Subway

Result may disappoint some for its singular lack of ambition or purpose and its ragged narrative, but still proves a charmingly cartoonish escapade, strong on humor and rock rhythms. Read full review

Subway is a rush of youthful energy so raw and well-realized that it steamrolls any of the director’s attempts to cohere it into an actual story. Read full review

Imagine Steven Spielberg gone existentialist, Carne and Prevert making rock videos, a punk "Diva" and Jean Cocteau crossed with the Clash, and you may get an idea of the peculiar charms awaiting you in the cavernous, fluorescent interiors of Subway. [Nov 16, 1985, p.16]

His flair for the visual thus cultivated, Besson turns the subway and its corridors into a futuristic, albeit hyperrealistic, setting of light, movement and sound (in Dolby stereo). On that level, the film works...Where it doesn't work so well is as a reverse-Cinderella story between a primal, apish Lambert, who seems to have sleepwalked from Greystoke, and an Adjani who, fed up with boring dinners and haute couture, wants to return to the poorhouse without knowing if the slipper will fit. [18 Jan 1986, p.C7]

More style than substance here but what style it is and what little gems of cinematic moments collect together in this enjoyable ensemble. Read full review

Unlike ''Le Dernier Combat,'' which had humor and urgency, Subway appears to have been a good deal more exciting to film than it is to see. Read full review

Setting the movie in this unfamiliar but realistic world is intriguing enough, and Besson handles the action with consummate mastery. But the punk-chic style only accentuates the film's emptiness. That said, Adjani once again proves herself not only one of the most versatile actresses in European cinema, but also the most beautiful. Read full review

Overworked by New Waver Luc Besson, it offers visual verve, if not a lot of storytelling savvy...What "The Road Warrior" did for cars, Subway almost does for rapid transit, with its focus on the commuter cars that glide in and shuttle off into the passageways around the Op,era stop, where much of this tragicomic parable takes place. This parable's philosophy, however, is inane, imitative, prepackaged punk. [22 Nov 1985, p.29]

SUBWAY is DIVA with no brains--a film of all style and little substance. Ah, but what style! Read full review

The film looks terrific and offers one spectacular chase, but its story and characters are less substantial than even a weak episode of "Miami Vice." Read full review

Subway begins as the world's greatest car stereo commercial and ends as the world's worst concert film. In between is a muzzy tale of doomed love; and when doom lowers its boom here, it feels awfully like relief. Rarely has the excitement of an opening sequence been so quickly piddled away. [22 Nov 1985, p.B7]

Young French director Luc Besson (Le dernier combat) aims for a little American slickness in this relentlessly empty action film: it zooms along from one arbitrary sequence to the next, and its only aim is to keep the audience pumped up with kinetic stimulation. Read full review