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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great suspense, awesome set-pieces., February 4, 2004
Since seeing this film I've never been comfortable with Denis Leary as a comedian because he's so damn convincing as the cold-hearted bad guy in this. I think he's a great actor but this is the movie to see him in as it's A. His best performance and B. One of the best villains ever in movies.
Leary plays Fallon, a dangerous criminal from Chicago's bad side. And when four middle class pals from the quiet suburbs cross him and witness a murder a chase across derelict landscapes follows. The spoon-fed quartet are way out of their comfort zone and have no idea how to navigate the ghetto or deal with its dwellers. Peter Greene, an actor always like to see, plays Sykes, one of Fallon's cohorts as well as Everlast from the rap group House of Pain as Rhodes. They sure do make a threatening impression.
Judgment Night kind of comes across as a modern, urban Deliverance. There are many similarities between them but Judgment Night clearly has more excitement. Estevez (who was cast very late after Tom Cruise and Christian Slater turned down the lead role), Gooding Jnr, Piven and Dorff play well off each other and Piven especially seems to really get into the whiny runt of his character. Though the editors really should have cut down the in-fighting and petty bickering between the quartet as it often slows the film down to a complete stop.
Director Stephen Hopkins (who also did Predator 2 and Blown Away) uses creeping camera movements and neo-noir lighting to provoke multiple eerie moments as well as a great deal of tension. Slow-mo and warped sound effects are also used to great effect in the finale. Alan Silvestri's score is also one of his best, alternating between several different moods. His first score (electronic based) was rejected by Hopkins but that difficult decision proved be a good judgment (ha!) as the end result is one of the film's best features.
Judgment Night is certainly an overlooked tour-de-force and is a brilliant action film with fine performances all round, but Leary completely and utterly steals the show.
The DVD by Universal brilliantly presents Judgment Night in it's proper aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with the gothic atmosphere and brooding silhouette photography in all its widescreen glory. The DTS sound design (Judgment Night was one of the first films recorded in this format) sounds brilliant too. The fact that this film has not yet been released on Blu Ray is a gross oversight by Universal. Judgment Night in high-def, those lonely, desolate cityscapes in 1080p would be amazing. We can but wait.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
DECENT SUSPENSEFUL THRILLER, January 20, 2004
Don't watch this one with real high expectations and you won't be disappointed. The roles are all pretty much two dimensional but still its kind of a fun ride. Four suburnanite buddies travel into the city to attend a boxing match. They make the trip in an expensive RV that one of the buddies, a car salesmen, has "borrowed" off the lot. Fighting traffic they try and take a different route and end up lost in a very bad part of town. Okay, stereotype alert. This part of town seems totally abandoned. Newspapers blow down the streets like tumbleweeds in an old western. Unfortunately they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. They witness a gangland slaying and the gang also sees them. The four crash the RV and now have to flee on foot from the gang. The gang leader is played well over the top by fast talking Dennis Leary. Not the role I think he's best at but he does a decent job. Emilio Estevez leads the ones who are on the run through this rugged part of town. From there on it's a cat and mouse game as the friends are persued relentlessly. As you can guess, the friends have to finally make a stand and fight back for their lives. As said, the movie is pretty predictable but still fun. Full of cliches but not bad. Not much in the way of DVD extras but a good transfer.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A HIGHLY TENSE THRILLER, November 17, 1999
By A Customer
A cat and mouse chase which draws the audience to the edge of its seat.Dennis Leary is brilliant as the bad guy, so is the actor from the sitcom "Ellen" who plays one of panic-stricken good guys.A film with a simple plot but remains one of the most effective films of its type since "Deliverance" because of the fine performances all-round. Watch out for rapper Everlast from House of Pain as one of Leary's Mob.
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