I had to check this out because I'm a huge Roy Scheider fan & have loved the guy since growing up watching the Jaws films & Roy Scheider always stood-out to me as a great screen presence & top actor.
Roy Scheider means alot to me as an actor, his face is a welcomed comfort in any film & he's in my top 3 actors of all-time.
Scheider will always be remembered as Cheif Brody from Jaws & Jaws 2 because the character is such an iconic role within movie history but Scheider is pretty much great in anything, Checkout his Blue Thunder, The Seven-Ups, The French Connection, Sorcerer & more as the guy was a lead star & everyman hero through the 70's & 80's & became a "Character Actor" in his later part of his Career through the 90's & starred in many low-budget productions & B-movies in smaller roles but he always delivered a strong performance & does so here in this low-budget Disaster movie called "Daybreak" it's pretty much similar to Stallone's Daylight in a way but it's just as entertaining & i like it better.
I got a nice sense of Nostalgia whilst watching this with it's pure 90's look & fashion. The colours are vibrant & everything is so 90's direct-to-video style but i love it as these types of films were everywhere on the shelves of Blockbuster video back in the 90's & i loved that place.
Daybreak puts a small group of survivors in the subway systems after an earthquake hits Los Angeles & their train crashes. We are shown each character at the beginning of the movie & each with their own drama that happened to them & then they all end up on the same train together. I love little survival Thriller's like this & the cast do a fine job together as they encounter more danger as they search for a way out. Adam Whylie plays the boy, Newton & he's a good actor & i recognised his face from Childhood faves of mine, Child's Play 2 & Kindergarten Cop.
The effects are typical low-level for a small production like this & expected but the action & danger are handled well & keeps things suspenseful.
Roy Scheider plays the head of the Train Authority as Stan Marshall & is a very good presence & lifts the B-movie material higher-up with his strong performance & his Awesome voice as he talks to the survivors on the radio & tries to guide them out of the subway whilst dealing with corrupted government officials & Scheider gives a no-nonsense performance.
Daybreak is a fun little B-movie, nothing more & nothing less.
Enjoy folks lol.
