DVD Red Line

Despite the cover art and story-line, which screamed of "fast-paced action," the film was actually not like that at all. There were plenty of long face-shots and contemplative scenes; people just thinking and talking. And the story-line of "speeding out of control" is pure baloney designed to sucker you in; since in reality the train stays MOTIONLESS throughout the movie. Not to mention that "the saboteur among them" is an unnecessary spoiler. Rather, I prefer the other blurb, of "brought to a slamming stop…must deal with the greater danger that soon faces them" (which was written by yours truly).

I much preferred Money Train and Pelham 123 (both the 1974 original and the remake), which I gave 8/10. Red Line is a 6/10 for me.

A bomb goes off in an LA subway, and the survivors try to keep it together, care for the injured, and find a way out, all the while wondering who, if any, amongst them is the terrorist.

For a very low budget film that some college students and faculty made as a project–something I didn't realize until after I'd seen it–REDLINE is quite good. All the same, the acting by just about everyone is dry-tepid, and most of the lines sound read rather than said. Plot-wise, it pretty much follows the formula, with the sort of twists that are meant to be surprising but are well-trodden to the point of being quite predictable. Who/who doesn't survive is another predictable factor.

The notes at the beginning of the film cite some statistics about domestic terrorism that seem to promise the film will have a broader scope than it actually does. Partly by necessity, I suppose, the view is quite limited and claustrophobic. Some brief shots of the outside world–rescue efforts, news flashes, etc–during the course of the film would have been a big plus, but I can see how they didn't have the resources for that. More solid clues as to the motivations of the culprit would also have helped.

Oh, well. REDLINE is a decent thriller if you like this sort of thing and aren't too demanding.