Sylvester Stallone searches for Daylight in the collapsed Holland tunnel of New York City. Kino Lorber upgrades the Rob Cohen disaster film to 4K UHD all-new master from the original negative.
The Film
Kit Latura is as improbable a name as the plot of Daylight. Star Sylvester Stallone has made a career out of playing heroic heroes with improbable names that match the improbable plots (see; Cobra’s Marion Cobretti, Demolition Man’s John Spartan, The Specialist’s Ray Quick, Assassins’ Robert Wrath and the list goes on and on…). What separates Daylight from those others and makes it a spiritual cousin to the equally deranged Cliffhanger is our hero is an affable every guy who’s got a haunted past. One the filmmakers is wanting to believe that has to muster all his will and inner strength to lead a group of the most New York City New Yorkers that ever did New York outside of Seinfeld to safety after the most Rube Goldberg style set pieces that would make Jigsaw giggle with delight.
As hokey as it sometimes can be, Daylight works through and through as a truly great throwback to films like The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure. Director Rob Cohen understands the balance of sincerity and modern blockbuster ideals of the 1990s. The film, in a lot of ways, feels as much a cousin to the aforementioned Cliffhanger(because of the Stallone of it all) but also Twister – a film so sincere it made you believe Helen Hunt’s character, A SCIENTIST, believed the tornadoes were malicious murder things. Stallone’s Latura at one point calls the tunnel a “sonofabitch” as though it, along with mother nature, was purposely doing this to him and the group he’s saving. It had nothing to do with the corrupt asshole that pays another corrupt asshole to transport dangerous chemicals in the Holland tunnel. An act in of itself very illegal – at least in the 90s, who knows now in 2025.
All joking aside about Stallone’s name, the super star is in his affable hero side, much to the benefit of the film. Kit isn’t a superhero, though he does some pretty wild ass stuff (see the air duct sequence). Though, like many of Stallone’s heroes, he’s got that tainted past he has to make up for. It gives Stallone pathos to play just enough to make it interesting. The rest of the cast is better than the script gives them as they’re drawn from the Disaster Film playbook. Amy Brenneman is probably given the worst as a would-be playwright that is leaving New York and is so angered by the town she hate-sings Sinatra’s New York, New York. Viggo Mortensen playing the CEO of a North Face style clothing company does what all arrogant billionaires do and pays the price. Stan Shaw plays a character you may as well called Deathy McDeatherson as you know his fate as soon as he appears on screen. The rest of the cast fares similarly in the character department. Though Dan Hedaya and his mustache almost steal the show from Stallone.
As any 1990s CGI/Effects heavy blockbuster of the day, Daylight is about the stunts and set pieces, not the characters. This is where the film delivers. The amount of practical work here in the various tunnels and caverns in the film is jaw-dropping. Production designer Benjamin Fernandez, along with art directors Maria Teresa Barbasso, Pier Luigi Basile, Marco Trentini, and Mark Zuelzke, create set after amazing set that feel like they have been destroyed. Cohen working with Stunt Coordinator Mark De Alessandro and their crack team of 2 unit Directors and teams bring some of these real for reel set pieces to life in a way that thirty years forward still feel dangerous and amazing. Adding to the all-round excellent work is Joe Literri and the artisans at ILM who handled the Visual FX work.
Daylight is still as impressive a feat of action filmmaking as it was three decades. Maybe even more so considering how much of the film was practically done. If one can forgive its cardboard characterizations, the film is a giant buttery popcorn event film that’s as entertaining as it is thrilling.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative is an excellent example of what a new 4K Master with HDR encoding can do for a thirty-year-old film. The film was released by Universal in 2011 on Blu-ray. The picture on this UHD disc is night and day difference in the 14 years since that Blu-ray release. The image quality is boosted in a way that can’t be quantified. The 4K UHD disc is a remarkable upgrade when compared to the DNR wiped Blu-ray of old. The use of HDR is a demo disc example of how amazing UHD is and how close it gets us to the theatrical experience. There isn’t a blemish, scratch or fleck of dirt on the flawless transfer. The grain structure, the clarity, the color are all perfectly balanced resulting in another high watermark for Kino Lorber and their 4K UHD releases.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
Audio Commentary by Director Rob Cohen
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
Audio Commentary by Director Rob Cohen
The Making of Daylight
EPK Featurette
Whenever There Is Love: Music Video by Donna Summer and Bruce Roberts
Theatrical Trailers
The archival Audio Commentary by Director Rob Cohen from the Laserdisc release opens with his thesis for the commentary track (this is back in the day when tracks like this were a rarity – especially for a huge blockbuster). Some of the details include that this is based on “a true incident” in the late 1940s and what actually happened in the Holland Tunnel; how most of the film was shot in Rome, Italy; a discussion why they chose to make this a disaster film rather than a ”Die Hard in a ____”; a discussion of the explosion in the Holland Tunnel – how it was accomplished with CG, Miniature, and real stunt work; how being trapped in an actual fire in 1979 in Boston informed the post-explosion sequence; how the constructed their version of the Holland Tunnel; a discussion and problems they faced with giving Amy Brenneman’s character the first action scene in the tunnel; rewrites – uncredited – done by Kevin Wade; the challenges/work with geography and camera movement/placement to ensure the film wasn’t visually boring or repetitive; the work they did to accomplish The Fan action set piece – including what Stallone did during the 12 day shoot; how the fires that billow out through the tunnels were accomplished that were actually real and not CGI; how the flooding set piece was accomplished – also how this worked throughout of the film; a larger discussion about working with Sylvester Stallone throughout, what he contributed and how he worked with the superstar; a larger discussion throughout about the how they accomplished the various action set pieces and how they related to the story; a larger discussion of the casting and work of the various actors in the film; and much more. Cohen’s commentary thirty years on still remains an informational track.
