Daylight (1996) User Reviews

The Po-Sly-don Adventure

[flickershows · 6/10 · 13 July 2004]

Geez, that cab driver sure knows a lot about rescue procedures. Hey, he's Sylvester Stallone! Sly plays Kit Latura, a disgraced EMS hotshot who was fired for a major men-killing mistake (even though he's still clearly the #1 guy in this particular line of work) and happens upon some major trouble. A couple of thieving imbeciles inadvertently cause an explosion in a tunnel under New York's Hudson River, trapping a multi-culti band of survivors between a rock and an impossible place. Latura volunteers to shimmy into the proverbial hell and lead the bedraggled few to---say it with me---'Daylight'. Would he have been as gung ho if he'd known he'd get so wet?

Label this one 'Die Hard' in a tunnel or 'The Po-Sly-don Adventure'. In fact, director Rob Cohen probably screened 'The Poseidon Adventure' a few times while prepping his film. That's my favourite of the absurd '70s catastrophe flicks and 'Daylight' strikes the same notes, often successfully. There's water and fire, rats and stereotypes, it's dank and dark, and you're never sure which mid-level movie star will die next. And credit where it's due, there's even plenty of pathos in the "we all gotta work together" vein and touching scenes of quiet humanity that stop an inch short of treacle. I was moved more than usual by a Stallone picture.

The movie made squat at the box office back in December '96, but it's worth a DVD rental for its solid craftsmanship. The F/X and sound design are money. As for the acting, the lead characters (Stallone, Amy Brenneman, Viggo Mortensen) aren't especially memorable, but some of the lower-billed performers (Stan Shaw & Colin Fox, to name two) escape the movie with some dignity. The only real villain is human idiocy---people go where they're not supposed to go and do things they're not supposed to do. 'Daylight' is formulaic, but it's still better than most disaster crap I've seen.

Enjoyable Sly Action Flick

[mjw2305 · 7/10 · 30 December 2006]

An accidental explosion rips through a tunnel beneath the Hudson river, sealing off both ends trapping the survivors inside. In steps Stallone, a disgraced former emergency services chief, who hopes to save the day in usual hero style.

Daylight has a good blend of interesting characters, suspense, drama, action and special effects that all add towards the entertainment of the movie.

Overall it's good fun to watch, and it does refrain from becoming silly or over-sentimental.

7/10

Straightforward disaster movie, a textbook example of the genre

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 5 June 2016]

A textbook example of how a disaster movie should be, this has plenty of outlandish situations, a varied range of hazards threatening our group of survivors, action by the bucket load and a typical B-movie cast, including: the token black guy; the resourceful heroine; the stressed out father; the old couple; the dog; and Stallone himself as the muscular, caring hero of the piece. All are present and correct, making this pic solid enough entertainment.

Okay, so the plot is pretty basic, and consists of characters escaping from one danger to another, and another, but with this budget what do you expect? The cast are all adequate, with Mortensen probably being most memorable as the cop. Stallone basically sleepwalks through his role, but it's the mumbling action man persona his fans know and love, and it's good to see him as an actual human hero (he's gasping and clutching his chest through exertion).

There's plenty of excitement to be had from numerous explosions, the old staple of the trapped survivors being in a location filling up with water, and also you get the opportunity to play the "who's going to snuff it?" game, where viewers place bets on who will be the next one to die. Let me say, it's not the dog, but then you could probably have already guessed that. With good SFX and some exciting, tense scenes, DAYLIGHT amicably passes the time if you want a film to relax and unwind with.

Very much a genre movie with all the clichés and problems you'd expect but it is enjoyable enough to be worth seeing

[bob the moo · 28 June 2005]

Trucks loaded with toxic waste. A stolen car being pursued by the police. Separate events that come together in a New York city tunnel when the latter crashes into the former starting a chain reaction explosion that sends a fireball sweeping through the tunnel and sealing it at both ends. A handful of survivors are left trapped with burning toxic waste and only enough air to last a few hours. Only a few meters short of entering the tunnel himself, cab driver and disgraced former fire chief Kit Latura recognises a disaster when he sees one and, thanks to a drill he ran years ago, knows that the standard rescue methods will not work. When his replacement dies ignoring his advice, his former colleagues turn to him and he agrees to enter the tunnel and try to rescue the survivors.

