Judgment Night Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Don't Move, Don't Whisper, Don't Even Breathe.
There comes a time when you've got to take a stand.
In a deadly game of cat and mouse, they must fight to survive.
Four pals are on their way to a boxing match, but gets stuck in heavy traffic. To get to the boxing match in time they take the first exit they find to find another way to the venue. As they are driving around lost in gang-land they get stuck and witness a brutal murder. The killer wants no witnesses and tries to kill them too. The four pals get away the first time, but the killer is soon back on their tail again while they are trying to find help in the middle of nowhere.
| Emilio Estevez | Frank Wyatt |
| Cuba Gooding Jr. | Mike Peterson |
| Denis Leary | Fallon |
| Stephen Dorff | John Wyatt |
| Jeremy Piven | Ray Cochran |
| Peter Greene | Sykes |
| Erik Schrody | Rhodes |
| Michael Wiseman | Travis |
| Michael DeLorenzo | Kid |
| Relioues Webb | Dre |
| Will Zahrn | Charley |
| Eugene Williams | Buck |
| Christine Harnos | Linda Wyatt |
| Galyn Görg | Clarissa |
| Angela Alvarado | Rita |
| Stephen Hopkins |
6.20 out of 10 (5230 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Diss may stop!
posted on 07 Jun 2009I'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!
Judgement Night keeps you in suspense
posted on 29 Apr 2009I first saw this movie in 2003, ten years later and regret not seeing it earlier, a movie that will keep you in suspense the whole way through wondering how it will end.There are two reasons as too why this movie was a fun roller coaster ride, the landscape being a dark and terrifying ghetto and superb acting. The two strong actors in this movie were Denis Leary the cold hearted gang leader and Jeremy Piven the wealthy businessman who thought he could talk his way out of anything. Piven's performance in this movie was similar to his role in Very Bad Thing's....you want a movie where things go wrong - Piven is your actor.The movie did keep going probably 10 minutes too long as by the time they were in the warehouse you felt like saying - is it over!!! But still a great ending to what was an enjoyable movie.What they thought was a night at the boxing, turned into a horrible game of cat and mouse where their lives were on the line.
Great Street Action Flick!
posted on 21 Mar 2009When this came out back in 1994, it was a very dark street movie that didn't get the credit it deserved via Box Office, but did well in rentals and by word of mouth. You'll find a lot of good comments about this flick, most of the negative ones are from people who aren't really into these types of flicks. Its really gritty and violent, and also has a great storyline for a movie thats basically about a bunch of guys in the ghetto trying to run away from gangsters. Its really very exciting and thrilling watching these guys going from place to place finding a way to get the police to come and help them. Works out very well and you'll enjoy.VinnieB
OK movie and a fantastic sound-track
posted on 28 Feb 2009I think the movie is good. I've seen it more then once. The tension is well build up. I like the part of Denis Leary. He is the a**hole in the movie. And he does a terrific job.... I have to mention the sound-track, it's one of my favorite cd's. Hiphop crossed with metal/rock. Like ice-T with Slayer, and other amazing combinations. A classic to be.... Go listen...
dont move. dont whisper. dont even breathe.
posted on 19 Nov 2008the game here is to survive the menacing Leary from killing you in coldblood after you see a person he shot get shot by him. you following me? very great filmmaking by Stephen Hopkins and great performances all around, but Leary is the standout here, making long speeches and being crazy as he is. The places they shot this in are very cool also. Action packed and deadly. Run!!
We NEED a re-issue....
posted on 19 Sep 2008I, like many other reviewers here, loved this great little flick. I only hope that somebody will eventually re-release this movie on DVD in all it's original widescreen glory, along with extras. I'm sorry, but a 1.78:1(??) aspect ratio is hardly what I would call widescreen, and doesn't even come close to the original 2.35:1. The current DVD edition, by Goodtimes, is a disgrace and an injustice to, not only this movie, but to it's fans as well.
Fantastic And Tense Little Thriller, That's Gripping Until The Very End, With 2 Amazing Performances From Emilio Estevez And Dennis Leary!
