Daylight [1996]

Stallone dons the mantle of hero properly and gives you nail biting scenes as he goes in to rescue people trapped in the Holland Tunnel after it is sealed off after a fiery explosion. Rob Cohen's (Dragonheart) direction is taut and fast paced, not living a lot of time to get to know these people, but it works.

A lot of good supporting work from solid actors, of note Viggo Mortensen (Aragon of Lord of the Rings for those who have been sleeping of late), makes this a rather enjoyable action film.


Not your average action film   March 15, 2000
stef_nz@hotmail.com (Asheridge, Bucks)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Another American disaster flick. I am a Sylvester Stallone fan so I thought I should watch this film. Even though it is predictable, it was action packed and the action shots set in the tunnel are spectacular. I recommend this movie to all even if you do not like Stallone it is not all about big action and muscle there is actually not a bad story to follow.


Formulaic disaster movie stuff   July 22, 2000
John P O'Connor
6 out of 14 found this review helpful

This film was meticulously crafted to the established disaster movie recipe. That recipe demands a handsome but misunderstood hero, a pretty girl for him to rescue, a good but not particularly likeable person who will die on cue and of course, a spectacular disaster.

That is exactly what is served up here. The scenario is that the Holland Tunnel has collapsed at both ends because of a multiple vehicle pile up that involved some highly flammable waste being carried illegally through the tunnel. The requisite set of characters are trapped inside the tunnel and have to find a way out. Time pressure is added by the fact that the tunnel is not going to keep the water out forever and Stallone has to find a way out through long forgotten passages in order to save himself and the girl.

If you are a disaster movie fan, you are sure to like this film because it passes all of the standard disaster movie tests. However, there is nothing in the film that can give it a wider appeal than that. The special effects for the explosion in the tunnel are very good indeed but the impact of those effects fades with time as new films go further with better technology.

The things which make a film last are missing here. You can be pretty sure about who will escape and who will perish so there is no suspense. Also, despite a setting with a lot of potential, there is no real atmosphere. A lot of that is down to the script and acting both of which are pretty pedestrian.

As a result, I can only recommend this movie to disaster film buffs and Stallone fans.


Formula But Very Entertaining!   July 24, 2005
no1filmaddict (UK)
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

Yes, most disaster movies are very formula and so you will know whats going to be in them before you even know anything about it other than its a disaster movie. This can sometimes make them very predictable for example you know theres going to be a big disaster where theres a few survivors and one brave hero will risk his/her life to rescue them. While this formuale does apply to 'Daylight', it works well and Stallone is well cast as the hero to lead the trapped survivors to 'daylight'.

When some criminals who have just stolen a car collide with a truck illegally carrying highly flammable waste through the Holland Tunnel, a huge explosion causes it to collapse at both ends and a fireball rips through leaving only a handful of people alive. They're a mixed bunch, a few criminals, an old couple, a younger couple with a daughter, a police man, a pretty young woman and a moutain climber.

Meanwhile Kit Latura a cab driver and former head of New York City's Emergency Medical Services is on hand outside to give advice on what to do, although no one will listen, and so decides to go in alone, and bring out any survivors, which he believes may be trapped. However the 'way in' isn't so easy and once in there, Kit has to find a way out, which looks to be an impossible task, with the river above slowly filling up the tunnel and a huge fire at one end using up what little oxygen they have down there.

Being a big fan of Stallone i am a little biased, but he is very good in this film as Kit Latura, and after seeing him as the hero in countless other films, its nice to see him as the hero of a disaster movie i.e without the guns etc, just brains and a will to keep the people he has come to save, alive at all costs. Amy Brenneman stars as the pretty woman that the hero 'falls for' while Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings movies) plays Roy Nord, a mountain climbing expert who tries to find everyone a way out himself.

Overall, 'Daylight' whilst being pretty formula is still a very good film, with a good cast and a high entertainment factor that makes it very watchable. If you don't usually like disaster movies then you probably won't like this one (unless your a fan of Stallone), however i still recommend that you give it a try and see what you think. Unfortunately no extras other than filmographies, production notes and a trailer on the DVD, but maybe in the future we can expect a new release with some featurettes or something.


Quick Reviews!   September 16, 2007
carlosnightman (A Seat)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Since everyone was making disaster movies in those days, and being trapped underground in the sewers wasn't a subject that had been tackled yet, Daylight was made.

Stallone is an ex fire fighter, trapped with a group of people in a big tunnel, under threat from fire, water, and an imminent explosion which would destroy the section they are in. The film follows the reactions of the different characters, as they struggle with the loss of family members and of each other, with panic, and with the attempt to escape. The stunts and effects are pretty good, the script and plot are adequate, but the characters are likable enough so that we want to know who gets out and who dies. It's Stallone's movie, and he does well in the role playing hero rather than action star, Danielle Harris is excellent as always but has little to do, and Viggo is wildly different from his LOTR character, being a self interested false hero. A decent soundtrack help the movie, but it's just another attempted summer blockbuster. Not a bad film, and worth watching. The DVD has few extras, but snap this up if your a Stallone fan, or if you're after some effective action at a cheap price