Dead by Midnight
Dead by Midnight
R | 23 November 1997 (USA)
Dead by Midnight Trailers

Just when he's beginning to take his perfect life and marriage for granted, John (Timothy Hutton) discovers that he's the result of a failed government experiment to spawn a race of perfect assassins. But the closer he gets to finding out what went wrong, the weirder the truth becomes.

Reviews
fedor8

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.

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Altaira

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.

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bob the moo

John Larkin is snatched from his home leaving his wife and children behind. He escapes his captors and tracks down his wife only to discover that she is a doctor playing the role of his wife, all his memories are false and implanted into his programming and that he's part robot being trained to infiltrate a government overthrow it and then lead the country the way his programmers desire. He also discovers that if he goes missing for more than 48 hours a programme will automatically shut him down and wipe his memory clean forever.The overall plot for this has been done many times - part human part machine, realises what's going on and goes on the run - but it's been done better. Here it's all to predictable, too lazy and too boring. The story roles slowly along without going anywhere you don't expect and lacks any action, excitement or drama. It really is that poor - even though it less than 90 minutes it's difficult to get through it without getting bored. The story lacks any imagination and has nothing to make you think - even as the full extent of the conspiracy is uncovered it's still not exciting or even interesting.The TV direction doesn't help but neither do the actors. Hutton overplays the coldness he imagines a robot would have and overdoes the jerky head movements at times - he doesn't convince as someone who would fit in, he looks like a robot throughout. Suzy Amis is OK as his wife but always seems like a deer with her big eyes and gentle smile. John Glover is too eccentric as Dr Drake and would be better suited as the villain if this was a spoofy comedy film, but he doesn't fit in here. Grant Heslov plays the helpful cop but really needs to sort out his eyes - does he really need to look that tired?The film squanders good ideas and lacks any of the drama and tension that a film involving a guy being pursued by a Government conspiracy would usually have (enemy of the state?). It is consistently lazy in it's storytelling with thing like the cop turning up at the right place at the right time and explaining it by "I worked it all out". As if anyone would put together very basic clues to conclude that someone was breeding an android from an innocent man to become a killing machine! Also the ending relating to the memory loss is just so lazy that it's insulting to those of us wondering how the problem was going to be solved.Overall a lame drama with no obvious redeeming features.

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Mads_M

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.

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