User reviews

Various people are traveling the subway. Then an earthquake hits totally uprooting the subway car. Some of the passengers survive and, with hard-boiled James Brolin leading the way, they try to find a way out.

Caught this on TV when I was 10 and never forgot it. The earthquake scene was great and the acting was pretty good (for TV). Also they all have to face numerous obstacles to get out so I was never really bored. Haven't seen it since its premiere and I don't think I want to. Chances are what I liked when I was 10 will not hold up now when I'm in my 40s! Still it's worth catching if it ever pops up again. I give it a 6.

Ahhh Sweet Memories! ABC used to cook up some great flicks on Friday nites when I was a kid (60's & 70's) like Trilogy of Terror, Bad Ronald and Haunts of the Very Rich. One of these little gems that I remember was entitled "Short Walk To Daylight" The plot is simple....New York is hit with a strong earthquake and the WORST place you want to be is riding the subway! And that is what happens to a small cast of characters who now have to find a way out before it is too late. Lead by a policeman played by James Brolin (who has one of the most STRONG Bronx accents!) he encounters the drama of leading these people to safety---rushing water mains, breaking all candy vending machines for food and watch out for that third rail please!! The acting is not that bad because on the way out we get introduced to each of the characters and their life stories while they fight for survival and....each other.

I wish someone could get a small collection of these ABC movies and past programs---you never know where there could be a market for it (hint hint) If you do find this movies among the mothballs or packed in a bin selling dollar DVD's in Walmart---see this little movie and go pop the popcorn!

I remember when this movie was first broadcast on the ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week - a 90 minute slot, so you basically had to produce a 75 minute or so movie. It was also out at a time when disaster movies were gearing up. Except for the junkie committing suicide, it worked well.

A lot of good movies were produced for that slot. Most notable: Steven Spielberg's "debut", "Duel". Also notable: "The Night Stalker" and "The Night Strangler", featuring Darren McGavin as reporter Carl Kolchak. The character was subsequently given a weekly series.

One other note: I believe there was an alternate version I saw on cable, where the disaster is given an explanation: A radical group planted a series of bombs at locations that caused the survivors to keep hitting dead ends. It detracted by adding unnecessary padding, and taking us from the survivor's point of view.

I recently got a copy of this movie through e-bay as these '70's TV movies are almost all forgotten and rarely run on late night TV anymore. I'm hoping somebody has a Nostaglic '70/'80's movie station coming soon because "Short Walk to Daylight" should be at the top of the list. The movie, given the time era it was made (1972) is actually very good and I felt the actors gave a good performance. Brooke Bundy may have gone a little over the top with her crying but she wasn't bad. The characters are all strangers waiting for a subway on an early Sunday morning and by the end of the movie have bonded together in a time of crisis.An earthquake strikes New York City leading to the disaster of the subway crashing and coming off the tracks. It seems realistic as this movie was made at a time when we didn't have computers to enhance the disaster. The walls come crumbling down, the earthquake has after-shocks and it makes for all the suspense these TV movies tried to generate. Some survive, some don't, typical of a disaster movie.There's some good elements of suspense along the way. Just when you think they're going to get out of the tunnel, they run into another obstacle. James Brolin was pretty popular at the time doing "Marcus Welby" and plays a hard-edged, NYC cop. I wouldn't want to spoil the ending but this movie is worth a look and given the length (90 minutes)it will keep you on the edge of your seat.

RELEASED TO TV IN 1972 and directed by Barry Shear, "Short Walk to Daylight" chronicles events when eight people struggle to make it out of the dark tunnels of the New York subway system after an apparent earthquake.

Although "Airport" (1970) is considered the first 'disaster film' of the 70s, it was "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) that drove the craze home and honed the genre, leading to movies like "Earthquake" (1974), "The Towering Inferno" (1974), "Rollercoaster" (1977) and "Meteor" (1979). "Short Walk to Daylight" had a similar plot to "The Poseidon Adventure," both featuring a small group of people trying to escape a disaster and not all making it. But "Short Walk to Daylight" debuted on TV seven weeks BEFORE "The Poseidon Adventure" was released in theaters. "Short Walk" came out October 24, 1972, while "Poseidon" debuted December 13th.

