Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Daylight 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 12, 2025

Rob Cohen's "Daylight" (1996) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include archival audio commentary by Rob Cohen; making of featurette; archival cast and crew interviews; and vintage trailers. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Kit Latura

One half of Daylight features plausible developments. The massive explosion in the tunnel. The wild mayhem outside and near the entrance of the tunnel. The mixture of good and bad decisions that people with some authority and, at least on paper, plenty of experience to manage disasters make within a very short period of time. The other half of Daylight features a lot of wild developments, the majority of which are impossible to take seriously. Or, at least they are impossible for anyone with a fairly good grasp of physics to take seriously. However, not all plausible developments occur and end in the first half, and not all wild developments occur and end in the second half. The two constantly overlap and many are consequential. As a result, the continuous rejection of the obvious, which is that Daylight does a great deal of manipulating, very quickly cheapens the drama and action.

But isn’t this how all disaster films operate? They begin with a plausible development and then throw logic out the window? Yes. It is precisely what they do. Some of them simply discard logic with a little less/more enthusiasm than the rest. This is why The Towering Inferno is a far more realistic disaster film than When Time Ran Out....

Daylight discards logic with an enthusiasm that is understandable and unfortunate at the same time. It is understandable because its characters spend virtually all of their time in a small and closed environment where they must create excitement while defying the laws of physics. Their options are very limited, so Daylight makes the most of them. It is unfortunate because Leslie Bohem’s screenplay could have managed their misery a lot better. For example, in a real, similar disaster, the survivors, assuming there would be any, are unlikely to have lasted hours in the freezing water and reached the ridiculous liberating explosion in the finale. Hypothermia is an incredibly effective killer, so at the very least the screenplay could have kept the survivors away from the freezing water for as long as possible. Then again, Sylvester Stallone plays a former EMS employee-turned-cab driver, and, according to the screenplay, he knows every corner of the collapsed tunnel where the survivors are stuck.

The collapsed tunnel is in New York, but virtually all of the underground footage was shot in the legendary Cinecitta Studios in Rome. While most special effects are pretty good, the illusion that Stallone flexes his muscles in a giant hole somewhere in New York never materializes. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons why. There is just something about the way Rob Cohen and cinematographer David Eggby shoot the place and capture its atmosphere that is clearly off. (The big panoramic shots showing the tunnel’s main entrance, all looking like moving oil paintings, will be problematic even for folks who have never visited New York).

The predictable blending of action and melodrama that all disaster films like Daylight do is of varying quality. For example, Viggo Mortensen plays a cocky executive whose comical irrationality is beyond out of sync with everything that is underway. Amy Brenneman fails to convince that she has the emotional and physical strength to endure everything Stallone pushes her through on the way back to safety. And yet, she goes along with him and becomes a star, too. Jay Sanders and Colin Fox have some seriously suspicious nervous breakdowns, too. In other words, there is as much unbelievable action as there are characters and character transformations.

However, despite everything that looks and feels problematic Daylight still entertains well for a simple reason. Stallone, a true action superstar, is very much in his element. While he may not always say and do things that make sense, he absolutely does look like a guy one would want to listen to and follow during a disaster. It is enough for a film like Daylight.

Daylight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Daylight is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-26 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #29-34 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

The release introduces an exclusive new 4K makeover of Daylight, sourced from the original camera negative and completed at Universal. In native 4K, the 4K makeover can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR. I used both to view different parts of the film. Also, I spent time with the 1080p presentation of the 4K makeover on the Blu-ray.

