Judgment Night (1993) User Reviews (113)

Great suspense, awesome set-pieces

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 8/10 · 8 February 1999]

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.

Pretty good, actually. A good start for Denis Leary and Stephen Dorff

[goopi83 · 6/10 · 20 October 2007]

This movie is actually pretty decent. I liked all the characters, even Jeremy Piven, who was kind of a dick in this. The story focuses on these four friends who get lost on a way to a game in a bad neighborhood. They happen upon a gang of drug-dealers (led by Denis Leary), and witness something horrible so Leary decides he can't let them escape. From their the movie is pure suspense, with the guys trying to escape the gangsters. Some very good scenes, one which involves them hiding in a train, having to bribe the hobos to keep quiet. A lot of action, some good acting, and constantly keeps moving. I give this movie a solid 6/10, because there were a few things that bothered me, but I won't go into this for the sake of not ruining the film.

Good flick

[remadri2000 · 8/10 · 23 December 2001]

Very interesting and compelling premise (four friends lost amidst a dangerous Chicago suburb who are being stalked after witnessing a murder). The pace of the film never slows a bit. Great performances by all actors, specially Leary. Highly recommended

Diss may stop!

[filmfreak-5 · 25 January 2004]

I've heard this film dissed by so many, and I cannot for the love of god understand why. It has excitement, terrific actors and a totally awesome soundtrack.

Sorry, but to me a film with Emilio Estevez, Denis Leary, Cuba Gooding and Stephen Dorff cannot fail, nomadder HOW lame it is. It just so happens that this film is NOT lame in anyway. You're in suspence from the start to the end.

OK, so there ARE a couple of cliches under the way - this I cannot deny, but honestly, name me ONE film that totally avoids cliches in any way, share or form and I'll glady admit to have been wrong.

This movie rocks, although it is about ten years old now. But I first saw it back when it came out, and to this day I still get carried away in it!

Gritty, urban thriller reminiscent of classic Walter Hill movies

[krachtm · 7/10 · 11 January 2013]

The plot: A group of yuppies get stuck in the bad part of town, become witnesses to a murder, and are relentlessly hunted down by a gangster who doesn't want any witnesses.

Judgment Night is the sort of stereotypical, clichéd 1990s thriller that was quite popular: gritty, urban, dark, and starring a young, recognizable cast that seemed well on their way to the A-list. Ironically, few of them managed to retain their popularity for much longer. At the time, I remember being a big fan of pretty much everyone in this movie, though.

I've always thought this movie was somewhat underrated, but I can understand why some people dislike it. It's not an incredibly original story, the protagonists are sometimes stupid (and usually annoying), and it apparently takes some liberties with the setting. Not being a Chicago native, I can't really comment on that, but it seems to be a sore point for some.

Much like After Hours and Very Bad Things, this is a movie that relishes the opportunity to continually push its protagonists into increasingly nasty situations. However, unlike those movies, it's pretty much a straight-up thriller, without the black humor. I'd recommend this movie to fans of gritty, urban thrillers. It's nothing they haven't seen before, but it's an enjoyable rehash, nonetheless.

Underrated

[Bored_Dragon · 7/10 · 10 August 2017]

Soundtrack for this movie is one of the first CDs I got and one of the most worn out ones. But it took me more than two decades to finally see the movie too. I suppose I was dodging it because of pretty much bad reviews and, once again, I missed the good movie. OK, it's not masterpiece, but for an action drama it is above average. And music kicks ass!

7/10

A Husband and Father Is Punished for His Night Out with the Boys

[disinterested_spectator · 6/10 · 3 January 2015]

Frank is a married man with a recently born baby. That means it is time for him to settle down and forget about going out with the guys to have a good time. After all, his wife is stuck home with the baby, so why shouldn't he be forced to stay home too? Instead of doing the right thing, however, he goes out with his three bachelor friends to see a boxing match, and for this sin he must pay. But if Frank must be punished for leaving the little lady at home with the baby, we know that his friend Ray is going to get the cinematic death penalty, because he has a pistol stashed in his RV.

