"Daylight" is a horizontal "Towering Inferno", a sideways action-disaster movie set in New York's Holland Tunnel. Starring Syl-vester Stallone in his most appealing type of role, an ordinary Joe who selflessly charges in to the rescue, "Daylight" should see mountains of greenbacks at the end of its boxoffice tunnel. Positioned by itself as the lone big actioner of December, this highly charged, subterranean twister will have its strongest appeal among meat-and-potatoes Middle Americans.
In this shrewdly honed variation on the disaster formula, screenwriter Leslie Bohem has converged a prototypically diverse set of characters into the tunnel that connects New York and New Jersey. What sets off the story is an explosion, detonated by a caravan of trucks carrying toxic waste to New Jersey, presumably Tromaville. The destruction is instantaneous -- firestorms, raging waters, collapsing stone. It's as if the tunnel has turned into a fiery microwave.
Witness to this is a cab driver, Kit Latura (Stallone), who pulls up to the tunnel just as it explodes. Not surprisingly, Kit is no ordinary hack; in fact, he's the former head of Emergency Medical Services who, before he was fired in disgrace, made an impact study of the tunnel and how emergency operations should be conducted. Kit charges into action.
Smartly intercutting between the hellacious conditions inside the tunnel as a ragtag band of survivors struggle to get out and the chaos up top in the rescue headquarters, the story clips along faster than a lit fuse. Unfortunately, the survivors inside are a generally lackluster lot even by the standards of people headed toward New Jersey.
But it's Kit's unflinching bravery and courageous efforts that are the scenario's central, winning thrust. Indeed, Kit's heroics in getting inside the tunnel are monumental. Once inside, he must not only devise a way to get them out -- both ends of the tunnel are sealed by the debris -- but inspire them not to psychologically self-destruct.
Although there are no flying cows here, "Daylight" is jammed with ferocious natural horrors. All the elements of nature -- fire, water, stone -- bond in awful fury and director Rob Cohen has expertly harnessed them in this cinematic salvo and unleashed them in an acceleratingly exciting cadence. When the narrative slows to its obligatory character identifications and back stories, the dialogue tends to drivel, especially in exchanges between Kit and the female-of-action (Amy Brenneman). Fortunately, before things can get too soggy, there's always another explosion.
Undeniably, the brightest spots of "Daylight" are in the monstrous pyrotechnics and the subterranean, cliffhanger exploits of the not-so-ordinary Kit. Truly, Stallone shows his best stuff here, combining the sweet nature of a genuinely selfless man with the athleticism and bravery of a true hero. Among the supporting players, George Tyrell and Vanessa Bell Calloway are most sympathetic as a loving couple -- he in the tunnel, she in the control room.
Under Cohen's kinetic direction, the technical team has created a towering colossus. Praise goes to cinematographer David Eggby for the searing scopes and to composer Randy Edelman for the fittingly titanic music. As usual, the maestros at Industrial Light & Magic have conjured up stupendous visual effects. A key ingredient to the film's excitement and visceral power is the stunning sound design. The rumblings, the roarings, the ragings are magnificently captured by the skilled sound team.
DAYLIGHT
Universal Pictures
A Davis Entertainment/Joseph M. Singer production
A Rob Cohen film
Producers John Davis, Joseph M. Singer,
David T. Friendly
Director Rob Cohen
Screenwriter Leslie Bohem
Executive producer Raffaella De Laurentiis
Co-producer Hester Hargett
Director of photography David Eggby
Production designer Benjamin Fernandez
Editor Peter Amundson
Music Randy Edelman
Costume designers Thomas Casterline,
Isis Mussenden
Special effects supervisor Kit West
Visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar
Casting Margery Simkin
Supervising sound editors Richard L. Anderson, David A. Whittaker
Rerecording mixers Michael Casper,
Daniel J. Leahy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Kit Latura Sylvester Stallone
Madelyne Thompson Amy Brenneman
Roy Nord Viggo Mortensen
Frank Kraft Dan Hedaya
Steven Crighton Jay O. Sanders
Sarah Crighton Karen Young
Eleanor Trilling Claire Bloom
Grace Vanessa Bell Calloway
Mikey Renoly Santiago
Roger Trilling Colin Fox
Running time -- 109 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
In this shrewdly honed variation on the disaster formula, screenwriter Leslie Bohem has converged a prototypically diverse set of characters into the tunnel that connects New York and New Jersey. What sets off the story is an explosion, detonated by a caravan of trucks carrying toxic waste to New Jersey, presumably Tromaville. The destruction is instantaneous -- firestorms, raging waters, collapsing stone. It's as if the tunnel has turned into a fiery microwave.