posted on 23 Aug 2008This is a fantastic and tense little thriller, that's gripping until the very end with 2 amazing performances from Emilio Estevez and Dennis Leary!. All the characters are wonderful, and the story was fantastic!, plus Emilio Estevez and Dennis Leary are simply amazing in this!. This is one of the most underrated films out there!, and you really root for the 3 main characters, as they have a very special bond, plus the finale is especially tense!. The characters are all extremely likable, and i thought the plot was cool as well!, plus Dennis Leary is extremely menacing as the main villain!. i thought Estevez's acting was fantastic!, and it had a very creepy setting as well, plus the ending was just great!. I also liked how the friends never backed down and always stood up for each other!, therefore, it makes you root for them!, plus Cuba Gooding Jr. is fantastic in his role!. It's actually quite believable, and it has quite a few shocking scenes!, plus it has lots of creepy atmosphere as well. This is a fantastic and tense little thriller, that's gripping, until the very end, with 2 amazing performances from Emilio Estevez and Dennis Leary and I say Go see it immediately!. The Direction is fantastic!. Stephen Hopkins does a wonderful job with awesome camera work, fantastic angles, adding lots of creepy atmosphere, and keeping the film at an extremely fast pace!. The Acting is wonderful!. Emilio Estevez is AMAZING as always, and is amazing here, he is extremely likable, very convincing, had good chemistry with all of the cast, had some awesome lines, gives one of his best performances, and had loads of charisma! (Estevez Rules!!!!). Cuba Gooding Jr is fantastic as always, and does a fantastic job here, he cracked me up, was vulnerable, had a great sense of humor, had awesome chemistry with Estevez and was great fun to watch! (Cuba rules). Denis Leary is AMAZING here, as the psycho villain, he is extremely menacing, scary, had some wicked lines, and i could not believe he gave such an amazing frightening performance!. Stephen Dorff is very good as Estevez's younger brother, he was likable, heroic and did his job very well i liked him lots. Jeremy Piven is good here with what he had to do, and played pathetic very well, too bad i didn't care for his character. Rest of the cast do fine. Overall Go see it immediately!. ***** out of 5
Fairy tale for adults
posted on 18 Jul 2008A movie like many others that nevertheless manages to maintain its pace right up to the end.Call it a fairy tale for adults or a modern version of classic drama, as all the basic elements are there: the dark prince of evil (outstanding performance by Leary)who relentlessly pursues virtue,descent (literally) into the "sewers" of existence and the resurrection of the hero who confronts the adversary with god-like courage.Well .. that's basically it.The "kids"( Estevez & co.)seemed to enjoy making this roller-coaster ride and act as if their lives were really at stake. Not a great movie but worth watching when looking for an energy boost.
The ultimate 3 AM movie!
posted on 14 May 2008This is the movie to watch with friends at three in the morning. Sit back and try not to fall asleep. Definatly the type of movie to watch with the volume turned down to near nothingness- and you hear murmers. Its like a sureal thing when you do that. Whoaaah
Fast paced not stop thrill!
posted on 10 May 2008This is a cracking film. I found myself gripped to my seat. Perhaps i can relate to the film having being in many scary nights out with my buddies. the only fault i could give this film is Cuba Gooding. I found him a little annoying. Great performance by Dorff (an under rated actor) and Dennis Leary.Watch it.
Judgment Night...A Guilty Pleasure
posted on 23 Apr 2008Plot: A group of four friends decide to take a shortcut through a ghetto on their way to a boxing game and end up witnessing the execution of a man by a ruthless gangster and his cronies after having wrecked their van. The rest of the film follows them as they are chased through the wasteland of a urban slum.
Pros: Denis Leary is the main thing that makes this movie worth watching. His character as a psychopathic gangster barking orders and spitting vulgarities contains a great amount of entertainment value. The action, although fairly unrealistic, keeps the movie running at a fast pace and never leaves the viewer bored.
Cons:The plot is fairly simple and the movie is skin deep as far as meaning is concerned, relying mostly on pure action, testosterone, and heroic feats. The characters are one-dimensional and with noncomplex personalities, so anyone who is expecting a movie with the sort of social commentary, outstanding performances, and incredible dialogue found in movies by directors such as Tarantino and Scorcese won't find anything but cheap thrills here. "Judgment Night" was too unrealistic and not "gritty" enough for my tastes. I found it ludicrous when the character played by Cuba Gooding Jr. decided to be some type of heroic cowboy and attempt to take out singlehandedly two hardcore and streetwise hoodlums who had lived their entire lives hustling on the streets and in prison. Furthermore, the final standoff between the gang leader and Emilio Estevez's character was a bit farfetched. I hardly think some upper middle class suburbanite without martial arts training would be able to beat a prison and street hardened hood in a fist fight. Actually, I found it hard to believe that a gangster would bother himself by chasing down a group of yuppies through a ghetto wasteland, risking his own life as well as those of his cronies, when he could just as easily gone to their houses after having found Estevez's characters driver's license in his wallet.
All in all, "Judment Night" is certainly worth watching, just don't take it too seriously.