They get stuck in traffic and take a shortcut through the Chicago slums, see a man murdered, and must flee from the killers who don't want any witnesses. Since the police seem to have abandoned this part of town, we find it hard to understand what the killers are worried about. Fortunately, they are worried, because that means the rest of the movie consists of the four friends being chased through the slums or trying to take a stand and fight back.

With few exceptions, if a civilian in a movie has a gun that he bought himself, he must die, and that is what happens to Ray. However, civilians are allowed to use a gun effectively if they did not buy it themselves, but either someone else buys it for them or they opportunistically pick up the gun of the person who owned it, and that is what happens here. Ray's friends pick up his gun and use it to fight the killers.

Frank manages to survive the evening, but he has learned his lesson, vowing to stay home with the wife and baby from now on.

Overall, pretty good suspense film

[boondocksaint20 · 7/10 · 5 November 2004]

Not bad, not good...been there done that perfectly describes Judgment Night.

And, in this case, that's perfectly fine. This is a pretty good time waster that contains several scenes of mild to moderate suspense. It involves four friends going down the wrong alley in order to take a short cut to a boxing match only to witness a murder, and run from the thugs responsible.

The film's main protagonists each have their own unique qualities, but unfortunately, none of them are fleshed out enough for us to really care about them. Emilio plays the guy beginning to mature with married life, Stephen Dorff plays his younger, hot headed brother who talks more trash than he delivers, Cuba Gooding plays Emilio's best friend who apparently has insecurity issues when it comes to people messing with him and people not covering his back (this poor characterization is culminized as you watch Cuba's horrible overacting) and of course, the great, loquacious and always facetious Jeremy Piven plays the role of the sleazeball con-man perfect to a 'T'. Unfortunately, of these characters, you really feel for none of them as they are not fleshed out beyond their stereotypes.

The real standout, of course, is Denis Leary...he is truly one convincing bad guy in this film...a force of pure determined hatred, that will stop at nothing to kill the guys. Of everyone, Leary is the only one who does not overact, he is completely natural in this role, and though he is given little to do with the script but spout out cheesy, yet oddly effective taunts at the four, he is a menacing presence nonetheless.

The echoes this film has with Deliverance are amazing...but to list them would be to list key spoilers, and I don't want to do that. Overall, this movie is nothing new, but it plays old and clichéd material very well.

(VERY MINOR SPOILER)

I will say that the biggest complaint of all that I had was with Emilio's change of character right after his role morphed into heart of darkness mode, and Leary's character is in peril (involving him asking for help)...that one scene was so unbelievably cliché and out of place it wasn't even funny.

(END OF VERY MINOR SPOILER)

However, Judgment Night is pretty good entertainment that is carried by a solid, and believable villain, only to be brought down by subpar performances from actors that usually deliver better. Therefore, I have to give it a 7 out of 10 stars which isn't bad; a film I consider almost above average...Leary alone carried this film, and with better acting of the main leads, this would have scored much much higher. At any rate, this is the perfect film to catch on a Sunday afternoon on cable with nothing else to do. That is my story, and I am sticking to it.

I was franks baby in this movie

[Carliedougher · 10/10 · 30 August 2013]

My name is Carlie Dougher. I was in this movie. The little baby on the porch, frank's daughter in the movie. I was wondering if I made a comment if maybe I would be put in the cast. I mean the "kid on swing" was. Haha :)

Since I must write a minimum of 10 lines I mine as well give a review. I was 14 when I was finally able to watch this movie due to the violence and it being rated R.

My parents finally allowed me to watch the full film not just the beginning where I'm in it for a good 3 minutes or so lol. Iv watched it so many times and show all my friends it's such a cool movie and it never gets old not to mention is funny as hell and it's definitely a nail biter. It's a good movie on a rainy days. It's one of those movies you wont want to end.

