End of Days

Rating:
Summary: More entertaining than I expected.
Review: This end of the world thriller has a bad reputation, and I can see why. I saw all the plot twists coming a mile away and the flaws in its internal logic are almost laughable. Yet I found myself clapping and shouting through all the over the top action and pyrotechnics.

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a burnt out, hard drinking ex-cop turned security guard that gets caught up in end of the world nonsense when the wall street broker he is protecting is the focus of an assassination attempt. Turns out the wall street broker is the host of satan itself, who needs to father a child with a chosen woman who is being kept cluelessly waiting by an intricate conspiracy of satanists. None of it makes sense, but it is entertaining nonsense to watch.

The disc is excellent. It features a good, clear transfer and considering how dark Peter Hyams shoots his movies that is saying a lot. There is also enough behind the scenes footage, with a little bible trivia mixed in for flavor, to satisfy the film buff.

End of Days is not a particularly good movie, but it is very entertaining nonetheless. Recommended to demonic thriller fans as well as Arnie's, of course.

Rating:
Summary: Arnold vs. The Devil, who do YOU think wins?
Review: END OF DAYS is another movie to go in the Millenium movie scare cannon about the end of the world. This would probably be one of the better ones that was made and also has the religous scare factor in it. Arnold this time around plays a burned out cop turned security officer named Jericho who discovers that a young woman is targeted to be the mother of Satan's spawn. Satan as it turns out has taken the body of a man played by Gabriel Byrnne-(who I think made a great villian.) who Arnold was assigned to protect early on. What the movie eventually boils down to- after a couple of grizzly crucifixons, religous questioning and shooting scenes, is Arnold playing beat the clock with Satan by trying to keep the girl (Robin Tunney) safe from Satan's grasp until midnight on New Years Eve, for if Arnie is successful, Satan cannot return for another 1000 years. Overall if you can take the religous scenes with a grain of salt, (I don't know how much of it is real or not) and also expect to see Arnold on a bad day and not up to snuff with his older, better self say as in ERASER or TERMINATER 2, you should do okay with this movie. So who wins in the end, Arnold or Satan? Sorry I won't spoil the end...

Rating:
Summary: End of Days - A fairly decent film!
Review: Until recently I was unaware that this particular film was billed as Arnold Schwarzenegger's comeback film in 1999 after having heart surgery the year prior. As a comeback film I would have to say that this particular film wasn't a completely triumphant one for everybody's favorite super action film star. I remember walking out of the theater when this one was released thinking that Arnold really should've given this one further thought before taking the role and until only quite recently made the decision to purchase the DVD. As I find myself doing often, I felt that this film deserved a second look and in part, I'm glad I did. I wouldn't go so far as many others have in saying that this is a horrible, highly predictable film, but I would say that, upon watching it a second time, the film does have some good merits in showing Arnold's acting skills despite the poorly scripted plot. Ultimately, this is one of those fair to midland type films that most could take or leave although it does have some very interesting plot aspects insomuch as to the whole "End of Days" aspect and the play upon Catholicism and the anti-Christ.

Performance wise, Arnold Schwarzenegger is at his best in films of this type where his strengths are displayed at their best to include the actions scenes and his myriad of one liners that continue to bring about a chuckle. The one true oddity of the film for him is that he takes a beating in this film like no other but hey, what can one expect when Hollywood's crowned king of action films is up against the devil himself. Gabrielle Byrne gives an impressive performance in this film, in a role that is just a few notches up of his normal roles. This is the only film that I've ever watched that had Robin Tunney in it and I would have to say that she's a fairly capable actress but unfortunately not one that stands out.

Director Peter Hyams who is probably best known for some of Hollywood's best marginal films such as "The Presidio," "Outland" and "2010" does a fairly respectable job with the film considering the script available to him.

The Premise:

Here is where the film takes much of its beatings as Schwarzenegger plays Jericho, a former cop turned body guard who has lost his wife and child to criminals and now finds solace in the bottle; a theme that has been done more or less to death in a great many films in this genre. Discounting that particularly overly done theme, the film is based upon the "End of Days" theme, just before the dawn of the millennium in which twenty years prior a girl is born with the mark of the devil and those who follow the devil take up important positions in this girl's life. Coming back to 1999, the devil himself shows up and in order to get his wish of domination, he must mate with this woman, Christine York (Robin Tunney) between 11 pm and 12 am on New Year's Eve...

What follows from there is a movie that is at times over clichéd but does have some well played action sequences and a somewhat intriguing plot that does create a level of intensity towards the films somewhat "comic" conclusion...