From the opening ten minutes we know just where we are. The brief pictures of characters does enough to set up their roles within the disaster genre and it is not long before one massive explosion and we are back in the disaster films that were so popular in the 1970's. To many this will be a bad thing because while meeting all the genre requirements this film also repeats all the old problems as well – I guess it is about what you like, if you like the genre then you'll enjoy this. The plot is the basic stuff, focusing on one small group and throwing up one obstacle after another for them to get over. At each stage we'll have losses, tragic deaths, heroic sacrifice, emotional panic, headstrong jerks etc etc – it does everything you would expect. Of course this also brings with it the problems of being rushed, the characters being cardboard cut outs, the drama being staged and never being able to stop without making things look bad and the fact that the film is a bit too close to being a cloying weepy for comfort.

None of this stops it being exciting enough to be worth seeing though. The modern effects are impressive and the sets etc are convincingly real. The actors hardly have a lot to work with but they do well enough to make it work well. Stallone holds back from being an invincible action man and he is better for it, producing a good lead. The support all fill their genre roles but most of them do it well enough so that they are actually emotionally engaging rather than just being fodder. Hedaya, Sanders, Brenneman, Mortensen and others are all solid enough to make it work – sure they are a bit corny at times but this is more to do with the genre writing than the acting.

Overall this is a disaster movie very much in the genre mould set in the 1970's and it has all the weaknesses you would expect from the genre. The writing is where the clichés come in but these are almost carried by the solid acting and enjoyable special effects. A genre movie then but one that is enjoyable if you like that sort of thing – just don't expect anything original or new and you'll be OK.

Entertaining enough

[Just-A-Girl-14 · 7/10 · 6 October 2020]

Not the greatest movie but also not bad. Lots of action by Stallone. Unrealistic as many action films are but entertaining enough. As an animal lover, I loved the dog addition and did not like the "s*** with legs" part. It's a little cheesy but watchable.

The Holland Tunnel Adventure!

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 11 April 2009]

Once, behind the wheel, while being towed through the Holland Tunnel, there was a jolt, a clang, and Maeder's old Ford lost a wheel that rolled placidly down the left lane before wobbling and flopping to a halt. It must have held up traffic for half an hour, but that's nothing compared to what happens to the Holland Tunnel in this typical disaster flick.

Boy, if things can go wrong they surely will. Fortunately there is always the short chance of a last-minute escape, light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, and only a few dispensable characters must be left behind to pump up the sentiment quotient that the formula requires.

Some hazardous material blows up in the middle of the tunnel that links New York City and New Jersey. A huge fireball whooshes out of both ends of the traffic conduit, killing everyone except the handful of survivors who Sly Stallone, in his magnanimity, volunteers to reach from the outside and lead to safety.

You've met most of these trapped characters in one form or another. There is the beautiful young woman, terrified but still able to make wisecracks and perform improbable physical feats. There is the heroic black cop mortally injured while saving others and begs them to leave him behind and save themselves. There is the antagonist, usually dumb, who pipes up at every roadblock to castigate the only leader who can save them. "This is IT? You told us you knew what you were doing!" There's the endangered child. There's the elderly couple who don't think they can make it and the old lady doesn't. (Cf., "The Poseidon Aventure," here and everywhere else.)

The menace follows a predictable trajectory. First fire, then collapse, then monstrous rolling objects, then collapse, then water. At one point Stallone must slip through a series of three gargantuan exhaust fans, any one of which could slice and dice him if he doesn't get through it before his fourteen seconds run out. It's like playing a game in a video arcade.