Gripping action film, sadly underrated.

[twistedcol-1 · 6/10 · 12 November 2005]

The first time i saw this film a friend of mine had taped it not really knowing what it was, so we put it on, not really expecting much. When we had finished watching it the first thing that struck me was that i could not believe i had never heard of it in the two years since it had been released(undeservedly straight to video!). It was just a great action film that gripped me from beginning to end in the same sort of way that films like Die Hard had. I have heard it said that the plot is simple and predictable, but if we are completely honest with ourselves Die Hard isn't exactly brain surgery. But action films don't have to be. However they do have to be done well as this is and as Die hard is the master of. The cast are all on top form, with special mention for Dennis Leary in a fantastically deranged performance. The film is shot with a touch of class and really conveys a sense of detachment from the safety of normal society. And all this is underpinned by another brilliant score from Alan Silvestri. If you haven't seen this film then you must. And if you have seen it then why not watch it again! Special mention for Stephen Hopkins, to have crafted a film of this calibre and received no credit or even a theatrical release for his troubles seems unfair, especially considering the sparkly garbage that seems to make it to the big screen all too much these days. Top film!

Workable setup, poor execution

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 4 October 2013]

JUDGMENT NIGHT is a movie featuring an ensemble cast who find themselves enduring a night from hell when they're pursued by a vengeful street gang with murder in mind. As it's directed by Stephen Hopkins, who made PREDATOR 2 and THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS, it has potential to be good, but sadly it comes a cropper before long and never lives up to that early promise.

The problem with the film is the story, or lack of it. Okay, so the setup is halfway decent, but at around the halfway mark things really start to fall apart and it becomes just a straightforward chase flick with an us-vs-them mentality. Sadly, the lethargic and badly-handled action sequences, involving shoot-outs and fist-fights, are nowhere near good enough to make up for the lack of a decent narrative, making this an entirely forgettable movie when it comes down to it.

One of the most interesting things about the production is the cast, half of whom would go on to greater glory. Stephen Dorff and Cuba Gooding Jr. are two of the youthful stars; the former is effectively edgy but the latter's acting is so cheesy that you wonder how he found later fame and fortune. Jeremy Piven is better, but the presence of Emilio Estevez reminds you of why he never made it big; he has zero screen presence.

The bad guys are more interesting, although the characterisation is slimmer. Denis Leary is the charismatic chief villain, but I found his endless threats became pretty routine before long and I was dying to see someone off him. Much better is the entirely underrated Peter Greene (PULP FICTION), who SHOULD have been the main bad guy because he's excellently slimy, as ever, and indeed the best thing in the whole movie.

One of the best thriller of 1993. ***1/2 (out of four)

[Movie-12 · 9/10 · 21 July 2001]

JUDGMENT NIGHT / (1993) ***1/2 (out of four)

By Blake French:

Although many critics mauled "Judgment Night," I rank the film as one of the year's best thrillers. It proves when filmmaker's examine feasible situations of horror, the product grabs us by the throat and pulls us in. "Breakdown," the high-octane suspense masterpiece of 1997, worked remarkably well because its concept and characters felt authentic and real. "Judgment Night" finds terror in another circumstance that feels real-we empathize with the characters and believe the environment because what happens to them could actually happen to such people in real life.

The main character is Frank (Emilio Estevez), a family man who's ready for a night out presumably after months of caring for his pregnant wife. He is going to a boxing match with his two good buddies, Mike (Cuba Gooding Jr.), and Ray (Jeremy Piven), and his little brother, John (Stephen Dorff). They're traveling in style; Ray, an excellent negotiator, sweet talked his way into borrowing a luxurious motor home for the evening.

As the four big kids travel to their destination through Chicago, a big traffic jam halts their progress. Ray decides to take a shortcut through the city's gang territory. They accidentally hit a man crossing the road, check to see if he is badly injured, and things go down hill from there.

