Cool News
The Disappointed Man looks at END OF DAYS
Hey folks, Harry here. Well it seems like I might end up in the minority when it comes to END OF DAYS... Having just smelled a heap of vomit (THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH) I know that I sure as hell enjoyed END OF DAYS more that the latest Bond. But hey... The Disappointed Man below wants to warn you about the latest Arnie flick. I don't agree with him, but hell... that's kinda the point of my site... we agree and we disagree... life goes on... Here ya go...
Harry, Harry, Harry. Why? Why did you get my hopes up? I had the
unfortionate experience to be one of the first to see a truly horrible
film that you loved titled,"End of Days". This pile of steaming dog S***
has to be one of the worst films I've seen all year. And I saw the
Bachelor and Wild Wild West.
I found myself sitting in my seat last night not expecting to see
past Arnold greatness like Terminator or Predator. Instead, I thought
I'd see a solid film that would pull Arnold out of the movie hell he's
resided in for the better half of the 90's. Well, I will say, after
watching this movie I sure learned alot about what hell must really be
like.
Besides being predictable, flat, badly acted, not scary and funny
in all the wrong places, I supose the movie may have some merit. The
Matrix this is not. Looking on the bright side, it at least it gives the
boys at MST3000 another good one to make fun of. No, wait, their off the
air, scratch that.
Arnold seems to be getting worse as an acter rather than better.
Almost every scene was laugh out loud bad. The exception was the
temptation scene, but as my father always says,"even a blind squarrel
sometimes finds a nut". Arnold, please take just a fraction of the money
you spent on those cigars and invest it in acting lessons. Hell, I'll
even pay for the first one. It means that much to me. Talk to Gabriel
Byrne, he's the only one in the film who seems to have a good one.
What really depresses me, is that you can tell by watching the
movie that it very well might have been a good screenplay once upon a
time. Before Arnold dug his claws into it at least. There are moments
where the material briefly outshines the incompetence that surrounds it,
which makes this trainwreck all the more depressing. It could have been
good.
After seeing this movie, I found myself happy that "I AM LEGEND"
didn't get made. Why? Because Arnold wouldn't be able to pull it off.
And I would hate to see a great script get ruined by subpar acting.
Better it sit on the shelf until someone who can handle the part is
available. Paging Russell Crowe?
I never write reviews, but I feel it is my duty to warn everyone
to avoid this movie at all costs. I've tasted the milk and its sour. No
need for you to taste it as well. Please, stay away. This movie needs to
bomb. The studios must know this is an inferior product. We've already
lost this battle with Double Jeopardy. One in a year is enough!
Arnold's day has come and gone. I can only hope he decides to go
into politics and let me keep the memory of his past coolness intact.
WIth each passing movie its becoming harder and harder to remember.
I'll be Back? I sure hope not!
The Disappointed Man
-
+ Expand All
-
Arnold's day is over. Time to go into politics. Want to see a really good film? Go see "The Limey". Highly recommend it!
-
Gary Sinise could definitely handle I Am Legend. Russell Crowe would be even better.
-
Man after working for a 65 hour a week job and loving every fucking minute of it, I find it a tad, just a teeny weeine bit depressing to log on, luck out and DAMN I FEEL LIKE TAKING MY PAXEL THOURGH THE VEIN with a shot of GREY GOOSE mixed with Jager REVIEW like this one, shit honey are we a bit bitter??? What the hell did Arnold do to you? Yes I may sound a bit bitter but "END OF DAYS" was something I look foward to but I guess after reading how horrible it is and how ARNOLD should have not done "I AM LEGEND"
I am starting to feel like the "GONE IN 60 SECONDS" trailer is playing me like a fool!!! So what if this movie doesn't live up to Arnold's terminator Expectations?? I am sure this is better than STIGMATA, be glad we have a movie about the 666 DEVIL Himself coming out the same day as TOY STORY 2. Be thankful that 99 brought us fierce and bad.
I will be there opening night and if I hate it or like it, then it is me to judge, not the DEVIL! -
Hey Arnie Fans,
For whatever reason, even though I wrote/emailed this review to Harry twice, he never bothered posting it. Anyway, here it is again for all you TALKBACK readers. I think you should read it, so you don't get your hopes up too much about the great Austrian Oak's next picture. I love Arnie, but his projects lately have been biting the big one!!! And this definitely isn't an improvement...anyway, here it is:
Hey there!!!