Still, it's diverting enough, if that's the sort of thing you're looking for. It's total lack of originality keeps it from being an Ideal Type, but so what? It's only a movie.

Entertaining and spectacular Sylvester Stallone vehicle that was a successful film that grossed at box office

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 5 September 2021]

Nice and successful movie about a tunnel that eventually succumbs and capsizes a lot of New York citizens , centering on survivors and the rescuers who have to find a way in and bring them out before air runs out or the Hudson river runs in . Famous disaster film with a sensational cast , impressive scenes and thrilling as well as moving finale . As disaster in a New York tunnel explosions and destruction collapse both ends of it . A rag-tag group of survivors (Amy Brenneman, Jay O. Sanders , Colin Fox, Viggo Mortensen , Karen Young , Claire Bloom..) spearheaded by a brave hero (Sylvester Stallone) must journey through the upside down tunnel and attempt a way out . As our valiant protagonist attempts to help the people inside find their way to safety . Hold your breath . No air. No escape. No time, no hope . On December 6th, Universal Pictures dares you to take on the tunnel. They went in alone. The only way out is.....together !

This decent disaster movie concerning an event inspired on facts , as a runaway car hits a truck full of toxic waste causing a blow-up that seals both exits of an underground tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey , it blends action , intrigue , catastrophe spectacle , suspense and emotional ending . Overwhelming and attractive disaster movie but full clichés and stereotypes with strong performance by Sylvester Stallone himself as Kit Latura , an isolated ex-chief of the city's Emergency Medical Services . It follows the style of the undisputed king of the catastrophe or wreckage movies of the 70s : ¨Irwin Allen's Poseidon Adventure¨ that was filmed at the height of the disaster genre . ¨Daylight¨ 1996 goes on the vintage catastrophe movie formula from the Seventies as the classic ¨Towering Inferno¨ by John Guillermin , ¨Earthquake¨ by Mark Robson, ¨Beyond the Poseidon Adventure¨ by Irving Alllen more than others of the 2000's , blockbusters as ¨Volcano¨ by Mick Jackson , ¨Dante's Peak¨ by Roger Donaldson or ¨Day After Tomorrow¨, the latter with plenty of 3D CG special effects . While in ¨Daylight¨ the explosions , pyrotechnics , floods are spectacular and breathtaking , being well made by FX experts in traditional style , including maquettes , scale models and no computer generator .This Daylight entry following the spectacular series benefits from an enjoyable cast . As our heroes get stuck in a tunnel before it sinks and the protagonists spend most of their time devising grisly ways for avoid to die . As displaying a magnificent main and support cast , such as : Viggo Mortensen , Dan Hedaya, Jay O. Sanders, Vanessa Calloway , Colin Fox , Rosemary Forsyth, Danielle Harris , Stan Shaw , Karen Young and Sage Stallone , Sly's son , who unfortunately died early . Except for the most dangerous sequences , some of the stunts were done by the actors themselves , as the actors at one point complained to the production staff about how difficult the shoot was physically .

It contains lively and rousing score musical by Randy Edelman , accompanying well the action . Colorful and gripping cinematography by David Eggby . The motion picture produced in big budget by Raffaela De Laurentiis -Dino's Daughter- was professionally directed by Rob Cohen (The Skulls , XXX , Stealth , Dragonheart , The Rat pack , Alex Cross , Fast and Furious) . As the blowing-up , pyrotechnics , floods are excellent but the film is just another usual Hollywood product that had a great success and elevated box office. Rating : 6.5/10 . Good and decent , it's a fairly watchable disaster movie. The picture will appeal to Sylvester Stallone and Viggo Mortensen fans , though the latter bears a secondary role .

Not as good as Cliffhanger

[bowmanblue · 7/10 · 31 May 2015]

Sylvester Stallone's career has had its fair share of ups and downs. However, 'Daylight' is one of those films that sort of sits in the middle of them all. He plays a... actually I never really figured out who Sly played. He's a New York taxi driver who just so happens to used to work for the local government, specialising in tunnels and how to escape them. Actually, I may have sort of exaggerated that, but it's not too far from the truth. Either way, when a massive underground tunnel collapses, killing hundreds of civilians and trapping others, he's the only guy to go in there and get them out.

