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Ghost Canyon

Flatliners (Special Edition) [4K Ultra HD]
(Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, Hope Davis, William Baldwin, Kimberly Scott, et al / 4K UHD Blu-ray / R / (1990) 2022 / Arrow Films - MVD Visual)

Overview: Known for his impressively eclectic filmography and for helping to launch the careers of several young Hollywood stars of the 80s and 90s, Joel Schumacher (The Lost Boys, St. Elmo’s Fire) tackles the existential question that, at one time or another, haunts us all: what awaits us after we die?

At the University Hospital School of Medicine, five ambitious students subject themselves to a daring experiment: to temporarily induce their own deaths, hoping to glimpse the afterlife before being brought back to life.

But as competition within the group intensifies and their visions of the world beyond increasingly bleed into their waking lives, they’re about to learn that the greatest threat comes not from the spirit world but from the long-suppressed secrets of their own pasts.

Stylishly photographed by Jan de Bont (Basic Instinct) and featuring a cast of Hollywood’s hottest talent – including Kiefer Sutherland (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me), Julia Roberts (Secret in their Eyes) and Kevin Bacon (Wild Things) – Flatliners is the ultimate life-and-death thrill ride.

Blu-ray Verdict: Nostalgia isn’t always the best reason to watch a movie. More often than not, the movies you loved as a kid will disappoint you as an adult. While there are exceptions to this rule, it’s hard to justify owning a DVD of Krull, regardless of how many insightful the director’s commentary may be!

But stay sharp Gen X/Y’ers, because the dozens of disappointments dominating your trip down memory lane, might stop you from stumbling across one worth revisiting.

One surprise film worth another look is Joel Schumacher’s Flatliners (now out via Arrow Films/MVD Visual as a wondrous 4K UHD), the supernatural thriller starring 80’s popcorn heavyweights Keifer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Julia Roberts and Billy Baldwin.

You would think that a stew comprised of this cast, the flamboyant flair of Schumacher and the über slick eye of cinematographer Jan De Bont would result in something sickeningly stodgy, but calories aside, Flatliners ain’t half bad.

Sure, even though it’s production design is admittedly, and inexplicably over-the-top and the photography is achingly over-stylized (replete with neon soaked streets spewing endless billows of steam), Flatliners still manages to be an effectively dark and compelling thriller.

If there’s an explanation why Flatliners was forgotten, it might be because 1990 saw the release of another, far superior, supernatural thriller: Jacob’s Ladder.

Had Flatliners been released a year or two after Jacob’s Ladder, it’s likely Schumacher’s flashy thriller would have been dismissed as a toned down, commercialized rip-off of Adrian Lyne’s nightmarish masterpiece. But with these films being released in the same year, Flatliners enjoyed a different fate, tripling JL’s take at the box office despite being a watered down version of a similar premise.

The passage of time hasn’t been as kind to Flatliners, it has been lost atop a dated heap of throwaway 80’s Brat Pack dreck, while JL has cemented its reputation as a timeless classic. Fates aside, JL is seamlessly terrifying and it manages to keep audiences guessing right up until the last frame, whereas Flatliners falls victim to over-simplification and Hollywood conveniences that drag down the final act into a predictably tidy denouement.

Comparisons between the two movies is unfair, and ultimately overlooks Flatliners ability to represent the 80’s at its quintessential best. Released at the end of a decade of shallow excess, Flatliners will always be dated by its hairstyles and clothing styles, but in fairness, it should also be remembered as a well executed movie at (or at least near) the top of its particular heap of dreck.

Thus, and for intents and purposes, it’s an entertaining walk down memory lane and one made all the more crisply enjoyable by this wondrous 4K UHD presentation. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the special features of:

Brand new 4K restoration from the original negative, approved by director of photography Jan de Bont
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 surround soundtracks
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary by critics Bryan Reesman and Max Evry
The Conquest of our Generation, a brand new video interview with screenwriter Peter Filardi
Visions of Light, a brand new video interview with director of photography Jan de Bont and chief lighting technician Edward Ayer
Hereafter, a brand new video interview with first assistant director John Kretchmer
Restoration, a brand new video interview with production designer Eugenio Zanetti and art director Larry Lundy
Atonement, a brand new video interview with composer James Newton Howard and orchestrator Chris Boardman
Dressing for Character, a brand new interview with costume designer Susan Becker
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin

www.MVDvisual.com





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