Overall, I'd recommend this film to fans of Arnold's and those who like somewhat good action flicks that have a half way decent script. {ssintrepid}

Special Features:

-Spotlight on Location
-Feature Commentary with Director Peter Hyams
-Special Effects: The Devil's Playground
-Soundtrack Presentation featuring:
*Never before seen Everlast music video
*Rob Zombie's rarely seen music video
-Book of Revelation
-Theatrical Trailer
-Universal Showcase
-Special DVD-Rom Features

Rating:
Summary: sooooo much potential lost.
Review: Now I'm a real [seeker] for a supernatural end of the world apocolypic thriller, boy was I let down by this one! What a waste of talent and opportunity.(...) .

Movie got bogged down (...) and bad language and the story was so trite. (...)

Rating:
Summary: This one was evil, all right...
Review: I'm sure that this was designed to be a thought-provoking movie. Unfortunately, the only thoughts it provoked in me were to wonder how so much money could be wasted on such a bad movie. And it was BAD. Arnold Schwarzenegger is absolutely awful as Jericho, the Devil-killing bodyguard. Robin Tunney (the Devil's victim) looks clueless for most of the film. And Gabriel Byrne, as the Devil, just seems bored and mean. These aren't bad actors, either--I think that most of the fault lies with the script, which has cheesy lines and over-dramatic pauses. Plus, the action jumps from scene to scene so fast that it is often difficult to figure out what is going on--and this is hardly Shakespeare. Yuck. "End of Days" is only worth seeing to catch the special effects.

Rating:
Summary: sooooo much potential lost.
Review: End of Days stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jericho Cane and Gabriel Byrne as satan and is an end of the world apocolyptic thriller. Well, that's what the cover infers anyway.

The premise of the story is that a baby will be born to satan which will bring about the end of the world, it's up to Arnie to save the day, again! This film had real potential, I think Gabriel Byrne is a fine actor and a blockbuster movie based on Revelation and the end of time sounded like a great idea but this one way missed the mark. The main problem was the screenwriting. The story just was not interesting. The acting was good, even Arnie showed some range and Gabriel Byrnes' satan was menacing but it really suffered in the story department.

Unfortuantly, every time hollywood wants to make a movie about satan or the anti-christ they seem always have to involve the catholic church in one way or another. Hollywood have a real problem differentiating between christianity and catholosism, they are not the same thing. Catholic priests are not the experts of satan and the demonic realms, there beliefs in this are and the way they do exorcisms for instance is more superstition than what we see in scripture, i.e. using the crucifix, holy water, (are they exorcists or vampire hunters???)Now a movie based on the bible version of revelation directed by say Stephen Spielberg with a monster budget would be something to behold. The left behind movies, whilst being entertaining, lack the finances to really show what happens at the end of the world.

Now I'm a real seeker for a supernatural end of the world apocolypic thriller, boy was I let down by this one! What a waste of talent and opportunity.

Rating:
Summary: Arnold vs. The Devil?
Review: Well, the premise sounds alright. In "End of Days" Arnold is back and ends up fighting the ultimate enemy, Satan. What a way to return, fighting the devil. Although this is another end of the world thriller, it quietly has a sub-plot that is enjoyable, and gives Arnold the chance to do some emotional acting.

Arnold plays Jericho Cane, an alchoholic widow that is part of an ultra-high security firm. His newest assignment is to protect a dark and quiet stranger who is being hunted by renegade priests, and ends up to be quite the hunter himself, looking for a bride. We eventually find out that this shifty character is the Devil, and he's played by Gabriel Byrne. As the movie progresses, we find out that he's looking for Christine York, who is safe in a nice apartment...or we think. Cane and his partner Chicago (Kevin Pollak) eventually discover the Devil's plot and tries to protect Christine. The Catholic Chruch gets involved, prophesies come to bear, the whole deal is pulled out in "End of Days".

The result is at best, a mild success. Arnold looks great and gets beat up in "End of Days" more than any other movie. He gets to act a bit as his family that was killed by robbers is brought up throughout the movie. He does very well with it. Gabriel Bryne is only decent. His character could have been greatly improved by writers, and Bryne would have ended up with alot better job. Surprisingly, Rod Steiger is somehow in this movie, and does a great job with what little role he has. Robin Tunney is too much of a crybaby, and would have been better if her character was a bit stronger. Kevin Pollak offers a nice laugh here and there, and takes your mind off the boring script.

The action scenes and special effects are great in the film, especially in the end scenes as...you guessed it, the devil appears in his true sense on 12:01 AM of 2000. You can see what's coming a mile along (i.e. - Christine York, Christ in her name) and this film would have been a great success if it would have been scarier and the plot were more developed; but, with "End of Days" you get a one-dimension thriller with too much religious context.

