Actor Mark Hamill as a sickly disturbed psychotic killer on the road. No way! The boyishly sweet looking Hamill is obviously trying to break away from that typecast his been associated with and this cheap b-grade Cannon action flick gave him an opportunity to do that. Well he lets it all out in an unconvincingly hammy and spaced-out portrayal with such non-apologetic aplomb. It's quite a sight
. A frightening one too, but not in that threatening way. But there's something random about it that just compels. Starring opposite of him is a surprisingly sound and rugged Michael Dudikoff and coming between the two is a feisty Savina Gersak. Making a brief and all-too tired turn is Robert Mitchum. Who looks like he'd rather be somewhere else and its understandable. I can't deny that I didn't enjoy it, as for an active nocturnal road chase movie with cat and mouse elements it was thrillingly executed. Never did it lose any of that gritty energy and hysterical nastiness from Bob Bralver's assertive direction. Sure it can be laughable, and contrived with its weak psychological front. But it's all about leaving a constant pile of destruction and a workable death toll. Still there's a real creepiness in certain sequences and atmospheric lighting, but it's mostly broken up by some ridiculously over-the-top set-pieces. That also goes for the out-of-nowhere shock ending. The material has actually dreamt up something that's original and could've been tightly menacing (as it has a wife fleeing her committed police husband, while unknowingly offering a ride to a unstable psycho), but how they go about it loses the possibility of gelling the two threats and dissolves into something quite standard with the opening half of the story's motive coming off dispensable. Fair b-grade action romp.
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sol121817 August 2004****SPOILERS*****
Action flick that never lets up for a moment as it takes you on a terror ride that will leave you on edge and out of breath.
Mark Hamill is as creepy as you can get in this film as the escaped mental patient Justin who takes Lara, Savina Gersak, hostage and ends up killing sixteen people, by my count, before the night is over.
After having a domestic fight with her cop husband Lawson, Michael Dudikoff, Lara leaves for a friends house and picks up a harmless looking hitch-hiker Justin and then ends up having the ride of her life.
Killing everyone that he comes in contact with Justin ends up murdering ten policemen and six civilians as he takes Lara to the hospital where he escaped from earlier in the evening. Justin wants to see and have a talk with his doctor Dr. Hardy, Robert Mitchum . Lawson who Justin tried to murder by driving a taxi with him strapped to the hood gets to the hospital just before Justin puts Lara under electric shock treatment, which Dr. Hardy refused to do. They then both have it out with Justin falling down a balcony and getting electrocuted on a grid. Were told later by Dr. Hardy that Justin is insane, to no ones surprise watching the movie. Only to have Justin re-appear later in the hospital elevator, disguised as a hospital patient, with both Lara and Lawson only to get a bullet between his eyes by a fast thinking and fast shooting Lawson.
The movie "Midnight Ride" works on all levels as a suspense horror thriller as well as a chase action movie and it's a wonder that the film is not as well known as it should be. Mark Hamill steals the acting honors in the film as a psycho killer who makes movie psycho's like Michael Myers from Halloween and Jason from Friday the Thirteenth look like school yard bullies in comparison.
No matter how unbelievable the actions that Hamill does in the film are you still believe that he could do them. Thats just how convincing he is as a uncontrollable escaped psycho. Robert Mitchum is effective in his small part as Justin's doctor and both Michael Dudikoff and Savina Gersak were very good as Lara and her husband Lawson. But it's Mark Hamill's one man show as the murderous and insane Justin that really makes the movie "Midnight Ride" as good as it is. This is one movie to watch that you would need to strap on your seat-belt and hold on tight for an unbelievable adrenaline rush. -
merklekranz6 December 2023Not bad action film, with Dudikoff in relentless pursuit of his runaway wife. Seems she has had no trouble giving psychopath Hamill a ride to his Psychiatrist, Mitchum. This movie has plenty of truck size plot holes. Cops are portrayed merely as targets for Hammil's knife or gun. Realism flies out the window early, never to return. Nevertheless, things seem to move along at a frantic pace. If you can forgive the sparse character development, just go along for the ride with your brain in neutral. What Robert Mitchum is doing in this film is a huge question? His part could easily been played by any no name actor. Worth watching for Hammil's over the top performance, but just barely. MERK.
