Subway (1985)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Luc Besson, Pierre Jolivet, Alain Le Henry, Marc Perrier, Sophie Schmit
Original Songs & Music by Eric Serra
Directed by Luc Besson
Starring Isabelle Adjani, Christopher Lambert, Richard Bohringer, Michel Galabru, Jean-Hughes Anglade, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jean Bouise, and Jean Reno

Features:

• Trailers
  

Released by: Columbia Tri-Star
Rating: R
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Skip it

Fred (Lambert) is a sneak thief who lives in the bowels of the subway in Paris. He's pretty good at what he does and he has made some very interesting friends in the subway who help him with his little crimes. However, this time, he's gotten himself in over his head. The young lady he's just robbed (Adjani) is married to a millionaire, and--you guessed it--he falls in love with her. She's bored with her marriage, so she begins to feel a little something for him, too. So, she winds up going down into the maze of tunnels below the subway with him, all the while they are being chased by the cops.

What a weird movie. Of course, Besson is not known for his conventional filmmaking, but even this feels a bit weird even by his standards. This movie could be proof that Lambert can be an decent actor when he's working in his native tongue. I don't think that Besson really ever decided whether this was going to be a romantic comedy or an action movie, because the mood that is set begs for action movie, but there really isn't a payoff to it. To make matters worse, it just doesn't make sense that a woman who is married to an incredibly rich man would fall for a thief who lives in the subway, regardless of how bored she had become with her life and husband. This, of course, is not helped by the fact there is no chemistry whatsoever between Lambert and Adjani; both of them look like they are just going through the motions in their scenes together.

The DVD is everything you would imagine it should be: nothing. The only thing you get in the way of special features is a look at the trailer for the movie. Granted, the movie doesn't exactly leave you salivating for more, but still--a commentary track from Besson and/or Lambert would have been nice. For Besson's part, this was one of his first films, so a look almost twenty years back might have been interesting. Now there might not be any extensive behind-the-scenes footage or anything lying around, but how about some deleted scenes or outtakes? Did someone look in Besson's hallway closet at home?

So, I'm not recommending this one even as a rental. There are many more DVDs that are coming out soon that you will undoubtedly spend your hard earned money to either rent or own. This one's better off forgotten.