Cool News
END OF DAYS v.2 review
Well folks, this was a fascinating evening at the
movies.
I went for the third time to see END OF DAYS, not
because it’s the type of movie worth seeing 3 times in
quick succession, but rather... I was curious to watch
the movie with a full blown audience.
You see, both times I saw the film was in ‘friendly to
the movie’ situations. The directors, producers,
family and friends of the film all in attendence. As a
result you can expect to feel ‘more love’ than usual in
the house.
But the main thing is... you are watching the film with
only your own impressions and not the communal
experience of watching the film with a regular
audience.
Now, I still think this is a good Arnold film, but
frankly... I’ve got a feeling that it is going to have a
major second week plunge.
The film has it’s problems. There’s a couple of lines
that Arnold delivers poorly, mainly the, “You’re a
choirboy next to me!” one. The visage of satan as
created by Stan Winston sucks, albeit this is only on
screen for under 25 seconds or so... thankfully. And a
bit of a GHOST moment that I could have done
without, BUT... that’s about it for me.
The rest of it, I really get one hell of kick out of. And
throughout most of it, the audience did too. By the
time the film ended, there was a scattering of about a
half dozen people clapping, then stopping when the
audience didn’t join in. Followed by a very loud
“BOO” from one person. And another saying,
“THAT’S THE WORST FUCKING MOVIE I
HAVE EVER SEEN!” This person has perhaps seen
10 movies I suppose.
I decided to play quiet mouse boy and listen to what
people were saying. The main negatives that I was
hearing wasn’t about cinematography or editing or
performances or writing or any of that.
It had to do with making the Catholic Church out to
be saviors. It had to do with the religious doctrine in
the movie. All of the ‘mumbo-jumbo’.
I heard one person say, “When are they going to stop
shoving this religious shit down our throats, nobody
believes this crap anymore.”
The friends I had sitting on either side of me
conceded that it was a good Arnold film, but then
asked me how I could swallow that religious shit.
Hmmm....
I looked at them. And then said, “Did you hate
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK because of the
heavy religious ending? How about INDIANA
JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, does the
portrayal of faith in Shiva disturb you? How about
JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS? Does the
depiction of Mt Olympus with Zeus and Hera and
Hermes disturb and make the film unwatchable?”
There was a cross look on their face followed by,
“But that’s mythology.”
Ahem. Folks... I’m not a deeply religious man. I
haven’t been back to church since the service for my
mother. Not because I’m angry, not because God
‘screwed me’. Not because I had doubts in faith or
anything along those lines. I stopped going because I
needed to get my life in order and felt the need to
concentrate my energies in the direction I was taking
in life.
Do I believe Moses parted the Red Sea? Can’t say,
wasn’t there... didn’t see it. That pillar of salt thing...
once again... wasn’t around. Walking on water?
Wasn’t there... didn’t see it. I also didn’t see Jason
fighting the Hydra or Perseus beheading Medusa.
Does it mean they didn’t happen? I can’t say.
But someone wrote about it. When it comes to
religious matters in film, I gather it in as I do all
dramatic filmmaking. It’s all bullshit. Rick did not
let Ilsa on the plane with that dude. There was no
plane. Scarlet never had another day, at least not on
film, that crappy mini-series never existed in my eyes.
Even the stuff based on TRUE STORIES
documented in HISTORY. If it’s film... I accept the
fact that it is not reality.
I don’t believe it was Peter Hyams or Arnold’s or
Andrew Marlowe’s intention to convert their
audience into a fleet of Catholics. I think they set out
to tell a story using elements of the ‘Satan mythology’
to create an action filled story to make some good
money and entertain an audience.
So.... I give them that. Ok... for this two hours...
Satan exists. He has to boink this girl in the last hour
of the last day of 1999 and it has to be East Coast
Time apparently due to some Gregorian Monks back
at the dawn of these visions. Ok... I can give the
filmmakers that much.
Just like, I can give Paul Verhoeven the ability to let
Arnold’s eyes bulge out of their sockets on the
surface of Mars while an ancient alien air-making
technology creates a perfect human oxygen-rich
environment that allows his eyes to re-enter his head
with apparently no adverse physiological reactions to
him.
I can also give James Cameron the room to let Arnold
be a robot that somehow has organic living tissue
surrounding a metal endo-skeleton thereby allowing it
to be transported back through time to kill a waitress
who may one day give birth to a punk kid that might
grow up to lead a post-apocaliptic revolt that might
very well give the human race a chance at living
again.
All three of these things are... NOT BELIEVABLE to
a sensible person... BUT... for the sake of having a
good time in the theater... I allow it.
I never need a filmmaker to explain why Arnold has
an accent and nobody in the film ever makes
exception of it or makes fun of it... or asks him what
the hell he just said. It’s ok... I think... Of course
they know what he said, they’ve read the script. They
know his lines.
This isn’t Arnold’s best film. It isn’t my favorite
Peter Hyams film. But it is, for me at least, a good
movie with significantly less problems for me than I
had with THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH.
If you hate THE EXORCIST, STIGMATA, THE
OMEN, ROSEMARY’S BABY, etc... because you
really dislike all that ‘religious bullshit.’ If you feel
Arnold Schwarzenegger is the worst actor ever
created and a complete waste of your time, then
perhaps you ought to see TOY STORY 2 or SLEEPY
HOLLOW this Thanksgiving.
But... if you can put that behind you... Accept the
basic premise of the film... well then you might very
well enjoy yourself.
I find it amazing the vigor with which folks that are
anti-religious take films like this. My one friend
sitting next to me said, “Yeah, but what really scares
me is all the people out there that will take this film
and what it says seriously.”
AHEM...
Excuse me, but if you believe anyone is going to take
this film SERIOUSLY and believe that this New
Year’s Eve there exists an 18 year old virgin in New
York that Satan’s got to fuck in order to rule the
world, then... take a chill pill dude. I am willing to
go out on a limb here and say that there will may be
only 2 people in the entire world that will see this
movie prior to the year 2000 that might actually
believe this as being true, and both are out-patients of
some rehab clinic somewhere. There is a disclaimer
at the end of the film. It does say that none of this is
true.
That means... Satan’s not true. Catholic Church stuff
is not true.... and overall this is a work of FICTION.
F-I-C-T-I-O-N. Meaning... Not real.
As I’ve said in the past about this film, it’s not as
good as CONAN THE BARBARIAN,
TERMINATOR 1 & 2, TOTAL RECALL,
PREDATOR and TRUE LIES... but it comes in right
after those. I prefer it to ERASER, RUNNING
MAN, COMMANDO, RAW DEAL, RED HEAT,
THE JAYNE MANSFIELD STORY, TWINS,
JINGLE ALL THE WAY, JUNIOR, CONAN THE
DESTROYER, RED SONJA, etc... Which I guess
puts it in between the top and middle thirds of his
career.
Some of you might hate this one, and I’m sure to be
knocked around by some in TALK BACK pretty
fiercely. But... What the hell, who wants to live
forever?
-
+ Expand All
-
Enough with the Church stuff for the love of God! Dogma is evil, Stigmata is evil, and so on... well, that's all well and good, but you don't fuck with Arnold. In the end, all this religous bullshit is just that...bullshit. Bottom line is, all I need from this movie is for Arnold to kick enough ass so I can finally forget the line "All right everybody..... freeze"
-
It's very strange why people react in such a negative way towards religious elements in movies and there has been a major shift in horror movies away from this kind of thing (Blade and Vampires being two recent examples that spring to mind). But Harry's right. Does this now mean we can't enjoy Chris Lee and Peter Cushing battling it out in Dracula? Does it mean The Exorcist is a waste a space? The list could go on and on. Whether we treat it as mythology or actually believe in it, it makes little difference. Religion and its trappings create powerful conflicts for story telling.
-
hey Harry, i guess you most have seen both the endings, which one did u prefer?
the new one sounds pretty sucky to me, i just hope they put the original one on the dvd release..... -
Because 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 times would act...Mike Tyson with supreme power....yawn. Is there anybody
writing smart villain roles anymore? Waste of talent. 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 dearly departed wife and child, haunting our hero are about as represented as stage props. The stereotypical damsel in distress spews dialogue unworthy of a bad X-Files episode. An example: Over the course of the film, she has these
really disturbing, perverse, and violent dreams involving sex acts with the stereotypical
villain, this so called Satan 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 raping her as 'making love', 'I've been making love to him for 20 years'(gag), the guy next to me almost choked on his popcorn. This is just one example of the incredibly dubious dialogue in this film. Arnold tosses around dialogue that would make Van Damme cringe. 'you are a choir-boy compared to me'. Scene after scene are just senseless, like the script writer didn't even try or his original work was plain hacked to pieces. Some pieces don't even fit. The complete lack of a manhunt after the cop killings is a prime example of a gaping hole in the story. Compounding the matter is this is formula film making from the first credit to the last, from the vilain to the hero, from the sidekick to the helpless
female victim, from the rooftop scenes to the subway scenes. From the inept cohortsto the inept coworkers. Add a lot of bad dialogue, plot holes you could drive a bus through,
nonexistent characterization sandwiched in between along with some really lackluster CG effects. And I won't even bring up the directors, ummm, creative use of the camera and editing(subway scene) or the
satanic cult, hired straight out of a poor 80's horror flick. Picture one big glob of faceless street people armed with spades and clubs wandering around. I guess Satan wasn't smart enough or too cheap to arm his minions with firearms...I guess the drug dealer devil worshippers were on vacation and unavailable. 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. Just way to many weak points in my opinion. I saw this movie tonight here in Austin as well. Too me, Harry, most people seemed to range
from ambivalent to disappointed. oh, and to all you idiots who dragged 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. They'll probably be wearing those T-shirts to school tomorrow, talking about the weird sex scenes. Do parents these days just suck, or what, I'm 25 and no angel, but I do see a real problem to exposing children to some of those scenes. Save it for discount cinema, and don't bring your 6 year old.
