Daylight Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Daylight Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 17, 2011

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

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 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 are where most of you will see the strongest image improvements -- there is no blockiness and background shimmer, and color reproduction is pretty good. 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 grain is visible, though most of it is mixed with light noise. There are no serious stability issues. I 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 player 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).

Daylight Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Daylight Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are absolutely no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc whatsoever.

Daylight Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.