Initially, Ray doesn't call the police because he's had a lot to drink and doesn't want to spend time in jail for involuntary manslaughter. The person he hit turns out to be a young gangster running from his boss, with a coat full of cash he's stolen. The boss (Denis Leary) eventually catches up and punishes the kid by shooting him in the head. Ray, John, Mike, and Frank witness the murder, and the boss does not want any witnesses.

The rest of the movie places the four characters in one terrifying situation after another. They find cover in a freight train full of greedy homeless people, an apartment where nobody will lend a helping hand, the rooftop of a high building, the sewers, the streets of the windy city, as well as other buildings and a shopping center. The villains always find the foursome, no matter where they hide. When you are in the gritty parts of Chicago, life is cheap. Many people reveal their cover for just a few dollars.

The screenplay flows unusually smooth. The film does not involve any unneeded subplots or distractions-every character and event plays an important part in moving the story forward. "Judgment Night" is very focused, lean, and suspenseful. So many thrillers these days forget that action and violence provides relief from tension; fist fights and shoot-outs alone do not captivate viewers. "Judgment Nights" really knows how to build tension and then relieve it with some startling violent sequences.

Many reviews have mentioned the film's obvious areas of stupidity. I agree that the villains might have not revealed their identities to so many side characters. Otherwise, all of these characters are very believable. Frank, Mike, John, and Ray are real people who are in real danger. The villains kill one of the four early, and for once he's not the black guy. This establishes the merciless threat of these bad guys and that any of the characters is equally vulnerable to death. I was on the edge of my seat throughout most of the movie.

Stephen Hopkins directs "Judgment Night." This is his best work yet. He never puts the movie on auto pilot like many thrillers do. This plot is character driven all the way through. Yes, it's just another cat-and-mouse chase film-it does not offer any deep satisfaction, nor does it examine deep, thought-provoking issues-but this genre is seldom as effective. After watching "Judgment Night" you will think twice before taking a shortcut.

Good for a laugh

[secordman · 6/10 · 7 August 2001]

I enjoyed Judgment Night, mostly because of Leary, who smirks and hams his way through this movie. Estevez, Cuba and friends drive to the wrong side of town, where Leary is ruling the streets. Just sit back and enjoy, it's a generic plot, but good fun. Leary referring to a gang leader as "Webster" is just one of his many good lines, delivered with his edgy style. Estevez and Gooding are fine, and once the movie starts rolling it's basically a chase through the dark streets. Nothing special, 6 out of 10 for me.

Rather unrealistic and quite annoying

[philip_vanderveken · 5/10 · 17 March 2005]

The main reason, and if I'm honest probably also the only one, why I watched this movie was because Emilio Estevez and Cuba Gooding Jr. were in it. I didn't exactly expect the best movie I had seen in years, but with these two actors, I at least expected to see a decent movie. But I'm afraid I'll have to change my mind on that one. This was a very disappointing movie.

The story seems to be OK, at least in the beginning when you see four guys going to a boxing match. They don't go with a normal car like other people would do, they take a huge camper. But OK, no problem with that. As long as it serves the movie, I can live with it... and it does, because when they get completely stuck in a traffic jam and don't seem to find a way to pass some cars quickly, they decide to leave the highway and try an alternative route trough a neighborhood that doesn't look all too inviting. The four friends start thinking of going back to the highway when all a sudden they hit something or someone. When they stop they see a man lying on the ground and their first reaction is to call 911. But the driver starts to freak out (he has been drinking, he doesn't know if he's well insured...) and they decide to take him with them in the camper and to bring him to a hospital. And then all the misery starts. Not only has the man been shot, the ones who did it are now chasing the four friends...

At first I still could live with the idea that they had left the highway, got into trouble... but as the movie kept going on, it annoyed me enormously. The bad guys always seemed to know where the four friends were going and never gave up the chase, the good guys always made the most stupid decisions possible,... And of course the good ones have to act like heroes and yes people get killed on both sides, but in the end the good will always prevail, right?