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MichaelM2411 April 2002Despite receiving top billing, I wouldn't call this a Dudikoff movie. It's Mark Hamill's movie all the way, as the former Luke Skywalker chews the scenery and steals the entire film. In a role that again demonstrates Hamill's versatile talent, he plays a mental patient who has escaped from his hospital to visit his doctor, Robert Mitchum in a small supporting role towards the end of the film. After an argument, Dudikoff's wife leaves him and goes to see her sister, picking up hitchhiking Hamill along the way. Dudikoff borrows his friend's car and sets out to find her, unaware of the danger she will soon be in. As much as I like to see Hamill play good guys, he always makes a delightful bad guy, and his role here is one of his best psychotic characters. Even when he's playing nice there's an underlining sense of uncertainly. The wife finds out Hamill is a psycho when he kills a hotel clerk and fashions a necklace out of her fake eye, dangling it from his finger and asking if she likes it. Dudikoff soon catches up, but learning he's a cop, Hamill forces the wife to hightail it, setting off a dangerous game of pursuit. Dudikoff thinks his wife is trying to get away with another man, and the entire time, always ends up one step behind. At one point he loses his car, forcing him to steal another from a car carrier truck as it speeds down the highway. (A great scene, by the way).
There's plenty of action: car chases, explosions, car chases, explosions, and one tense scene in which Hamill straps Dudikoff to the hood of a taxi cab and proceeds to slam repeatedly into the rear of a gas tanker (the driver of which must be completely unable to feel the hits his vehicle is taking). The climax at a hospital is pretty good as well, with a tense final encounter between Dudikoff and Hamill on the roof of the building. The gritty cinematography helps give the film a horror movie-like tone. I just wish we had known a bit more about Dudikoff and his wife. All we know is that he and a friend helped get her out of Russia, though how we are never told. But that little unknown plot point aside, MIDNIGHT RIDE is effective as a creepy little road movie, and fans of those should enjoy it. It would make a terrific Saturday triple-bill with DUEL and THE NATURE OF THE BEAST. -
Spoilers? Maybe...
OK! Take a good company, darken the room, get some popcorn, and you will ready for the most incredible journey of your life! Imagine a chase begins by car, continues by truck, and ends by wheelchair.(Yes, I wrote: wheelchair!!!) This is one of the funniest movie, I've ever seen. Well... the only problem is, it isn't supposed to be a comedy! But if you have some free hours at night (at night the movie is better, remember: "Midnight Ride"), and you want to laugh with some company (three or five, maybe six people), try this film! Company is necessary, not because of the thrill, or something like that, just because if you're alone, nobody will believe you! So try it! -
tarbosh2200029 July 2010In this nonsensical tripe, Lawson Markman (The Dudester) plays a cop (and that's ALL we know about him) who splits from his wife Laura (Gersak). She picks up hitchhiker Justin McKay (Hamill) who turns out to be a raving, annoying psychopath. McKay forces her to drive to the town of Hendersonville so he can meet up with his "only friend" Dr. Hardy (Unfortunately, Robert Mitchum).
In what is basically a road movie, Lawson is chasing after Justin and Laura for most of the running time.
Nothing is ever established so don't know who these characters are, and thus there is no suspense. The movie has a weird off-kilter feel and seems like it was filmed in another country but apparently it wasn't. It also feels ten years older then it is. The happy-go-lucky jazz music during the chase scenes is inappropriate. It is overlong, and rife some many absurd plot holes, it is not possible to list them all here.