I suppose the reason 'Daylight' is never rated as highly as Rocky, or Cliffhanger, or any of Sly's other more successful films, is that it's a 'disaster movie' rather than an action movie. Normally we watch Stallone punch and shoot his way through hordes of bad guys. Here, the 'bad guy' is the situation. Nothing wrong with that and, in fact, Daylight is a pretty solid little disaster movie. But it's the type that you can go out and make a cup of tea in and you won't really miss too much when you get back.

The supporting cast Sly's down there to rescue are all pretty forgettable and, dare I say it, a bit like a bus-load of clichés. There's a love interest for Sly crowbarred in just for the sake of it and the obligatory 'hard ass government worker' up above who wants to put profit over people's lives.

If you like 'disaster movies' you can certainly do worse than this one (although you could probably also do better as well!). It's a very middle-of-the-road affair – the sort of movie you may find on TV one night and just sit through because there's nothing else on. It's no classic, but if you're not expecting anything too amazing you should quite enjoy it.

It's also about a million times better than 'Volcano' if that helps at all!

Tunnel Vision

[southdavid · 5/10 · 4 August 2020]

Embarrassingly, seeing it again now, I used to really like "Daylight" and even owned it on VHS. Watching it again for the first time in 20 years it was interesting to see which bits I remembered and what I'd forgotten - and also to see how unkind time had been to it.

A major crash in the New York / New Jersey Tunnel, involving illegally transported chemical waste, traps a number of survivors in the centre, unable to leave by either exit. Kit Latura (Sylvester Stallone) a disgraced former emergency rescue chief is on site, and comes up with a plan to get to the survivors and find a way out from there, but is opposed by representatives of the city, who want to get the tunnel open again as quickly as possible.

The two bits of the film that have stuck with me for all this time are Amy Brenneman's opening scene in her infested apartment - and the fate of Viggo Mortensen's all action Roy Nord. Away from those, "Daylight" is a disaster movie in the classic mould of "The Poseidon Adventure" - so much does it crib from that film, that the idea it was supposed to be a sequel/remake at one point doesn't come as much of a surprise. Our survivors are lost slowly to various catastrophes, as the rest of the group try to find a way to safety for as long as possible. Performances are passable, if a bit cliché - aging couple, family struggling with their emotional baggage, hero with a death wish, dog.

The visual effects is where the film starts to look old. Despite some nice early explosions and anything that's practical still looking ok, there's obvious model work in some sections of the film and there's a CGI composite shot at the end, to make it look like characters are in a certain bit of water, that is one of the ropiest that I can remember. There are also numerous shots of the World Trade Center, which adds a macabre overtone to the whole thing. And an awful song over the end credits.

Ultimately, it's not so spectacularly bad that it's worth watching for that reason, nor good enough to warrant the time investment.

90's overload, but entertaining enough.

[thomasellery · 6/10 · 13 July 2020]

In the 90's the disaster movie had a mini comeback for a couple of years, but being the 90's they all pretty much played out like action hero flicks.

Daylight had Stallone heading up the man muscle, which is one of the movies plus points, he is a master of stunt work and he spends most of the movie tackling the ultimate underground assault course.

The group of survivors have a handful of your usual stereotypes and it's pretty easy to spot the obvious, 'you'll be squashed later', characters, but there are still a few surprises for other cast members that don't make it.

The movie falls a bit flat with these characters though as although it's a pretty large ensemble, they're all very quickly introduced to get the action going early on and are hyper versions of themselves throughout.

That said the character mix works well to get the plot moving, the action sequences are great and there's enough plot to keep you entertained until the end.

Daylight is definitely at the top of the 90's disaster game, (it's certainly no awful Volcano), and it's worth a watch on Netflix, it's just to 90's in a bad way to make it a great movie.

