Midnight Warrior (1989)

User Rating:

2.3/10   

Director:

Joseph Merhi

Writer:

Charles T. Kanganis (writer)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

His mission is to report deadly news. The streets of Los Angeles become his war zone.

Plot:

A TV news cameraman, hailed as a hero for pulling a woman from a burning car, finds that his ratings-hungry boss is deliberately placing him in dangerous situations in a quest for even more ratings. |

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film

Cast

Kevin Bernhardt	...	Nick Branca
Bernie Angel	...	Buddy Arnstein
Lilly Melgar	...	Angelina Mantucci
Rita Rogers	...	Rose Branca
Marty Brinton	...	Sam
Heidi Paine	...	Liz Brown
David Perry	...	Eddie Colfax (as David Parry)
Renny Stroud	...	Ralph
Stephen B. Solar	...	Lou (as Stephen Solar)
Jeanette Mateus	...	Mary
Michelle Berger	...	Vicky
Marta Dargham	...	Stacy
Michael Williams	...	Mr. Steiner
Lou Volpe	...	Pizza Man
Jenny Denouel	...	Wife

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:18 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

PM Entertainment Group

An intriguing premise, but a failed execution.

Nick Branca (Kevin Bernhardt) is an alleged "ambulance chaser," constantly getting his rear end caught in one urban crossfire after another. As the heat intensifies and the situations become more explosive, Nick ironically now finds himself a part of the action within...

By saving a woman's life from a burning car, Nick has proven himself an inspiration for his peers and others alike as to show true heroes go an extra mile just to serve the community... However, once Branca has been declared a media hero... Nick finds a lot more excitement than what he is use to handling... He has been given a realization only too well that his boss, "Buddy" (Bernie Angel) plans to sell him out...

Nick is always at the wrong place...at the right time... Now, his involvement with an unscrupulous, greedy boss has placed both him and his girlfriend's life in danger... Nick Branca has drawn himself into this dilemma...and only he can pull himself out of the war zone...

Midnight Warrior was a shockingly inept drama with a boring execution that fails to breathe life into a promising premise. Excellent cinematography capturing the glitter, glamour...and decadence of the streets of Los Angeles does little to redeem what is essentially a flagrant and mean spirited story. The film itself, inserts too much effort into attempting to be a "gritty thriller" just for the full blown reason of being "dramatic," but this blatantly distracts the film's course and purpose.

Midnight Warrior, perhaps when it was written down as a script, had plenty of subtle intentions. The motion picture wanted to satirize on the media, portraying it as a cold hearted institution that cares only about two values: Money and ratings. The media is seen in this film as a corporation which doesn't care about the triumphant spirit of human life and courage; rather the media is only willing to capture the "best" stories which will attract higher ratings. As for the main character, Nick Branca, he learned only too well that his life was endangered numerous times by dire encounters...

Midnight Warrior does receive acknowledgements for being an admiring tale of a power driven media hungry for a grandiloquent image. Having that been said, Midnight Warrior is most unfortunately, a poorly constructed film. Slow paced with little action, and full of plot holes everywhere which are never resolved by the end, Midnight Warrior does not succeed in fulfilling its potential. A few explosions are thrown in for good measure. Midnight Warrior had a great idea in its hands, but the overall resultant is a disorganized, unkempt hodgepodge. It's pure low budget silliness with an invalid script, plain and simple. Luckily, Joseph Merhi later improved as a director and subsequently, the PM Entertainment Group films have progressed slightly...

RATING: NO STARS out of ****.