Daylight
By Peter John Gardner
This movie is about a rescue worker, played by Stallone, with some unresolved issues from his past that is forced back into action when a catastrophe occurs. He must set his selfishness aside and risk his life so that others may live.
Sounds kind of like Cliffhanger, right? Of course it does. Stallone seems to have four types of movie formulas.
a) Rescue worker with skeletons in his closet that must save the day (Cliffhanger, Daylight)
b) Underdog that achieves against all odds (Rocky, Victory)
c) One man army (Rambo, Cobra, Lock Up)
d) Comedies that have the polar opposite of the intended effect (Oscar, Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot)
In a nutshell, a truck with bad guys stealing diamonds crashes into a truck with bad guys illegally disposing of toxic waste (Hey, there's an environmental message here!) collide which causes a bunch of shit to collapse and a group of people get trapped in a tunnel in New York City. The events leading up to this scenario are as unlikely as a chimp wearing a tutu showing up at my doorstep to award me with $1,000,000 for being a great guy, but I've come to stop expecting realism from Stallone movies. It's just not worth it.
What worries me is that I found myself entertained by this movie during its two hours, and I can't figure out if the movie is actually enjoyable, or if I've just become so desensitized towards Stallone flicks that the mediocre ones look like Citizen Kane to me. It's kind of fun watching Stallone act with an ensemble cast of
I was planning to take a "What would I do if Stallone came to rescue me?" angle on this piece, but my reaction would be the same as an old SNL sketch that I recall seeing. It had Norm MacDonald bleeding to death in a wrecked car and when he finds out that Stallone is the one trying to save him, all he can do is tell him how bad his movies are. I tried finding this clip on Youtube but to no avail.
Instead, let me share this little gem of a thread from the Daylight page over at imdb.com:
"Would anyone agree that this movie is an allegory of the Christ story?
Perhaps a stretch, but Stallone could be a type of Christ, in that he descends (from heaven) into an undesirable place, but he comes humbly from under the road, and then he is not highly regarded by those whom he is trying to save. And at the end he is buried and resurrected.
All of that could be coincidental, except that the chapel scene gives a very clear message that the only way out is by Christ, and it's the lowly ones - the rats - who are first to realize that truth.
Watch it again with those goggles. You'll pick up on a lot."
Stallone as Christ, eh? So....when Christ is resurrected, he'll be an Italian-American that comes across as slightly retarded, and instead of saving us from ourselves and performing miracles, he makes shitty action movies. Maybe Stallone is Christ, and this is my test in life. Stallone/Christ wants to see if I'm willing to suffer for the world's sins by watching his movies, thus ensuring my ticket to the great boxing club in the sky. Instead of standing on a hilltop and preaching his word, he's hiding his message through these movies.
Stallone...my own personal Jesus.