Murky

[Spleen · 3/10 · 8 November 1999]

I've always thought that the progenitor of this Poseidon-adventure genre was Arthur C. Clarke's `A Fall of Moondust', published in 1961. It's a pity that book was never filmed. It could easily have been the best disaster/rescue film ever made, for Clarke at least thought things through, being aware, for instance, that people need oxygen in order to breathe. The attitude `Daylight' has to oxygen is just bizarre.

Clarke also observes the golden rule: introduce us to the rag-tag bunch of survivors AFTER disaster strikes, not before. `Daylight' breaks this rule and demonstrates why it should never be broken. The characters have nothing in common apart from the fact that they will one day be thrown together by a freak accident - so when the film shows us their lives, one by one, we feel not so much like an audience following a story, as a class memorising stuff for a future exam.

However, the one character we should have been introduced to before the explosion - the one played by Sylvester Stallone - we didn't meet until afterwards. I don't get it.

As it is Sylvester Stallone is just one of a dozen or so people who spend every minute of their lives, bellowing, shouting, screaming and belly-aching, at everyone else. This constant high-decibel panic is ugly, dramatically enervating and, to be honest, not in the least bit realistic. People trapped together in danger of their lives do NOT, as a rule, spend the entire time at each others' throats. When the mayor of New York wanted to let the survivors die in order to keep the city's transport system alive, I, for one, was on her side.

Then there are the flagrant violations of the laws of physics. A giant fireball whips through a sealed tunnel and leaves ten people and a dog with enough oxygen to live on. The pressure of the Hudson river compresses the air in the non-airtight tunnel so that its pressure is greater than that of the river that pressurised it. It's like the way boulders behave in Road Runner cartoons. (Except that in the cartoons it's a deliberate joke.) A dog dives underwater (itself impossible) and not only doesn't die, but doesn't get wet. With one bound, Sylvester Stallone is free. That type of thing.

Unless you want to dive to the very bottom of this genre, I wouldn't bother.

Best Disaster Movie since the golden age

[R_O_U_S · 9/10 · 3 February 2004]

By 1996, no-one held out much hope for a Sylvester Stallone action movie. Where Daylight scores is by bucking expectations and being a good old-fashioned disaster movie. The opening scenes are spectacular, as we are introduced, one by one, to a couple of dozen protagonists, who all then enter a New York tunnel and get blown to smithereens. The rest of the film concerns the survivors' efforts to get free, aided by Stallone. It's a lot better than it has any right to be, and uses all the genre cliches to its advantage.

Disaster Movies Meet Stallone

[zkonedog · 7/10 · 11 March 2017]

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.

Sly trapped in bad movie

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 10 September 2013]

A truck filled with explosives accidentally explode collapsing a NY tunnel. Sylvester Stallone is a some kind of disaster planner Kit Latura. Of course he charges in to help get everybody out. And everybody thinks little of him. For some reason, all the people in charge are always wrong.

This is a disaster movie. It's got all the stupidity that comes with it. But even by that standard, this isn't a good example of the genre. People are too annoying. Everybody is screaming yelling arguing. It's all testosterone. Instead of real emotions, we get overacting. Sly isn't much better. But all the ridiculous machismo really makes Sly almost tame and reasonable.

Let this film into the light of day

[MichaelOates · 12 March 2004]

Fasten your seatbelts and brace yourself for an non-stop thrill ride that will have you holding your breath from start to finish.

"Daylight" is one of the most intense movies I have seen in a long time. Sylvester Stallone gives one of his best performances in "Daylight" leading a group of civilians to safety after a New York tunnel engulfs in flames. Stallone works his magic as a former EMS chief sent in to save these civilians.

When I heard Stallone's name mentioned as part of the cast of "Daylight," I knew it would be a non-stop thrill ride; however, what I didn't realize it would be a thriller that had depth mixed in with everything else. "Daylight" is a credit to Stallone's ability and this remains one of his best roles to date.

