Earning only $15 million in profit against
its $82-million dollar budget, this science
fiction action thriller is not one of Arnold
Schwarzenegger's more successful films, but
it's certainly an ambitious one.
Released in November of 2000, the Roger Spottiswoode
film focuses on the ethical, moral, and practical
issues of human cloning, in a very idealized
and exciting version of the near-future.
Schwarzenegger stars as a man who accidentally
encounters his own clone, and stumbles into
a grand conspiracy involving corporations
and duplicate humans.
In supporting roles there's Michael Rapaport
as the unnecessarily goofy sidekick, Micheal
Rooker as a stringent henchmen, Sarah Wynter
as a complaining lackey, and Robert Duvall
as the morally conflicted scientist behind
it all.
The film's primary villain, a dastardly Tony
Goldwyn, defends his duplicitous cloning techniques
by remarking, "We will have finally conquered
death."
The high-concept plot is executed with wonderful
special effects, seamlessly integrated into
the anamorphic frame - making all the scenes
with two Arnold's that much more entertaining
and believable.
As Trevor Rabin's metallic, string-heavy scores
echoes beneath each scene, the plot twists
and turns a bit more than required, resulting
in a somewhat confusing 123-minute narrative,
at least on an initial viewing.
An early airplane chase sequence through the
mountains of British Columbia is totally unnecessary,
but generally pretty thrilling; which is normally
an appropriate metaphor for this type of picture.
This PG-13 movie however, is far from shallow
blockbuster fluff, as it adeptly explores
themes of identity and fundamental human rights.
And while this deeper context isn't exactly
handled with subtly, it is inherently, the
mark of all good science-fiction.
Evenly spaced throughout are inventive and
believable action sequences that are a real
treat to watch unfold.
As evidenced by plenty of similar films we've
already reviewed, I'm a sucker for futuristic
action thrillers, and this one absolutely
delivers.
It's hardly perfect, and a bit long-winded,
but it's a guilty pleasure I love watching
every couple years.
"The 6th Day", "Sci-fi action blend done right."
Now let's check some YouTube comments to see
what you had to say about this film.
Our scores for "The Sixth Day"... a FIVE and
a NINE.
You enjoyed this film on a cursory level,
but weren't impressed with much below the
surface, rating this an ALRIGHT.
In a rare turn, I scored this picture a full
four-points higher - something that has happened
only once before, in fact.
Much like junk food, I'm fully aware that
this picture isn't really that fantastic - but
I love it anyway, Arnold is always great fun
to watch, I thought the movie was AWESOME.