Despite this, "Short Walk to Daylight" is actually the knock-off. What happened is this: Producers caught wind of the big production of "The Poseidon Adventure" and rushed to take advantage of the situation by producing a low-budget movie with a similar plot. This happens all the time to this day. Yet you can't really call "Short Walk" a 'knock-off' since the disaster is so radically different. Plus "Short Walk" doesn't have a whiz kid.

The later wannabe blockbuster "Daylight" (1996) used "Short Walk to Daylight" as a blueprint. I much prefer "Short Walk" myself, which is more realistic. "Daylight," as I remember, was a typical overblown Stallone action flick, which isn't to say it's worthless; it's just not gritty realistic like "Short Walk."

The appeal of movies like "Short Walk to Daylight" and "The Poseidon Adventure" is that they bring ordinary people from different walks of life together in a confined setting wherein they are forced to work together to survive. None of them are heroes and they're all flawed in some manner, but they mostly rise to the challenge and formulate working relationships, even if they're undeclared 'adversaries' in normal life. The macho police officer who tries too hard (James Brolin) and the 'cool' black dude, Al (Don Mitchell), are a prime example.

"Short Walk to Daylight" is probably too low-key for most modern viewers, but there's some decent (melo)drama and it works up some quality suspense in the last half hour. I found myself caring and rooting for the protagonists. But it's too small of a movie to rival the superb "The Poseidon Adventure" (the original). Plus it fails to take advantage of its feminine resources as "Poseidon" excellently did. Speaking of the women, you might remember Laurette Spang, who plays the druggie's babe, Sandy, as Cassiopeia from the original Battlestar Galatica (1978-1979). At the end of the day "Short Walk to Daylight" is a fairly effective disaster flick in its subdued, realistic way, although it's hampered by flashes of contrived melodrama. The on-location sets are quite impressive.

THE ORIGINAL TELECAST VERSION RUNS 1 hour, 13 minutes (with a 1 hour, 8 minutes version currently available on Youtube). I should add that there was a syndicated version that came around in the 80s, which contained additional footage about terrorists who caused the disaster with explosives, which bulked up the runtime to about 90 minutes. This unnecessary subplot bogged the film down. LOCATIONS: Brooklyn, New York City. WRITERS: Philip H. Reisman Jr. and Gerald Di Pego wrote the teleplay from Edward Montagne's story.

GRADE: B

The original (excellent) film was certainly the talk of high school the day after it premiered (we all took the NYC subway to school). I was utterly shocked when I saw it again, perhaps a decade or more later, in syndication (as other posters haven commented), with added footage (perhaps to fill it out to a 2 hour running time). While "blockbuster" films during the 70s and early 80s did have extra footage added to them -- usually for special network TV showing-- in the case of "Short Walk," the addition completely subverted the tension and drama of the original! I wonder about the current state of this lost minor classic...

Officer James Brolin tries to keep subway passengers calm after an earthquake rocks New York City; TV-made melodrama involves the group's scramble for safety. Cannily riding on the sudden need for disaster movies in the 1970s, this small-scaled adventure is unfortunately set in a dark, dreary tunnel, with screaming ladies panicking, racial tensions brewing...and Brolin directing traffic ("Everybody stay together!"). Writers Gerald Di Pego, Richard Hesse, Edward Montagne and Philip H. Reisman Jr. Have hatched an intriguing idea here, but are unable to come up with any interesting characters or suspenseful ideas to pad their premise. May have been the inspiration for 1996's big-budget "Daylight" starring Sylvester Stallone.

Very well done film that should be released on DVD. The closest movie I have seen to this was Daylight with Sylvester Stallone. I pretty much think they based Daylight off of Short Walk To Daylight. Short Walk was the superior movie in my opinion. There are no fancy computerized effects in this at all. This movie was made way before that technology came around to be used for those effects, and they did a damn good job of it. I don't remember all that much about the movie anymore as I saw it a total of 2 times when I was much younger. The acting was very well done from what I remember of it, and this also has a solid storyline to it. I definitely recommend seeing this movie if they ever decide to release it back on Television or some other media.

"Short Walk to Daylight" is an installment of "The ABC Movie of the Week" and is available now on YouTube...along with many other "Movie of the Week" flicks.

This one is nothing extraordinary, though the sets and special effects are very nice. The characters, sadly, are mostly caricatures and occasionally rather annoying.

When the film begins, some folks board a subway car. Shortly after they begin their trip, there's an earthquake (hardly likely in New York City) and they spend the rest of the film trying to find a way out of their subterranean coffin.