The Biggest Name In Tinsel Town here!!! If you don't remember me, I was the one who gave you the review of The Silver Surfer, Titanic, and some info about Spike Jonze and the Star Wars Prequels #2 & #3.
Anyway, after reading two conflicting reviews on the Ain't It Cool News website regarding Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The Sixth Day", I am writing this critique to give you my two cents worth. It seems the readers at AICN Talkback have come to Arnold's quick defense regarding Baron Karza's harsh review of the project, so I feel it is necessary to give my opinion to tip the even scales a bit.
Well, first off, I have to fully disagree with Baron Karza calling the script "The Sixth Suck". Rather, it should be called "TOTAL RIP-OFF". Why
you ask? Well, after reading the January 5, 1999 draft written by Cormac and Marianne Wibberly, I came away feeling that this script is too similiar, too inspired by "Total Recall" that it is hard not to deem it a
clear rip-off. When I say rip-off, I don't mean like how "Universal Soldier" and "Robocop" cleverly borrowed the element of a half man/half
cyborg premise from "The Terminator" to create their stories. Rather, I mean rip-off in the sense that "The Sixth Day" rips-off everything from the
characters, premise, story structure, action sequences, and concepts of the future, and then totally rehashes it into a stupid half assed story about cloning. What's even more shocking is that the screenwriters didn't even
attempt to mix match the elements of "Total Recall" to at least disguise the fact that their script is a rip off.
Ok, so you all know that the story is about human cloning. It starts off with everyday man Adam Gibson (Schwarzenegger's character) suddenly realizing that there is a clone of himself, assuming his identity in the
real world. When Adam tries to resolve his puzzling dilemma, ENTER the evil bad guys from the cloning corporation, dressed in business suits and armed with guns that go "Fooosh!" when fired!!! In any event, our hero
Adam manages to escape captivity from the baddies, uncover the evil cloning mastermind's plot to takeover the world, and return back to his normal life
in an ending that makes you wonder, "is he the clone or the real guy"?
Well, how similar is this to "Total Recall" you ask? Well, first of all, the premise of stolen identity is similiar to "Total Recall"'s premise of
stolen minds. Secondly, the idea of an everyday man, suddenly thrust into larger than life circumstances, uncovering a corporation's plot to control
the world is way to similiar to Doug Quaid, suddenly realizing he's not the man he thinks he is, and then ending up on Mars to kick evil corporate (and
oyxgen controlling) bad guy Cohagen's ass. I know, you are probably saying to yourself, that ain't so bad, it doesn't sound like a rip off to me! Well folks, bear with me just a bit more, cause it gets worse, INCREDIBLEY WORSE!!!
The characters, humor, and story structure are EXACTLY the same as
"Total Recall". In the beginning, we see a humorous television commercial advertising "cloning services for your pet", just like in "Total
Recall" with the tv ad for the "dream vacation in your mind". (Instead of ReKall services, the writers called the company "Repet"). Later, we see
Arnold's character consulting his best buddy (Hank) about cloning his dog. This is just like the overweight, tool drilling construction buddy Harry in
"Total Recall" who Arnold asked "Haa-rrey, ev-uh been to Recahl?" The purpose and tone of the scene is the exact same. Then, Arnold's character visits a Repet salesman in a scene that is completely identical to his visit to ReKall services - a cheap salesman pitching cloning services, complete with high tech video images explaining the duplication procedure. Now do you get what I am saying people?
Just about every scene from Total Recall is redone with just a minor tweak here and there. And it becomes more and more obvious as the script progresses. Remember the scene in Total Recall when Arnold comes rushing
home to his wife Sharon Stone and tries to explain to her that some people tried to kill him. Remember how it unfolded?
1. Sharon Stone is busy practicing her tennis swing to a holographic image of a tennis instructor.
2. Suddenly Arnie comes rushing in, turns out the lights, then rushes to the window to make sure the coast is clear.
3. Arnie then explains what has happened to the disbelief of his wife.
Well, in "The Sixth Day" it unfolds like this.
1. Arnie's buddy Hank comes home to his apartment and is greet by a
holographic image of his "Virtual Girlfriend".
2. Suddenly Arnie comes rushing in, turns out the lights, then rushes to the window to make sure the coast is clear.
3. Arnie then explains what has happened to the disbelief of Hank.
See what I mean by rip-off? The characters may have changed, but the action and dynamics of the scene are completely identical. And this just goes on and on throughout the script. Everything from when the corporate business bad guys start to show up (just like Michael Ironside, except
female), to the part when Arnie's character starts to question his self identity (similar to when the Doctor in Total Recall offers Arnie the reality pill), to when the evil mastermind appears and explains his plot to take over the world through cloning (Think Ronny Cox as Cohagen, the "Home
In Time For Cornflakes" scene). This script is so unoriginal it's
FLABBERGASTING!!! The writers are so desperate for ideas that they even rip-off the Johnny cab from "Total Recall".
