I would like to say at the outset that even though I was disappointed that Cynthia Rothrock doesn't do more of her martial arts stuff in this film and I did think it a bit preposterous how indestructible Dakota Smith, played by Fred Williamson, appears to be, I enjoyed NIGHT VISION and am glad that it is a part of my DVD collection.
I was surprised that Robert Prentiss, who plays the 'Video Stalker' bad guy wasn't listed further up in the credits (his name isn't in the opening credits) as his character is very prominent. Prentiss can be a bit of a cartoon villain at times in this film but is very convincing as a psycho. In the lead roles as a pair of disgraced cops trying to get their acts together, Williamson and Rothrock are very good. Support is given to them by the excellent Robert Forster, but unfortunately he doesn't have much to do in this picture. I was a bit sad to see Forster here actually. Although I do like NIGHT VISION, it is very much a 'B' movie and after Forster appeared in Quentin Tarantino's JACKIE BROWN a lot of people, me included, thought QT would resurrect Forster's career the same way he had done for John Travolta and Bruce Willis when they appeared in PULP FICTION. But Forster is brilliant any time he's on screen.
The action is all handled brilliantly by Gil Bettman and the script by Michael Montgomery (who wrote another great overlooked action movie, EYE OF THE TIGER) has fantastic twists and turns in it. My only problem with the movie is actually the two jerk cops Bigelow and Johnson, who mock both our heroes. But at least they turn good in the end when they help the two nail the Video Stalker's crooked cop partner. I thought the black Dodge van which the Stalker travels in looks very menacing as well, and found it creepy how he seems to find out every intimate detail of his victims' lives. I think more could have been done with the plot line about the Stalker's mob connections, but overall, I rate NIGHT VISION as a brilliant action movie, and well worth spending 90 minutes of your life watching.