Adding to this awesome film are Stallone's co-stars, which include Amy Brenneman, Viggo Mortensen, Jay O. Sanders and Stan Shaw. I enjoyed watching this ensemble work together because they seem to need no direction when on screen. It was as if they were really trapped in the tunnel. From the fear to the heroic actions they took, these actors were top notch.

Despite most thrillers, "Daylight" stands out as being the finest assembled film. The casting works like magic, the special effects are magnificent and the script is perfect.

I concede that "Daylight" is predictable. However, I disagree with those who say it hurts the film. My point is it doesn't matter whether a film is predictable, rather how it is presented. "Daylight" is presented with quite unique special effects, a plot with depth and endearing performances.

In addition to the excellent performances, "Daylight" had some of the best special effects I have seen. The explosion at the beginning of the movie was a work of art. I was in awe of how well the special effects were pulled off because I don't believe that "Daylight" would have worked as well as it did if they were done with less than 100 percent effort.

"Daylight" will keep you on the edge of your seat and have you holding your breath hoping these citizens come out alive.

Tunnel Vision

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 7 April 2021]

There are moments in life where you have quite the obstacles to overcome ... and if you believe in movies like this ... well those obstacles are quite big. But with Sly Stallone by your side, nothing can go wrong, right? Well it's not that easy of course.

You have to like movies like this - my inner cynic kicked in a couple of times. But the movie has enough tension and action pieces to keep you on the edge of your seat. And like any good movie, the will to survive is strong in this one - which doesn't mean that everyone will make it through - no pun intended.

Having said all that, the very last image the movie shows us ... we've seen the twin towers in other movies, but in connection with a movie like this .. it seems either badly aged or really a bad omen ...

A Claustrophobic Nightmare

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 7 June 2004]

****SPOILERS***** A very believable and human Sylvester Stallone. In the movie he has doubts about his abilities makes mistakes and gets pushed around by armed robbery suspect Kadeen, Marcello Thedford, without belting him back, in this disaster movie in a tunnel under the Hudson River.

A gang of carjackers speeding away from the police slams into a caravan of trucks carrying illegal toxic waste in the Lincoln Tunnel. This causes an explosion that kills scores of people driving through the the underwater tube during the late afternoon rush hour and trapping some dozen others as well as one of the trapped New Yorkers pet dog.

Kit Latura, Sylvester Stallone, a limo driver and former EMS chief is on the scene of the disaster and takes charge when no one else in authority from the tunnel supervisor Norman Bassett, Barry Newman, on down would. Kit goes underground and into that flaming and suffocating hell to save the survivors still alive and trapped inside the tunnel.

A much better movie with better all around acting that you would expect from a Stallone action-film in a race against time as well as the rising water level and depleting air supply. That as those who Kit went in the tunnel to save slowly suffocate. Kit isn't the only hero in the movie which makes him believable as well as very sympathetic. The guy for once is just an average Joe or in this case Kit.

Kit finds the way out of the water filling and air exhausting tunnel with the help, of all people, hundreds of survival-instinct tunnel rats who lead him to the safety and daylight of the outside world. Here Stallone has far more dialog in this movie then he usually has in similar-like action-film. That makes him also very touching in some scenes where he's forced to leave a number of people in the tunnel behind to die. Saving them would only jeopardize the rest and in the end have everyone else killed.

There was a very extremely moving scene with Kit and one of the survivors who was paralyzed from a broken neck George Tyrell played by Stan Shaw. George asked to be left behind and eventually dies in order to save the rest of the people with him knowing that his girlfriend Grace, Vanessa Bell Calloway, was in hysterics waiting for him up on the surface. It was equally moving and tragic to see when the survivors were pulled out of the tunnel alive one by one the reaction on Venessa's face, when see realized that George wasn't one of them.

Very prophetic ending to this disaster film with the future tragic World Trade Center in the background in the very last scene of the movie. With Sly and Madelyne, Amy Brenneman, who did just as much heroics in the tunnel as Sly did, being pulled to safety from the Hudson River.