As far as the characters go, my biggest complaint about the film, they mostly seem one-dimensional...such as the druggies, the angry black man, the cop (James Brolin), etc....all more plot devices as opposed to people you really would expect to meet in the city. Overall, a mild time-passer and nothing more.

I remember the first time I saw this film on the Movie of the Week...it was a very well-done movie IIRC. The idea of an earthquake hitting New York seemed kinda far-fetched, but you overlooked that due to the cast and the great direction.

Something odd happened to 'Short Walk to Daylight' when it went into syndication and was playing on the 'late night' slots: I seemed to remember that new footage was added creating a sub-plot of young radicals that had planted a bomb in NYC that caused the devastation to the subway system. Does anyone remember this version? I believe Univseral Studios was BIG on doing this to other movies of theirs, like 'Airport '75' when it came to TV. Their modus Operandi was to add deleted or film new scenes to movies to make them more 'sellable' to TV audiences. In the case of 'Short Walk to Daylight' the subplot of terrorists might have been a way to make the disaster more plausible since an earthquake of the magnitude indicated in the movie hitting New York is rather slim to none.

I saw this movie on TV when it first came out. I was 7 years old. I saw it again in 1974. Since then, I have not seen it. Now the review... This was such an excellent film, that I can still vividly remember it. Why? The New York City Subway System in the 1970's. You could not ask for a better piece of footage, if the former New York City Mayor John Lindsay were alive to have filmed it himself!! James Brolin was marginal in his acting, but the storyline was excellent. In fact, it was much better than DAYLIGHT, which just came out recently with Sylvester Stallone. If anyone can help me in getting a copy of this movie I would appreciate it tremendously!!!!

If it was a spoof it would have been at least excusable, but the fact that it was meant to be taken seriously places this godawful movie in the "So bad it's actually bloody excruciating" category. Predictable, plodding, dull as dishwater, the movie only managed to make we wish I was blind so I wouldn't have to suffer it any longer. When the stricken junkie thief, his acting so awful it was actually physically painful to watch, threw himself on the third rail in a fit of drug crazed grief, I knew I was watching something really special. Special in the way that dentists have when they do root canal work without anaesthetic. Avoid this pile of excrement at all costs. You'll thank me for it.

Great movie that I saw once as a kid living in NYC and loving the subway. Even as a kid it didn't put me off on subways or give me a fear of earthquakes. It was a compelling little TV movie with a good amount of water at the end and very satisfying to the end. To this day, I remember one passenger of the doomed train quoting the motorman saying, "He said it was HIS subway." Questionable acting (Brolin), great writing! Somebody post when this is on DVD, please. Right up there with 1974's "Bad Ronald." Stay away from the theatrical release. Stay away from the Stallone rip-off. Second best subway movie after "The Talking of Pelham 123." The subway scene in "The French Connection" is a close third.

Like a few other comments here, I too saw this as a ten year old when it first aired as a TV movie of the week. I think it was right after the Poseidon Adventure came out and I was on my disaster movie kick. But I really loved this one. I remember being riveted to the TV, the hot, steamy subway at night and the dark, moody sets and effects. From what I remember there was an earthquake in Manhattan, and the implication was there wasn't much for them to escape to once they got out.

That's why I hated the longer version that was released a few years later. They explained it all away as a terrorist explosion or something. It was all padding, probably to fill a 2 hour slot (just like that awful Debra Lee Scott padding they added to Earthquake for its TV airing.)

I would also love to see this again. Or maybe not... maybe it would ruin the memories.

FYI: another fun TV movie from this era was Terror At 30,000 Feet, with William Shatner as 747 pilot and his demonic cargo.

I read one of the comments submitted and wanted to say I also saw this movie when I was about 10 years old. I only saw it once on TV but vividly remember the people trapped in the subway tunnel. I would love to watch this one again! I cannot believe that others remember and share the same memories. I have been on the NYC subways all of my life and this movie, I remember was very true in terms of reality. If anyone sees this upcomming in a TV listing please pass it along. I only wonder if it will ever get released on VHS or DVD. This is a cult classic. I simply refuse to spend money on the garbage movies being released on an assembly line today. Not to mention the pool of lousy actors that are practically trillionaires! Lets all keep our eyes open and hope this one gets released sometime soon. kj944