-
Well Harry, why should your heathon pals believe in the religious "bullshit" if they get all of their information from Hollywood? Either we get convoluted Satan at the millenium movies or homogenized "feel good", afraid to offend anyone, religious mixtures like "What Dreams May Come". "End of Days" trailer is a laugh riot of over reaching biblical interpretations that are only there to be able to have Arnold save the day, while uttering monosyllabic sound bites to use for clips on the talk show circuit. Snore.........
-
I used to be excited about this movie. I was excited until I heard that they changed the ending to spare the feelings of those religious poo heads. How many times have we seen movies where the devil is defeated by some religious artifact or perhaps the light of God? It's like having a real wet and sloppy poop. You go to wipe your anus and your hand rips right through the toilet paper, jamming you fingers where no man has gone before(perhaps). Sure, it's interesting the first time, but the whole thing gets a little boring after a while. God bless, everyone. And hey Jeeves, where can I buy a barrel of monkey's?
-
I really have to take exception with your recent review of T.W.I.N.E. So what if it has minor problems, ive seen the film they do not spoil it, whereas you seem to prefer Episode 1?!?! Lets look at the acting in comparison. Episode 1 - no acting in evidence, some of the worst performances ive ever had the misfortune to witness, in particular Mr Neeson boy did he suck in that and also in your blatently over-praised The Haunting,. Now lets look at T.W.I.N.E and its acting, Dame Judi wow! a cool performancewith more depth to her role, Pierce - his best perfomance yet, clearly far better than the leads in Episode 1. Now lets talk about effects. Episode 1 has nothing to recomend it BUT the effects, it exists meerly as a showcase for I.L.M. What about bond? Sure there was effects but at least they did not overshadow what must be the best bond "story" since O.H.M.S.S. I think Mr harry you deserve this damn good bond film a second opinion as with End Of Days, at least your pal Ebert got the review right ***1/2 stars out of four? Spot On.
-
And why are people so vehemently anti-religion when it's only used a plot device?
If the Church wanted to make an evangelical movie I hardly think End of Days would get a look in.
Are people so afraid of being 'tainted' with the name 'God' 'Jesus' or for that matter 'Allah' (i know it means God too, but anyway) landing in their ears, that it'll make them uncool and transform them into - God-Forbid - Christians or people who BELIEVE in something, rather than simply their own petty existences and what movie is coming out next and how long they'll have to spend in the bedrooms until then.
And Harry's right - you might as well chuck out every movie that had a hint of religion, whether it's real or not. SO yeah, get rid of God, the Force, Nirvana and lets just watch movies.
-
is it cool all of a sudden to take the piss out of arnold just because the film is not in the same league as Terminator or Predator etc... The film may not be his best work but its a damn sight better than Crapman&Dobin.
-
Well, it's time for the token atheist to rear his ugly head. I don't plan on seeing this movie. It's not for the stereotypical reasons; I just don't feel like paying eight bucks to see Arnold grunt his way through a formulaic action movie with the devil in it. I could care less about the 'religious' elements; nine times out of ten they're stuck in for a cheap effect rather than an attempt to actually say something about religion. (Contrast "Dogma" with, say, "Stigmata" to see the difference.) And I can do without Schwarzenneger delivering his lines in his inimitable way. Count me out. Tim Lehnerer; TelstarMan@yahoo.com
-
This is important Harry. There's a lot of uneducated and ignorant people in America who believe the devil is a man with pointy horns and that God is a big white man with a beard. Remember people; Jesus , Mohammed, Buddha, Krisna etc were great holy men, it's just the nasty little men that came after them that screwed things up, claiming to be their 'representatives'. Yeah right.
-
Hey Coffin Ed, I believe it was "Everybody. . . CHILL!" Which may well be even worse. Anyway, good review HArry, with some nice insights. It seems to me that people getting pissed off at the religious bent of this movie are as silly as those getting pissed off at Dogma, maybe even sillier. It's not like End of Days assaults anyone's religious convictions, it's a fucking AH-NULD movie for Christ's sake (no pun intended). Anyway, I'm excited to see this, and I'm sure ABKing is sitting in a puddle of his own pee right now after reading the review. But the "religious shit shoved down our throats" thing pisses me off, not because I'm religious - far from it - but because it seems like people look for an excuse to get pissed off these days. You know what pisses me off? Violence on the West Bank. Genocide in Rwanda. Gang violence. But an Ah-nuld movie? Find a real fucking cause, people. Find something actually important to get offended by. And take your pseudo-intellectual nihilistic pretentions elsewhere.
-
Harry,
Um, trying to dismiss people's dislike of "End of Days" because of some dislike for religion is one of the lamest excuses I can think of.
The fact is, "Arnold Swarzenegger vs. Satan" has got to be one of the most jaw-droppingly stupid concepts anyone's ever heard for a movie. This is like a phony movie you'd see on a marquee in a "Simpsons" episode. Why this isn't obvious to anyone with a brain larger than an amoeba is simply astonishing.
Why the hell (pardon the pun) would Arnie be a "powerful foe" against the Devil?! Because he's got big muscles? Because he's got big guns? Witty one-liners? You've got to be kidding.
Hey, here's some logic for you (why I'm applying this to EOD is beyond me, but...) If you *really* believe in the Devil (as a supremely powerful fallen angel), then nothing human is going to stop him -- it doesn't make any difference if it's Arnold Swarzenegger with a howitzer or Pauly Shore with body odor. If you *don't* believe in the Devil... then why are you going to care about seeing this film, unless you want to laugh at how moronic it is, and how low Hollywood can go to make a film?
Reading about this idiotic movie, and the geeks' slobbering over seeing it, makes me think of some overweight, underwashed SF geeks at a convention (looking like the comic store owner in, once again, "The Simpsons," saying, "hey, wouldn't it be kewl if you had a movie where Sylvester Stallone had to arm-wrestle God -- and then Stallone wins!!!" (And then all of the SF neanderthals go, "YEAH, THAT'D BE KEWL!!! And, uh, and then, God sends out an army of PREDATORS after Stallone, and he calls BATMAN, and then SPIDERMAN shows up TOO!!! And then they have a WAR IN HEAVEN!!! YEAH!!!) (Honk, tweet!!!)
Then the geeks pick up their double-bagged, "must-have" issues of X-Men and waddle off in search of some junk food, content in their knowledge that they're smarter than everyone else in Hollywood...
*Be* smarter than Hollywood.
Withhold your hard-earned dollars from crap like "End of Days." -
I just have to mention that last night (Monday) I watched the tonight show with Jay Leno and AH-NULD was on. If any of your saw it, I'm sure you'll agree with me that he made WAY to many corny jokes that weren't even FUNNY. In fact, a few of them even lost me.
This is in contrast to the usual uber-star he normally is. He's not a jokester, he's a badass with an accent who is rich and helps kids lift weights. In any case - I was wondering what is up with his new "image". -
Speaking as the token evangelical Christian, I'm just happy to see so many movies lately that acknowledge that there is such a thing as good, and such a thing as evil, and that evil is bad. Its a darn good start and I'll take it.
-
I've not seen End of Days yet, but I still agree with Harry. I mean, can you imagine objecting to The Exorcist on the grounds that the good guys are priests fighting evil with the power of God? It's just as puritanical to object to a film because it is RELIGIOUS as it is to object to a film because it is HERETICAL.
I'm no Bible-basher, but Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments are fantastic films, and The Prince of Egypt's not bad. The Last Temptation of Christ's pretty shit (loads of actors trying to be disciples and coming across like Catholic angst-ridden gangsters), but you can't win 'em all.
PS Anyone remember cameos by Jesus in A Clockwork Orange and Bad Lieutenant? They were great. -
Jeff, seeing as you advertise yourself as the token evangelical Christian could you tell me a bit about your faith. Is your faith informed by a personal experience of the divine or do you base your religious stance on the word of others (i.e what the men who wrote the Bible say, what your parents told you etc). Be interested to know. Also thanks for pointing out that evil is 'bad'. Who would ever say that a funamentalist has to simplify things.
-
Um, what was up with that last post? It seemed to be unnecessarily critical of a guy whose post was pretty mundane. Don't get me wrong, I'm not flaming you, just making sure people aren't using the religious folks as an easy target. . .
-
I enjoyed your review Harry, but then I enjoy it when movies play with myth ideas equally. Each fantasy works with its own rules of magic and if ya can't buy that, then you ought not go to the movies. My big objection is when they take the shit seriously like with Prince of Egypt or any other Sunday School propaganda. If parents want to indoctrinate their children, that's their business, but I'd just as soon they did so in the privacy of their own little torture chambers. I guess that's what all those people Harry heard running down the 'religious elements' were complaining about - they're tired of that crap and are sensitized to it. Anyway - great review, Harry.
-
Let's not worry about the religious content of movies or the lack thereof. There's no reason that there can't be religious-themed films any more than there can't be horror films or action or whatever. They're all just movies. Faith comes from a deeper place.
-
AND THAN I WILL KNOW THE TRUTH!
-
Hey , I went to a screening of "END OF DAZE" last night and HEY, I liked it! It had some cool freaky moments, I was entertained, the audience applauded at the end and was into it! It wasn't T2 or True LIES, it reminded me of The HIDDEN meets THE FIRST POWER meets STIGMATA (which sucked big time) meets "YER MOMMA SUCKS COCKS IN HELL" just kidding, anyways it was entertaining and you guys should go see it and sit back and not expect anything but a good SATAN vs ARNOLD movie, Gabriel as the devil was quite good and there is a part that reminded me of 7, you will know when you sit it, everyone jumped and had a good time! p.s there were allot of parents and their kiddies at the screening, I am talking little children. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT??? PARENTS Should drop their kids off at toy story 2 and not bring their kids to this one. There were things in it that If I were the parent, i would have been squirming if my child was sitting next to me.......
-
Point taken Madboy, but I just love to challenge what people think. I'm religious myself (no denomination, just my own way). Buddha always taught his pupils to doubt, because doubting causes one to learn more about that which you doubt.
