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Judgment Night, probably, in all senses defines the term under-rated and/or virtually unknown and I go like, why? Why is it that no-one has reviewed this film here? The 90's was cluttered by suspense and/or thriller films and Judgment Night is one of the better results out of the factory. The story-line is simple but it is executed in a rather impressive manner: 4 friends, males, rent a RV to go to a boxing match, making it a boys-night-out but it turns horribly wrong when they decide to take a short-cut. What starts off as a fun trip turns into a violent, take-no-prisoners cat & mouse game. The cast is very well chosen. Even for a (then) relatively new actor, Stephen Dorff handled his character in a good way whereas Emilio Estevez was totally top-notch, like he is always. Jeremy Piven, although a much better actor nowadays, handled his character quite-well too and seemed rather professional doing it whereas Cuba Gooding, Jr. really gave an overstated performance and I think he has done better performances than this (Jerry Maguire, Boyz 'N the Hood). However, the number 1 best performance was by Denis Leary as the main antagonist, Fallon, who reminded me of a toned-down version of Norman Stansfield and a charged-up version of any classic Bond Villain and he made his character quite-memorable and one of the damn best on-screen villains I've seen although he suffered from, just like any other, the typical cliches which Hollywood shamelessly oozes. I have to admit that only few people actually look good while holding a gun and appear very convincing and Denis Leary showed just that and his demise is arguably one of the best... it's not much but the way he falls and the way his death is shown is so untypical: The guy nearly-always screams all the way down and it has to be in slow-motion but this has none of that... on a further note, just like his habit of playing memorable characters, Peter Greene once again does the trick!
The cinematography is great although it is nothing new and it's something you've seen in countless other movies. All in all, the setup and the story is good, keeps you on the edge of your seat and the dialogues suit the film and the performances by everyone are fine, especially Denis Leary and Emilio Estevez. I like this film because of it's suspense and the death-scenes. They somehow seemed plausible... OK, I admit, cliched, happy? I would love to see the same cast in another film or maybe even a remake...??
Further exhausting the review, this film also has probably the worst (somewhat) stock-character in history: The earphone guy... you know, characters who plug in their earphones and, in a comical fashion or not, start lip-synching to the song(s), totally oblivious to their vicinity and only after when they see the damage the earphones, somehow, come off their ears and they start running... I don't know why but I hate those stock-characters (also seen in The Terminator and Deathly Hallows and a few other movies)...
8.8/10