Like Bread, Anything Can be Made
posted on 15 Mar 2008Can someone get an award for being the best thing in a bad movie? If so, Cuba Gooding, Jr. deserves it for
valiantly attempting to act well in the rehashed plot of what should've stayed a USA cable movie. Essentially, four middle class buddies, played by Ernilio Estevez as Frank Wyatt (titled as "Everyman" in the film's press packet); Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Mike Peterson, who plays Frank's righthand man/best friend; Stephen Dorff as John Wyatt, Frank's impulsive younger brother; and Jeremy Piven as Ray Cochran, Frank's sleazy, yuppie friend. There is a tendency in the film for the characters
to center around Frank, which could've worked if Frank had a character. This ensemble of stereotypes make a wrong turn on the expressway en route to a prize fight and end up as the prizes in a man vs. man hunt. Denis Leary, a raucous comedian seen on MTV and Nike commercials, plays Fallon, the psychopathic gang leader. The most difficult part of criticizing a bad movie is knowing that good actors have been saddled with a bad plot and bad characters. Estevez has been slaving away for a surefire hit since Stakeout to no avail. Gooding, Jr. was the recipient of the prestigious NAACP award for
his phenomenal debut performance as Tre Styles in Boyz N the Hood. I suppose even Gooding, Jr. can take a job like the rest of us to just pay the bills. We're all waiting with bated breath for his next film, a comedy, which co-stars tour d'force actors like Hulk Hogan. Cuba must have a lot of bills. Dorff starred in The Power of One, whose title also includes the number of days it was in theaters, the dimensions of his character in this film, and his acting ability. Finally, newcomer Jeremy Piven of The Larry Sanders Show should've backed out and given this re-hashed role to Paul Reiser, who originated a good yuppie
sleaze in Aliens 2.
Leary is simply his comedy persona with a gun. If director Steven Hopkins wanted to combine a comedian
with a gang leader, should've chosen Rita Rudner. Now that would've been original! The real problem with this film, which runs 109 minutes, is that it's 20 minutes too long. Good chase/hunt films like the Alien trilogy, Blade Runner, The Last of the Mohicans, and even Adventures in Babysitting are good because they stay in their mode as action thrillers.]udgment Night can't decide whether or not to be an action film, comedy, melodrama, or dramedy.]udgment Night also has another set of prob-
lems centering around its script: one, it was produced, and two, it is plagued with stereotypical characters,
action scenes, and death scenes.
A slight bright point to this farce is Peter Levy's work as the director of photography. There are great shots of faces in the foreground with another character in the background, which are as well done here as they are in Calvin Klein Obsession commercials. When you watch a film like this one, you shouldn't leave with a lesson in cinematography because the film is sad joke. I laughed through the whole thing because my ticket was free.
In conclusion, there are three points which beg attention. One, Estevez and Gooding, ]r. need to keep
looking for that "right" film for their genuine acting ability. Maybe Emilio's songstress (I use that term
lightly here} wife, Paula Abdul, can use them in her next video! It sure did give a boost to Keanu Reeves' career.
Two, director Steven Hopkins (previous films include the heavy Oscar contenders Predator 2 and Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 5} needs to stop feeding action movie pablum to us like we're newborns who haven't seen this done better, for less money, and with less insult. Which brings me to my last point: is this Hollywood's view of the inner city? Animals waiting to rend helpless wayward strangers? Neighbors who won't help those in desperate need? Stereotypes of African-Americans, Latinos,
and Asians, with white gun-toting gang leaders ruling neighborhoods? Wake up people: the new racism is being filmed, packaged, and delivered to a theater near you.
Good for a laugh
posted on 11 Mar 2008I 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.
Not bad at all
posted on 19 Feb 2008The film starts off in the suburbs where the neighbourhood is clean, safe, family orientated which lulls you into a false sense of security about how the film will carry on.Four friends Frank Wyatt (Emilio Estevez), John Wyatt (Stephen Dorff), Mike Peterson (Cuba Gooding Jr), Ray Cochran (Jeremy Piven) head off to the city to watch a boxing match but on the way they take a wrong turning and end up in a completely different environment to the one they are used to where there are homeless people, the area is rundown and messed up and gangs rule the streets. They are pursued by a crazy drug lord Fallon (Denis Leary) and his crew after witnessing them kill one of their disloyal henchmen.The film keeps pulling you in when you think it is safe and then when you are comfortable, takes the seat right from under you. It never lets up for a minute. One scene that is shocking is when the gang push Ray off the roof because you weren't expecting it and you wonder if the rest of the guys will be killed. Ray is shown as being different to the others; he pulls a gun on his friends, he puts children and womens lives in danger because he doesn't want to leave the safety of their flat and he won't help an injured man and comes across as a very unlikeable guy who deserves what happens to him.Emilio's character is the only one that has settled down, he is married and has a daughter. He has outgrown his wild years and is more cautious and tries to keep the peace. His past is only hinted at, the film doesn't go into any specifics. Eventually he has to go to the level of the gang because he can't reason with them and you wonder how far he and the rest of the guys will go as killing is foreign to them so it tests their survival instincts and at times their friendship.There is a surprising angle to Fallon's character. Throrghout the film we have seen him as a bad guy but he shows a small soft side to his character when he finds his dead friend's body.The best scene is the fight between Frank and Fallon. It starts of building the tension up, with the camera flicking between the two of them and suddenly Frank pounces on Fallon and it is a battle to the death and gets very physical. We see a difference in Frank's character from the start and now because Fallon knows where he lives and has threatened his family and he can never escape from him unless he kills him.