-
I'm that nobody that does belive Moses did part the Red Sea etc. etc. It doesnt' stop me from
enjoying Jason and the Argonaughs,
Hercules or other movies but when it comes to movies like Rosemary's
Baby, The Omen, etc. it becomes
very hard to acheive the same
suspension of disbelif needed to
enjoy a movie because it becomes
soooo clear that the writers have
little to no clue about anything religous.
They take as a premise that the things I believe are true, then create a story that could never
happen given the premise. If you
yourself haven't studied religion
much than it wouldn't bother you but to me it's like watching a
movie where the sky is purple and the grass is orange for no reason at all.
Saddly today, with some there is tollerance for everything under
the sun *except* for Christian beliefs and values. What hypocracy! -
Saw it last night. A gigantic waste of time and free pass. Unless, of course, your idea of entertainment is to alternate between boredom and unintentional laughter. The advance buzz that Ahnuld is going to get an Oscar nod for Best Actor is highly exaggerated, indeed. ;)
-
I would have to agree with Mr. Rogan. The treatment of Christianity in film and Television is rarely ever a good one. Either Christians are portrayed as money grubbing, Right-wing wackos, or Well-meaning cryptic old ladies, or ineffectual clergy types, or some other stereotype. Very few and far between has there ever been a realistic take on Christian beliefs and those of us who believe them(including that recent drek-fest, The Omega Code).
I am sorry to say, we have gotten rather sensitive on the subject in recent years; to the extent of wholly condemning any film that is perceived as a threat, such as the recent uproar over Dogma, which only the Catholics seemed to be really upset about(and if you've seen the movie, you'll know why, Catholics are yelled at for being hypocrites alot), or the recent embracing of that most ridiculous of films, the Omega Code. I take the later as a cry for help. We in the Cristian community are so desperate for someone to put out a movie that accurately portrays our faith, that we will rush out to see the worst movie of the year, IMHO, just because it's Biblically accurate. Which, I think, was the problem.
Excuse me as I go off on a rant here, but TBN has made one of the worst films I have ever seen. As a would be filmmaker myself(and I have the degree to prove it) I would have to say the directing sucked, the script was drek, the acting poor(though I did enjoy Michael Ironside a bit), the editing pathetic, and the special effects; well, forget about it. Why is it, when the Christian community sees fit to make a film, it always has to do with the end of the world. I can go to a Christian bookstore and rent about ten films on the Apocolypse. Why can't we make a good action movie where the main character happens to be a Christian, or a supernatural thriller, since we do deal with the supernatural, or even a comedy abour a church youth group on a day trip, or something that somebody other than a Christian might want to see. Every other religion gets to put their beliefs on screen and everyone says, 'how nice, how quaint, see how we welcome diversity in religion', and that's great. i applaude the use of religious freedom.
NOW I think Christians should start useing their religious freedoms and stop hiding behind the pulpit, afraid of ridicule for showing the world what we really need. And I'm not saying be preachy. People have been preached at enough. I've been around long enough to notice people close up real fast when they're preached at. So I challenge the Christians in the film industry to take a stand, put REAL Christians in your shows, not caracatures(sp). People who are much like everyone else, the same desires, the same pains, the same joys. But people of faith as well.
As far as the rest, i saw Stigmata and Dogma and enjoyed both immensely. I thought they both ahad quite a bit to say. I didn't agree with every idea put forth in either film, but I did hear more accuracies than I have in a long time.
Thanks for listening. -
Nov 23, 1999 12:22:57 PM CST
Idiots....Conan the Destroyer was SOOOO Much Better than Barbari
by skylewalker
I don't get how anyone can like Barbarian better. It pales in comparison to DESTROYER. Destroyer is more badass, with better acting, and a more interesting plot. Plus, who in the HELL wasn't dying to see Conan the King(the Conqueror, whatever) after seeing that kick ass ending. I love the ending. The look on Arnie's face as he sits on his throne is the best acting that man has EVER DONE. Oh yeah, End of Days looks OK, but I can probably wait til Video or HBO, although I am dying to see Robin Tunney naked. Damn, that bitch is fine. I would do bad things, B-A-A-D THINGS! (Squirt) Oh, I apologize. My fanboy hard-on got the best of me. Still, I have got to get a piece of that, UMMMMMM! She's my Velore, I guess. Some guys never get a break. DESTROYER KICKS ASS!!!
-
as a christian as to how I believe... though I can't speak for the other guy. you asked the other poster if his faith came from a divine experiece or from what others (including the biblical authors) told him. correct me if I'm wrong, but I sense that you regard faith based on what others say as inferior to divine experience. In a later post you said that you questioned him because buddah said that it is good to doubt and to ask questions, or something to that effect. Now I believe that the bible was indeed written by men but that these writings were divinely inspired. So i do think it is possible to come to faith by the words of others. I went through a larry darryl type search years ago and studied the buddhist texts, hindu texts, lots of western and some eastern philosopy and was an athiest for a while -- so i'm basically someone who can see others' points of view on this issue. what brought me to the christian faith is way to complicated to even put into words but I'll say that it was largely a rational decision and I do believe that I was also divinely led to it. Guatma Sakyamuni (a man, also buddah) uttered those words that you placed in your post regarding the merit of doubt and you seem to hold them as being truthful... or at least useful enough to apply in your life. The words of others can have truth. I can go to the bible and base arguments on it but it's very easy for someone to shoot me down with the argument that the bible was just written by men and not divinely inspired. Christian apologetics today is a very tough thing and I know I'm not very qualified to do it.
-
. . . Destroyer? Are you shitting me? It was plain old AWFUL. to each his own, I suppose, but man - whatever. And Mandala - I didn't mean to sound too critical, I just get irked when these descend into "there is no god" vs. "there is a god" debates. it's a personal thing that for me, a person shouldn't have to defend. But your question was an interesting one, and well asked. So there ;-)
-
Whatever one may think about Christianity, it is flat-out moronic to hate a film because of it. I happen to be Catholic, but as a Hong Kong freak, several of my absolute favorite movies are about Buddhism. Even though I think Buddhism is basically mistaken, it has good imagery and mythological conflicts. I don't get pissed off because HK filmmakers are trying to "shove Buddhism down my throat." I don't believe in animal gods, either, but I thought PRINCESS MONONOKE was one of the best films to come out in theaters this year. I must admit that it bugs me when filmmakers go out of their way to ATTACK anyone's religion, but it doesn't sound like that happens in END OF DAYS. (I don't think it will be a good movie, but that's beside the point.) Everyone should just cool it!
-
Good posting. Why did you end up with Christianity? From my own experiences, Christ, Guatama Buddha, Krishna - they all seem to be saying the same thing. These were men who all had regular access to the divine. I believe we all do, through different states of consciousness. Organised religion is missing the point. Jesus and Buddha both reacted against the organised religions of their respective societies. The mind is the enemy of religion.
-
...I'm gonna see this one back 2 back with toy story 2 tomorrow...why cause I want to have a good time...I mean this world is stressful enough and everybody already has enough problems...are we not allowed to go to the movies to escape anymore...That's what most movies are, an escape....now, like Madboy said, it's as if...well everyone knows about the problems in the world...let's pick apart our entertainment....till it's not entertaining anymore....Come on...It's an Arnold movie....next thing you know...walking and talking toys is the devils work and people shouldn't be watching filth like that if they believe in god....I know that's a stretch...but come on...all these people protesting Dogma....they haven't even seen it, they're just playing a game of follow the leader....well I hope they're having fun....although I;m sure there was something else that deserved their attention more....off my point...this movie is suppose to be fun...plain and simple...no great script....just guns...guns...chessy one liners...guns.....boom....see fun...who cares about the religon angle...I just want to see arnold pick up a cross and beat satan over the head with it, killing satan....when asked how he destroyed satan...he responds God was with me....ha haha ah....Oh Madboy...give me a break here,...I just woke up and I'm reading your posts and well...don;t use so many freakin' big words earlier in the morning......did u see sleepy Hollow?
-
GET UP!!!! GET UP GET UP GET UP!! I've been at work for four hours already. I don't care what freakin;' timezone you're in - if I'm awake, everyone must suffer. Anyway - nope, missed Hollow, but the li'l lady took me to see Anywhere But Here - and yeah, you were right. It was pretty good. As for EOD, I'm so fucking there this weekend, religion be damned! It's ARNOLD! And GUNS! And the DEVIL!! And ROBIN "HELLACIOUSLY HOT" TUNNEY!! HELLO??? Is anyone paying attention here? And hey flmlvr - didya catch the dude who said Destroyer was better than Barbarian? You probably agree with him, you weasel. It's right next to your copy of Red Sonja and Not Without My Daughter. . . :-P
-
I'm sorry, I must have missed something amidst that religious discussion. How was the camerawork? How was the music (doesn't the soundtrack feature a bunch of new songs by bands I think suck but some people seem to like)? Most of all how was Gabriel Byrne (who is the only reason I am considering see this movie)!? Gabriel Byrne as Satan. If that isn't perfect casting, I don't know what is. Please if we're going ot have amovie review, review THE MOVIE not the audience's religous debates. Or at least review a bit MORE of the movie. As for the religious aspect, I'm an atheist and I don't care if the movie deals with faith. It's a MOVIE. It's make believe. I have no problem with religiously themed films. I love RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, I love THE EXORCIST and ROSEMARY'S BABY. I hated STIGMATA but just because it was a crap movie with no ending. I adored THE APOSTLE. I thought it was wonderful. To say that a movie like END OF DAYS is cramming religion down people's throats is ridiculous. I don't think someone is going to go see END OF DAYS and convert to Catholicism any more than I think someone will see NATURAL BORN KILLERS and shoot up their office. As far as I'm concerned, God is make believe and so are movies so they go hand in hand.
