Variety

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.

Variety by Staff (Not Credited)

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.

IndieWire by David Ehrlich

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.

Los Angeles Times by Michael Wilmington

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]

Miami Herald by Orlando Aloma

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]

Time Out

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.

Washington Post by Rita Kempley

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]

The New York Times by Janet Maslin

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.

Empire by Kim Newman

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

Time Out by Staff (Not Credited)

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.

Chicago Tribune by Gene Siskel

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."

TV Guide Magazine

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

TV Guide Magazine

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

Chicago Reader by Dave Kehr

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.