Daylight [HD DVD]

Disaster Movies Meet Stallone For the first (and so far only) time in his career, Sylvester Stallone tackles the disaster movie genre with "Daylight" and crafts a surprisingly effective and poignant film. For a basic plot summary, "Daylight" focuses on the collapse of the New York-New Jersey tunnel. When the tunnel collapses due to a chemical explosion, only Kit Latura (Stallone) has the knowledge/skills necessary (as the former transportation chief) to breach the collapse and try to rescue a small band of survivors. What really works in this film is the character development. Before the main plot is set in motion, viewers are given some background information on each of the characters that ultimately will battle to escape the collapse. Thus, by the end, you'll truly be rooting for the characters to succeed in their monumental task. About the only thing that fails to work in this movie is director Rob Cohen's attempts to create un-needed drama. The underlying backstory of Latura only serves to create unrealistic, reactionary drama, while a Die Hard-like theme of "greedy, arrogant police chief" permeates the drama/action. All of this would have been completely unnecessary, and actually drags down the overall effectiveness of the film, as a few scenes will make you roll your eyes. Overall, though, is is a solid film that is one of Stallone's best. A more accurate rating would be 3.5 stars, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for the thrills and emotional moments it provided me. Rating: 4 (Daylight [HD DVD] customer review by Zachary Koenig, 2010-08-29)

Light at the end of a tunnel After a brief argument between two guys who may or may not structural engineers, the first ten minutes or so contain roughly one reference per minute to the Hudson River and a tunnel, presumably the Holland. It comes as no surprise when a goofy gang of jewel thieves steals a car and accidently rams into some trucks carrying toxic chemicals that shoot massive fireballs, implode the tunnel, and burn like napalm. And you KNOW Sylvester Stallone - as disgraced former EMS chief Kit Latura - loves the smell of napalm in the morning. It's his mission to band together a ragtag group of survivors (who fulfill every stereotypical diversity requirement for "random") who face a variety of dangers, not the least of which is an exponentially diminishing air source, and lead them towards daylight. The special effects for this film are awesome! The explosions throughout are perfect, and at the beginning produce a hilarious human on fire scene - if such a scene exists - where a random extra rolls around in flames like a trick birthday candle that won't go out. Another sends wall tiles and shards of rock like ninja stars into a "token" character with enough concussive force to eject Goose AND Maverick. Comparable to the FX is the action, but many scenes are a bit hokey. One of the more joke-worthy shows Latura battling massive ventilation fans in the most ignorant manner possible, and it's simply a preposterously thought out yet entertaining action sequence. Later an, oil tanker rolls and creates something straight out of Temple of Doom. I also recommend looking out for a ludicrous scene devised for the sole purpose of displaying Stallone's ability to do a one-arm pullup. Brilliant. The hits just keep on coming. From beginning to end there is one intricately dangerous mouse-trap after another from which Latura must lead the superb supporting cast including Viggo Mortensen and Amy Brennemen. There are major downfalls to Daylight, however. The score is too loud, far too melodramatic and detracts from several scenes. As for character development, there is none. The cast is superfluous at best, comparable to the anonymous Ensign Smith who always beams down on dangerous Star Trek away missions with Cpt. Kirk and Spock. I didn't care about one of them, and no connection to the audience is even attempted. Finally, Stallone's never been known to deliver magnificent monologues, but in Daylight he absolutely butchers several lines through the use of grunts, yells, and guttural noises impossible for other humans to produce or understand. Almost forgot, the final scene is completely absurd for a tunnel nearly 100 feet below water. Watching this film is like a metaphor for the actual movie. Parts are hopeless, dark, and disappointing, but eventually there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Rating: 4 (Daylight [HD DVD] customer review by Jason, 2010-05-16)

Sooooo oopid stay Oh wow, where do I start? The really bad acting...the silly plot...the unlikeable characters...the agonizing length? There's just so much to dislike about "Daylight". In fact, this movie is such a bomb that it's honestly not worth the time to write much more about it. Rating: 1 (Daylight [HD DVD] customer review by Paula loves books, 2010-01-15)

Daylight review I purchased this dvd for my nephew. He is 7 and he really enjoys this movie. Rating: 5 (Daylight [HD DVD] customer review by K. Gubas, 2009-11-10)

Stallone fan - action packed Well made action movie - everyone gives good performance. I have been throught that tunnel in the past - don't want to go again aftre this movie=HA!! Rating: 4 (Daylight [HD DVD] customer review by Tracy Guerriero, 2009-10-18)