Subway | | Cast : | Isabelle Adjani, Christopher Lambert | | Director : | Luc Besson | | Studio : | Columbia/Tristar Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Widescreen | | Released Date : | September 05, 1985 | | DVD Released Date : | November 06, 2001 | | Language : | English (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | May 10, 2005 | | Summary | Fred's underground adventure... | Content
 | I looked into the film Subway (1985) because I was interested in other work done by Luc Besson, director of such films like La Femme Nikita (1990) and Léon: The Professional (1994). Now I realized from the outset this film was going to be more of an avant-garde affair based on the reviews (many tout style over substance), but what I didn't realize was just how boring and pointless it was going to be...the film stars Christopher Lambert (Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, Highlander), whose in the process of making yet another Highlander film titled Highlander: The Source (2005)...talk about milking something for all its worth...along with Isabelle Adjani (The Tenant, Ishtar). Also appearing is Richard Bohringer (The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover), Michel Galabru (La Cage aux folles), Jean-Hugues Anglade (Taking Lives), and Jean Reno (Mission: Impossible, Ronin).
The film begins with a pretty exciting car chase as a character we later come to know as Fred (Lambert), decked out in white, spikey hair and a tuxedo, speeds away from a group of men intent on getting his attention by playing a high-speed game of bumper tag. The chase ends near a subway, to which Fred utilizes to escape from his pursuers, making his way into the dark labyrinth of steel and concrete. Apparently Fred (described as a `hipster' thief on the DVD case) had been attending a party, one host by a millionaire and his beautiful wife named Helena (Adjani), stole some important documents, and is now holding them for ransom. Problem is, Fred finds himself falling for Helena, which only serves to complicate matters. These scenes are mixed in with various scenes of all the different and interesting folk Fred meets underneath the subway (sadly, there are no mole men), many of which have absolutely nothing to do with the story whatsoever but help fill out an hour and forty minute running time. So what does Fred intend to do with this money once he gets it? How about starting a band with the various underground (literally) musicians he's since met while hiding out from the cops and hired thugs?
First of all, one should be wary as there are numerous DVD releases of this film, some much worse than others, and Amazon has mixed the reviews for these various releases together in a cross-linkage nightmare (good job guys). The one I watched, and am now reviewing is the Columbia/Tristar Studios DVD (ASIN: B00005OSJO) release with Lambert holding a neon light and features blue graphics on the cover (it also appears to be the more expensive version). The version to avoid is the one with the two shot of Adjani and Lambert where it appears Lambert is sliding his hand into Adjani's shirt. Getting back to the film itself...as I mentioned before, many reviewers have commented on element of style over substance with regards to this film, but I felt it had little of either, which brings up another question...are all French directors required to produce one ` New Wave' film during their career? I've got nothing against New Wave cinema as I enjoy films like Alphaville (1965) and Repo Man (1984), but the aspects consistent with that style of film didn't really come through here for me. That's not to say they wouldn't for someone else, though, as it comes down to ones own interpretation...the movie just seemed plodding and pointless with little symbolistic and/or abstract conceptual present, two of the elements supposedly prevalent over the more traditional aspects like plot, defined characters, narrative i.e. an actual story. Also, what little there appears to be of the former seems to be what it is only on a very superficial level...I know there's no formula for determining this kind of thing, but if you're going to go this route, then jump in with both feet and give the audience something to chew on...that' just my opinion...really well done avant-garde works one different levels in that, on the surface it can entertain, while also maintaining a depth for those whose wish to explore further and develop their own ideas with regards to underlying themes and their significance. I will say even though there was a prevalent sense of boredom throughout for me, the film did look good as Besson, if nothing else, knows how to set up a shot. Another positive aspect about the film is the music, much of it composed by Eric Serra, who actually appears in the film as Enrico, the bassist. Serra has since gone on to score any number of films including La Femme Nikita (1990), GoldenEye (1995), and Rollerball (2002). I did think the idea of people living and existing beneath the subway an interesting idea, but not completely original as I've seen it before in the 1972 film Death Line aka Raw Meat, although that was a story about cannibals living beneath the London subway, surviving off the occasional passenger snatched from the platform. One thing I did learn from this film is the subways in Paris are reasonably clean and remarkably free of vermin like rats and roaches, something generally prevalent in the belly of metropolitan mass-transit beasts.
