Flatliners (1990)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Jens S

  
  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… More
  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.

• Luke B

  
  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… More
  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.

• Christopher A

  
  5 Medical Students try to make history and discover once and for all if there is life after death. Flatliners is chilling to its core as one by one we follow the trainee doctors 'go under' and flatline for a few seconds longer each time. Kiefer Sutherland plays the crazed… More
  5 Medical Students try to make history and discover once and for all if there is life after death. Flatliners is chilling to its core as one by one we follow the trainee doctors 'go under' and flatline for a few seconds longer each time. Kiefer Sutherland plays the crazed mastermind behind their plans and as the first flatliner to return finds that despite the overall feeling that his indescribable experience was positive, hes brought something back with him. As the students try to better each other for flat-lining longer we gradually see the effects of life after life after death become more strained as their sins from the past haunt them further and effecting their lives with more serious intent. Scared me senseless as a kid and still pushes all the right buttons nowadays. Kevin Bacon is the perfect balance to Sutherland's tornado of a character along with good supports from Julia Roberts and William Baldwin (Not Alec, Stephen or that bloke from Coronation Street). "Philosophy failed. Religion failed. Now it's up to the physical sciences. "

• Manu G

  
  Good movie and although the story is not really realistic but the story was good and I thought the acting was decent enough. Great Cast! Five medical students decide to embark on a dangerous experiment to pierce the veil between life and death in an attempt to learn more about the… More
  Good movie and although the story is not really realistic but the story was good and I thought the acting was decent enough. Great Cast! Five medical students decide to embark on a dangerous experiment to pierce the veil between life and death in an attempt to learn more about the afterlife. Under their temporary deaths they experience strange visions, and memories long since forgotten. However, what they hadn't bargained for is that when they pierced the veil of life and death, they'd each bring something back with them, something from their past that will not only haunt them, but is also fully capable of hurting them as well.

• Wahida K

  
  Great Cast, great Plot and great acting.

• Anthony L

  
  Another film that?s not as great as I remember it. Has a great script though which is very quotable.

• Bruce B

  
  Wow so many good actors brought together in 1990 for a half way decent film. Its amazing how this bunch has aged in 18 years. Yes its been that long. Dammm. Anyway this group is zapping each other to death for a short period then they bring them back to life, just to see whats on the… More
  Wow so many good actors brought together in 1990 for a half way decent film. Its amazing how this bunch has aged in 18 years. Yes its been that long. Dammm. Anyway this group is zapping each other to death for a short period then they bring them back to life, just to see whats on the other side. its Suspenseful, but rates little on the fright meter. But still is worth the watch and gets 3 1/2 stars in my book. Want to thank Julie for the Reco on this one.

• Jani H

  
  I remember this film from my youth and I recalled it to be awesome. An interesting plot, about afterlife experiences and sins from the past, with a future all-star cast failed to deliver big this time, but manages to entertain thru its whole duration. The set decoration along with… More
  I remember this film from my youth and I recalled it to be awesome. An interesting plot, about afterlife experiences and sins from the past, with a future all-star cast failed to deliver big this time, but manages to entertain thru its whole duration. The set decoration along with the cinematography was the highlights of the movie.

• Film C

  
  good film different and interesting worth a watch

• Candy R

  
  Great cast and plot. A group of students experiment with flatlining which opens up their worst nightmares.

• _kelly .

  
  scary and philosophical - that doesn't happen much, plus phenomenal acting makes this classic

• Daniel H

  
  A needlessly oppressive and confusing atmosphere that borders on the neurotically symbolic... as well as aggressively two-dimensional characters... and a group of sub-plots that attempt to blanket every possible pathos to ensure you are personally involved and moved by the films… More
  A needlessly oppressive and confusing atmosphere that borders on the neurotically symbolic... as well as aggressively two-dimensional characters... and a group of sub-plots that attempt to blanket every possible pathos to ensure you are personally involved and moved by the films singular, unrelenting moral. What that moral happens to be, though, is the crux of the film... and by being totally unclear, the film can neither fail nor succeed. It just ends up being a good-looking let-down. It collapses under its own intriguing premise, like a person who can't sidestep an oncoming train because of sheer confusion.

• Curtis L

  
  okay.

• Summer W

  
  I was obsessed with this movie when it first came out while I was in middle school, and I still love it.

• Nani V

  
  I enjoyed it for what it is.

• Lafe F

  
  This movie spooked me out big time, as a group of Medical Students (led by Kiefer Sutherland) conduct near-death-experiences on themselves. Going to the other side for a few minutes, they bring back some undesirable personal effects from the other side. There are some really creepy… More
  This movie spooked me out big time, as a group of Medical Students (led by Kiefer Sutherland) conduct near-death-experiences on themselves. Going to the other side for a few minutes, they bring back some undesirable personal effects from the other side. There are some really creepy scenes, as their pasts come to haunt them. Each of them must find ways to deal with their wrongs. The only kid who didn't go there was Oliver Platt; I wonder what would've come after him? The script and dialogue were quite clever. It has great music, and sleek direction by my favorite Joel Schumacher.

• xGary X

  
  Very daft 80s supernatural bratpack thriller that enjoys a cult following. Would have been better if the pompous cast hadn't taken it all so seriously, but reasonably entertaining.

• Jason S

  
  Dark flick. I liked the cast and it set a mood that stayed with you even after the movie was long over.

• Dean M

  
  Kiefer Sutherland registers real presence and pulls off a wildly demanding role in this sci-fi-thriller film.

• Michael G

  
  I saw this movie at the theater every night for like a week when it came out. Yet I can't remember a damn thing about it.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings