Rob Cohen's "Daylight" (1996) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios-UK. Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc. In English, with optional English SDH, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Catalan, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Latin America), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
After the explosion
Things quickly get out of control in Rob Cohen's Daylight. Kit Latura (Sylvester Stallone), a surprisingly clean, good looking and polite New York taxi driver, is about to enter the underwater tunnel to New Jersey when a massive explosion forces it to collapse. When the smoke clears, it becomes apparent that an unknown number of people are trapped right in the middle of the tunnel, with enough oxygen for approximately three hours.
Latura, who also happens to be the ex-chief of the Emergency Medical Service of New York, which means that he knows a lot about different disaster scenarios, enters the tunnel through its ventilation system. Once he reaches the explosion scene, he is greeted by the survivors: Madelyne (Amy Brenneman, 88 Minutes), a disillusioned writer from Indiana, Roy (Viggo Mortensen, A History of Violence), a cocky businessman and experienced climber, George (Stan Shaw, Snake Eyes), a police officer madly in love with a co-worker, an elderly couple (Claire Bloom and Colin Fox), a paranoid man (Jay O. Sanders, Just Like in the Movies), his wife (Karen Young, Nine 1/2 Weeks) and daughter (Danielle Harris, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead), some prisoners, etc.
Latura attempts to explain that there is a limited amount of time to figure out a way out, but gets bombarded with angry remarks and questions about his past. Eventually, everyone calms down and he gets to work - first he seals off the East end of the tunnel, and then leads the survivors to an old equipment room (!) Before they could reach the surface, however, a series of explosions rock the tunnel again.
Daylight is your typical summer blockbuster - plenty of explosions, meant to be cool but tedious one-liners, seriously unrealistic script, and a few big stars who got big paychecks to look good in front of the camera. Little in it makes sense, but it is the right film to see with a bucket of popcorn and a large Pepsi in a well air-conditioned theater on a hot summer night.
After the initial big explosion there are smaller explosions, and things get worse before they get better. It is an old recipe for big-budget disaster films, and the creators of Daylight apparently knew everything that there is to know about it. We see Stallone in a number of ridiculous scenes where everything is set up for him to convince us that he is not like the rest of us. He does a good job, but his lines are so bad that most of the time we wonder how such a smart guy could have such a terrible vocabulary.
The supporting cast is equally disappointing. Only Brenneman seems to understand that the situation she is a part of is already so ridiculous that there is absolutely no need to overdramatize things. But what a difference a year makes - see Michael Mann's Heat again and you will realize how much better she could be.
The visual effects are good, but rather surprisingly the most impressive ones are actually in the beginning of the film. The sound effects, however, are equally distributed throughout the entire film.
Ultimately, Daylight is strictly for hardcore male Stallone fans - it offers more of the same in a different wrapper. Female fans of the superstar will have to keep waiting for Warner Brothers to release The Specialist on Blu-ray.
Note: In 1997, Daylight was nominated for Oscar for Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing
(Richard L. Anderson and David A. Whittaker). During the same year, the film also won two Razzie Awards for Worst Actor (Sylvester Stallone) and Worst Original Song (Whenever There is Love - Love Theme from Daylight).
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with VC-1 and granted a 1080p transfer, Rob Cohen's Daylight arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios-UK.
Even though the high-definition transfer has been struck from a dated source, it is actually surprisingly good. Fine object detail is pleasing, clarity rather decent, contrast levels mostly consistent. The darker scenes from the tunnel is where most of you will see the strongest image improvements - there is no blockiness and background shimmer, and color bleeding is kept kept at bay. Traces of light edge-enhancement are occasionally easy to spot, but because most of the film is quite dark they are really not as harmful as they could have been. Various small noise corrections have been applied, but there is plenty of film grain around - though, admittedly, some if it is also mixed with light noise. Additionally, there are no serious stability issues. Aside from a few tiny flecks, I also did not see any large damage marks, cuts, warps, or stains to report in this review. All in all, though the high-definition transfer is dated, it actually represents a decent upgrade in image quality. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu. Also, please note that the disc's main menu can be set in one of the following languages: English, French, Japanese, Italian, German, Catalan, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Latin America), Russian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, and Traditional Chinese).
There are nine audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Japanese DTS 5.1, French DTS 5.1
Italian DTS 5.1, German DTS 5.1, Catalan DTS 5.1, Portuguese DTS 5.1, Russian DTS 2.0, and Spanish (Latin America) DTS 2.0. For the record, Universal Studios-UK have provided optional English SDH, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Catalan, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Latin America), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is very strong. The bass is potent and punchy, the rear channels intelligently used, and the high-frequencies not overdone. There are a number of scenes in the film that sound excellent -- the large fireball from the first half of the film and the truck hit should test the muscles of your audio system. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and very easy to follow. There are no balance issues Randy Edelman's music score either. Lastly, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review.
If Rob Cohen's Daylight is one of your favorite guilty pleasures, then you should consider adding it to your libraries. Otherwise, I would suggest that you consider renting it first. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Universal Studios-UK, looks and sounds good. It is also Region-Free. RENT IT.
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