“Today is a good day to die” is the infamous quote in the opening moments said by star Kiefer Sutherland for the 1990 Joel Schumacher psychological horror film known as Flatliners! Yes, this film is about people who decide to play with their own lives, potentially killing themselves!

The story is about five medical students that decide experiment with “near death” experiences. Led by Nelson Wright (Kiefer Sutherland, The Lost Boys, Young Guns), who somehow convinces four of his fellow medical school classmates Joe Hurley(William Baldwin, Virus, The Squid and the Whale), David Labraccio(screen legend Kevin Bacon, Friday the 13th, Tremors), Rachel Manus (the iconic Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman, Hook) , and Randy Steckle(Oliver Platt, 2012, Lake Placid) to also go through the near death experience until they see the consequences for the sins of their past.

Flatliners I would say is an unusual film with a unique story. It might be a ridiculous, illogical story but this film is just insane, I mean, how many of us would want to experience near-death? The suspense is incredible as each person comes so close to death, with the other characters working feverishly to bring them back to life after their near-death experience. The acting is, as expected top-notch, with excellent direction by Joel Schumacher, who somehow keeps all the craziness in this film together.

Arrow Video gives Flatliners the UHD treatment with a 3840 x 2160p resolution. The HDR10 and Dolby Vision certainly does upgrade the video due to the increased resolution with the presentation for this release looking perfect. Everything that was wrong with previous releases, such as the surreal, hallucinations scenes where you couldn’t make out what you were looking at have been corrected where now you can clearly see everything perfectly. Details are incredibly strong here with rich textures to scenery, characters, and other various visuals. Black levels are balanced with excellent, flawless shadow details. Colors are sharp, with the color scheme often consisting of a burnt yellow-orange and some browns. Jan de Bont’s spectacular cinematography shines about as perfect as I have ever seen. No DNR or other image digital enhancements appear to have been applied. This Flatliners release is easily the best of the bunch in terms of picture quality!

Arrow offers two audio options for this release, which are DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. I thought the 2.0 was a bit stronger but in all honestly, the dialogue, background noises, sound effects (which there are plenty of) and score by James Newton Howard have never sounded as rich or as clear as they do here. The sounds all come in completely balanced without any flaws. English subtitles are available for this release.

Extras for this UHD release include an audio commentary track by critics Bryan Reesman and Max Evry.

There are several featurettes as part of this package.

The Conquest of Our Generation is an interview with screenwriter Peter Filardi.

Visions of Light is an interview with cinematographer Jan de Bont and chief lighting technician Edward Ayer.

Hereafter is an interview with first assistant director John Kretchmer.

Restoration features an interview with production designer Eugenio Zanetti and art director Larry Lundy.

Atonement is an interview with composer James Newton Howard and orchestrator Chris Boardman.

Dressing for Character is an interview with costume designer Susan Becker.

A theatrical trailer and an HD Image Gallery round out the extras. Please make that the image gallery is authored without a timecode, and advances automatically. Basically, you will need to use your pause button on your remote handy if you want to look at the images further than the time allowed.

There is also an insert booklet, this one having essays by Amanda Reyes and Peter Tonguette, that have information about the cast and crew, technical data, and some stills. The UHD case has reversible sleeve art with original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin. And the package comes equipped with a slipcover!

Arrow has come through with a TREMENDOUS package for Flatliners and I would call this the definitive release! Highly recommended!

Flatliners (1990)

Director- Joel Schumacher

Cast- Keifer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon

Country of Origin- USA

Distributor – Arrow Video

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date –8/22/22