Flatliners is a 2017 American science fiction psychological horror film that was directed by Niels Arden Oplev and written by Ben Ripley. The film serves as a remake of the original 1990 film of the same name, and stars Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, James Norton, Kiersey Clemons, and Kiefer Sutherland. It follows five medical students who attempt to conduct experiments that produce near-death experiences. Sony Pictures released the film in the United States on September 29, 2017.
The film ended up grossing $16.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $24.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $41.7 million against a production budget of $19 million. In North America, it was released alongside American Made and ‘Till Death Do Us Part, as well as the wide expansion of Battle Of The Sexes, and was originally projected to gross $8-12 million from the 2,552 theaters that played it during opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $6.6 million, finishing fifth at the box office; even before factoring in inflation, the number was lower than the $10 million opening of the original film in 1990. In its second weekend, Flatliners dropped 42%, grossing just $3.6 million.
The Film Itself (4/5):
This film, is definitely one that you need to go into with an absolutely open mind. Flatliners is indeed a reboot, and a completely re-thinking on a once idea that really didn’t need to be rebooted. But, when you take this film and treat it as a completely separate item, it really wasn’t all that bad. The story that we’re given with this movie is one that is being re-hashed, but it offers a new take on the concept of flatlining and carries itself through very well to the end.
Picture Quality (5/5):
Presented in 1080p, the overall visual presentation of Flatliners was really nicely done. Absolutely everything about this films picture quality was clean, clear and my wife and I were able to see and understand everything without having to specifically pay attention because of visual distortion. In fact, one of the more notable sequences of this film that really stood out was the various sequences that happen as the various people flatline. The visual representation of that point in time that stands between life and death of the brain really looked damn good on my living room television and I can only really imagine how good it would have looked should it been made available in 4K with HDR.
Audio Quality (4/5):
Packaged with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track, Flatliners does absolutely everything that it can within its power to offer an all out immersive experience for those at home. While the audio presentation isn’t nearly as immersive as it could have been, it does a really great job at utilizing all of the available channels, really placing emphasis on the surround and rear aspects of a given scene. I would’ve loved to have seen this come with at least a 7.1 audio track as it would’ve done a much better job at presenting the purgatory sequences and would have been a better experience for the viewers.
The Packaging (3/5):
Flatliners comes packaged in your standard single-disc Blu-ray amaray case. Within that case is the standard Blu-ray copy of the film, the disc unfortunately not featuring any artwork that’s related to the film. The font used for the title of the film does match that of the font from the case art, so at least it’s not just the standard release text that we’ve seen with a lot of releases. There are no DVD copies of the film included, however a digital copy redemption pamphlet has been included so the film can be added to your VUDU library. There is no slipcover available for this release.
Special Features (1/5):
Unfortunately, Flatliners is considerably barebones in terms of additional content. There’s only a single feature that’s been included and it is some Interview Footage with the cast and crew as they go over their experiences in working on this film. While it does offer somewhat of a behind-the-scenes look of the film, it’s really not all that elaborate. There should have been a couple of added features where they could have done a day with the crew, or even some feature audio commentaries. But, alas, that’s all we have.
Technical Specs:
Video
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Runtime
Original Film: 110 minutes
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I’m really glad that I took the time to check out the reboot of Flatliners. While this film itself is nowhere near as good as the original 1990 film, it does offer an experience that is different and wasn’t all that bad. This film will definitely make for a good popcorn movie night with the family. The overall visual and audio presentation of the Blu-ray release was really nicely done, despite the audio track not really being as immersive as I would have personally liked it to have been. The included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track was nice and powerful as it came through my home theater system. The Blu-ray release is considerably bland in terms of additional content as it only contains the one piece of interview footage, which was quite upsetting. Overall, if you’re considering checking out this film, I would highly recommend that you wait for the film to go on sale and be available for less than $10 and that you go into it with a completely open and care free mind. One added bonus about the Blu-ray release of Flatliners is that the disc is confirmed to be Region Free and will play on any player from any country.