If there is one positive thing that I can say about this movie, than it must be something about the acting. I'm not saying it was the best of the best, but it was decent and quite believable. Nevertheless, it doesn't save this movie and that's why I can only give it a 5/10.

Predictable, Yet One Of The Greatest!

[Stealth-5 · 26 April 2001]

Judgment Night was on TV last night, i began watching it and it had to be one of the most gripping movies ive ever seen. The movie starts off with 4 friends in their 20's taking a luxury van out to watch a boxing match, them being stuck in traffic decide to take a turn into a bad,bad neighbourhood.After this, the movie is in non stop suspence for one whole hour,with terrific acting and a very good script, Judgment night had to me one of my all time favourite action movies of all time. Although predictable at times, that didnt leave this film from being a top notch action/thriller. Although some of the scenes simply arent believable you just cant help notice how great the whole casts acting is,especially a top performance by Emilio Esetevez and Cuba Gooding, Jr. A Glitch with this movie is it starts to get downhill pretty much from an hour into the movie, the plot gets less believable and it just turns into too much.The ending was pretty simple. Cinematography was awesome in this flick, great camera angles and dark scenes. I simply ask for you to watch this, many says it copies many other films, i couldnt care less, Judgment night had to be one of the greatest action sequences ive ever seen, i definantley reccomend you watch it despite its predictibility,unbelievable scenes and stretched out plot. Here are my ratings for JUDGMENT NIGHT

out of 5 stars (*)= half a star.

Acting - ****(*)

Actors - ****

Cinema - ****(*)

Suspence-****(*)

Script- ****

Sound- **** (*)

Overall- ****(*) (4 and a half out of 5 stars)

Don't take a short cut, ever!

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 7 April 2013]

Judgement Night is directed by Stephen Hopkins and adapted to screenplay by Lewis Colick from a story he co-wrote with Jere Cunningham. It stars Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Stephen Dorff, Jeremy Piven and Denis Leary. Music is scored by Alan Silvestri and cinematography by Peter Levy.

Two brothers and two pals set out for a blokey night out at a boxing match but take an ill fated short cut and end up on the run from a vicious gang.

93 was a very good year for the action movie fan, with double Stallone, Van Damme teaming up with Woo, an Arnie picture, a Bruce Lee homage, a fugitive Ford, dinosaur frenzy and some minor pulse raisers that garnered a small but loyal following. Judgement Night falls into the last category, it's pretty light on plotting and sensible scripting, but none the less contains a ream of action set-pieces that whilst not exactly brilliantly constructed, they still have impact and entertain the action faithful.

Suffice to say, it's not hard to see why it was frowned upon by the critics, it is basically an excuse to string a bunch of drama sequences around a thin narrative that sees the protagonists do the all too usual dumb action movie staples. That's disappointing given that writer Colick was behind the hugely enjoyable Unlawful Entry. The acting is decent enough from the four "on the run" actors, though Piven and Gooding are mightily guilty of gurning for the camera, but everybody falls into Leary's shadow. Leary is having a great time playing the main villain, ice cold stare and caustic delivery in place, he nails it as a bad ass and becomes the main reason to seek the film out for a viewing.

Elsewhere, Hopkins's (Predator 2) direction is formulaic, but he does have a good eye for scene staging, with two sequences set at a rail line and a derelict building proving to be visual niceties. Levy's photography is interesting as regards the colour lenses, looks like he used gel saturation to get a high yellow and brown return, which is an odd choice for the urban night terror story. Surely steely cold compositions would have been better? Silvestri's score is basically his one composed for Predator, literally it is the same only with some extensions tacked on. It's a brilliant score, but you just can't help thinking about Arnie and the Dreadlocked Alien and that is something that doesn't help Judgement Night at all.

A decent time waster for the action fan, especially if you dig Leary, but outside of those boxes it's pretty standard stuff. 6/10

Energy and style.