The Making of Daylight (33:28) – this archival making-of from the Laserdisc edition is the kind of serious-minded featurette that provides a wealth of information about the production – from the origins of the story; the casting of the film – including why Stallone was the first and only choice and the stars reasons why he took the film; the production – including the work of the various below the line crew it took to bring the epic scale film to the screen; the FX work on set and in post – including a detailed breakdown of the Holland tunnel explosion, the entry into the tunnel through the fans, the drowning trapped under the truck, the blow out of the tunnel and more; the post-production; and much more. The making-of does feature some truly great b-roll footage giving us a glimpse into the massive scale production. Featuring interviews with stars Sylvester Stallone, Stan Shaw, Sage Stallone, Amy Brenneman, director Rob Cohen, executive producer Raffaella De Laurentiis, special effects supervisor Kit West, visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar, visual effects art director Claudia Mullaly, model/miniature supervisor Grant McCune, co-visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, and composter Randy Edelman.
EPK Featurette (6:26) – is a vintage making-of that’s intended to give the big sell for the film and its story, themes, and action of this big budget film. Featuring interviews with Stallone, Cohen, and others.
Whenever There Is Love: Music Video by Donna Summer and Bruce Roberts (4:31)
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Daylight [trailer 1] (2:19); Daylight [trailer 2] (2:30); Dante’s Peak (1:21); Turbulence (2:00); F.I.S.T. (2:29)
The Final Thought
Kino has done it again. Giving us a wonderful 4K UHD edition filled with special features. Highest recommendations!!
Sylvester Stallone searches for Daylight in the collapsed Holland tunnel of New York City. Kino Lorber upgrades the Rob Cohen disaster film to 4K UHD all-new master from the original negative.
The Film
Kit Latura is as improbable a name as the plot of Daylight. Star Sylvester Stallone has made a career out of playing heroic heroes with improbable names that match the improbable plots (see; Cobra’s Marion Cobretti, Demolition Man’s John Spartan, The Specialist’s Ray Quick, Assassins’ Robert Wrath and the list goes on and on…). What separates Daylight from those others and makes it a spiritual cousin to the equally deranged Cliffhanger is our hero is an affable every guy who’s got a haunted past. One the filmmakers is wanting to believe that has to muster all his will and inner strength to lead a group of the most New York City New Yorkers that ever did New York outside of Seinfeld to safety after the most Rube Goldberg style set pieces that would make Jigsaw giggle with delight.
As hokey as it sometimes can be, Daylight works through and through as a truly great throwback to films like The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure. Director Rob Cohen understands the balance of sincerity and modern blockbuster ideals of the 1990s. The film, in a lot of ways, feels as much a cousin to the aforementioned Cliffhanger(because of the Stallone of it all) but also Twister – a film so sincere it made you believe Helen Hunt’s character, A SCIENTIST, believed the tornadoes were malicious murder things. Stallone’s Latura at one point calls the tunnel a “sonofabitch” as though it, along with mother nature, was purposely doing this to him and the group he’s saving. It had nothing to do with the corrupt asshole that pays another corrupt asshole to transport dangerous chemicals in the Holland tunnel. An act in of itself very illegal – at least in the 90s, who knows now in 2025.
All joking aside about Stallone’s name, the super star is in his affable hero side, much to the benefit of the film. Kit isn’t a superhero, though he does some pretty wild ass stuff (see the air duct sequence). Though, like many of Stallone’s heroes, he’s got that tainted past he has to make up for. It gives Stallone pathos to play just enough to make it interesting. The rest of the cast is better than the script gives them as they’re drawn from the Disaster Film playbook. Amy Brenneman is probably given the worst as a would-be playwright that is leaving New York and is so angered by the town she hate-sings Sinatra’s New York, New York. Viggo Mortensen playing the CEO of a North Face style clothing company does what all arrogant billionaires do and pays the price. Stan Shaw plays a character you may as well called Deathy McDeatherson as you know his fate as soon as he appears on screen. The rest of the cast fares similarly in the character department. Though Dan Hedaya and his mustache almost steal the show from Stallone.
