Dead by Midnight (1997)

Too much of everything

Sadly Over-hyped

Beautiful, moving film.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Obviously written by an extreme left-winger and hater of the U.S. and capitalism in general.The main character is a member of Greenpeace (no less) whose death is arranged by the evil, so very evil secret government organization which turns him into a half-cyber-thing for - what else - military test purposes. They not only kill his wife (who got wind of the foul play) but planned to kill his daughter, as well. Why?! Because U.S. gov't people are extremely evil and appallingly brutal and bloodthirsty and totally psychopathic cold-blooded degenerates bent on killing any person they can whenever they get the slightest chance or have even the slightest half-reason to do so. The genius doctor behind it all has his moral qualms yet he had none when the whole experiment (inclusive multiple murder) was planned and carried out; yet, he has a human side, too, when he hides Hutton's daughter. Hmm. Not a very convincing or well fleshed-out character, I'd say. The premise is lifted from "Blade Runner" (memory implants), "Telephone" (brain control in spies), "Robocop" (obvious), and "Million Dollar Man", a cheap 70s TV series for kids. The movie is interesting in the first half, despite the nonsense, but gradually its B-movie roots start showing more and more as the clichés and silliness pile up.

" Something is missing " whines John Larkin . I quite agree , an original script is missing , not to mention a big name star , a director who has made more than just TVMs , and a big budget . For the first ten minute of the film - oooopps sorry I mean TVM . There is a difference - the plot involves an everyman type suffering from strange dreams , finds his wife and lifestyle are not what they seem and discovers himself to be a hunted man . At any second I was expecting the line " If I`m not me then who the hell am I ? " to come out . Guess what film I`m referring to ? Sorry but Timothy Hutton isn`t big Arnie or Jean Claude Van Damme , but he`s not Steven Segal either so I guess DEAD BY MIDNIGHT could be worse and it does contain a mind blowing scene where the bad guy turns up at an orphanage and gives the long suffering TV viewer a good laugh with some of the worst acting I have ever seen

hahahaholycowthat'shystericalheheheehcan'tstoplaughingsomeonehelpmehehehehe! = My reaction to this entire TV movie. This is a hysterical laugh-out-loud yuckfest. The fact that it's a drama makes it even funnier. I make a point not to review made-for-television movies since they're obviously low-budget time fillers that don't aspire to be anything more. But this one is the King. Truly an exceptional work. The acting is a step below atrocious, like watching a high school play, only slightly worse. Then there are the golden nuggets of dialogue destined to cause a couple of laughter-induced hernias:"Are you telling me you've lost control of my precious creation?" "I have the right to know who I am!" "Those were my eyes he pleaded with!"The plot is so ridiculous it's fabulous...I've seen more complex commercials. The most intriguing question here is WHY did Academy Award-winning actor Timothy Hutton resort to this trash, and why has his acting deteriorated to the point of idiocy?It's too bad Mystery Science Theater is now defunct. They could have had a field day with this.

This movie is a showcase of poor directing, writing and acting.In several sequences in the movie the director seems to forget whether it was day or night when he started shooting the scene. In addition the main character John Larkin (Timothy Hutton) wears a white tank top, which he somehow manages to keep spotless during the entire movie.The plot seems like a pitiable version of RoboCop, with a bit of sex put in it. The sex makes this film even worse as it seems it has been in for no particular reason non other that the pleasure of the viewer. There are simply too many unexplained things in this film and combined with very poor acting this movie probably wins the first prize for tackiness and clichés.