Now, in all fairnes, I realize action films constantly go back to what's been done before. The car chase, the evil mastermind and his henchman, and the grand explosion are all commonly used action film cliches. But this is
different. This isn't like the countless takeoff's of Die Hard that have been made (i.e. Speed - "Die Hard On A Bus", "Under Seige" - Die Hard on a Battleship). And this definitely isn't a reworking of a popular story like "West Side Story" is a retelling of Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet". This is JUST DAMN PLAIN FORGERY!!!
What little originality the screenwriters do come up with is very uninspiring and stupid. Their concept of how the cloning is accomplished is rather ham handed, and their tie-in with how this could effect the sports industry is really silly. Yes I think cloning would make a great
subject matter for a movie, but not in this amatuerish fashion. It makes me realize that as silly as some of the film adaptations of Michael Crichton's books have been (i.e. "Jurrasic Park", "The Lost World", "Congo"), at least there is a well research and somewhat viable scientific
reasoning behind his story's premises. These writers simply ran with the topical issue of cloning and made up ideas off the top of their head. Sadly, they came up with shit.
Now, who I do give credit to for their hardwork and brilliance are the agents, managers, and producers involved in this project. They must have
really peddled hard on their tricycles and used every metaphor in the book to convince Arnold Schwarzenegger that this was "The Fugitive" meets "The Matrix" (where they came up with that one, I don't know). Perhaps they got him to sign the dotted line while he was on the treadmill, going through one of his training highs (he's often said training hard is like "cumming with a woman"). Maybe they approached him at Schatzi during cigar night,
when his mind was thick with cigar fog. Regardless of how they did it, my hat is off to them! For an F rated script to make the rounds in Hollywood
and finally end up on the lap of an A rated action star was a stroke of pure marketing brilliance. Good going guys!!! Now try selling this one to
us movie goers!!!
Now keep in mind, John Sayles is rewriting this script so things could change for the better (hopefully). As an optimist, I'm thinking that maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger liked the topical issue of cloning, and is looking to rewrite the entire script with a completely new premise. However, in all reality, this scenario doesn't make much sense as it begs the question,
"Then why did he bother to buy this script for so much money? Why not simply hire a writer and develop the idea on his own?" Obviously he liked this poor execution of a topical issue. With regards to John Sayles, he is
a fine writer, but my suspicion is that he's doing this as a hired gun, to keep the studio's happy, make some money, and so he can go off and direct his own films.
Something about this project wreaks of cheapness. The director Roger Spottiswoode isn't exactly a brilliant director ("Stop or My Mom Will Shoot", "Turner & Hooch"). He's more like a studio director, who does what he's told, and who's done some decent films like "Air America" and the financially successful "Tomorrow Never Dies". And Michael Rapaport and
Sarah Wynter aren't exactly big names to accompany the big man himself. Don't get me wrong, they're both great actors. I loved Michael Rapaport's
performace as Dick Ritchie in "True Romance", but Arnie needs to surround himself with bigger names. Both of them are casted as generic characters
in "The Sixth Day", similar to how Rachel Ticoten (Total
Recall), Maria Conchita Alonso (Running Man) were casted. Those actors merely filled spaces in the film. Like I said earlier about this project, it wreaks of
cheapness.
But enough with my banter, there you have my review of "The Sixth Day" AKA "TOTAL RIP-OFF". I realize I may have been rather blunt, brutal, and downright rude with this review, but hey, that's the way Arnold is, and I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted it back to him any other way. I've had this script for over 5 months now, and didn't bother writing in a review as I thought this one wouldn't get as far as it did. Two days ago, it was announced the commitment of Rapaport and Winter, so I guess it's a go!
God, what do I know about Hollywood. I guess William Goldman was right when he said "nobody knows anything".
Lastly, as people close to the production may read this review (and hopefully take notes), here's my personal advice ...cut the action scenes in residential areas. They just don't do it for me. In "Eraser", seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger jump from an exploding tiny ranch house was sesame seeds compared Bruce Willis jumping off the exploding Century City rooftop in "Die Hard". Likewise with "The Sixth Day", Arnold's fight scenes on his
front yard and in the garage of his house, at his children's elementary school, and in the living room of a ranch makes me wonder one thing..."Where are the set pieces???" Arnie, ask your friend Jim Cameron about this one, I'm sure he knows what I'm talking about.
