 1985
Chapters: 12
Cat.No: OPTUSB4632
Distributor: Studiocanal
Released: June 23rd 2025
Picture: 2160p High Definition
Language: French, German
Audio: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0 (48kHz, 24-bit), German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Widescreen: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic Technovision)
Subtitles: English SDH, German
Disc Format: BD100, and 2*BD50
Director: Luc Besson
Producers: Luc Besson and François Ruggieri
Screenplay: Luc Besson, Pierre Jolivet, Alain Le Henry, Marc Perrier and Sophie Schmit
Music: Eric Serra
Cast:
Fred: Christopher Lambert
Héléna: Isabelle Adjani
The Florist: Richard Bohringer
Inspector Gesberg: Michel Galabru
The Roller Skater: Jean-Hugues Anglade
The Station Master: Jean Bouise
Inspector Batman: Jean-Pierre Bacri
Robin: Jean-Claude Lecas
Jean: Pierre-Ange Le Pogam
The Drummer: Jean Reno
The Bassist: Eric Serra
The Singer: Arthur Simms
The Guitarist: Michel D’Oz
The Saxophonist: Alain Guillard
The Percussionist: Jimmy Blanche
The Salesman: Benoît Régent
Big Bill: Christian Gomba
The Subway Driver (uncredited): Luc Besson
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.