Joel Schumacher had a fine career in filmmaking that seems to get derailed in people’s minds when they remember that he put nipples on Batman and Robin. It feels like the only way you can talk about a Joel Schumacher movie is to avoid mentioning that Joel Schumacher wrote or directed it. Otherwise it’s a 30 minute rant about Batman’s chest. But we’re going to talk about Joel Schumacher. Not only that, we’re going to talk about Joel Schumacher’s Afterlife Trilogy. It’s not really a trilogy, but the ’80s he made three films that dealt with a group of teens looking at the Afterlife. First there was St. Elmo’s Fire about a kids pondering if there’s really life after college. Andrew McCarthy keeps wanting to write about the meaning of life. The Lost Boys has a group of kids who were turned into vampires and enjoy the feeling of an endless life. Although they have to ponder what happens to them when they’re staked by Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. Is there truly an afterlife for them? The trilogy wraps up with Flatliners (started production in 1989 and was released on August 10, 1990). A group of young medical students want to get a glimpse of the Afterlife. You can get an even better glimpse with Flatliners coming out on 4K UHD.
The medical students at Taft University have decided on an extra credit project. Nelson Wright (The Lost Boys‘ Kiefer Sutherland) wants to die. But he’s not wanting to just kill himself and get it over. He wants a controlled death so that he can be revived. He wants to see what’s on the other side of mortality. He enlists his classmates including Rachel Manus (Pretty Woman’s Julia Roberts), David Labraccio (Footloose’s Kevin Bacon), Joe Hurley (Backdraft‘s William Baldwin) and Randy Steckle (Married to the Mob‘s Oliver Platt). They smuggle medical equipment into a rather spacious abandoned part of the med school to construct their Resurrection Machine. Nelson has his vital signs flatline for a minute before his classmates put the paddles on him to get the heart pumping again. What did he see on the otherside? Was it the Pearly Gates? Did he meet St. Peter? Was there disco heaven? Did he get reborn? Not quite. He ended up in a memory from his childhood. The other classmates are wanting to also get to peep into the other side. They also find themselves getting stuck in a bad moment and memory. Even worse is these moments follow them back to the land of the living and haunt them. Is this the afterlife? Or are these things that must be dealt with before you get to disco heaven?
Flatliners brings to a close Joel Schumacher Afterlife Trilogy. He has once more put together a cast of young actors working off each other in a group setting. Flatliners wraps up the ’80s Teen Flick Era as we see into what’s on the other side of the decade whether it be adulthood or the grave for this cast. The film bookends all the Chicago teen film that started off the decade such as Class, Risky Business and Sixteen Candles. Flatliners allowed Joel Schumacher one last chance to show it takes a group of friends to make get even a glimpse of meaning of life. Now you can return to screaming about Batman’s wardrobe.
There’s both a 4K UHD and Blu-ray version of Flatliners being put out by Arrow.
The video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 4K UHD picture is a restoration of the original negative. Director of Photography Jan de Bond approved the transfer. The details in the lighting elevate the film from those who only remember it on VHS – which was the other side of 4K UHD. The audio is Lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 surround soundtracks. You’ll get to enjoy the beeping news of heart monitor. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary by critics Bryan Reesman and Max Evry get into the details of the film. They give background on the statue from the opening credits, how Joel changed the city from Boston to Chicago and the real university. They also mock the neon that surrounds the doorway in the hospital.
The Conquest of our Generation (19:11) catches up with screenwriter Peter Filardi. He had immediate success selling a script, but a writers’ strike kept him at home. This time allowed him to focus on fleshing out an idea he’d been kicking around. The theme was about accountability since that was part of the Iran-Contra scandal. He would go on to write the script for The Craft.
Visions of Light (18:23) sits down with director of photography Jan de Bont and chief lighting technician Edward Ayer. They talk about the lighting choices that added to the story and made the movie jump. He gets into shooting around Chicago and how it makes shooting very special. Jan de Bont went on to direct Speed and Twister.
Hereafter (14:22) talks with first assistant director John Kretchmer. “Nobody pays for ‘under the top,'” said Joel Schumacher. And John explains the over-the-top elements that Joel brought to the shoot. John was from Chicago so Flatliners was coming home. He explains the role of a first assistant director on the film set.
Restoration (10:47) gets production designer Eugenio Zanetti and art director Larry Lundy to talk about how they made a film outside of the ’80s fashions. Zanetti worked on Pasolini’s Medea with Maria Callas. His agent told him it might take a long time to get him a gig when he signed with her on a Thursday. The next day, he was working on Slamdance.
Atonement chats with composer James Newton Howard and orchestrator Chris Boardman. He dropped out of USC and became a successful studio musician. He started scoring movies in 1984 and loved it. He talks about Joel hired him based on his score for Some Girls. They worked together on several films. He goes into the music Joel wanted for a film about people dying and coming back to life.
Dressing for Character (6:26) interviews costume designer Susan Becker. She had started with the director on St. Elmo’s Fire. She talks about how she has to separate characters with their wardrobe choices. She goes into what influenced the fashion in the Flatliners including Keifer’s trenchcoat.
Theatrical trailer (1:27) starts off with “Today is a good day to die” and showing the experiment.
Image gallery is around a dozen color promo pics.
Arrow Video presents Flatliners. Directed by Joel Schumacher. Screenplay by Peter Filardi. Starring Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt and Kevin Bacon. Running Time: 114 minutes. Rating: Rated R. Release Date: August 2, 2022.