Yours truly,
The Biggest Name In Tinsel Town
Filminsider@getmessage.com
-
Hey Arnie Fans,
Just wanted to say I'm sorry about the formatting...I didn't realize the posting would NOT retain all the paragraphs separations. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and found it insightful nonetheless. Take care.
Yours truly,
The Biggest Name In Tinsel Town
filminsider@getmessage.com -
I must admit I was a little worried when I saw Arnold flogging the movie on the WWF. Even though I am a wrestling fan (as you may have guessed by the name) it is a fact that folks on the way down, like Mike Tyson, or those trying to save a failing project, like "Mystery Men" are the ones who show up trying to hook the wrestling audience. If the movie looked to have legs on its own, there's no way the people involved would have wanted to "lower themselves" to the level of having Arnold trade punches with Triple H.
-
What the hell is this dude talking about?! The Matrix and End of Days are two totally different genres! Learn how to make better comparsions, man!
-
I am starting to think some of you people who post these END OF DAYS reviews already hate the film becuase Arnold is in it. The fool that just did this review "hopes Arnold retires and becomes a politician". You must be joking!!! I will be seeing EOD soon and unlike some of you guys, I am expecting one of Arnold's best films and a good entertaining action film on it's own merit. Some of you must have been expecting to see an Academy Award best picture type movie. I'm expecting a good intense story with explosions, some good acting, violence, guns, destruction and some witty dialouge with Satan. By the way, it is NEVER smart to start ragging on a film (THE SIXTH DAY) before you see script revisions, a trailer or talk on the film itself when it comes out (not early script reviews). Why doesn't anyone remember when people said THE MATRIX or DEEP BLUE SEA would suck shit and be only watchable??? Suckers are already bad mouthing Paul Verhoeven's THE HOLLOW MAN before the film is out. You people will learn one day. EOD is coming...
-
So, Harry, the Bond movie went from OK to "a plie of vomit"? Interesting.
Like when Phantom Menace went from "I creamed in my pants!" to "It wasn't good"...
Hey, how long before the "Toy Story 2 really didn't stand up to repeated viewings..." post pops up?
Well, that's ok, seeing as the best popcorn flick of the year was "The Haunting" (apparrently...) -
Yo. This review made me sick cuz this guy obviously has problems of his own. Damn, I have nevre seen a movie that I downright HATE with a vengeance. And that Biggest Guy in Hollywood or whatever acts like he's desperate for attention. Yeah, dude, thanx for the review of a script you probably never even read. You aren't even the biggest guy in a junior high school boy's locker room. :-P
-
Personally, I wouldn't take this guys review seriously. Jeez! For crying out loud, learn to spell! By the way, Arnold rocks. The guy is a legend and he shouldn't have to prove himself every single time. He's already established that kind of credibility with the world.
-
Does Dis-Man work for Pixar??? Nothing like generating some bad buzz before it's release... just in time to buy Toy Story 2 tickets!
You can't trust any reviews these days and I sometimes wish Harry would NOT accept any reviews from outside sources that probably reek of competing studios. How can you trust anything you hear on these sites? Harry & his pals should do their reviews, and we base our opinions on how our tastes have matched their reviews in the past. When Harry invites outside sources, it just contaminates this website to being anything but trustworthy or legitimate.
Harry thought END OF DAYS was cool... great! Moriaty thought it was a Mixed-Bag at best, great! That should be it. Anyone one ELSE's opinion (studio generated or not) should appear in the TALK BACK section, solely because you can't guarantee that their intentions are partial or honest.
Now regarding EOD, I recognize that Arnold has made some lousy movies like Batman & Robin, Eraser, and Last Action Hero, but this looks like a cool flick, and I'll be there Thanksgiving weekend based on the trailer's coolness alone. I can't see this film being as horrible as Wild Wild West or Stigmata. -
Why is it that people on here feel the need to tell us not to see a film because they didn't like it? I appreciate your opinions but just say it sucks and to expect a bad movie. Don't presume that you are the monitor of taste because it makes you no different than the people who want to ban films like Dogma for various reasons. The film may very well suck but we have the ability to make our own decisions. The good critics never say don't go see it because they know everyone has different tastes and they are only giving their opinion. Like I said, I do appreciate the heads up and I will now go knowing that it may suck.