[Peach-2 · 7/10 · 28 December 1998]

Judgement Night has energy and a good amount of style. The director, Stephen Hopkins, is very sure of the way he handles this story. Denis Leary is great as Fallon. The movie is casted well and has very nice cinematography. Good movie.

'contains spoiler' Good movie but......

[davehart-5 · 7/10 · 3 January 2007]

Keeping in mind that a movie is only for "entertainment" and doesn't have to be "perfect" be worth watching:

This is one of the best movies that I have ever seen as far as keeping my interest, but after just watching 3 times in a row I have picked up on many things that I found to be "rediculous." I have read the other comments posted about this movie so I will try to be original.

First of all, I have been to Chicago and there are freeways everywhere! Even after they got off of the freeway they could have found one of many to get out of the bad side of town.

A possible goof, when they leave Franks house it is broad daylight then in the next shot with them driving on the highway it is dark. One may think that they had a bit of a drive to get to downtown Chicago, but later Frank says that they are only 10 minutes from home. The fight scene on the highway: It's that both, the man and the woman in the truck are saying "fu*k you" to Ray, but when they began to get out and fight the woman just sat in the truck and simply said "leave him alone." She barely even looked back. As they are driving through town (before hitting the kid) they pass several well lit streets, they continue down the dark road. After hitting the guy with the RV (even though Ray is a dipstick) they should have listened to him and got the hell out of there, especially when the gang jerks the kids out and starts arguing with him. Instead they keep looking out the back window to see what is going to happen to him. Duhh!! Fast forwarding to the end of the movie (since I don't have time to decipher the entire thing) it was odd when Frank was going into the office of the supermarket (after killing Fallon) and the police officer barges in with gun drawn and tells him to freeze. Frank tells him that "his friend and brother are upstairs bleeding to death," and the cop stands his ground. All of the sudden another officer who wasn't even in the room and couldn't have possibly heard Frank, comes in and says "it's alright, he's telling the truth!" Then all of the sudden the first officer lowers his gun and they go running out of the office. Come on, I am a Cincinnati Police Officer and there would be more to it than that!! Remember, don't break any of Fallon's stupid Rules!

Anyways, aside from the oddities mentioned, I loved the movie and found it to be very entertaining. I thought that Cuba Gooding's acting was by far the best of the cast and his facial expressions (even on background shots) were very convincing. Thats my ten cents. (Possible spoiler on movie titles Tresspass) If you like Judgement Night, check out Tresspass with Ice T. Another movie that has innocent everyday guys caught in the bad part of town by thugs.

"That money got blood on it, man!"

[doug_park2001 · 7/10 · 28 April 2014]

1993 film where four old buddies in Chicago rent a lavish motor home for a night of partying and watching boxing. After they witness a murder by Fallon, a sinister drug lord very well-played by Denis Leary, a long, tense, violent urban odyssey follows.

Though somewhat dated by its 20 years, JUDGMENT NIGHT is everything a thriller-seeker desires. The simple but focused plot follows the old formula, and it's fairly easy to predict the basics of how it will turn out, but it has plenty of small surprises along the way, and there's nothing too unbelievable. The four friends--one who turns out to be the big hero, one who keeps mucking everything up for everybody else, and two who are kind of in the middle--are a rather cookie-cutter set, but good acting and even better filming keep this film alive.

Interesting to see the young Stephen Dorff in an atypical role as the younger brother of the hero played by Emilio Estevez.

Surprisingly Entertaining Thriller!

[Colto · 9/10 · 5 May 2001]

This movie was on late one night and I watched it due to the fact that Cuba Gooding Jr., Emilio Esteves and Stephen Dorf was in it. What emerged was a surprisingly good thriller great acting And the plot was quite good. Also Dennis Leary was a standout as the ruthless gangster.

All in all ****1/2 out of *****

There's a reason many 15 year old films are hard to find - they ain't that good.

[oneguyrambling · 6/10 · 27 October 2010]

How cutting edge is this!?! I am reviewing a 16 year old film that sold approximately zero tickets starring a bunch of guys that would probably be happier if this wasn't on their resume.