On my system, with Dolby Vision enabled, the majority of the visuals boasted very good to excellent delineation, clarity, and depth. However, after performing several comparisons with the 1080p presentation, I think that I prefer how some of the darkest areas of the film look on the Blu-ray. To be clear, the Dolby Vision (or HDR) grade is fine, but it has a tendency to push some nuances almost into full darkness. (My settings are great). Well-lit close-ups look terrific in native 4K and 1080p. I would describe color reproduction and balance as good. However, both are very difficult to judge because some of the special effects seen throughout the film are a bit of a mixed bag. It is also very difficult to tell, or at least without a reliable reference source, just how these special effects were conformed. For example, in a couple of areas the dynamic range of the visuals changes pretty dramatically, and I suspect that some of the conforming is responsible for the discrepancies, but it is very difficult to tell what was done and how. I also suspect that these areas could have been handled better when the 4K makeover was finalized. You can see an example of one such drop in the dynamic range here. You can also see two more examples of bigger drops in the dynamic range of a short sequences here and here. On the other hand, there are various other areas where the new 4K makeover clearly improves primaries and supporting nuances and makes entire sequences look a lot more convincing. So, I expected to have such improvements throughout the entire film, but in a few areas the consistency is missing. Image stability is excellent. The fluidity of the visuals is outstanding, too. As a result, all quick zooms and cuts look vastly superior now. All visuals are spotless. My score is 4.25/5.00.

Daylight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Daylight is the kind of big action film that probably would have benefited from a new Dolby Atmos track. On the other hand, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that appears on this release easily handles all explosions and crashes, producing dynamic contrasts I found quite impressive. There is a lot of very effective surround movement, too. From time to time, some exchanges become noticeably uneven, but this is to be expected given all the movement and chaos. I did not notice any distortions, pops, cracks, hiss, or dropouts to report in our review.

Daylight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - in this archival audio commentary, director Rob Cohen reveals that Daylight is based on a true incident that occurred during the late 1940s, and the idea behind it was to essentially pay homage to the great disaster films of the 1970s. Also, Cohen shares plenty of information about the sets and work done at Cinecitta Studios in Rome, as well as the casting choices that were made, Sly Stallone's ability to lead in an action film, the nature of the drama/action in Daylight. The commentary is very detailed and genuinely informative, so if you enjoy Daylight, be sure to listen to it in its entirety.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - in this archival audio commentary, director Rob Cohen reveals that Daylight is based on a true incident that occurred during the late 1940s, and the idea behind it was to essentially pay homage to the great disaster films of the 1970s. Also, Cohen shares plenty of information about the sets and work done at Cinecitta Studios in Rome, as well as the casting choices that were made, Sly Stallone's ability to lead in an action film, the nature of the drama/action in Daylight. The commentary is very detailed and genuinely informative, so if you enjoy Daylight, be sure to listen to it in its entirety.

• The Making of Daylight - this archival program takes a closer look at the production of Daylight. Included in it are clips from interviews with Sly Stallone, Rob Cohen, Stan Shaw, and executive producer Raffaella De Laurentiis, amongst others. Some of the most interesting comments are about the construction of the massive tunnel in Rome. In English, not subtitled. (34 min).

• EPK Featurette - presented here is a short archival promotional program for Daylight. Included in it are clips from archival interviews with Sly Stallone, Sage Stallone, Rob Cohen, Amy Brenneman, and special effects supervisor Kit West, amongst others. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Music Video - presented here is the original music video for Donna Summer and Bruce Roberts' track "Whenever There is Love", which can be heard multiple times throughout Daylight. (5 min).

• Trailer One - presented here is a vintage trailer for Daylight. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is a vintage trailer for Daylight. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Daylight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Like the great disaster films of the 1970s that inspired it, Daylight is allergic to science and plain logic, which could be too much for some viewers to have a good time with it. However, the truth is that all disaster films need only two things to be impressive -- a legitimate star that can lead with authority, and top-notch fireworks and suspense to go along with them. Daylight has the legitimate star, Sly Stallone, who is very much in his element, and some of the needed fireworks and suspense. It could have been scripted better, but it offers decent popcorn entertainment. Kino Lorber's combo pack introduces a good exclusive new 4K makeover of Daylight, completed at Universal Pictures. RECOMMENDED.