Playful title above aside, the Sylvester Stallone-led disaster epic, Daylight, was actually previously released to 4K UHD by Kino Lorber in March of last year -- but it was immediately recalled for undisclosed reasons.
Some suggested it was a rights issue, others claimed there was a compatibility problem between the disc's Dolby Vision and certain players. Finally, well over a year later, the film has been re-released by KL Studio Classics, and fans of the movie will find it worth the wait.
A long day in New York City sees commuters heading off the island via the New Jersey Tunnel, but a series of unfortunate events -- some accidental, others born from intentional choices -- leads to disaster. Car wrecks and explosions cause parts of the tunnel to collapse leaving dozens dead and a handful of survivors trapped. A cab driver named Kit (Stallone) is their only hope for survival.
There's no question that the 1970s were the best time for fans of disaster films -- high concepts, big names, lots of death and destruction -- but filmmakers in later decades have given the genre a go with their own star-studded, effects-driven features. Rob Cohen's Daylight is arguably one of the better examples, despite being pretty underrated among filmgoers.
We get plenty of familiar faces alongside Stallone, including Amy Brenneman, Dan Hedaya, Jay Sanders, and Viggo Mortensen, and the ensemble are given just enough in the character department, so they feel like more than mere collateral. We're rooting for some, we want others to die in a fire, and that's the exact right formula for these things. Stallone himself gives one of his most grounded performances as a hero who struggles at times with being heroic.
The actual disaster elements of the film are equally strong, with the tunnel's inherent claustrophobic setting making every set piece feel more tense and suspenseful. Add in the risk of fires, rising waters, suffocation, and further collapse, and the dangers of it all feel tangible and thrilling. Cohen delivers sequences that play off all of it with a real sense of excitement, and as the characters start dying, he even helps craft some genuine emotion. It's an impressive feat, given some increasingly sketchy visual effects towards the end.
Kino's new 4K disc of Daylight features a HDR/Dolby Vision master approved by Cohen, and the image pops throughout with only a handful of stumbles that seem unavoidable -- an underwater sequence, in particular, is just a grainy sludge fest. The film is devoid of sunlight almost from the start, but the darkness and shadows are bold and deep.
On the audio front, Kino includes a DTS 5.1 option that some have found inferior to the Dolby Atmos track on Turbine's 4K release. I don't own the latter release, so I can't compare, but I have no issues with the DTS track. The disc's extras include a commentary with Cohen, a couple featurettes, and a Donna Summer music video.
Another 90s feature getting the 4K upgrade treatment from Kino Lorber is 1991's mountain climbing thriller, K2. The action here is of the survival variety, but director Franc Roddam delivers by filming on actual mountains instead of the soundstages and digital backdrops that are now the norm.
Taylor (Michael Biehn) and Harold (Matt Craven) are best friends who constantly challenge themselves in search of new highs. For them, that's a literal quest, as they climb mountains as a hobby, sharing more than a few adventures along the way. An opportunity arrives for the pair to join a rich man's expedition attempting to summit K2 in the Himalayas, and they jump at the chance. Things quickly go south, though, and it soon becomes clear that there's no guarantee that any of them will be making it home.
Mountain climbing movies come in a few varieties, with most being best described as thrillers set on a mountain. Think the likes of Cliffhanger or A Lonely Place to Die, for example. Some, though, are every bit as focused on the actual climbing and the characters who pursue that rush, en route to both triumph and tragedy. That group includes the likes of Everest, Vertical Limit, and K2.
Both the characters and the basic story feel more than a little familiar here -- we know these people, we know what to expect of them -- but Roddam and his crew deliver a compelling, convincing tale of survival in a landscape that can't help but leave viewers on edge. We feel the cold, we fear the falls, and it all becomes legitimately uncomfortable as things go from bad to worse for our protagonists. It's nerve-wracking, particularly in the third act, and that makes it a success.
Kino's new 4K UHD/Blu-ray release features a restoration from the original camera negative, and it's especially striking once those opening introductions shift to the great outdoors. The landscape, filmed in actual mountain locales, looks fairly stunning, and that beauty soon turns frightening as mother nature reveals her mighty indifference towards humankind.
There are two extras here, and they're both new for this release. First up is a commentary by Max Evry and Bryan Reesman that sees the duo sharing interesting details and anecdotes on the production, and we also get a new interview with the director that sees him offering some candid memories and thoughts.
If you were a kid in the 1980s, the odds are pretty good that you thought ninjas were really freaking cool.
Just the very idea of them -- deadly, stealthy, sharply dressed -- was likely enough to earn a smile and a strong desire to pretend you were one, too. Cannon Films understood that desire, and in the middle of the most action-heavy decade in all of cinema, they brought ninjas to the big screen with style, squibs, and a sometimes unintentional sense of fun.
Cannon's ninja trilogy -- Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and Ninja III: The Domination -- could hardly be argued to be great films, necessarily, and watching them as modern-day action fans is likely to underwhelm, but they're no less entertaining for it. They remind of simpler times, and KL Studio Classics' new 4K releases mean they now look better than you even remember.
First out of the gate is 1981's Enter the Ninja starring Franco Nero as Cole, the rare westerner -- i.e. white man -- to be welcomed into the exclusive, top-secret world of ninjas. He trains with them, becomes an expert in the field of ninjaology, and then uses those skills to help some old friends in the Philippines who are being harassed by a wealthy landowner played by the great Christopher George. Cole proves himself unstoppable until another ninja (Sho Kosugi) is brought in to kill him dead. Cole and Hasegawa (Kosugi) already have history, so their bout gets personal, fast.