Satisfying action thriller - Stallone shines

[jb_campo · 7/10 · 30 September 2014]

Daylight is a surprisingly good action/thriller movie. Stallone turns in a strong performance as the ex-head of an emergency service branch serving NY City. He's now driving a taxi, and ends up trapped in this tunnel connecting Manhattan and New Jersey.

The acting and directing were both pretty good for a smaller budget film. The director manages to achieve a decent amount of tension, and Stallone is able to show enough acting ability to make you believe he really is one of these calm heroes in emergency services who knows what he's doing. The cast is interesting enough with a mixture of a family, an elderly couple, a young girl, an action hero (Vigo Mortenson), a cop, and several young convicts.

The movie at times seems like Poseidon Adventure, except the ship is this tunnel. The water is seeping in, things explode, electricity shocks you, the survivors try to escape. All good stuff. Then the ending is Hollywoodian, but I expected nothing less - this is a Stallone film, so just go with it, and you'll enjoy this easy 100 minute crowd pleaser. Enjoy.

A slightly above average, albeit generic, 90s disaster thriller.

[williamstewart-67217 · 7/10 · 27 October 2019]

This film is a slightly above average 1990s disaster thriller. The titular character portrayed by Sylvester Stallone suffers from the all too common fault of being the generic, disgraced leader turned hero in the right place at the right time. I would almost go as far as to say its a generic "Stallone" character. The film's overall story arc is action filled and engaging, if a bit generic. The films visual and audio effects are stunning and unique. Overall it's a great after work film that's main drawback is taking influence from too many other blockbusters of the disaster genre, but not something you would want to waste a family movie night on.

Rewatched for the first time since its original release

[harmony04-194-66092 · 5/10 · 15 October 2021]

I remember enjoying this movie years ago but this time around i realised how stupidly annoying the characters were. Ended up hoping half of them would get knocked off.

"Hypo what?"

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 10 May 2014]

Disgraced EMT chief-turned-cab driver Sylvester Stallone is trapped in the Hudson Tunnel after an explosion with an assortment of characters. He must lead them to safety before their air runs out. '90s version of a '70s disaster flick like The Poseidon Adventure. Nothing original but entertaining nonetheless. There are some laughable moments. One amusing part that stands out is when someone has to explain hypothermia to some dumb broad who apparently has never even heard of the word. Clearly they included this because they thought the audience was too stupid and illiterate to know what hypothermia is. The cast is good but, like those enjoyable '70s disaster flicks, there are some ridiculous characters. Vanessa Bell Calloway's Jamaican accent was laughable. That's one of those bits of business movies like this throw in that is totally unnecessary and just makes things goofier than they need to be. Viggo Mortensen's character seems like he's disposed of before they can do anything really interesting with him. It's a good movie, though, with some nice action and tension. One of Sly's better '90s movies.

Hysterical

[christophe_vdh · 5/10 · 28 September 2021]

Our hero Sly really had the short end of the stick here, getting teamed up with the worst side characters in disaster movie history: a hysterical convict trying to kill him, a hysterical convict afraid of doing anything, a hysterical convict afraid of rats, a hysterical kid, a hysterical soccermom, a hysterical dad and a hysterical old couple. It's like they wanted to cast a hysterical character but couldn't pick one, so they all got the part. At this point I was rooting for the lady in the suit telling everyone to forget about the survivors and start cleaning up the mess... because you know, traffic in NYC is bad and we wouldn't want people getting all hysterical.

Good watch all around...

[TerminalMadness · 8/10 · 11 February 2004]

Reminiscent of the seventies disaster flicks, mostly of "Poseidon Adventure", a group of people are stuck in a tunnel after a horrible explosion traps them underground; now its up to a washed up EMS worker to get them out alive before the mayor and rescue workers finally blow everything up assuming the survivors aren't alive.

Though the story is very predictable and nothing new, this does make for an entertaining and interesting survival flick.