-
Arnol'd has one last shot at movie greatness. put the wig back on and go do 'conan the king'.
as a postscript, have you noticed that Arnold's cometitors in the 80's, van damme and segal are doing mostly straight-to-video stuff? mabye Arnold can have his next premire at the bosie idaho Blockbuster's! well, a man can dream. -
Come on ... take a look at Garth... Dark Horizion .. they know how to do reviews. This wasn't a review ... get this turd out of here! FUCK HIM! Two more days and I'll know the truth myself .. if its shit .. or if its good .. two more days!!!
-
Scenes like the exchange between the bald priest and Arnold. Scenes like Arnold's "here's how you use a gun" lesson on the train. Scenes like Arnold magically connecting the dots from [ChristNYork] to "Christine York." Seems like Arnold just got hooked on phonics. It just RUINED IT. If it wouldn't have been Arnold in the lead ... I don't know ... it might've been a halfway decent movie.
My advice, see Seventh Sign and Terminator 2 on the same day. You'll walk away with the feeling that the makers of this tripe were intending.
(I just got through seeing this at a sneak in Nashville. Was the sound >>too<< loud when you guys saw it?) -
...the fact they make Satan out to be some 3rd rate thug. It's an impossible task to do such evil justice on the big screen, but these fools go into the thing with the attitude that all they have to do is make a caricature of how the ignorant think the most notorious villain of all time would act...Mike Tyson with supreme power....yawn. Is there anybody writing smart action
scripts anymore? This movie puts the d in dumb.I think the one scene in the film that
really takes the cake is the priest trying to explain why the biblical 666 is really 999 as in
1999, the collective sighs of derision from the audience were more than noticeable. You'll know it when you see it. The stereotypical comedy(?) relief providing partner, is
played by the stereotypical actor who looks familiar, but you can't quite place him. He's
completely useless here, and the character never establishes a believable relationship with
the lead. When he's gone so what, when he comes back....well there's that halfass
character again. The stereotypical damsel in distress in probably the dumbest character
in the movie. Over the course of the film, she has these really disturbing, perverse, and
violent dreams involving sex acts with the stereotypical villain, Satan in this case which
cause her a great deal of grief. Later when explaining these nightmares she has had all
her life, to Arnolds character...she describes the 'terrible' nightmares involving the devil
as 'making love', making love, the guy next to me almost joked on his popcorn. This is just one example of the incredibly dubious dialogue in this film. This is forumla filmaking from the first credit to the last, from the villain to the hero, from the sidekick to the helpless female victim, from the rooftop scenes to the subway scenes. Add a lot of bad dialogue and characterization sandwiched in between. And I didn't even bring up the directors, ummm, creative use of the camera and editing or the satanic cult, hired straight out of a poor 80's horror flick. What you got is a movie that's nuttier than an old man's turd after eating a whole box of goo goo clusters... ugly. I saw this movie tonight here in Austin, Harry and what I guess is Father Geek were there as well as all the local public access clowns. oh, and to all you idiots who brought your 6 and 7 year old children to see this sneak, shame on your sorry ass. It's no wonder kids are so warped these days. -
I will know the truth!!!!!
-
Hey pal watch your F**king mouth. ARNOLD rules. HE RULES and that is all there is to it. So go get a life and stop pissing me off, I'm going to EOD tonight and I will probably end up seeing it about three times before the weekend is over with. ARNOLD IS ALL. and that is all there needs to be said!!!!!!!
-
THE TRUTH!
-
In 2007, we got Will Smith and a very loose, unfaithful adaptation.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 419 total posts 209 posts
- WTF HOLLYWOOD: SOLARBABIES -- 131 total posts 129 posts
- Herc’s Seen Tonight’s Return Of THE WALKING DEAD!! Discuss Also DOWNTON ABBEY, FEAR FACTOR, PAN AM, ONCE, SIMPSONS, DYNAMITE, LUCK, SHAMELESS, BAIT CAR, THE GRAMMYS And More!! Sunday Is Sweeps Day 11!! -- 123 total posts 122 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 124 total posts 58 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 191 total posts 47 posts
- Avid Comic Reader Hercules Does Battle With Tedium During Kevin Smith’s COMIC BOOK MEN! -- 43 total posts 43 posts
- If the Behind the Scenes Pics of the Day drops her pen, pick it up, but don’t look at her legs or else it will be on your record. -- 60 total posts 42 posts
- I am The Behind the Scenes Pics of the Day! No, I’m the Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day! -- 27 total posts 27 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 506 total posts 26 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 77 total posts 24 posts