Cannon plays it a bit safe here by aping the title of a Bruce Lee classic and putting a white man in the lead role, but they still accomplished their mission of "introducing" ninjas into the pop culture lexicon. Still, nostalgia aside, this is a pretty mediocre debut for the trilogy, due both to the action and everything else. Director Mike Stone can't muster much in the way of excitement or energy, and no one but George seems to be having any fun.
The action and fights, while excusable back in the 80s, are all pretty silly now, as poor choreography and execution leave viewers like me feeling fairly confident that they could beat up a ninja. I should never feel that kind of bravado against warriors who've trained for years in the art of silent murder, but here we are.
At the end of the day, you don't revisit Enter the Ninja for high-quality action. You do, and should, however, revisit it as a fun blast from the heyday of Cannon Films. Excess and manliness abound, and thanks to Kino's new release featuring a 4K restoration from the original camera negative, that excess looks impressive in its renewed sharpness and coloring. It's an absolute upgrade over all previous versions, and fans should love it. Also included is a commentary by film historians Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, and it's also worth a listen for fans wanting a depth of information on the film, the franchise, and Cannon themselves.
The studio followed it up two years later with 1983's Revenge of the Ninja, and it's an improvement on every level. Sho Kosugi takes over lead actor duties as Cho Osaki, an ex-ninja who moves with his young son (Kosugi's real son, Kane) after the rest of his family is murdered by ninjas. All is well until he discovers that his best friend (Arthur Roberts) is both a drug smuggler and a secret ninja himself. Commence with the ninja battle!
Swapping leads so that Kosugi can be the protagonist while a westerner plays villain is the smarter play. Kosugi deserves to shine as the ninja, as it's a Japanese art form, and his commitment to the character makes him a perfectly stone-faced Cannon hero. Equally deserving of credit is director Sam Firstenberg, who manages to craft a stronger film on which to hang the action beats.
The big thing here that's lacking in the first film is, and this may surprise you, a ton of ninja action. Firstenberg and Kosugi know that's what the people want, and they deliver with plenty of scenes featuring ninjas fighting ninjas, fighting bullies, fighting drug dealers, and fighting their own innate awesomeness. Add in some fun gadgets and action from little Kane Kosugi, and you have a Cannon film that still delivers the goods.
Kino's new 4K restoration is another winner with sharper details and colors than fans are probably used to with the film. Grain is intact and never feels as if it's the victim of poor digital efforts. All genre movies from the 1980s should be so lucky as to get this kind of restoration. Kino's 4K UHD/Blu-ray release includes two commentary tracks, one with director Sam Firstenberg and stunt coordinator Steven Lambert and the other with action film historians Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. An introduction by Firstenberg is also included.
Cannon capped off its ninja trilogy in 1984 with arguably the best -- or at least the most entertaining -- of the three, Ninja III: The Domination. Sho Kosugi returns, this time as a heroic ninja who arrives in [checks notes] Arizona to help a young woman (Lucinda Dickey) who's been possessed by a psychotic ninja. From a slaughter on a golf course to the final epic showdown, ninjas leave a trail of death that thrills and entertains in equal measure.
Sam Firstenberg returns in the director's chair, and he once again delivers a good time for fans of ninjas, silliness, and Cannon at its prime. The opening golf course assault is a ton of fun as the ninja assassin slices, dices, and explodes his way through what feels like dozens of cops and bodyguards. Things only get goofier from there, but it's the exact kind of goofiness that Cannon fans know and love. Everyone here is committing to the ride, ensuring that the action and the supernatural elements both entertain.
Unsurprisingly, Kino's new 4K UHD/Blu-ray combo release is another banger upgrade. The film's more playful and fun narrative is matched by a more colorful presentation, and the new discs capture that with a vibrancy that can sometimes feel absent from today's films (by filmmakers who think blue tints look cool). Fun 80s nonsense doesn't often get this kind of clean up, so rejoice in its splendor.
Kino's extras include a commentary with Sam Firstenberg and stunt coordinator Robert Galluzo, audio interviews with composer Misha Segal and production designer Elliot Ellentuck, additional interviews with Lucinda Dickey, actor Jordan Bennett, and stunt performer Alan Amiel.
This might sound like a lie to you, but there was a movie back in the 1980s starring Eric Roberts and Jon Voight that was based on a screenplay by Akira Kurosawa -- and they both landed Academy Award nominations for it. It's true, and it's called Runaway Train.
Manny (Voight) and Buck (Roberts) are convicts who escape their remote Alaskan prison and hop aboard a freight train thinking they're heading straight towards freedom. Unfortunately for them, circumstances have left the train barreling at full speed without both an engineer and a way to stop. It's almost enough to wish they were back in their prison cells.
Director Andrei Konchalovsky crafts a thrilling, train-set adventure here that survives on its momentum and cinematography more than its characters. The two leads do good work -- but Oscar-worthy? -- as does Rebecca De Mornay, but the film's real strengths are the visuals and the excitement that comes as they race along the icy tracks.
This is where Kino's new 4K UHD/Blu-ray release might come into trouble with viewers. While the 4K image offers sharp details and renewed clarity, the picture has received a new color grade that overlays it all with a blueish tint that's become popular with certain filmmakers and labels over the years.
Fans of the film will notice the difference immediately, but your mileage will vary if you're new to the movie. Basically, it looks fine -- good, even -- unless you compare it to previous releases.