-
as to why I came to christ... here's a line of reasoning i applied that helped me out: truth, in order to have any meaning, by definition is exclusive. In other words if I make a statement that is true, then all other statements to the the contrary are false. In the bible (which I believe is divinely inspired, remember) christ says "I am the way, the truth and the light. No man comes to the Father but by Me." That was a VERY strong statement to make. He basically said "I am the one." Not budda, not allah, not plato, just Me. People who say that Jesus Christ was just a good man, or a great prophet, have to deal with that statement where he basically declares himself God. This is an old argument and you've probably heard it before but based on the statement that Jesus Christ made, CS Lewis said that Christ could have been ONLY 1 of 3 things: either he was a liar, a lunatic, or God. I know he wasn't a liar, based on the goodness of his acts and teaching, I know he wasn't a lunatic, based on the goodness of his acts and teaching, so I'm left with one choice -- God. If I believe this, I have to believe that He is the way, the truth, etc. Just him, as the statement so clearly states. This bars me from holding buddah, allah, or any others above him as god or as his equals, thus I am a christian. I'm not saying that we don't have alot to learn from buddah. We do. I'm just saying that I hold only Christ as God. If you're really interested in a philosophical approach to religeon and to a rationalization for christianity there's a book by a man named Norman Geisler (or Giesler) called Christian Apologetics. I've never read it (it's on my list) but it's supposed to be a thorough, even handed, philosophical and rational argument for christianity that's been praised in secular academic circles as the hallmark of apologetics. You see, alot of these guys write books knowing that only christians will be reading them, so their logic is sloppy. Not Geisler. His stuff is supposed to be pretty unbiased.
-
I'm just a lazy piece of shit.....time zone doesn't matter....glad you dug Anywhere....didn't natalie look hella cute....Hey Madboy met Robin Tunney about a year and a half ago...I even shook her hand..oooohhh...and got her autograph on a picture...oohhh.......and no I don't agree with that poster about Destroyer...Jesus Madboy, how low do you think I go....I draw the line at Nukie.....
-
It's Bob the Tomato (of Spielberg-Dreamworks.com). I was an avid "talkbacker" for a long while until I just couldn't stand your audaciously stupid and inane musings that I did the right thing and kicked the habit. Well, months later I am so furious over this talkback I decided to chime in. I couldn't find my password so I got a new name. Being a Christian/filmmaker/journalis myself (yes Christian before anything) I am disgusted beyond belief at this talkback. No one is saying the film is no good, they just cannot stand that it deals with Catholicism. I don't come out and complain when characters boast their atheism in films. They are wrong but I don't go out on talk back saying "Screw it all to hell! That movie sucked! They preached evolution!" Yes, I disagree with what they are saying but am I going to run out into the streets screaming "Stay away from this theatre or suffer fire and brimstone!" No. Heck no in fact. I was watching Leno last night after a long day on the set of my film, and saw the clip with Arnold pleading to Christ for help. I was hooked. He was completely genuine. Then out of nowhere all hell broke loose with pews flying this way and that and lights flickering then Stan Winston's creation climbing out of the depths of Hell. That was incredible. I was hooked from the getgo. I am a huge Burton fan, quite possibly one of his biggest fans but I am seeing EOD before Sleepy Hollow (which by the way I have read Irving's classic dozens of times and get in stitches with Bing Crosby's animted flick, PS I know he just narrarated but heck I call it his) Back to the argument: Do you go crazy when John Woo shows his Christian beliefs through symbolism and imagery? No you don't. No one is going to come out in talk back and call Woo an idiot. No one.
-
Nov 23, 1999 1:23:57 PM CST
I don't think it's religion itself, it's the portrayal of religi
by dennis
People want to see the real deal. Comparing the ending of Raiders to End of Days is a joke, and admittedly, I haven't seen EOD, but I've seen bits of it in the trailer, and it's CAMPY. Raiders did it perfectly because it allowed the character at the end of the film to find his faith again, and we took that journey with Indy. But the guy wasn't going around wallowing in religion -- we was an archeologist, a scientist who finds actual EVIDENCE to back up his findings. That's why it seemed realistic with the payoff in the end. We knew if Indy really feared it (this practical scientist) then it had to be real. Arnold telling Satan that he's a choirboy next to him is CAMPY. Let's face it, Arnold is CAMPY. The whole premise of this movie is camp trying to take itself seriously.
-
With lines like that, how can you not love Conan the Barbarian?!?!?. . . "Conan - what is best in life?" "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women" Shee-it, I'm turning into ABKing. . .
-
...yawn.
-
okay Meen Ween, but your belief in Christ is not informed by any personal experience. You believe in a kind of rational truth. There is no such thing. God is absurd. He cannot be 'rational'. He exists beyond your means of measurement. To follow Jesus you must understand the divine and to do this you must stop trying to rationalise. Do you really believe that you will find God by doing everything the Bible says? Did Jesus write the Bible? How do you know what is written is true? The only way you can find out is by experiencing the divine and until you do all you will have is faith. I dare you to go out there and seek out the divine experience yourself instead of relying on the word of others. Thanks for the discussion.
-
I think it would be refreshing to see more characters portrayed in movies with a religious belief as a facet of their personality and not necessarily as a major driving force in the story line. Religion could be present in a story without shoving it down someones throat. After all there are millions of people out there of all faiths that go about their business each day without accosting people with their beliefs. As for those who are upset when religion of any kind is present in a movie - it's simple, don't go see it! Nobody's forcing you.
-
Campy? Nah, far from it. Arnold would never cry in camp. (But he did cry in B&R didn't he?) How in heck does every talk back since the dawn of time have a reference to Batman and Robin? It did actually kill the whole guaranteed blockbuster mentality that brewed in audiences heads for eons. --Bob the Tomato (Spielberg-DreamWorks.com)
-
here's my answer: I never said that I never experienced the divine. I never said my belief in Christ is not informed by any personal experience. I have experienced divinity and my belief is based on personal experience. Any belief not based on personal experience is weak. My belief is not weak. My posts were addressing the fact that it IS possible to come to faith by the words of others. Do you exist in a vacuum? Are you telling me that your beliefs are not or were not or never will be affected by other human beings? Are you telling me that God can't communicate through people? That God can't be rational? He's God. Yes, I believe that I will "find" God through the bible. Yes, I believe that Jesus wrote the bible, in a divine, eternal, written-before-the-foundations-of-time sort of way. Do I sound ridiculous? Good.
-
I remember wanting to preach at people on the street. But I'm a recovering ex-Christian now. So, guys, why don't you give the net a break and keep the posts to less than 100 meg and on a topic that's not the equivalent of your underwear. Yeah, talking about your religion - whether Christian or Buddhist or Wiccan - is like discussing your underwear. If it fits you and you like it, cool. But quit trying to shove it onto someone else. It's rude and it makes ya look VERY weird.
-
I don't give a crap about religion so i'm fine with that, but if End of Days is better than Comando, I'm there! Commando rules!
-
I can already see where this is heading, so please... let's not get into any debates on religion. Really though, if you think about it there is no debate. Only a delusional idiot with feelings of inadequacy would believe in some magical(and fantastico) fairy man sitting on his cloud, loving each and everyone one of us. So let's just let this subject drop. Let's all just agree for once that religion is stupid and is for people that poop their pants. Anyone ever see 3 Ninjas Kick Back? "Let's murderlize 'em!!" I luv that movie.
-
I don't see why people are having a problem with religion. The fact is, Christianity is stronger today than it has ever been. . .and the fact that it's been around for so long and has survived wars and attempts to destroy it only add further to the thought that maybe there is something out there. It's easy to see why religion offends people. . .it says it's the truth and people don't want to hear that.
What I don't see is why this is a problem in a movie. Movies are supposed to give us another world with new rules. . .and religion is popping up quite a bit. Contact dealt with belief in God. Even the Matrix is heavily awash in spiritual symbolism. And nooned complained that Prince of Egypt was about Moses.
Look at it this way as well. Arnold is the biggest action start we have. He's a legend and we have to keep giving him big, bad enemies to fight. . .normal humans don't do because Arnold comes arcoss as being superhuman much of the time. So, who could be a more formidable foe than Satan?
To those who think there's too much religion in movies: deal with it. There are people who think there's too much discussion of pop culture, cheap jokes, or focus on sex. If you don't like it, don't see it. -
Howdy! I got a kick out of your article because you hit several points perfectly. Of course Christianity is a "mythology;" however, it's a current one. People who can't equate the fact the "mythology" of the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, and other ancient belief systems were the religion of the day seem to be missing something intrinsic in their educations...
Of course, I did date an educated girl who believed that the pyramids did not exist because the ancient Egyptians did not believe in God... but that's another, really odd story...
Check out the works of Joseph Campbell, a (not "the," but "a") pioneer in Comparative Mythology. The guy was on to something. -
Well, as someone who belongs to no particular religion, but does have a few religious friends as well as non-religious, I think I bring a unique perspective to this disscusion. In fact, and many religious leaders will back this up, the year 2000 has NO religious significance at all, ZERO! If you are ever open minded enough to check out shows like 700 Club or various religeous news programs, you would know this...though the Bible does speak of the end of the world, and we are, according to the bible, in that timeframe, it does not give an exact date, and satan will not come as a big slimy hollywood-type monster, but as a savior, disguised as a great man, world leader, something like that...I don't neccesarily believe this, but I am open to other ideas, and I do belive there is a god. So folks, atheists, whomever, it is safe for you to see this film as mythology, no need to feel insecure about your non-beliefs!
-
I was just wondering if anyone else thought the way that Arny found the girl in New York was COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS and TOO MUCH SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF for anybody!! *** SPOILERS AHEAD *** The crowd I saw it with LAUGHED OUT LOUD when Arny, the blundering detective, took about three seconds to figure out that the Devil's etchings on a man's chest written "CHRIST IN NEW YORK" was really a way of telling him the name of the girl "CHRISTINE YORK!". And poof, wouldn't you know it, they check the database and ONLY ONE Christine York in all of NY!! Pretty neat....and sooooooo stupid. Anyway, that AND the JAMES BOND-type "I'm gonna let you live because I want you to see me destroy the world" ending stapled this sucker as completely underwhelming for me.