The plot itself is quite a basic formula, a bunch of old friends plan a dude's night out to a boxing match, but as they are running late they take a shortcut through what the media would call an "urban area" and things don't go according to plan from there.

What I enjoyed about the set up is where the party bus gets stuck in the mother of all traffic jams, eight lanes in both directions completely at a standstill, and the characters have enough time get into a road rage incident and then have a leisurely chat afterwards before getting back on the bus and cruising onwards.

The four characters: Frank – Former hellraiser turned family man. (Emilio Estevez in between Mighty Ducks movies.) John - Frank's younger brother. Impetuous and quick tempered. (Stephen Dorff trying to look menacing and edgy, while remaining pretty.) Mike – Cool guy, bit of a ladies' man. (Cuba Gooding Jr pre Oscar and his subsequent career tailspin. I though an Oscar improved your career?) Ray – The quick talking dodgy mate. Unreliable and more bluster and bravado than bravery. (Jeremy Piven with wayyyy more hair than he has now.) Everyone has a Ray mate, the guy that talks a great game and has the most amazing adventures when no-one he knows is around. They're amusing enough to have around as long as you understand that you can never truly rely on them and that they will sell you out in a heartbeat if it benefits them even a little. The key to co-existing with a Ray is knowing in advance that from time to time you will feel the urge to mutilate them with something, but being smart enough to ignore their repeated and expected transgressions. Or cut them off and move on with new friends. It's your call but make it early to avoid going insane.

Probably related to the above paragraph. I hate Jeremy Piven. I just find him annoying and terribly overrated. In my opinion he is just another actor who struck lucky with one role (Entourage) and rode the wave long enough that people just accepted him.

Half an hour in, enter Denis Leary as Fallon, but I'll call him Denis because that's who he is no matter what role he plays, and because he is a bit of an "Asshole" (his song, not mine) he is better suited to the role of the bad guy or anti hero. This is why he is great in this (and especially "The Ref"). It's a double standard, but you whinge when an actor plays the same role over and over and never tests them self by branching out, others like Denis should stick to what they know.

Anyway Denis's first act is to kill someone in the middle of the road, under a streetlight, after a discussion, knowing full well that he is being watched. Sounds a bit dumb doesn't it? but as the plot doesn't advance sometimes without dumb stuff happening let's move on. Want more dumb? How about the fact that Denis and gang go door to door trying to find the guys, without masks and toting guns? The last hour has a lot of running and chasing, which Denis the famed smoker must have enjoyed. The guys hide, then run, then hide, then run, with Denis walking around talking loudly and demanding they hand themselves over. One dialogue scene between the gang plays exactly like a music video and stands out primarily for how different it is to the rest of the film.

It's a pretty run of the mill action pic, and would be OK only as a late night brain-turned-off flick. Would have benefited from being say 10 or 15 minutes shorter as run/hide/run/hide gets old quick and when none of the characters are especially likable it doesn't matter which order they die in. There isn't much of anything that stands out aside from Denis as Fallon, the violence is paint by numbers, the laughs rare and the death scenes boringly predictable and not that inventive.

If this doesn't sound much like a recommendation it is because it really isn't.

The soundtrack on the other hand is 50% great, 50% filler. I have owned it since this movie was released and drag it out every now and then, as long as you fast forward judiciously there are three absolute classic tracks to be found in collaborations between House of Pain/Helmet, Faith No More/Boo-Ya Tribe and De La Soul/Teenage Fanclub.

Final Rating – 6.5 /10. Not particularly bad, but there is a reason that a lot of 15 year old films are hard to find on DVD, they just aren't particularly good.

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Boys' night out

[gdalesmith · 2/10 · 10 November 2020]

A by-the-numbers, tedious movie in which bad guys chase good guys through a run down urban area. I watched it to the end mainly out of curiosity as to whether just a trace of originality would make a guest appearance. Didn't happen.