As any 1990s CGI/Effects heavy blockbuster of the day, Daylight is about the stunts and set pieces, not the characters. This is where the film delivers. The amount of practical work here in the various tunnels and caverns in the film is jaw-dropping. Production designer Benjamin Fernandez, along with art directors Maria Teresa Barbasso, Pier Luigi Basile, Marco Trentini, and Mark Zuelzke, create set after amazing set that feel like they have been destroyed. Cohen working with Stunt Coordinator Mark De Alessandro and their crack team of 2 unit Directors and teams bring some of these real for reel set pieces to life in a way that thirty years forward still feel dangerous and amazing. Adding to the all-round excellent work is Joe Literri and the artisans at ILM who handled the Visual FX work.
Daylight is still as impressive a feat of action filmmaking as it was three decades. Maybe even more so considering how much of the film was practically done. If one can forgive its cardboard characterizations, the film is a giant buttery popcorn event film that’s as entertaining as it is thrilling.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative is an excellent example of what a new 4K Master with HDR encoding can do for a thirty-year-old film. The film was released by Universal in 2011 on Blu-ray. The picture on this UHD disc is night and day difference in the 14 years since that Blu-ray release. The image quality is boosted in a way that can’t be quantified. The 4K UHD disc is a remarkable upgrade when compared to the DNR wiped Blu-ray of old. The use of HDR is a demo disc example of how amazing UHD is and how close it gets us to the theatrical experience. There isn’t a blemish, scratch or fleck of dirt on the flawless transfer. The grain structure, the clarity, the color are all perfectly balanced resulting in another high watermark for Kino Lorber and their 4K UHD releases.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
The archival Audio Commentary by Director Rob Cohen from the Laserdisc release opens with his thesis for the commentary track (this is back in the day when tracks like this were a rarity – especially for a huge blockbuster). Some of the details include that this is based on “a true incident” in the late 1940s and what actually happened in the Holland Tunnel; how most of the film was shot in Rome, Italy; a discussion why they chose to make this a disaster film rather than a ”Die Hard in a ____”; a discussion of the explosion in the Holland Tunnel – how it was accomplished with CG, Miniature, and real stunt work; how being trapped in an actual fire in 1979 in Boston informed the post-explosion sequence; how the constructed their version of the Holland Tunnel; a discussion and problems they faced with giving Amy Brenneman’s character the first action scene in the tunnel; rewrites – uncredited – done by Kevin Wade; the challenges/work with geography and camera movement/placement to ensure the film wasn’t visually boring or repetitive; the work they did to accomplish The Fan action set piece – including what Stallone did during the 12 day shoot; how the fires that billow out through the tunnels were accomplished that were actually real and not CGI; how the flooding set piece was accomplished – also how this worked throughout of the film; a larger discussion about working with Sylvester Stallone throughout, what he contributed and how he worked with the superstar; a larger discussion throughout about the how they accomplished the various action set pieces and how they related to the story; a larger discussion of the casting and work of the various actors in the film; and much more. Cohen’s commentary thirty years on still remains an informational track.
The Making of Daylight (33:28) – this archival making-of from the Laserdisc edition is the kind of serious-minded featurette that provides a wealth of information about the production – from the origins of the story; the casting of the film – including why Stallone was the first and only choice and the stars reasons why he took the film; the production – including the work of the various below the line crew it took to bring the epic scale film to the screen; the FX work on set and in post – including a detailed breakdown of the Holland tunnel explosion, the entry into the tunnel through the fans, the drowning trapped under the truck, the blow out of the tunnel and more; the post-production; and much more. The making-of does feature some truly great b-roll footage giving us a glimpse into the massive scale production. Featuring interviews with stars Sylvester Stallone, Stan Shaw, Sage Stallone, Amy Brenneman, director Rob Cohen, executive producer Raffaella De Laurentiis, special effects supervisor Kit West, visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar, visual effects art director Claudia Mullaly, model/miniature supervisor Grant McCune, co-visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, and composter Randy Edelman.
EPK Featurette (6:26) – is a vintage making-of that’s intended to give the big sell for the film and its story, themes, and action of this big budget film. Featuring interviews with Stallone, Cohen, and others.
Whenever There Is Love: Music Video by Donna Summer and Bruce Roberts (4:31)
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Daylight [trailer 1] (2:19); Daylight [trailer 2] (2:30); Dante’s Peak (1:21); Turbulence (2:00); F.I.S.T. (2:29)
The Final Thought
Kino has done it again. Giving us a wonderful 4K UHD edition filled with special features. Highest recommendations!!
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD Edition of Daylight is out March 11th
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