5.5/10
-
This is way 2 serious for me guys & girls...I'm just a simple film lovin' man.....I luv every film good or bad...cuz film makes me super glad...and now I am oh so sad...to hear you all arguing with eachother....like is the divine in us or just in a feather....and with that last simple note....oh wait just a quick thing to bloat...I love eighties movies oh yes...I love them when they're at their best...but mostly I love them when their of the cheese variety....so please everyone lay off religon and society....and just remember films are for fun...not for the pulpit......I'm off to work now....So see Madboy...I'm not a total lazy piece of shit....Late
-
AND I WILL KNOW THE TRUTH!
-
Just to clear up the point, my faith was built upon the words of others, but it would be dead I think had I not had personal spiritual experiences to back them up. So the answer is, both.
-
RELIGIOUS NUT: Before I met the Lord, I was all messed up on drugs. Now that I've met the Lord, I'm all messed up on the Lord. MAN: Yeah, I can see that.
-
Think about it, here is a movie star that we don't expect a great performance out of, just for him to kick ass. The Duke was the same way. Same fractured way of speaking, same type of character, but he was always the Duke. As Arnold is always Arnold. Which makes me wonder, is there a "True Grit" out there for Arnold to get him a Oscar? Hmmmmm
-
Hey Mr. Happy Peeing Clown. Where are you when we need you? It's WAY too serious on this talk back and we need a good, hearty laugh. Please share a story with us about .... uh, .... you know, .... your uh, .... dare I say it .... happy Golden Shower!
-
Stop listening to people's private conversations. That's just plain wierd, ya fuckin' wierdo.
-
Nov 23, 1999 5:41:45 PM CST
Religion, faith, etc... WHO CARES! Arnold is gonna fight the DEV
by funmazer
Man, the devil is gonna get his ass kicked! I'm gonna go see this movie tomorrow night. If Arnold says "Go to hell." at the end, I'll just SHIT! (in happiness) It may suck, but it couldn't be much worse than TWINE. Harry was right on that one! You know, if you think about it, TWINE pisses on Bond's character! Note the way the girl rolls her eyes in the opening scene. Note the embarassed looks when Sophie says "He left my villa in the middle of the night." The only TRUE Bond scene in that was when he BOINKED the doctor. Also, yes, what is with this sudden OHMSS love-fest? I swear, I heard very little about this film until just recently. I admit, it's very good, but it's like the 'pick-up' classic. The 'trendy' classic. Oh, well. ABOUT RELIGION. I love a well-done Bible movie. Ok, I love TC10 and Ben Hur. Thing about those, it that they are so HONEST. No cyncism. I love it when God kicks ass! I'm not sure WHAT is with this anti-religion trend, especially on this site! Probably because it is 'cool' to denounce religion and 'be a rebel'. Which seems lame, what is it, 90% of the world believes in a higher God? (of some sort). I don't go to church, but it even bugs me how much evolution crap gets shoved down our throagts in movies. What do you see more of, Bible-thumping in movies, or scientific, vegetarian-loving hippee-ass "Logic is my God we evolved from Apes no matter what" kinda shit? I'm not saying that either is better for a movie, just, which do you see more of? So, it's OK to impress the idea of evolution in movies, but not God? It's a two-way street people.
-
I have to say that anyone who would take their religious beliefs from an Arnold movie is just too damned mentally unstable to be taken seriously. I think we should start implanting subliminal messages in these movies, so that those who actually take them seriously all gather together in some cornfield in Nebraska to be gathered up and summarily lobotomized so that they're no longer a threat to society. Seriously, people, it's all about CONTEXT. I mean, Dostoevsky says a lot about religion and its relationship to mankind; I don't expect the same from the latest Tom Clancy novel. If a film portrays itself as a no-brains a/a movie, then let it be a no-brains a/a movie! I haven't seen End of Days (and probably won't ... I have to be very selective with my movie-watching these days!) but I can tell you already that it doesn't say one singular insightful thing about any religion, not even the religion it is supposedly based on (Traditional/Ritualistic Catholicism, which in this case should be seen as quite distinct from the rest of Christianity). Sheesh.
-
Just read your question to Jeff ... I can say that my faith is based solely on the influence of God in my life, the testimony of the Holy Spirit. It's not because I read a book and decided it sounded true. It wasn't because my parents were Catholic (I'm LDS, which is a far cry from Catholicism). It wasn't because someone "talked me into it". It was because I prayed, and I got an answer, and so I prayed more, and got more answers. I don't think there is any other way to grow in faith. As the scriptures say (and I'm sure I'll miss a word), "The devils believe, and tremble" ... "believing" isn't sufficient; one must grow in faith and testimony, and that faith and testimony can never be blind. But, hey, this isn't a religious board, right? It's a movie board ...
-
I have not had the oppurtunity to
see this movie, however, there seems to be alot of backlash about
the Cristians not supporting this film! Alot of it is stupid fundamentalists putting in their own 2 cents on their own ideas on how religion should be! There are also those people who just make up the fact that there is a religious backlash. For those of you who have a problem with Cristians or
anybody that believes in God, you will get yours. Athiests are just pissed off because they know they are going to Hell! Have fun guys!
I think the movie will be cool!
-
Aaagh! Conan the Destroyer better than Barbarian?!? Destroyer was full of so much cheese it looked like Wisconsin! Grace Jones...fun.
Wilt...silly. Olivia D'abo...hot,hot,hot, but annoying when she screamed evry 47 seconds.
Conan...what is best in film?
"To crush your enemies, to have a big opening weekend, and to hear the lamentation of the silly people who make bogus statments on the talkback."
I'll be waiting to see EoD...Princess Mononoke is opening here in Knoxville tomorrow! :)
-
check my 6000 word piece on it :
http://www.projet9.netc.net/norm/features/F-comm.htm
-
Gunray....Hey....yes that "poem" was suppose to be bad...really bad...just kind of to break up all this religon talk that was going back and forth....anyway...it's the end of the day and time for me to go play...:)
-
Now who wouldn't pay to see that movie? Arnie could play a hard-working mid-American farmer cursed by poor crops. In desperation, he makes a deal with the Devil. Harvest time comes along, and Arnold is blessed with a bountiful crop. But the Devil comes back to collect payment: Arnold's soul. There's gonna be Hell to pay! The Devil could be played by Edward Norton (who else?). David Fincher would direct (ditto).
-
I haven't seen this thing yet. But I'm already pissed about the religious stuff...not 'cause I'm anti-religious or crap like that (the Jones movies were the movies that made me the movie nut I am today). It's because, if what I heard was true, they changed the end of the movie 'cause the Chruch didn't like the original ending. They didn't like the message it sent or something. I don't wanna say what they had changed 'cause A) I'm not sure it's true 'cause I haven't seen the movie and B) It'd be a spoiler. But after seeing the Catholic Church rape Kevin Smith and Dogma, I'd just rather they kept their noses out of the movie industry.
-
Harry, I find your comments on religion and movies to be fascinating. Quick background, if anyone cares: I was an agnostic until my late teenage years, when I came to the rational conclusion that there is a God, and that the Christian faith most accurately represents Truth. Now to the present: I am now in my late twenties, and my faith has grown stronger, not weaker. At the same time, my love of cinema has grown many times over during the same time period. And I have noticed that some of my favorite movies are also some of the best movies ever made: Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments. And gee whizz, those films all have "religious" themes associated with their stories. I don't believe this to be a coincidence that these are also some of the top 100 AFI movies, and are also some of the highest grossing movies ever made. I believe that all people are "looking" for truth in life, as well as in themselves. And this "search" plays out great in film. That's part of what made Star Wars so great. Read Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces. That was Lucas' inspiration. We are all Luke Skywalker to a certain extent. We may not even be looking for the "force", at least not consciously. But that doesn't mean it isn't there. So Harry I'm not surprised that religious use in film doesn't bother you. I'm gratified to know that you have an open mind to faith and spirit. Please don't give up the search. That's why I liked Dogma. Kevin Smith is right. Although he does poke some fun at Catholicism, if you don't take the fun too seriously, then you will find a journey that leads all who go to a better understanding of themselves, and their place in this world. Sorry to take so much space, just had to throw in my 2 cents. Now I'm gonna have to go see this Arnold movies for myself.
-
I am not a Xtian, nor religious in any accepted sense (if I _knew_ that gods existed, I would find the knowledge irrelevant), but I do dislike films with religious themes. Not all of them, or even most of them. Films with Greek and Roman gods are okay, because everyone knows that those gods were always merely mythology. And no, I'm not interested in getting into semantic or picayune discussions here - the few exceptions to *everyone* are statistically insignificant. However, films which are based on arguable existant faiths disturb me. Again, not always. "The Exorcist" was fun, despite the stupid premise (a child possessed by playing with a Parker Bros toy?), but it played with Xtian archetypes in an amusing way. It didn't preach, or moralize, and the throngs who boycotted it when it was new are among the brain-dead minority who think that celebrating Halloween is evil, so we can discount them. But films which try to mix a message within pseudo-religiosity offend me. Truthfully, this isn't usually the case with Hollywood products, but television is a frequent violator. Think of "Touched by an Angel" and you will know what I mean (I personally lump "The Cosby Show" in with religious programming, but that is another subject).
-
Why is it such a bad thing to have God in movies? We had movies about evil beings, such as Jason or Freddy. Why is it such a bad thing to have good vs. evil? I think that's one reason so many people were critical of the Phantom Menace. It had morals. It didn't have gratuitous sex or violence or language. I'm not saying movies are bad because they contain those, just that as a society we've become so desensitized to that stuff that we don't want their to be a right or wrong. We want shades of gray. People aren't bad, they abused or psychologically messed up. There is no evil in the world. Well, there is. Look at Hitler. Look at Stalin. They killed millions of innocent people. Are they just abused and psychologically messed up.
I for one am glad to see good vanquish evil. I'm glad to see God in a movie. With all the negative plubicity God seems to get, why do we need to knock it further.