Witness to this is a cab driver, Kit Latura (Stallone), who pulls up to the tunnel just as it explodes. Not surprisingly, Kit is no ordinary hack; in fact, he's the former head of Emergency Medical Services who, before he was fired in disgrace, made an impact study of the tunnel and how emergency operations should be conducted. Kit charges into action.
Smartly intercutting between the hellacious conditions inside the tunnel as a ragtag band of survivors struggle to get out and the chaos up top in the rescue headquarters, the story clips along faster than a lit fuse. Unfortunately, the survivors inside are a generally lackluster lot even by the standards of people headed toward New Jersey.
But it's Kit's unflinching bravery and courageous efforts that are the scenario's central, winning thrust. Indeed, Kit's heroics in getting inside the tunnel are monumental. Once inside, he must not only devise a way to get them out -- both ends of the tunnel are sealed by the debris -- but inspire them not to psychologically self-destruct.
Although there are no flying cows here, "Daylight" is jammed with ferocious natural horrors. All the elements of nature -- fire, water, stone -- bond in awful fury and director Rob Cohen has expertly harnessed them in this cinematic salvo and unleashed them in an acceleratingly exciting cadence. When the narrative slows to its obligatory character identifications and back stories, the dialogue tends to drivel, especially in exchanges between Kit and the female-of-action (Amy Brenneman). Fortunately, before things can get too soggy, there's always another explosion.
Undeniably, the brightest spots of "Daylight" are in the monstrous pyrotechnics and the subterranean, cliffhanger exploits of the not-so-ordinary Kit. Truly, Stallone shows his best stuff here, combining the sweet nature of a genuinely selfless man with the athleticism and bravery of a true hero. Among the supporting players, George Tyrell and Vanessa Bell Calloway are most sympathetic as a loving couple -- he in the tunnel, she in the control room.
Under Cohen's kinetic direction, the technical team has created a towering colossus. Praise goes to cinematographer David Eggby for the searing scopes and to composer Randy Edelman for the fittingly titanic music. As usual, the maestros at Industrial Light & Magic have conjured up stupendous visual effects. A key ingredient to the film's excitement and visceral power is the stunning sound design. The rumblings, the roarings, the ragings are magnificently captured by the skilled sound team.
DAYLIGHT
Universal Pictures
A Davis Entertainment/Joseph M. Singer production
A Rob Cohen film
Producers John Davis, Joseph M. Singer,
David T. Friendly
Director Rob Cohen
Screenwriter Leslie Bohem
Executive producer Raffaella De Laurentiis
Co-producer Hester Hargett
Director of photography David Eggby
Production designer Benjamin Fernandez
Editor Peter Amundson
Music Randy Edelman
Costume designers Thomas Casterline,
Isis Mussenden
Special effects supervisor Kit West
Visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar
Casting Margery Simkin
Supervising sound editors Richard L. Anderson, David A. Whittaker
Rerecording mixers Michael Casper,
Daniel J. Leahy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Kit Latura Sylvester Stallone
Madelyne Thompson Amy Brenneman
Roy Nord Viggo Mortensen
Frank Kraft Dan Hedaya
Steven Crighton Jay O. Sanders
Sarah Crighton Karen Young
Eleanor Trilling Claire Bloom
Grace Vanessa Bell Calloway
Mikey Renoly Santiago
Roger Trilling Colin Fox
Running time -- 109 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 12/2/1996
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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