Hamill plays a very similar role to the one he played in the TV movie The City (1977), a leering lunatic who bugs out his eyes and cackles incessantly. He wears a gray-striped jacket that makes him look like a ten year old, and takes Polaroid pictures of everything. If he is trying to forget Star Wars (1977), this is not the best way. Hamill spits outs craziness like "When Dr. Hardy fixes your brain, you can marry me!" Dudikoff doesn't do any of his trademark martial arts. The movie desperately needed his patented karate chops. His cool hair is still present and accounted for however. The movie focuses way too much on Hamill and not enough on Dudikoff. Of course their final fight is in a steam factory, and Hamill has one last silly weapon up his sleeve: a random ATV. Doesn't every hospital basement have one? The Videohound book lists Mitchum's appearance as a cameo. In the same way that retired people get jobs because they are too freakin' bored around the house, Mitchum's decision to appear in Midnight Ride seems based on that same thought process.
It's no surprise Cannon Films ceased to exist a few years later. The glory days were over.
Actually irritating to watch, please don't take this "Midnight Ride" tonight.
For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com -
"Midnight Ride" is a film about a psychopath who is picked up while hitchhiking. This alone is very hard to believe. Why would a woman who is running away from her bully husband stop to pick up a strange man? And, when she has the chance to escape once she realizes he's dangerous, why wouldn't she run? And, when she does run, why doesn't she get the police? Yes, I know the husband is also a cop...but at least stop at a fire station, town hall, shopping mall, or McDonald's to get help???? And, why would the husband who is out looking for her bother to stop and then pick up the guy? Sure, he's a cop and the guy in the middle of the road looks like he's in trouble, but the cop is off duty and looking for his runaway wife! And, when two cars collide, why would they explode like the cars are filled with 20 tons of TNT (in real life, cars very rarely explode)? The bottom line is that there is enough plot here to make a 30 minute TV episode...but stretching it out to feature film length just exposes the many, many, many plot problems.
Now I am NOT saying the film is 100% bad. Mark Hamill plays a ridiculous villain....but he plays him well and with glee...almost like when he's voicing the Joker in Batman cartoons! Hamill fans might really enjoy seeing this...and I thought his acting was fun. But the movie, otherwise, makes little sense. My only reason to see it was to see Robert Mitchum in a supporting role but sadly it sure takes a while to see him in the movie. Overall, a really dumb film that manages to entertain even if the writing simply makes little sense. -
acidburn-102 July 2012The basic plot, A young Russian woman named Laura (Savina Gersak) leaves her husband who also happens to be a cop, later on she picks up a young hitchhiker Justin McKay (Mark Hamil) who surprise surprise turns out to be a psychopath and takes her hostage while he goes on a killing spree so he can meet up with his Doctor, while her cop husband is in hot pursuit.
Midnight Ride is a bit of a strange movie, as it tries to blend Action and slasher together and it works most of the time, as I found this movie a hell of a fun ride, although it does having plot holes and lacks suspense, but all that can be forgiven. Mark Hamil plays a part a million light years away from Luke Skywalker here playing a psychopath, which I rather enjoyed, although it was a bit hammy and unconvincing at times. Michael Dudikoff plays the cop husband pretty well, I found him very charming and capable as the leading man. But I didn't find Savina Gersak very convincing at all, she's supposed to be the terrified victim, but I found her very weak and disappointing and I think that this movie would have been better if they had a better actress in that part.
The film has some really great action moments. In particular, there's a terrific Mardi Gras Massacre sequence that's one for the books. Some of the action toward the end is hit and miss (Dudikoff's encounters with the Pentangle in the swamp is kinda anti-climatic) but the finale is thoroughly awesome. It also manages to have its share of solid action beats (the bus chase was pretty good). Plus, it moves along at a steady clip, which helps make you forget about the lapses in logic. But overall I found this movie fun and entertaining, the scenes with Mark Hamil are the real highlight even if they were hysterically funny, like when he tries to attack a female victim, But I did enjoy the final scenes between him and Dudikoff in the steam factory and the hospital scene.