Yes, I'm a Christian. Yes, I believe in God. I'm not trying to force my beliefs on anyone here, but I feel I need to defend it with all the anti-religious comments.
All I'm saying is enjoy the movie. So, God's in the movie. Don't knock it simply because of that. I don't knock movies without God. I don't avoid a movie because it doesn't have God. So why should people complain or avoid a movie with God in it.
Like I said, I just felt the need to defend this. -
I find it interesting here that the most intolerant, offensive behaviour on this talk-back has come from the anti-religious side of the aisle. Hmmm, might make for a decent movie idea... naaah
-
i am catholic, but having said that i've never tried to push my opinions on anyone. i give advice to those who ask it. now that i've stated who i am and defended myself, i have a few questions...
why do so many movies portray religion in such a negative light? sure there is corruption in the catholic church, but why do people get off so much to watch it? i dont know how many movies i've seen where a priest was molesting an alter boy. i'm sure that's happened, but what's the point of making it a mainstay in movie themes? just lock the bastard up if he molests children.
why is it now "cool" to be anti-religion and anti-government? they both have their problems, and these problems should be addressed, but why do we love catching the president with his pants down?
it seems like in today's world it's OK to negatively display organized religion, but if anyone tries to make a movie that shows religion in a GOOD light then everyone cries foul! "These bastards and their religious propaganda!"
i admit that i havent even seen END OF DAYS yet, i'm just trying to address the issue as i see it
thanks
bl!nd -
The only thing I care about in this film is whether the lovely Robin Tunney sheds her top, revealing those magnificent boobs that were only hinted at in THE CRAFT? Can anyone tell me so I know whether to go?
-
Hey Citizen Pain, what kind of crap are you peddling?! Arnold is this generation's John Wayne? What an insult to The Duke! Wayne could at least act, something Arnold has yet to master in his constant battle of braun over brains.
-
Actually, I have quite enjoyed this column and thanks to those who truly took the time to convey with intelligence and passion sans judgement and self, their beliefs...and all from our Saint Ahnuld. For those who mentioned for a more positive Christian embrace represented in great writing and acting, believe it or not, so go rent asap-DEAD MAN WALKING with Sean Penn and Susan Sarandan Film concludes in such stunning faith, true and without condesencion that it knocked the wind out of me . A searing journy well worth a look.
-
John Wayne could at least act? In what film? He was always John Wayne, but he had an amazing screen charisma. But that's not acting. Arnold has the same ability, check out T2 for his scenes with Ed Furlong. They are funny and the final scene is touching. I'd take any Arnold performance(execpt Hercules in New York) over John Wayne's epic "The Conquerer" where he played Genghis Khan.At least Arnold hasn't gone that route yet, he knows his limitations.Don't get me wrong though, I love the Duke. The Searchers is one of my favorite movies of all time, but Arnold and Wayne are similar types of movies stars, not actors.
-
THE TRUTH!
-
I must say the reviews for this movie has been bad up to this point, but who cares? They might be wrong as I haven't seen it yet, I'm gonna tomorrow.
Look at Blade Runner.. was hated when it arrived.. loved now
I really hope this movie rocks
great review Harry -
Yes, the movie's religious themes are false as are the gimmicks in a James Bond movie..but only to a point. You all should read Revelations and really take an understanding of the teachings of Christ. It is sad to hear that society is departing from religion because we all need it. I hope that those of you who say that religion is bullshit find some peace when you leave this world. I am not saying that the movie's themes are true because they oppose the teachings of the Bible. Just be careful what you believe and what you don't believe. Take entertainment for what is is or the media will be your god. And will the media be there for you when you die? Not a chance.
-
Hey...Just saw EOD back2back with Toy Story 2....this movies alright in my opinion...but it's not the return of Arnold....It's got some fun action sequences...and cheesy one liners no Arnold film could be with out...but the worst part of this film is it's script....it is so unoriginal...and I can deal with that...but it's just really really weak....My other problem was Kevin Pollack...love the guy...but he just didn't work well for me here....Byrne was cool though, and Tunney was surprisingly decent with what she ahd...and fo rall of you who want to know..there is a half shot of her topless..but it's oh so brief...but I was hoping for a really fun film...like arnie movies used to be...and I got a fun film with flashes of the old Arnie........
-
my two cents about Hyams...I've always been in the middle with him...all his films to me have just been decent...and this filmm didn;t change it...I think he is just a pretty weak director,....He handles the action scenes fairly well, but that's about it...it was textbook directing from beginning to end...you think there would be some flair...but very little shined through.....
-
Okay, you should expect a little religion in a millenium film, it's about "THE END OF DAYS" people, BUT the movie sucks. The editing bothered me so much it gave me a headache. The poor editor gave Michael Bay a good name, obviously contributed by the horrible directing. Tunney and Pollack are the only redeeming qualities of the film.
-
I might get bashed for this, but I think that End Of Days was great! Granted, there were a few twisted parts that I would have rather not scene, (Baby and the rattlesnake, igh! Sick!) but overall, it had a lot of great Arnie moments. And I don't think he's a TERRIBLE actor. Granted, he's no Tom Hanks but he's a lot better then a lot of people in Hollywood, (Ahem, Ahem, Jake Lloyd, Van Damme, Steven Segal are you reading this?)And Arnold had GREAT help from Gabriel Bryne, who in his own way, was actually a little cooler then Arnold. So if your having doubts about going to see this movie and your reading this, GO SEE THIS MOVIE. NOW!
--Hudson out-- -
Just got back from End of Days. It was not a bad...but it wasn't really good either. It was okay. On level with Eraser, maybe slightly better, but with worse action. Eraser had some cool action scenes, and this one was pretty weak. Sloppy direction, editing, etc. It really seems that we have only a few directors that know how to do good action.
Cameron, Verhoven, Depalma, Spielberg, Lucas, Wachowskis, & Zemekis. Everyone else is just mediocre or has just fallen off!! -
Being an atheist in terms of the judeo-christian theological mindset, Im still willing to sit down and watch a religous-slanted film which accepts said mythologies as integral points to their storylines. Its basic Suspension of Disbelief. However. This by no means excuses terribly simplistic cliches and plot devices (just HOW many more times are we going to see our heroes/heroines outrunning a fireball? For "heavens" sake, enough). The pacing and editing of the film was just bad. The dialogue was just bad. The traditional take on Satan is SO stale and bad at this point in terms of entertainment (that is what films are for after all). At least make it interesting, like something Harlan Ellison would come up with (Angry Candy), or Michael Moorcocks entire Von Bek stories. A more Promethean slant to said Fallen Angel. It would make much more compelling and intellectual fair, compared to crap like Stigmata, End of Days, Prophecy, etc. Challenge the already established mythologies which are engrained in so many peoples mindsets as to what they expect to see from these movies. Im sorry, but the excuse of "Just a tale of Good vs. Evil" simply doesnt cut it. This doesnt mean you need to make the film overtly complex. Its all in the delivery. A film like "Legend" has an incredibly basic fairy tale slant to it, but it works (to me at least) because of its execution.The same with the faultily edited 13th warrior. The film worked for me, because it didnt purport to go beyond the means of a basic tale, BUT it delivered it well. just my 2 cents.
-
Just to precis about 6 paragraphs of your review; it's called the willing suspension of disbelief. Without it you'd only ever watch documentaries. Coming from the U.K. I won't have a chance to see End of Days until long after you guys have finished talking about it, but I'll let you know what I think.
-
Went to a screening last night (premiers in Denmark = not a good sign) and I'm sorry to say this but the movie really really sucks. The plot is like .... and the actors performances are horrible. That might not be their fault but who cares. I used to love Arny but since he said the famous line "You are not taking me to da cooler" he kind og lost it. And if you havent seen this movie you might as well bring you humor- cause You are gonna need it to get by the 2 hours.
-
Ok...let me just say this to start: No, I haven't seen EOD yet, but intend to catch a matinee, sounds like dumb but worth a chuckle. And: I am not particularly religeous, but don't have any problems with people that are!
But one thing that bothers me about that guy who saw the movie that Harry overheard saying that crap about Christianity being shoved down their throats...what was that idiot expectinng to see? If you go to a movie about Arnold vs. SATAN (a Christian belief), YOUR GOING TO GET REFERENCE TO CHRISTIANITY!!! I'm just completely amazed at the idiocy of people these days. And yes, I do find it disturbing that Christian bashing is very fashionable these days (even in terms like "Xian", what the fuck is that about?). You don't have to bbe religeous to get by in life folks, but it doesn't hurt you if the next guy is. The Apostle was one of my fave movies of last year, because I thought it showed how faith can truely help a man. Remember: The character went to prison for the murder he commited (as he should have), but still had faith and was spreading the word of how it helped him in his life, even though he was stuck in prison. Now if you are anti-religeous, you obvously wouldn't see that movie because it's themes would make you uncomfortable. But if you are anti-religeous and see an actionn movie where there are themes based on religeon, then get upset abbout it, then you are a friggin moron. Oh well. I expect to get flamed now, but so what. Its all just hot air we are expelling here, but I am glad to be on the side of folks who seem to have more of a rational head than others. Oh yah....and I plan to see Dogma as well. -
Dr. Amygdala - You're a winner! Good for you! You've managed to be both offensive AND ignorant in one post. Good work, son. Answer to question: Yes Jesus' shit stank. Good point! Wait, no it wasn't.
****
Anyhow, wars aren't fought over religion. Religions is used by the politicians to incite the masses, but the purpose behind war IS and HAS ALWAYS BEEN money and power. -
I saw last night one of the worst movies of the year. The End Of Days is an unbelievable piece of shit. Bad acting, mediocre special effects, and a been done before storyline. This is supposed to be Arnold's big come back movie? He does one of his worst acting performances ever. This is a straight to video movie at best. When I left the theater, unlike Harry, all I heard was silence or how bad the movie sucked.(and i live in the same town as Harry.) Save your money and go see Toy Story 2 or Fight Club if you haven't seen it yet.
