Daylight (1996)

Disaster in a New York tunnel as explosions collapse both ends of it. One hero tries to help the people inside find their way to safety.

Director:

Rob Cohen

Writer:

Leslie Bohem

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Amy Brenneman, Viggo Mortensen

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvester Stallone	...	Kit Latura
Amy Brenneman	...	Madelyne Thompson
Viggo Mortensen	...	Roy Nord
Dan Hedaya	...	Frank Kraft
Jay O. Sanders	...	Steven Crighton
Karen Young	...	Sarah Crighton
Claire Bloom	...	Eleanor Trilling
Vanessa Bell Calloway	...	Grace Calloway
Renoly Santiago	...	Mikey
Colin Fox	...	Roger Trilling
Danielle Harris	...	Ashley Crighton
Trina McGee	...	LaTonya (as Trina McGee-Davis)
Marcello Thedford	...	Kadeem
Sage Stallone	...	Vincent
Jo Anderson	...	Bloom

Storyline

Trouble strikes when runaway robbers in a getaway car hit truck full of explosives in the tunnel connecting Manhatten and New Jersey. Survivors are left in a weakened tunnel blocked at both exits. As Kit Latura approaches the tunnel, he see the impact and knows he gotta take action. With time running out, he enters the tunnel through a system of maintenance walkways. Can he get the survivors out before the tunnel fills up?

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Plot Keywords:

tunnel | explosion | toxic waste | disaster | dog | 

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Taglines:

Hold your breath

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for disaster-related peril, death and destruction

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dagslys

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

ITL 3,463,116,000 (Italy) (27 December 1996)

Gross:

$32,885,565 (USA) (21 February 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Davis Entertainment, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sylvester Stallone announced this movie to be his last action movie, as he deemed himself getting too old for the genre. However, he did continue to make action movies like Driven, Rocky Balboa and Rambo well into his fifties and sixties.

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Goofs

When Kit goes through the first fan, they have to slow it down because it is going much too fast. When he gets to the other 3 fans, they are almost stopped as well. The fans are not connected together. Otherwise, they would have all started at the same time too.

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Quotes

Chief Dennis Wilson: [Bloom emerges from air shaft] Whaddya got?
Bloom: Sorry, Chief. Blocked about twenty feet in.
[Coughs]
Bloom: Structure's so shaky, I wouldn't even risk a firecracker.
Chief Dennis Wilson: What about hydraulics? We brace up as we go...
Bloom: Can't be done!
Chief Dennis Wilson: You listen to me. The person who says it can't be done is always interrupted by the one who just did it!
[Climbs into air shaft; air shaft immediately collapses, killing Wilson]

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Connections

References New York, New York (1977)

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Soundtracks

"Whenever There Is Love (From 'Daylight')"
Written by Bruce Roberts and Edgar Bronfman Jr. (as Sam Roman)
Performed by Bruce Roberts and Donna Summer
Courtesy of Universal Records
By Arrangement with MCA Special Markets and Products

User Reviews

Good watch all around...

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 ****)