So all in all okay Midnight Ride is a copy of the far superior Hitcher, but it's not a bad one and this should get a DVD release, because I enjoyed it. -
fmarkland3222 May 2007Michael Dudikoff stars as a police officer who spends the entire woman stalking his estranged wife (Savina Gersak), who is in the clutches of psychotic hitchhiker Mark Hamill, seems Hamill wants to go to the loony bin and wants Gersak to be his wife (This movie is so silly.) and during the movie Dudikoff is tied to a hood of a car, while Hamill drives, Gersak screams and Hamill twitches in front of the camera while Robert Mitchum cashes an easy paycheck as he barely looks at the camera as he plays Hamill's doctor. Midnight Ride has all the elements there to be a decent movie but in the hands of Bob Bravler this is all ridiculous with no stab in credibility what so ever. For instance Dudikoff is crippled in the beginning of the film (My guess is that he broke his leg doing one of the stunts for the movie) and yet despite this he still manages to outdo his American Ninja styled heroic actions with plenty of gusto to spare. Ever sprain an ankle? Well you can barely walk, now try imagine trying to beat someone up at the same time? Oh and consider that breaking your leg is much much worse than that. More implausibilities play out. The climax in particular is so ridiculous that it becomes obvious that there is no attempt at credibility to any of the action sequences. What is even more amusing is just how misogynist this flick is. The woman in this film is put through an ordeal because she had the audacity to leave her husband, Hamill's mother was a psychopath (Hamill's sister had an affair with him), another female victim talks back to her boyfriend and the first female victim is shrewish, hence these women are either killed or put through an ordeal. The film also never notes the sharp irony that Dudikoff really is not a good guy, in that he's just as insane as the villain of the movie. Dudikoff refuses to let his wife go as he takes off after her. He offers stock apologies that seem manipulative, he steals cars and furthermore seems to rescue his wife out of jealousy rather than actual love. Of course reading too much into a flick is somewhat pretentious even for me, but there is no doubt that that this thing is somewhat sexist. This of course didn't bother me so much, as the credibility of the action sequences and story. Plus the acting is not very good. Dudikoff comes off the best which says something considering who he is. Mitchum seems embarrassed, Hamill is hammy and Gersak is a rather weak heroine. However the most annoying thing about this movie is just how many times Hamill keeps picking up Gersak. It happens at least 3 times and each time the explanation is absurd. Movies like Midnight Ride live and die by their director's execution and in Bob Bravler we have a guy who has no real sense of distinguishable style so the action sequences are only okay, making it easier to point out flaws in the credibility of how such action sequences are conducted. Therefore the audience sees through the plot and realizes that this far fetched thriller is hardly thrilling.
*1/2 out of 4-(Poor) -
Aylmer7 October 2002Mark Hammill definitely turns in one of his best performances in his career, playing a psychopath as he often does but he's live-action this time around and not animated. Don't mind that, he's still quite animated and often acts just as cartoony as "The Joker" or any number of his more famous animated characters.
Anyway, there's good chases and excitement, but at its heart this film really is just another low budget Italian B-movie with a 20 second cameo by a bored looking Robert Mitchum. Savina Gersack is in it, which usually isn't a good sign, but she's a good actress and looks good too. Dudikoff, on the other hand, is extremely boring as the hero and the whole way through I was rooting for the bad guy.
Lots of stupid stuff, a few explosions and surprisingly graphic gore scenes, but this has ended up being a forgotten film, much like THE MOSQUITO COAST or BREAKER MORANT. -
bkoganbing30 December 2007I remember one time reading a remark from Robert Mitchum who was discussing how he came to play a certain part after several of the leading men of his generation turned it down. He was quoted as saying that the producers figured "that bum Mitchum will do anything for enough money".
If that was the case Mitchum hopefully got a hefty paycheck for his part in this slasher flick where he's on for the last 15 minutes or so as Mark Hamill's shrink. Midnight Ride stars Mark Hamill as the psychotic serial killer who runaway wife Savina Gersak picks up as she's leaving workaholic cop husband Michael Dudikoff.
Dudikoff is not operating either with a full deck, maybe his broken leg is warping his judgment. Anyway he's after her and not particularly concerned about how he gets her back. But as it turns out Gersak's jumped from the frying pan to the fire.
I'm not sure if Dudikoff's injuries on Midnight Ride were real or not. Certainly a healthy Dudikoff might have taken Hamill out before the film was halfway over. The American Ninja versus Luke Skywalker, what a concept.
