The Best Movie You Never Saw: Judgment Night

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Welcome to The Best Movie You NEVER Saw, a column dedicated to examining films that have flown under the radar or gained traction throughout the years, earning them a place as a cult classic or underrated gem that was either before it’s time and/or has aged like a fine wine.

This week we’ll be looking at JUDGMENT NIGHT!

THE STORY: Four friends from the suburbs (Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding. Jr, Stephen Dorff & Jeremy Piven) take a tricked-out RV into Chicago to watch a boxing match, only to witness a gangland slaying. Now, the men are on the run for their lives as a psychotic gang leader, Fallon (Denis Leary) and his crew start hunting them down.

THE PLAYERS: Starring: Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Stephen Dorff, Jeremy Piven, and Denis Leary. Directed by Stephen Hopkins.

The movie suffered on its opening weekend – in the Bronx, these guys who stood up at the theater on the Friday night when it was opening had a shootout in the theater. The film came up as one of the things to blame for it, the film was pulled from cinemas, and it disappeared very quickly. Those days, it wasn’t like you had digital film – if a film doesn’t work, it gets put in a vault somewhere, and that’s the end of that. – Stephen Hopkins – Consequence of Sound Interview

THE HISTORY: In the late eighties, very few scriptwriters were as hot as Kevin Jarre. The author of RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II, GLORY and TOMBSTONE, he was also the guy who wrote the script for what eventually became JUDGMENT NIGHT, although, as happened to many of his screenplays, the journey from the page to the big screen was not a smooth one. Eventually, his script would end up entirely re-written, to the point that sole screen credit goes to writer Lewis Colick, whose earlier thriller, UNLAWFUL ENTRY, had been a surprise hit.

Indeed, JUDGMENT NIGHT would up having a lot more in common with that film than anything by Jarre, but Universal was hoping for a hip urban thriller with youth appeal. To that end, they recruited then red-hot standup comedian Denis Leary to play the villain, while Cuba Gooding Jr., made this his follow-up to BOYZ N THE HOOD, and a lot of time was spent working on the soundtrack, which audaciously teamed hip-hop artists and rockers in a series of collaborations. All these elements aside, the movie laid an egg at the box office, only grossing just over $12 million in theaters.

WHY IT’S GREAT: JUDGMENT NIGHT is probably better known than a lot of other movies I’ve featured in this column, but not because people have actually seen it. Nope. Instead, they know the soundtrack, which ranks as one of the seminal albums of the nineties. It’s insane how beautifully assembled a compilation it was, but it harkens back to a time when soundtracks were more than simple playlists (even the LAST ACTION HERO soundtrack kicks major ass). Rather, these were all songs commissioned for the film by huge artists, but the real genius move was to team rappers and rockers. There are some legit classics here, like Helmet and House of Pain’s “Just Another Victim”, Teenage Fanclub and De La Soul’s “Fallin’” and more.

But the album was one of the biggest-selling albums of all time. I think people don’t know the film very well; I think they know the idea of the film, and the interesting 90s cast we had. Interestingly, I think the album does portray the idea of the film quite well. If anyone ever watches the film because of the album, that’s awesome. – Stephen Hopkins – Consequence of Sound Interview

But what about the film? I’d wager that most people who own the album have never really bothered to check it out, which is a shame. It’s a good example of a nineties studio programmer, made with energy and flair by director Stephen Hopkins, who churned out lots of good programmers in this era, including several of which I’ve featured in this column, like BLOWN AWAY and THE GHOST & THE DARKNESS.

This was also one of Emilio Estevez's last films as a leading man, with him opting to jump behind the camera after a solid decade as a popular star. He’s always had an easygoing, everyman quality about him, and he’s well cast as the young suburban dad trying to get back to his wife and new baby in one piece. He’s joined by a very young Stephen Dorff as his little brother, while Cuba Gooding Jr., is the team alpha, and the one guy who’s keen to fight back once they start getting hunted. An nearly unrecognizable Jeremy Piven plays their fast-talking pal, who, due to his billing, hasn’t got the best survival odds from the start. It’s all driven by a propulsive Alan Silvestri, with the urban nightmare these guys are caught up in done in a way that was intended to scare middle-class, suburban America, although let it be said, this isn’t exactly THE WARRIORS.

More than anything though, JUDGMENT NIGHT is a star vehicle for Denis Leary, who Hollywood was trying to make into a thing at the time. This bad guy part is tailored pretty closely to his aggressive, motor-mouthed stand-up persona (as was his follow-up – THE REF), although at times some of his speeches sound more like stand-up rants than realistic talk from a drug lord. His lackeys are more menacing, with Everlast from House of Pain bringing authenticity to his part as the crew’s muscle, while the ever-intense Peter Greene is good as Leary’s number two (in some ways – their roles maybe should have been reversed).

BEST SCENE: When I say Leary’s rants sound a bit like stand-up and aren’t legit for a drug lord, I still think he’s a memorable bad guy and whatever, this is clearly nineties-era Hollywood’s version of what a scary drug dealer would be like. Leary goes all in, and I always liked the bit where Piven negotiates for his life. It’s like the darkest-ever lost scene from “Entourage”.

SEE IT: JUDGMENT NIGHT is widely available on DVD, Blu-ray (from the Warner Archive) and digital.

PARTING SHOT: As far as nineties urban thrillers go, JUDGMENT NIGHT is a fun one, and part of me misses these small-scale actioners. It’s a time capsule in more ways than one and the type of movie I doubt would ever get made nowadays. I loved it as a kid and I think it holds up relatively well.