Rating:
Summary: Action packed and horrific !
Review: An excellent movie! The best blend of action/horror I've seen to date. Sure, some people will try to nick pick certain details, and complain endlessly about this and that, but overall this was the most entertaining movie of 1999. Sure we all realize now that the panic over the Y2K bug and any prophetic fears were silly, but you need to look past all those things to really appreciate this film. Basically, it's a horrifying thriller, packed with great action sequences. Yes, I realize many negative reviews are regarding "Arnold" vs "The Devil", and yes, that does sound silly, but how about Arnold vs the mafia/military (Commando), Arnold vs a technologically advanced alien (Predator), or Arnold vs the "System" (Total Recall) & (The Running Man) etc. The way to sum it up is to basically say, "All great Arnold movies ARE far fetched" That is WHY they are MOVIES. They are NOT supposed to be realistic, but an escape from reality. Enough with the negative reviews for being far-fetched. That is why the largest percentage of us WATCH movies. To escape! Once again, this is an EXCELLENT film. Do not take it too seriously, but then again, do not take any Arnold action flick seriously, or get your head examined.

Rating:
Summary: Exceeded My Expectations...
Review: END OF DAYS is a typical movie in the "Satan wants to rule the world" category of movies. There are a couple things that set it apart from the others, like the great special effects and Gabriel Byrne's portrayal of Satan. The story is a common one for this style of movie: Satan wants to rule the world, and he has a lot of followers who are more than willing to help him bring it about. The story starts out in 1979, when Satan's eventual bride (Tunney) is born in New York City. The Vatican sends out clergymen to find her and protect her from Satan, who needs to mate with her before midnight on December 31, 1999.

Flash-forward to, well, 1999! Here we meet the principal characters, Jericho Cane (Schwarzenegger), the adult Christine York (Tunney) and Satan (Byrne), who has taken the body of a prominent New York banker to move about the city. Shortly after taking over his new body, Satan causes a diner to blow up, just to show he's really a bad-ass. He then starts his mission trying to find Christine before his time runs out.

As he moves around New York looking for Christine, Satan blows up a few more things, kills some people (there must be movies in Hell, as Satan must have seen SILENCE OF THE LAMBS), and generally causes Jericho lot's of problems. The ending is a bit of a surprise, as this rarely happens (not going to say what) in a Schwarzeneggar movie. But it really was the only way this story could have ended, and maintained it's dignity. Anything else would have been a serious let-down.

Of course, there are a couple much overused cheap scream-getters, as well as another much overused plot twist. While there are some very original ideas in the story (sending out The Knights of the Holy See, a radical sub-group of the Vatican Knights, sanctioned by the Church sent to kill Christine before Satan gets to her was an interesting, but implausable idea), there's just really nothing in this movie to make it stand out much in the realm of horror movies. As stated above, it stands out a little from the "Satan rules the world" movies, but as horror movies go, it is right about average.

Rating:
Summary: The End of Reason
Review: This was initially planned by the first screenwriter as a tongue-in-cheek Prize Fight: Arnold VS Satan, Arnie telling his opponent to go straight to Hell. He didn't exactly know how this hilarious format would develop but had a go on Arnold, who liked the idea. Unfortunately someone got involved taking it way too serious. It could have been great fun, but ended up being the most embarrasing of Schwarzenegger's movies, making Kindergarden Cop seem almost academic in comparison. It's also a very dark movie, even the forced one-liners contain no comic relief whatsoever, only raw cynicism.
A lot of wasted effort has gone into this one. Gabriel Byrne has the perfect face for the role of Satan, but acts as if he's bored to death, which is understandable. The screenwriter and the director haven't the faintest idea of what christian theology is about, although I'm sure a lot of illiterates brainwashed by Sunday school will think otherwise. In the New Testament the "End of Days" is of course God's design, not Satan's, he's actually trying to prevent it by tempting Christ to abandon his destiny. It's Hollywood, sure, but does that make it okay, that we are led to believe that theology is gum wraper?
The only good scene in the movie is three seconds long: Satan reveals his true majesty as a growing shadow on a wall, spreading his butterfly wings over a church altar. It's a very impressive sequence, quoting Fantasia, but when we get a good look at him it's pure Nintendo.
Schwarzenegger apparently enjoys acting as a Vicarius Christi in this ambitious piece of hokum and actually seems quite devoted to his character, but the pompous seriousness of the whole affair is really what makes it so unbearable.