-
Nov 26, 1999 11:25:24 AM CST
WHAT ARE YOU DUMBASS FOOLS TALKING ABOUT!?? "END OF DAYS" WAS GO
by sexualchocolate1
Now don't get me wrong, but I ain't saying it was super, super good, but it was not "bad" of "sucky" as pretty much everyone else on this Talk Back is saying. I gotsta admit that most of the acting from Arnold was either stale or overacted, but the movie was still good. The best acting in the film was from Byrne and that chick playing the girl Satan was suposed to "do the bad thing" with. I think the reason some people think it was so bad was because of Arnold's bad acting. But people, that's only one flaw! The plot was a little clishe with the whole dark past thing with Arnold's character. You know, the whole thing where a bunch of guys bust into the apartment out of no where and blasts his wife and daughter's brains out in the bedroom. BUT STILL THE MOVIE WAS GOOD!!!! I don't whats wrong with moviegoers now days, but they expect so much from movies now that when the see the movie they are ALWAYS dissapointed. Nothing can satisfy them. I know about that cuz I got let down pretty badly with "The Phantom Menace". That's why I know now not to get my hopes up TOO high with films, but it seems everyone else is doing the exact opposite. They get their hopes up so damn high that that expect every movie that the anticipate to be the most great movie in all feature film history or some junk like that. That's probably the biggest reason why so many people hated the movie, even though it wasn't getting that much hype anyway. The point is, instead of whining and bitching about how bad a movie is when you really know that deep inside that you liked the movie and know damn well you'll be the first ones to buy it on video...Damn! this sentence was so long I forgot what I was gonna say!!! Alright the REAL piont is just don't hold your breath. AND YOU "END OF DAYS" WHINERS BETTER READ THIS CUZ I DIDN'T POST THIS SUCKER FOR NOTHIN'.
-
Nov 26, 1999 1:10:34 PM CST
WHAT ARE YOU DUMBASS FOOLS TALKING ABOUT!?? "END OF DAYS" WAS GO
by sexualchocolate1
...And another thing! All you people saying "End Of Days" was bad, are trashing it just to be trashing it! You all know damn well you all were rooting for Arnold to kick Byrne's ass!!! Player haters!!!
-
I'm a pretty outspoken atheist, Harry (watch me on The Atheist Experience, 9 am Sunday mornings on public access cable channel 16 in Austin!), and I agree with you 100%! I've always said that the best thing about Judeo-Christian mythology is that it's a great source of emotion-wrenching ideas in fiction. Heck, I cried at the end of Ghost, and I don't even believe there's such a thing as "souls".
But I think you might want to take a moment and consider these "anti-religion" comments in perspective. We do have an extremely active right-wing fundamentalist political machine in the US, which is trying to gain control of our government. We have the Catholic church buying up local hospitals and closing down their family planning services. We keep hearing reports about how Hollywood is undergoing a "spiritual revival" - and when films like "The Omega Code" get made (which was nothing but a religious tract blown up to 90 minutes on the big screen), those reports seem to be confirmed.
I know this is no excuse for people to slam filmmakers who merely take advantage of Christian mythology as a fictional basis for their action flicks, but it *is* an explanation for why so many people are beginning to get nervous about what appears to be a growing trend toward religiosity. Cut 'em some slack, okay?
-Jeff Dee -
The movie was 20 min's. late in starting, and about 15 min.s latter into the film the film started melting. The theater manager promised the film would be fixed and shown, so I settled back down to wait. I am an impatient person, but the wait was worth it (not the least was I got a free pass to see another movie).
I have watched Arnold's movies, not to get involved in deep philosophical discussions, but to escape from same. I don't watch or read science fiction because I am a whiz at science or engineering or math. I don't watch action spy movies because I am a political animal.
You notice the trend. Arnold's movie is simply a mechanism to get away from the reality of the moment, not to open sincere debate on the merits of religion.
And this movie rates, to me, about as good an escape as any. He sorta lost me at the end a tad, but great depth of charictorization development was not the point here.
All being equal and the creek don't rise, I would have to say again the movie was worth the wait. -
Hey I'm not here to bash this movie. Picture yourself in the 80's when Supernatural Thrillers reigned on Video... this movie is something like those movies... It is not the greatest Action or Special Effects movie we'd expect nowadays, but you know what... I enjoyed it because after all... It is fantasy we are dealing with here! Like a 10 year old going to see a Horror Flick and believing it to be real, thats how it is, keep in mind the Gabriel Byrne speeches with Arnold, Byrne rocks in this movie!
-
I'm an Episcopalian- I don't go to church very often at all, but I do read the Bible and try to interpret what I read, and I consider myself very dedicated in my faith. I'm not often offended by religious satire in movies, because I have to agree that organized religion can be corrupted, and in any case you need a devil's advocate.
I do agree that Hollywood and organized religion have had some problems with each other. I think it's a vicious circle. Event A: A Religious Organization is offended by something in a movie, and protests it. Event B: Hollywood types recieve image of religious people as narrow-minded folks who don't understand art. I'm not saying that B followed A first, it's a "Chicken or the Egg" proposition, but now both events feed each other. To a person who sees DOGMA and appreciates Kevin Smith's perspective, the Catholics protesting it (event A) look pretty foolish. If said person is a screenwriter, then we're right at Event B.That writer decides to strike back at those type of people by putting in a barb at religion in his/her own script. The script becomes a movie, a religious group sees it, we're right back at event A. See what I mean?
Maybe the top Hollywood powerbrokers and the top religious leaders should get together, break some bread, make their positions known to each other in a cordial and rational manner. Can't hurt.
As for END OF DAYS- Sorry, not interested. Hyams is an OK director I guess, and I'm not intensely anti-Ahnuld (though I just saw JINGLE ALL THE WAY, which makes BATMAN AND ROBIN look downright defensible- how did Lucas hire Jake Lloyd after this?), but I'm just not interested in end of the world flicks in general. When it happens, it'll happen, I don't think it'll happen in the year 2000, and it may not even happen in my lifetime. Maybe it will. In the meantime I'd rather not dwell on it. Maybe if a seriously awesome, intense, unforgettable end of the world film comes along I'll see it, but EOD isn't attracting me. -
Big T here. Quick recap on one of the longest non star wars talkbacks ever. First off Robin Tunney is topless in this all of you horny men can freeze frame it when its on dvd. Number 2 the effects were pretty good except when the big monster came in it was some of Stan Winston's worst work ever. Number 3 Arnold is very good in this film both blowing shit up and acting although he aint winning an academy award. Number 4 Peter Hyams does his best directing job so far I mean god Stan Winston saved his ass in the Relic with a killer monster. And does anyone remember Sudden Death (shudder). Overall this is a cool film a great one no but a cool one. Oh and as for you Harry bashers go to hell or better yet make your own dammed movie site and beat up on Harry. Big T out.
-
Absolutely AWFUL!!!
Direction and cinematography were pretty good, but the plot was terrible.
SPFX were a huge piece of crap.
Stan Winston's creature was nothing more than a CGI demon...
I've really hated this show!
Ciao. -
Sorry Harry. I just don't buy it. I was not in the least bothered by the religious issues in the movie. I'm very able to suspend my disbelief when seeing any kind of movie, but that does'n mean I'm gullible. I'm a big Arnold fan and was hoping very much for End of Days to kick some ass, but it just plainly sucked. I mean, what kind of Arnold movie could it be when it made me remember Eraser fondly? Even Gabriel Byrne was bad in it. What a lame portrayal of the devil, indeed...
Just to cite an example of the lameness of the movie: when Arnold amazingly deduces the "Christine York" clue, several people in the theater just groaned loudly at the sheer unbelievability (and plot-wise convenience) of it...
Well I gues this is one to forget...
-
Did anybody notice the horrible writing. I don't mean the church stuff. Personally, I never thought this was an argument to begin with. I've never heard anybody seriously dog ALL religious plots. No, I'm talking about the parts where Satan punches the guys head off, blows up the restaurant by his will alone...but somehow just can't bring himself to kill Arnold. "I want to see you suffer." says Lucifer. Awful. Also, it never told why that old lady could beat the hell out of Arnold. What gave her that power? Lucifer? It never said. She was, apparently, just some strong old nurse. That brings me to something else even more perplexing. How did that nurse, who delivered Christine on her birth, get to be the mother (or stepmother) to Christine? It said that Christine's mother died...but how? Did the nurse have her killed? And who was the guy who Lucifer decided to take the head off of? In short...I understood Mission: Impossible on my first viewing. I understood Pulp Fiction on my first viewing. Same with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. And I could FOLLOW End of Days...I just didn't UNDERSTAND it. Satan was like a bad Bond villain, saying "I want to watch you suffer." Very inebriated, it was awful.
-
This movie is nothing new for this genre. In fact it's probably a step back. Hyams usually makes a great scenic movies with action that makes sense. This was cold and empty. Ususally you can at least root for Arnold, I just didn't care what happened. There are plenty of good movies (The Insider) to see three times. Why waste your time on this trash.
-
just saw it. knowlin was right. Tunney (the babe) and Pollack are pretty cool, but the movie isn't even a good joke. just a mediocre load of crap. "the best trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist" is a great line, but it was much better in "The Usual Suspects". so were Byrne and Pollack.
-
bad writing? that's a nice way of puuting it. did anyone notice in the hero's apartment, Arnold flys through the devil-induced hallucinations, but the illusion of a christmas tree seems quite solid when he uses it to break his fall. silly, silly movie.