Which I'm sure was on the minds of the producers of this travesty in getting these two stars passed their box office prime to star here. Robert Mitchum barely can contain his boredom, his famous rumpled eyes barely register a movement.
When the force is not with Luke Skywalker, a one legged American Ninja can take him. -
Woodyanders10 September 2006This delightfully drecky direct-to-video howler rates a close second behind "Hitch Hike to Hell" as far as uproariously over-the-top tacky psycho potboilers are concerned. A hilariously miscast Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill eschews the force in favor of goony, chortling, extravagantly hammy full-tilt subtlety be damned unrestrained psychosis as murderous, fresh out of the booby hatch mental patient Justin McCay, who stalks and terrorizes sweet, lovely Lara Markman (a nice portrayal by toothsome blonde hottie Savina Gersak) across lonesome, misty California backroads en route to returning to the laughter factory so he can reunite himself with well-meaning, but ineffectual shrink Dr. Hardy (a haggard Robert Mitchum shuffling his way to an easy paycheck). Lara's rugged, butt-stomping policeman husband Mark (beefy, baby-faced B-action pic top-liner Michael Dudikoff giving one of his better, more engaging performances) comes to the rescue.
Competently directed by Robert Bralver, with glossy photography by Robert D'Ettore Piazoli, a thrashing, frantic Goblin-style rock score by Carlo Maria Cordio, largely game acting from a solid cast, and several rousing scenes of vehicular carnage, this choice chunk of Italian horror junk makes for a very savory schlocky slice of "danger on the road" mayhem. Of course, it's Hamill's zealous, magnificently maniacal histrionics which gives this homicidal hitch-hiker opus an extra special sleazy kick in the pants: Mark rants and laughs hysterically, bites his fingernails, ties Dudikoff to the hood of a speeding taxi cab, snaps photos of his victims with a portable camera, snuffs a few cops at a gas station, sucks on an ugly, unfriendly fat lady's glass eye (!), steals a bus, and generally behaves in a wired wacky manner that's most unbecoming of a former Jedi knight. Watching Hamill let it all hang out something freaky consolidates this pup's status as a topflight cinecheese hoot and a half. -
MissSimonetta5 September 2014Mark Hamill is the only aspect of Midnight Ride (1990) worth watching. This is no exaggeration, guys.
Every other aspect of this film is terrible. The editing is atrocious. The action scenes go on too long. The plot indulges in one bad cliché after another. The "horror" is laughable. Dudikoff is uncharismatic and boring as "the hero" (who only manages to be slightly less obsessive and creepy than the villain of the piece). Gersak is a wooden damsel that you actually WANT to get killed, so terrible is her acting. Even the great Robert Mitchum is awful, probably lamenting his presence in this mess.
But Mark Hamill? Oh, Mark Hamill-- the scene-chewing, that devilish grin, the way he seems to be channeling Anthony Perkins from Psycho (1960) with the juxtaposition of his boyish looks, sexual repression, and homicidal tendencies. He is the only reason to watch this movie. It shows how versatile an actor Hamill is. He's certainly not the next Olivier, but it makes me sad that he's only known for Luke Skywalker and the Joker. He deserves more.
Midnight Ride has a few "so bad, it's funny" moments, but overall, this is pretty bad and only works when it's The Mark Hamill Show. -
Entertaining enough to keep me interested, although the film seems to lose momentum towards the end, as it doesn't become very clear what the antagonist's intentions are. Some good action sequences.
