Judgment Night (film)

Infobox_Film


caption="Judgement Night" DVD Cover
name=Judgment Night
starring=Emilio Estévez
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Denis Leary
Stephen Dorff
Jeremy Piven
Peter Greene
director=Stephen Hopkins
producer=Gene Levy
writer=Lewis Colick &
Jere Cunningham (story)
Lewis Colick (screenplay)
distributor= Universal Studios
cinematography= Peter Levy
editing= Tim Wellburn
released=October 15, 1993 (USA)
music=Alan Silvestri
runtime=109 min.
language=English
awards=
budget=
gross= $12,136,938 (USA)
amg_id= 1:121611
imdb_id = 0107286

"Judgment Night" is a 1993 film directed by Stephen Hopkins. The film starred Emilio Estévez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jeremy Piven, Denis Leary, and Stephen Dorff. Producers released the DVD of the film on 1 May 2001. The movie's plot centers around a group of friends on the run from a group of criminals after they witness a murder.

Plot summary

Four friends, Ray Cochran (Jeremy Piven), Mike Peterson (Cuba Gooding Jr.), and brothers Frank (Emilio Estevez) and John Wyatt (Stephen Dorff) embark on a road trip to a professional boxing match in modern Chicago. The four set out in a lavish RV Ray is "testing out" for his business.

Stuck in a traffic jam en-route, John gets into an argument with another driver. Frustrated by the delay, Ray decides to save time and backs off the highway in search of a shortcut through a poor, residential neighborhood. The four friends are alarmed when it feels and sounds like the RV has run over something. John, Mike and Frank get out to investigate, and find a man named Teddy (Michael DeLorenzo) lying in the street hurt, and they drag him back into the vehicle. They realize that Teddy has been shot, and then Mike hears a police car, which the group sees drive through the intersection ahead a few seconds later. Frank jumps into the driver's seat and begins pursuing the squad car.

Unable to catch up to the police, their vehicle is suddenly struck by a car. The impact forces them into a narrow alleyway, and leaves the RV unable to start. Moments after the crash three unknown men drag Teddy out of the RV through the back window. The leader of the group, Fallon (Denis Leary), arrives in the vehicle that struck them. Still inside the RV the four friends overhear the group talking about their suspicions that Teddy had stolen money from them. Fallon shoots Teddy and reminds the rest of the group that they have a policy to leave no witnesses. As the group of criminals approaches the RV, Mike breaks the windshield as Frank sets the RV on fire, and all four escape through the front and run.

The film continues with the four friends hiding and trying to outrun the group until they think they've gotten away. They eventually find an apartment building with an open door and run inside. They call the police from one of the apartments, minutes before the criminals catch up with them. They flee to the rooftop and Mike, John, and Frank manage to cross to the neighboring building's roof with a ladder. Because of Ray's fear of heights, he decides to stay behind and try to negotiate with Fallon. After he fails to convince Fallon to spare their lives, he's pushed off the roof to his death.

Escaping into the sewers Mike suggests that they try to fight back against their pursuers and the others agree. One of the criminals catches up with them and after a brief confrontation is killed. Choosing not to risk their lives any more, the friends decide to keep running. Within the sewer, the remaining members of the group find their member. A comment by one of the group members annoys Fallon and he drowns him.

After hiding once more, the three remaining friends feel like they've gotten away and decide to break the window of a closed grocery, in the hopes it will trigger the alarm and bring the police. Shortly afterwards, they realize the group have found them once more. A fight ensues and Frank and John are wounded. The last remaining member of Fallon's group is shot dead by Mike, but in the process he too is shot in the stomach. Frank leads the wounded Mike and John to a bathroom where they hide. Knowing that the three can run no longer, Frank attempts to overpower Fallon. After a struggle between the two, Frank pushes Fallon off the stairs killing him. With none of the group left alive, the movie ends with the police investigating the crime scene. It is suggested that Mike and John's wounds might not be fatal as they are wheeled away by the medics.

oundtrack

A soundtrack for the film titled "Judgment Night: Music From The Motion Picture" was released the same year on September 14, 1993. The soundtrack managed to achieve moderate success on the charts. Every song was a collaboration between hip-hop artists and rock artists. A supposedly-recorded collaboration from Rage Against the Machine and Tool entitled "Can't Kill the Revolution" was intended to be on the final soundtrack, but was deleted prior to the album's release. "Fallin'", "Another Body Murdered", and "Judgment Night" were all released as singles with accompanying videos.

On August 23, 2005, Intrada released Alan Silvestri's score for the film as Volume 23 of their special collection. While it contains the film's score, it also contains three unused electronic score samples. The film's chase sequences feature a score which is conspicuously similar to that used in Silvestri's Predator compositions.

Reception

*Rolling Stone (9/30/93, p.100) - rating|4|5 - Excellent -"Judgment Night's bracing rap rock is like the wedding of hillbilly and `race' music that started the whole thing in the first place....It's an aspiring re-birth."

*Entertainment Weekly (9/24/93, p.93) - "...can't vouch for the film, but the album is a MUST..." - Rating: A

*Q magazine (11/93, p.122) - rating|3|3 - Good - " [Judgment Night] suggests that the future for both metal and rap as a kind of agit prop soapbox style is secure."

*Musician (11/93, p.88) - "Tear down a few walls and it's amazing what tumbles out."

ong album track listing

tracklist|extra_column=Artists|title1=Just Another Victim |extra1=Helmet and House of Pain |length1=4:23
title2=Fallin' |extra2=Teenage Fanclub and De La Soul |length2=4:28
title3=Me, Myself, & My Microphone |extra3=Living Colour and Run DMC |length3=3:10
title4=Judgment Night |extra4=Biohazard and Onyx |length4=4:35
title5=Disorder |extra5=Slayer and Ice-T |length5=4:58
title6=Another Body Murdered |extra6=Faith No More and Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. |length6=4:24
title7=I Love You Mary Jane |extra7=Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill |length7=3:52
title8=Freak Momma |extra8=Mudhoney and Sir Mix-A-Lot |length8=4:00
title9=Missing Link |extra9=Dinosaur Jr and Del tha Funkee Homosapien |length9=3:59
title10=Come and Die |extra10=Therapy? and Fatal |length10=4:27
title11=Real Thing |extra11=Pearl Jam and Cypress Hill |length11=3:33
note5=Medley of 3 Exploited songs: "War", "UK '82", and "Disorder"

The Canadian pressing of the soundtrack feature a radically different version of "Missing Link" between the CD release and the cassette release. The version of "Missing Link" on the cassette has a more rock/pop-sounding mix than the heavily bass-oriented version of the song on the CD release. The running order on the cassette release is also different. It is unknown if this is specific to the Canadian release, or if other variations exist.

core album track listing

All tracks composed by Alan Silvestri

# "Freeway Confrontation" – 2:07
# "New Passenger" – 4:33
# "Execution" – 5:22
# "Train Yard" – 2:13
# "Some 'Splainin' to Do" – 5:17
# "Bat Woman" – 2:14
# "Ladder Crossing" – 9:45
# "Ray's Deal" – 3:24
# "Ray Eats It" – 2:05
# "Hello Ladies" – 1:30
# "Make a Stand" – 3:32
# "Mike Shoots Sykes" – 5:20
# "All I Got Is You" – 4:40
# "Stalk & Talk" – 4:41
# "Final Fight" – 3:34
# "It's Over" – 1:04
# "Frank Takes the Wheel" – 4:02 (Unused)
# "I Tried" – 2:36 (Unused)
# "Judgment Night Theme" – 3:09