OK, but predictable
posted on 19 Feb 2008Four buddies on their way to a boxing match get lost in downtown Chicago and witness a murder. There's little room for character development as the boys are chased by the killers through apartment buildings, sewers and department stores. Director Stephen Hopkins' (Nightmare on Elm Street 5, Predator 2, and many more hidden gems) direction is solid. He keeps the film at a quick pace with enough suspense to make such such ludicrous scenarios watchable. Denis Leary plays an intense bad guy who yells and rants constantly just because Hopkins didn't want to waste Leary's sole talent. This makes for some interesting plot holes, like why would you make noise when you are trying to sneak up on someone? There are some attempts at character development, but they barely help and just slow a movie like this down. However, there are many worse ways to spend two hours.2 stars out of 4
Men, NEVER ask for directions!
posted on 17 Jan 2008Or you may end up in a bad action movie like Judgment Night.Four middle class would be bad boys take a wrong exit on the freeway and end up in the Super Bad part of town. Their luxury recreational vehicle can provide them no protection from the wisecracks of lead bad guy Denis Leary, who must pursue them to the ends of the Earth (or the end of this movie, whichever comes first) in order to cover up his heinous crimes and his uninspired bon mots. Believe me, you'll be rooting for him to rub out these suburban nimrods.
don't scream ... don't move... don't whisper... don't even breath
posted on 19 Jun 2009a very good on screen adaptation of suspense and adrenalin. frank Wyatt , his younger brother john, his friends mike and ray decided to watch a boxing championship match in an arena. They are forced to take short cut by getting of the main road towards small deserted streets at night because of stranded vehicles at the road. Then things went out of their hands as they hit a drifter kind of person on the road. more over they are shocked to see the man they have hit is already been shot by someone in the chest and he is hiding some amount of cash.Ray is persisting now that they should throw off that man coz he is some thief but frank and mike disagree. Then their vehicle is hit by a car.the guys from the car forcefully by their weapons snatch the boy form all 4 and then comes fallen , their gang head. The man had stolen from fallen , so the results are obvious , capital punishment of fallen ' s own. When fallen shots the man to death , the 4 buddies are now prime witnesses of the crime. Fallen makes his subordinates , Sykes, Rhodes and Travis rule no 2 ',, no witnesses,,'.Now they head towards the mini wagon to eliminate them all .they set their vehicle on fire smashed the front screen and made their escape in the narrow street taking their stranded vehicle as cover. Its now a cat and mouse game.This becomes situation critical for Emilio estevez , Cuba gooding Jr, Stephen dorff, and Jeremy piven , they are running for their lives, they ve become like wounded stags and the ruthless murderers are chasing them like wild dogs. their only hope and way to survive this nightmarish ordeal is to trust each other, maximum co-ordination and device a full proof plan so may they be able to see the sunrise and escape from this hell' s jungle. At this point of time their nerves are also tested, in which ray is failed coz he is terrified even from the moment they hit the man at the road.Ray ends killed at the hands of fallen as he decided not escape from the roof despite calls from frank , mike and john, he wanted to negotiate with them all , and suddenly this cost him too much. Like black hawk down , it s another kind of movie in which i felt myself a part of it. Every time i wondered what s gonna happen next, how they are gonna live another day to tell the truth about a crime scene. This is movie which totally never meant to be senseless. i believe that every one of every age can see the film and enjoy it. The plot is very much gripping and entertaining. I liked the scene in which john is going to have a brawl with a motorist, before they went off the road , frank reasons with him , advises him that there is lot craziness going on in the city , everyone can takeout a weapon and use it, as his younger brother is not paying attention, frank is furious , by grabbing his arm ,, says ' are u listening to me' then john replies ,' what r u going to do , stop me,,, U R NOT MY FATHER'. Mike appreciated john for his courage , which again annoyed frank , he said to him emphatically , do not encourage him. john apologized but said that john is right about one thing , you are really not his father. But after in their quest for survival they killed one of the pursuers , mike insisted that they all should stay there finished the remaining but john left with his brother. Mike is annoyed and confronts john then frank takes side with his bro for properly understanding the gravity of the situation.And in the end when fallen and frank head on one to one with each other as final judgement of the night. I wrap up it by saying it as heart pounding superb adventure of one night