Sylvester Stallone doesn't play a commando or soldier, but for once plays a regular guy who is really clueless at times when it comes to escape.

We also get some great performances from excellent character actors including Dan Hedaya, Danielle Harris, Amy Brennamen, and the underused Viggo Mortensen before he became a household name in "Lord of the Rings" films.

Though there is a lot of good stuff here, there's a lot of contrived plot twists and predictable storylines. We know who will be killed, who won't, we know the under developed people will be killed and the emphasized characters will survive.

In spite of all that, this is one of Stallone's best before he began making bomb after bomb.

(*** out of ****)

If you like disaster movies then this is a must see and for anyone else you could do a lot worse.

[Scoopey · 7/10 · 16 February 2005]

Like most films in this type it has quite a few trappings of a disaster movie genre, but that is not to say that this is a such a bad thing, just don't expect too many surprises. Also if you hate disaster films then give this one a wide berth. However unlike other films of this type though at least Rob Cohen decided to get stuck in on the action within the first ten minutes rather than wasting over half and hour with a complex background story that nobody cares about or are simply not interested in and the Daylight maintains a relatively fast pace from here to the end.

Is also a good performance from Stallone who as the hero in this movie, surprisingly to some is not the most gung-ho character. That is left to Mortensen's gloriously over the top character instead!

*Spoiler Alert*

One thing I particularly liked about Daylight is that Latura (Stallone) does not set out to get the survivors out of the tunnel merely to asses the situation and stay with them until proper help arrives but events eventually conspire against both him and the survivors leaving him with little choice but to try and get them to safety. *End Spoiler Alert!*

Also a mention needs to be made regarding the high quality of the special effects, which from starting with the terrific explosion and fireball at the beginning of the film follow throughout the film to ensure your are kept watching to the end as well as giving the tunnel itself a sort of character something I've not seen since Backdraft. In fact at one stage Latura even shouts "Keep trying you b*stard".

Overall a must see for all disaster flick fans and for any one else then you could do a lot worse than rent or buy this.

Now I Need an Advil

[view_and_review · 1/10 · 5 October 2020]

This movie was exhausting. I couldn't take it. So many pathetic human beings crammed into one tunnel. If the tunnel collapsed and killed them all I would've felt a million times better. Mean, I know, but it's a movie so whatever.

If we handled disasters in the way they were handled in "Daylight" then we're doomed as a people. There were about a dozen selfish talkative morons and one superhero. That's not a formula for success. Even when the movie made them work together in a moment of human togetherness it was contrived, sappy, and absurd. They merged from bickering to self-sacrifice to bickering all without missing a beat. It was highly annoying.

What happened?

An unscrupulous toxic waste handler had his guys transport some highly combustible material from New York to New Jersey to illegally dump it. While going through the Holland Tunnel the trucks were involved in an accident and it all exploded. The explosion killed many and those it didn't kill it trapped in the tunnel. Kit Latura (Sylvester Stallone), a former fire chief, risked his life to rescue the consortium of trapped people. From the moment he reached them there was non stop complaining, yelling, ego-tripping, blaming, and every other sort of counterproductive behavior you could think of. It was headache inducing. I just wanted the noise to stop. If that meant every one of them had to die under a trillion tons of rubble, so be it.

Among the putrid personalities:

The new fire chief who wouldn't accept any help from Kit, because you never accept help in a crisis. He died.

A celebrity extreme athlete who never met a challenge he couldn't conquer. He started climbing in an unstable area he was told not to. He died.

A prisoner who wanted to be in charge though he was woefully ill-equipped. He was such a raging tool that he was going to kill the one guy who could actually help them all. Of course, he died.

A traffic cop--the last Black guy left--who actually was the only decent person of the bunch. He died.

An older woman who loved her dog more than life itself. She had a heart attack and died.

All the rest of the yellers, screamers, criers, and complainers lived thanks to the heroic selflessness of Kit--leaving me with an irreparable headache.