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crewcut631 August 1999This film has one warning, and one warning only: Do not under any circumstances ever pick up any hitchhikers!! "Midnight Ride"
is a cool action/suspence movie since "Frantic", even though it's practically a forgotten film. Michael Dudikoff is Lawson, a cop who is trying to rescue his estranged wife Lara (Savina Gersak) from a psycho named Justin, played brilliantly by Mark Hamill. Lawson tracks down Justin, who beats up the cop constantly, until the final showdown in a hospital. Hamill is awesome in this film, which is really a change of pace for the former Luke Skywalker. The only problem with this movie is Dudikoff, who has a cardboard-stiff performance that makes you root for the bad guy! -
This unbelievably stupid thriller is filled with the most ridiculously awful dialog and a plotline that defies reality. Savina Gersak is a completely dreary damsel in distress, running away from cop husband Michael Dudikoff and picking up hitchhiker Mark Hamill along the way. She's unaware that the sweet faced Hamill is a psycho, having escaped from a mental institution, that is until he shows her the fake eye of the motel clerk he just killed. From one crazy cop to a complete looney, and she didn't have the sense to put the radio on where certainly news of his escape and description would be announced.
The only reason I even bothered with this film is the presence of Robert Mitchum in an extended cameo as Hamill's psychiatrist at the very end of the film, perhaps a nod to all the crazies that Mitchum had played. It wasn't even worth the wear and tear on my video equipment, although thanks to chapter search, it was easy to get to his segment which pops up at the end. This is the epitome of a modern trashy B movie, coming from Cannon, which along with Vestron and other long gone 80's movie companies was the equivalent of Monogram and PRC from the 1940's. It's hard to like any of these characters, especially the not so bright character played by Gersak who drives down a road under construction after being told it was closed. -
m_vashistha22 December 2001This movie starts with a good sense. Savina Gersak left her husband for some period. But her husband followed her. She gave ride to stranger. In the first look itself, the stranger looks creepy, but for her (Who is mad on her husband) he is like her brother. She is expression-less in most of the movie. At some point she was crying and there was no tear in her eyes. She did whatever Justin (The Stranger) asked him to do, never resisted. She became the hostage.
Another thing, the cops are also not treated nicely in the movie. The villain took care of all cops except hero (husband of Savina Gersak).
In the movie a continuous race is going on. People are left behind and they change vehicles but still catches another person. How come? After living here in US, I got to know that it's very difficult to chase another person if he is 1 hour ahead on the highway, but according to movie, it looks like that it ain't difficult. The villain changed vehicle from Laura's car to Bus, then ambulance, but Hero recognizes every vehicle. Again how, nobody knows.
Plot was OK, but never got executed well. -
GreenTeaOm26 August 2001This movie is characterized by gratuitous (and very excessive) violence. It's also graced by a dumb plot, and bad acting. Skip it. It's a waste of time.
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I watched this movie the first time about 25 years ago on the telly late at night, and then again recently, and again late at night on the telly. Mark Hamill is eerily effective, cast against type as a psychopathic killer, he's so intense - it's obvious he relished the chance to play such a character, even if it was just in a lower-berth Cannon Group thriller. He's easily the best thing in this grungy little outing, clearly shot on a shoestring and very quickly. Still, the atmosphere is eerie, and it's a tightly told story. No real artistic pretensions (after all, it's a Michael Dudikoff vehicle!), just an in-your-face thriller.
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BandSAboutMovies27 October 2021I mean, how could I not watch this movie? It's got Michael Dudikoff, Mark Hamill and Robert Mitchum improbably together in a riff on The Hitcher or The Vanishing or any other number of hitchhiking maniacs on the road movies.
Dudikoff is a cop who is more married to his job than to his Russian wife Lara, who finally decides to drive off and then make the decision to pick up Justin Mckay (Hamill), who grew up with a mother who parted her sister's hair with a butcher knife and has passed on the willingness to kill to her son.
Over one brutal evening, Lara must ride with the killer as he destroys everyone he can, ending with him trying to convince Mitchum, playing a doctor, to give her electoshock therapy against her will.
If you're used to seeing Dudikoff be a ninja - an American Ninja - he barely fights in this. But hey - it's a Cannon Film, which means that it has some level of strangeness, maybe because it was shot in Italy* instead of America, but has stuntman Bob Bralver directing it, who only made one other full-length movie, Rush Week, which isn't all that bad. He's joined by writer Russell V. Manzatt, who also wrote that aforementioned college stalk and slash.