The widescreen anamorphic (2.35:1) picture on this DVD look decent, but isn't without some very minor flaws, ones most viewers will be able to live with in slight age defects. The Dolby 2.0 audio comes through cleanly enough. It's odd as the DVD seems to be set to play the English dub along with the English subtitles, but this can be changed. I would recommend the original French track with English subtitles (the English dubbing is pretty lousy). There are a couple of extras in the way of filmographies for some of the cast and crew, along with trailers for Léon: The Professional (1994), The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), and The Big Blue (1988). No trailer for this film, though...
Cookieman108
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| Rating | | | Date | March 22, 2005 | | Summary | SUCKS | Content
| Listen, I was an extra in this film when it was made. This is the dubbed version. IT SUCKS! Make sure that you have a subtitled version of this film. This version is horrible! |
| Rating | | | Date | January 03, 2005 | | Summary | No I don't want to | Content
| This is the only film I have ever watched that didn't feel like I was just watching a film. That is the best recommendation I could give anything I feel. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 15, 2004 | | Summary | This is a WEIRD film.... | Content
| I now wonder why I purchased this flick, a definitely shadowy tale about the romance and adventures of a petty criminal who only gets meaner as the film goes on, and the spoiled young wife of a middle aged businessman. There really is no one to root for in this film, not Christopher Lambert, whose Fred is a raunchy-looking, sociopathic hothead who loves to pull guns on people the first chance he gets, or any of the other characters, most of them living, (LIVING!) in the bowels of the Paris Metro, (which looks an AWFUL lot like Anysubway, Anywhere!) There's "The Roller", a purse-snatcher on roller skates; a black muscleman who suffers insults to his intelligence begrudgingly; the cold and terse Helena, played by Isabel Adjani, who ALSO seems fond of pulling guns on people; numerous inept cops named after American pop culture icons, ("Batman and Robin", "Tom & Jerry", etc.,) the police chief that seems a WEE bit too fond of coffee and a smarmy flower peddler who looks like he walked right out of a Martin Scorcese movie. NONE of these people could be even remotely called "loveable", their behavior makes that impossible. The criminals are a little TOO vicious, especially for petty ones, and the police are buffoons.
Fred manages to get and retain the attention of Helena by extorting her with some papers he had palmed from her personal home safe. She eventually meets him and pretty much gets sucked into the world of the oddballs living in the tunnels, walkways and hidden compartments of the subway herself. This all leads up to a finale: a concert to be put on by the more musically adept among the denizens where tragedy finally strikes after an hour and a half of mischief and police ineptitude.
I wouldn't recommend ANY teenager see this movie because of the gawd-awful influence it may exert on them, but for somebody studying criminology, it may be entertaining...
There is ONE scene with Adjani and her character's husband at a swanky soire? at an associate's home, where Helena, (Adjani,) smarts off to a fare-thee-well. It's probably the best scene in the film. And the sound production is pretty good too, as it was in its initial VHS version 16 years ago. However, there ain't much ELSE to recommend this odd bird, lemme tell ya! |
| Rating | | | Date | October 14, 2003 | | Summary | A PLUNGIN IN THE PARIS SUBWAY SO STRANGE... | Content
| THIS STORY RECOUNT ALMOST A TRIVIAL FOLLOW-UP BEHIND A man who love a pretty woman because he has just look she when he has robed his bag and he is forced to keep himself in this famous VAST SUBWAY witch is many more strange than it appear ! VERY GOODS ACTORS ! Good MOVIE good ambience WITH MANYS BEAUTIFULS ACTION THRILLER and many entertainment ! Sure ! ... A good MOVIE ! ONE OF THE FIRST TIME WITCH APPEAR JEAN RENO ! |
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