This story is classified as a crime thriller, but its description should also include 'supernatural.' No matter how fast or far the good guys ran down deserted streets and alleys, or which of countless multi-story buildings they tried to hide in, or tunnel options they chose in the sewer system, the bad guys always managed to quickly find them. That was spooky, but certainly not original. It's a traditional cop out for plot holes in a script. The recently released 'Unhinged' repeatedly uses it, for instance.

four good buddies head out a for a night on the town and,

[disdressed12 · 9/10 · 24 May 2009]

take a wrong turn.just one wrong turn.and end up on the bad side of some not so savory characters.from there we get chase after chase as theses guys try to stay ahead of the bad guys and stay alive.this is a really exciting action packed movie.it had me on the edge of my seat a few times.and the acting,the acting was top notch.Jeremy Piven,Cuba Gooding Jr.Stephen Dorrf,Erik Schrody,Michael Wiseman are all really good.incidentally,Schrody is/was a member of once popular rap group House of Pain.he later released a solo album under the name Everlast,called Whitey Ford Sings the blues.anyway...everyone one i just mentioned did excellent work in this film.but for me,Emile Estevez and Peter Greene(Under Siege 2,The Usual Suspects,Permanent Midnight)were standouts.the movie itself is high octane excitement that doesn't let up until the end.it's a movie better watched late at night,with the lights off.for me,the verdict on Judgment Night is a 9/10

One wrong turn and everything goes sideways

[Mr-Fusion · 7/10 · 24 August 2022]

Just goes to show how direction and music can make all the difference.

For me, "Judgment Night" shouldn't work nearly as well as it does. These characters make one bad decision after another and you can start to foresee misfortune before it happens. But this movie has such a great cast (Denis Leary, seriously, I do NOT wanna cross that guy!) and the sense of dread never really lets up. Stephen Hopkins' direction and Alan Silvestri's score contribute so much to the final product; one that's tense, atmospheric and highly watchable. Chicago in this film is a hellish place and the bad guys are next-level nasty, and I couldn't help but get caught up in it.

Yes, young drunk men act like squealing 8 year old girls

[bgaiv · 4/10 · 13 September 2020]

It's surreal how surreal this is.

I've never spent a night downtown alone in Chicago after witnessing a murder, but I have a hunch I would survive, hiding, shaking in a hidden corner somewhere.

If I had a buddy or two with me, no question I believe we would survive.

But these guys run horrified from a very pretty boy villain that can murder people left and right-- including his own henchmen-- such that the whole downtown is terrified of their pursuers. Literally the vagrants on a train are terrified of him.

And yet this pretty boy villain operates on a level that the city itself would call in the Feds for help, yet these guys have never heard of him.

And one downtown lady, who QUITE literally takes a Louisville Slugger for protection to drop her trash down the chute, then lets them into her apartment! But she wasn't even scared of him until he asked for a favor.

This is all so zany, it boggles the mind.

There's even the extra surreal part where these guys are terrified of crossing a bridge between two buildings. I wouldn't want to do it either, but if I had a demonic crew chasing me with guns, I'd be all over that bridge FAST.

Even worse, they all cross that bridge like it's stretched across the Grand Canyon, including the punk kid played by Dorff! If at least Dorff's character had crossed it like he wasn't an 8 year old child, it would have worked wonders.

That's the main problem, these five men, who had been drinking and heading to a BOXING MATCH (nearly getting into fights themselves along the way) then spend the rest of the movie acting like squealing 8 year old girls. Because THAT'S how drunk male boxing fans behave.

It's not a bad movie if you consider it's a Twilight Zone episode.

This film easily could have been set on another planet with the RV replaced by a spaceship. It would actually have been more believable!

This feels like an elementary school kid wrote it, got some pointers from their teacher, then it was rushed to production with quite a budget.

Sheesh. Hollywood loves to sit in judgement, well if you want to listen, consider how ridiculously small a bubble so many there live in. No wonder they are scared of everything.