*That's the claim I keep reading, even if IMDB says that it was made in California. I mean, with all the neons and blue color, this could have been a late Italian direct to video movie. -
Okay, you can't deny that The Hitcher inspired this movie, and you think, sarcastically "Oh, I can just imagine". Well, I'd hate to say it, but you're wrong. I've seen this film, many a time. This quite tense movie has great plotting, and believe it, Hamill pulls off his hitch hiking psycho convincingly. I was impressed by the structure of the story, situation after situation. Sevina Gershak, really good, as are our four leads, plays a Russian immigrant married to cop Dudikoff. Obviously she's had enough. This seemingly arranged marriage isn't working, and I must admit, I did find Dudikoff irritating. Hopefully that hairy scene with him, tied down the front bonet of a car as it hurtles down a mountainside, woke him up a bit, and made he reevaluate his priorities, but I don't think it did too. Also to begin with, he's on crutches, so he's limping throughout. The guy doesn't learn. This film with it's violent moments, leads up to a little twist towards it's conclusion, never letting up on the tenseness of the film, where we're greeted with acting presence, Mitchum, who was Hamill's psychiatrist. I wish we had more screen time with Mitchum. Being a Hitcher fan, I had to see this out of curiosity, and while it's not as good as that cult classic, here's a tense B grader you shouldn't overlook, save for a stupid after ending scene with Hamill. The performances are good, though sometimes Hamill does ham it up, but it's fun seeing him in this role, and he does like taking photos too.
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vnssyndrome8916 April 2022This movie is GREAT! For anyone who doesn't like it, doesn't get it. And, oh yeah, get a sense of humor (a black one would be best). No matter how many times she escapes, Mark Hamill just keeps showing up. Driving the bus was my favorite. His insane driving is ridiculous, but it's hysterical that his hands are always at 10 & 2! The exploding cars had us rolling. Also, how many cars is her husband, the cop, going to steal? My favorite was off the moving car hauler. Appreciate it for what it is, & you'll have a good time.
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Midnight Ride is a very good but unusual movie that stars Mark Hamill, Michael Dudikoff, and the great Robert Mitchum! Dudikoff was good and I thought he looked a lot like Carey Elwes in the movie and Mitchum was good in his short part but Hamill was the one in the film that really shinned! I was so surprised but the unpredictableness of his character and how he played this maniac! Mark is a very good actor and I have always liked his acting in the original Star Wars trilogy especially The Empire Strikes Back! The music by Carlo Maria Cordio is good and in My opinion most of it nearly sounded like Alan Silverstri's Predator and Back to the Future scores! The movie is filmed very different and has action and many thrilling moments and you never know what is going to happen! If you like Mark Hamill and to see him in another great role then I strongly recommended you watch Midnight Ride!
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dsteve159 September 2001Even halfway through this film, I would not have recommended it. Now I would watch it again. It seems like one of those weak plotted, thrown together films with dull and boring driving scenes. And there is plenty of that. But it is not the plot. Nor is it stunning acting. So what is it about this film that works? Strong, pressing acting, without letting up. Each lull in the "action" precipitates more progression towards anticlimax. It gains a hidden rhythm and timing which turns what would seem to me to have been the most boring movie of the month, if not of the year, into something that stands on its own. Incidentally, they must have spent a small fortune on explosive materials. For a film having only four leading actors, Michael Dudikoff, Mark Hamill, Savina Gersak and then finally, Robert Mitchum, who plays this kind of role well, there was more going on than normal observation revealed. It comes out as a strange film and if you appreciate the way these things come together with a good, full cast, then watch it all the way through. After it is over, you'll like it. Then when you think about it, you'll like it a little more. Very odd. In fact, as I consider it now, part of the character of the film borrows from the style of older horror films made in the 50's and early 60's.
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docp31 December 2002This must be one of the best movies around for entertainment. It is concise (only about one and a half hours), full of well-acted, charismatic people. The story line is tense and full of imagination. The plot has plenty of twists and turns, mostly surprising ones. I do not want to say too much for fear of taking away some of the surprise. Altogether this is a must-see movie.