Subway - Next Stop: Terror (DVD)

Content: It's an ordinary day in Los Angeles that turns into a deadly nightmare for the passengers of a subway train when a bomb blast rips the train to shreds in the middle of the tunnel. Few survive the blast and struggle to escape the wreckage. There seems to be no way out of the collapsed tunnel. But that's not the small group's biggest problem. When they find another bomb, they not only realize that their fight for survival has become a race against time. It is also feared that the terrorist responsible for the attack is in their midst. And mutual suspicions are the last thing the group needs right now...

With Subway - Next Stop: Terror, director Robert Kirbyson has created a solid thriller that succeeds well, especially in the first half, in keeping the audience riveted to the action. To be sure, the film can't hide its low budget even during the initial explosion and its dramatic aftermath. Still, Kirbyson believably builds the claustrophobic atmosphere, later fueled by mutual suspicion, through which weaknesses in the script and acting performances are pushed to the background. But unfortunately, it is revealed too quickly who is behind the attack. And from that moment on, it also becomes increasingly clear how one-dimensional the characters are drawn and how superficial the story really is.

So the individual characters conform to the usual disaster movie clichés. There are the young heroes, a desperate father, an ex-soldier and a young, unsuccessful actor as well as the omniscient history teacher and a Mexican woman who doesn't speak a word of English but has medical knowledge. And a young man who could serve as a potential romance with our heroine, but at the same time also comes under suspicion of being the terrorist because of his origins, must of course not be missing.

As unimaginative as the constellation of characters are the build-up of dramaturgical conflicts and the two dramatic plot twists. Strictly speaking, Subway - Next Stop: Terror is just a B-movie according to pattern. And yet, the movie works quite well overall. Despite all the clichés and the lack of surprises it never really gets boring and in some moments even real tension can develop. Here it becomes clear that the movie clearly would have had the potential for more. But even in this somewhat weaker version, the home cinema premiere still offers entertaining entertainment for lovers of simple-minded disaster films. Who does not expect more than a somewhat cheaper variant of Daylight, which can risk here confidently a look. With small deductions recommendable!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD is very clean and pleases with a decent image sharpness, which is also in the many dark scenes at a good level. The colors come in the gloomy action, however, only to a limited extent. The sound presents dialogue very powerfully, but also rather centrally mixed. Every now and then, sound effects such as explosions provide appealing dynamics in the multichannel sound. Good!

Extras: Except for the trailer for the film and other program tips, the DVD unfortunately has no bonus material to offer.

Conclusion: In U-Bahn - Next Stop: Terror the surviving passengers of a terrorist attack are pure rip-off figures and their actions determined by countless clichés. That this low budget thriller still works is due to the claustrophobic staging and some decent moments of suspense. The DVD is technically well made, but there is no bonus material worth mentioning. If you like simply knitted US disaster thrillers, you can safely risk a look here!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp