Sylvester Stallone’s 90s “comeback” was spearheaded by “Cliffhanger,” kept on going thanks to “Demolition Man,” and survived letdowns like “Judge Dredd” thanks to some critically acclaimed work in James Mangold’s “Cop Land.” Along the way, Sly signed a big three-movie deal with Universal, the first film of which, DAYLIGHT (116 mins., 1996, PG-13; Kino Lorber), proved to be a middling recycling of ‘70s disaster movies – more or less in line with similar fare like the dueling “volcano films” of the era (the okay “Dante’s Peak,” the less-than-stellar “Volcano”).
Leslie Bohem’s script lays out a “Poseidon Adventure in the Holland Tunnel” where a careening car crashes into toxic materials, causing an explosion under the Hudson River. Claiming the lives of numerous motorists, the disaster also traps a number of disparate types whose only chance at survival lies with a disgraced emergency services chief (you know who) who manages to convince the authorities in charge that this current cab driver knows how and where to stage a daring rescue attempt. That, of course, he does, but the not-so-thankful survivors provide fewer kudos and more complaints to Stallone once he shows up, including grating-as-hell squabbling couple Jay O. Sanders and Karen Young. The other guests on the ship...wait, survivors in the tunnel...include harried, broke writer Amy Brenneman, an “extreme sports” star (pre-”Lord of the Rings” Viggo Mortensen), Sanders and Young’s camcorder-obsessed daughter (“Halloween IV”’s Danielle Harris), and an elderly couple played by Claire Bloom and Colin Fox.
Although I found the movie passable years ago, on this viewing, I was disappointed that “Daylight” does pretty much the bare minimum in terms of developing its characters and even Stallone’s predicament. The movie is cut awfully tight and director Rob Cohen proves to be merely serviceable, at best, in establishing the human component of the drama – alas, most characters are thinly-drawn, performed by an ensemble nearly uniform in delivering performances that are several decibels too high, even given the dire circumstances their characters find themselves in. This includes Brennaman, who develops little chemistry with Stallone, and, worst of all, Sanders and Young, who seem to be battling each other for whoever can shout the loudest. They’re impossible to take, and the lack of appealing characters in this movie turns out to be a major issue.
The letdown extends to the movie’s set-pieces, which are competently staged by Cohen, but offer little interest after the movie’s initial blast of ILM-provided special effects. Stallone flies through a number of ventilation fans (each with their own, ridiculous “countdown clock” so viewers are aware how little time he has to accomplish the task) and yells at his crew to get out of the way of rats and rising water, but the movie feels like it’s missing some big set-piece that could’ve put it over the top. Ditto Stallone himself, who feels detached in a quasi “vulnerable” role that ends with him screaming nearly incoherently at the situation he’s in.
“Daylight” was one of Universal’s big Christmas movies in 1996 but didn’t make much noise at the box-office domestically. I assumed it recouped its investment thanks to foreign dollars, yet the movie’s disappointment was just the tip of the iceberg for what turned out to be a busted contract between Stallone and Universal: the troubled (if underrated) thriller “D-Tox” ended up being sold off in the U.S. and sent straight to video, bombing out completely while the third film in that contract was never made at all.
Fans of the movie will want to check out Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD (1.85) remaster of the film, at least, thanks to its new 4K scan of the OCN. This is a hugely improved transfer, enhanced with Dolby Vision HDR, that easily trumps the early-format Blu-Ray that Universal released years ago. The movie is more detailed than less grainy than its early format BD (so early, in fact, it was even issued on HD-DVD), with colors and contrasts all being improved as a result.
The 5.1 DTS MA sound is nicely delivered with ample directorial effects and a heavy Randy Edelman score while Kino has reprieved the legacy extras which date back all the way to Universal’s “Signature Collection” laserdisc – these include a Making Of, Cohen commentary, vintage featurette, trailers, and the music video for the David Foster-produced ballad “Whenever There Is Love” featuring Donna Summer and Bruce Roberts.