-
I was reminded of the time I went to rubberneck "Last Action Hero." The lights dimmed and I opened my bag of tomatoes. I had film-bashing butterflies in my stomach, giddy in MST3K-like anticipation. I just couldn't wait to see just how bad a big movie can get- or its converse, just how BIG a BAD movie can get. I was not disappointed. It may have sucked even worse than "Star Trek V" (I'll never know for sure as I fell asleep during the latter). When the lights dimmed before "End of Days" I was salivating once again. Hungry for plot points with holes big enough to sail through, laugh-out-loud dialog spoken in a thick Teutonic accent, acting so wooden it creaks-[these days I don't pay attention to CGI FX, good or bad, because they're so damn easy to do (oh yes they are)]. During the title sequence I wanted to jump up and scream "THIS IS GONNA BLOW MORE CHUNKS THAN THE PHANTOM MENACE AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER! HOORAY FOR & DEATH TO ALL SHITTY OVERHYPED HOLLYWOOD SUCKFESTS!!" Then it happened. The movie started and it did suck... sucked me right into it. Sure I have alot of problems with it. Unfortunately not enough to discourage anyone from wasting money on it, because... well, I didn't feel as if my money was wasted. This is a competent film, much better than anything Arnold's done this entire decade. Better than Hyams has done since "Outland." And while that ain't saying much, it ain't necessarily a bad thing neither. Frankly, I'm wallowing in barren disappointment at how good this movie was. I wish I had more negative news... Oh well there's always Mission Impossible 2.
-
Thank You for a candid and up front review. You covered both sides and have enticed me to go see the movie! So many reviews are one sided. Keep up the good work!
-
I don't think we saw the same 'End of Days' movie.......
I have to say it was probably the absolute worst movie I have ever seen. I have seen thousands of movies over the years and have never seen anything this ridiculous.....that sooooo much money was spent to make this piece of crap makes me sad with the homeless people living in North America. When we left the theatre everyone seemed to have the same opinion....what a waste of time.
I have vowed to never ever watch a movie with Arnold in it again after this....I must say that when Arnold threw himself on the sword at the end it was well deserved for making this piece of crap. Shame on you Arnold. -
I am a christian, and I think that movies need to have a religious undertone to them.
-
Whoever said Conan the Destroyer was better than Conan the Barbarian is an idiot. On the same note: Arnold, let's see Conan 3 please...soon. :)
I personally think Barbarian was his best movie. Not best acted, but best movie. -
Just because a film has Arnold in it, does not mean it is bound for greatness. I found that out when watching END OF DAYS. The movie just had to many areas where it did not work at all.
-
End of days ... has came and went. What happened? Nothing I haven't seen before and done better. This was not the worst film of the decade, but it wasn't a great one either. I expected more ... and I didn't get it. The film seem to be shooting from a first draft of a script, the was no build up of suspense, and there was no sense of danger. Arnold's character seemed to be similar to Martin Riggs of the first Lethal Weapon ... crazy and dangerous ... well, they needed to work on that aspect. The script as a whole needed work. The acting performances ... were pretty soild through out. the main problem with this film is concept ... Arnold v.s. Satan ... you have to make this work or the film isn't interesting. And they didn't work on this enough ... I don't want to reveal anything ... and I know that I am not revealing much. If I was a critic ... 2 out of 4 stars ...if you love Arnold and you love to see him in a film, than go and see it! I am quite certain that Arnold needs a better director and a much better script. I will say this if he keeps making films like this ... it will be the END OF HIS CAREER!
-
Writers rewrite. They don't usually publish all their drafts, but they frequently do revise their work to make it as good as it can be. Nothing wrong with that.
-
Harry,
Ahem. Couldn't agree more with
your review. Although not a huge
Arnold fan, per se, I might even
like this movie more than you did,
and I found all the cliche's
very bearable. Compared to what
I was expecting - given the generally bad reviews the film has gotten - I was pleasantly
surprised, and think the picture
has gotten an unfair drubbing.
In spite of the routine nature of
the storytelling, I still found
myself caring somewhat for his
character. I thought the actress
playing the target was quite fetching, and Byrne and Pollack
add quite nicely to the scenario.
Compared to Sleepy Hollow, (I love
Burton, but feel everyone has made
way too many allowances for a film
that fails to arouse much emotion,
and in which I didn't ultimately
care a whit for the characters) I
think End of Days is much more
consistantly entertaining. And hey, personally I could take it or leave it, but the NY TIMES liked Stan Winston's Satan very much, and I enjoyed his nod to
Milton and Dante.
So, here's another nod if favor of
this film. Everythinig you said,
plus some.
-
Perspectives on a film can and do change. When I first saw GREMLINS (not counting my recollections of it as a kid) I thought it was schizophrenic and not terribly effective. But eventually I warmed up to it, and have come to appreciate its more satirical aspects. After giving SOUTH PARK a two-and-a-half star review, Roger Ebert later admitted that he'd probably been too hard on it. I was entertained by BATMAN FOREVER the first time I saw it, and it becomes more underwhelming each time I see it again.
-
Harry, when you posted your original review of End of Days, was that with the original ending or the new one? Personally I didnt think the ending was all that bad, although I think if he kicked Satan's ass it wouldve been cooler.
-
Austin is a well known liberal town that has little room for anyhing outside of it's own soup-of-the-day beliefs.
Not cranking on you or your town, but the response to the movie doesn't surprise me.
Outside of liberal hotbeds, there are plenty of us who have deep seeded beliefs in God, the ceator, whatever you want to call it. We take abuse from those who oppose us in stride, because what they have to say really doesn't matter to us in the end.
Like sponges, they've soaked in whatever the current wisdom that gets spewed at them by the TV, radio or books. If they would just take a hard look at their own belief system, they would see the huge fundamental holes that destroy the logic behind their own arguments. You can't get to B if you never had an A.
I'm not trying to start a debate over our different opinions, but isn't it about time for tolerant liberals, to start becoming tolerant of other's beliefs. I'm willing to let a person to decide for themselves amd leave it at that. In reality their camp is no different than those that came before them. They just where different colors and use different adjective and adverbs to describe the same things. Life is a circle. -
Saw the movie yesterdaz and, hey, I think it was quite good. Not the best of Arnold's movies, but definetely no flunk. I don't understand the fuss people make about the religious issues. This is supposed to be a movie, okay? No one intended to convert you guys to catholicism and absolutely no one statet that the Devil truly exists, outside this movie reality, of course. So, what the hell? Thinking about realism? Man, do you guys think about realism with Star Wars? You thinkin, whether or not a Jar Jar is realistic? Or Hyperspace engines? Or about the feasibility of light sabres? Do you really believe George Lucas wants us to convert to believing in the force, since it is such an issue in all his movies? You guys pondering the realism of The Rock? Or Air Force One, even? Then you take some fun outta the movies, you guys. If you go there, just expecting a nice little, none too bad action movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger, then End of Days is actually quite good. And if you look with the magnifier onto the story, trying to find illogical parts, then you'll find them, of course. But thats no different with almost every other movie. The question is : Is the movie fun to watch? And I definetly thought so... than of course... I saw the dubbed version - and the guy speaking Arnold is fairly gifted - and it eradicates any trace of Austrian Accent, which helps making certain scenes WAY more credible. So long. Don't take this stuff too serious. Its just a movie, after all. And short of the Matrix this year, one of the better Action flicks (just (shudder) think about (brrrrr) Deep Blue Sea, for instance....
-
To answer your questions Harry, a very loud YES!! The supernatural elements were the worst aspects of all three Indiana Jones films. It was a shame to see such a great character in plots mucked up with so much voodoo (literally, in the case of Temple of Doom!).
-
Hallelujah! (Pardon the irresistable urge to indulge in a religious pun - could be Satan has possessed me) A sensible End of Days review! Of course it's bloody fiction guys. There is such a thing as too much thinking and while I am all for cerebral cinema, I do now and then, enjoy a fantasy ride and End of Days delivers on that score.
I really dug it - and don't feel the need to go to church this weekend. -
2 1/2 Jahre ist es her, das wir Arnie das letzte mal auf der Leinwand sahen. 2 1/2 Jahre und dann das, Arnie allein in seiner ziemlich sch
-
I have to disagree with you, Harry. I didn't dislike the film based on the religious element, I disliked it cause it was a stupid film, pulling elements from ALL Ahnulds other movies and ALL the other movies of the same genre.
I mean, while he was contemplating 1999 on the tree of woe... Uh, sorry, he was crucified on a fire escape, every single person in New York(except him, the girl and the priests)were busy inviting Satan into their lives. EVERYONE!
I started laughing about ten minutes into the film (with the leftover chinese food and beer power drink) and didn't stop until the end. Not only was it predictable and silly (Church pews exploding, roof caving in and... Here comes the CG!) it was predictable and silly (Satan is so offended by some punk telling him to fuck off that he kills him? Please). I came very close to walking out, but I just had to see if the sword that featured so prominently in those last twenty minutes would slay Ahnuld or the beast. I guess it did both. -
Well just got done seeing EOD's, and well, it was poor. My expectations were low to begin with and that's why I waited a while to see it. For instance, it's OK to have a mediocre plot in an action movie, but you kind of need to feel comfortable that the screenwriter(Andrew something-or-other} knows his subject matter, and he didn't. It was just bad writing. Arnold sucks as a depressed alcoholic. He is only good when he's an arrogant wise- ass. He doesn't have the dramatic depth to play that kind of "I feel sorry for myself" character. As for the devil, well. A Satan that thinks T-shirts depicting his image are "cool" is not an engaging beast. Nevermind Arnie, hope you have better luck with "The Sixth Day".
-
Well-Harry was right. End Of Days did slump in its second weekend. It grossed a dissmal 9.6 mill Dec. 3rd-5th. It looks now to conclude with about 60-65 mill. Woh!
-
This is one of the best Arnold movies that have come down the pike in quite awhile. I liked it better than True Lies. Finally Arnold plays a character straight, without all those distracting, corny, out of place one-liners that ruin alot of his movies. The only people I know that haven't liked the film are people who are border-line bigots toward anything Catholic. Suprisingly, despite the fantastic elements, religion was treated with respect in this movie in a way that didn't distract. The movie presented a premise, stuck to it, and gave Arnold plenty of room to blow things up. The supporting characters were all quite good, adding to the movie, and allowing Arnold to play it straight. Hey, it's just a movie, but one worth seeing. Beats the hell(no pun intended) out of the new Bond flick.
-
What a pathetic movie. Pollack and Byrne did some decent acting. The rest were horrible. How about trying to write a decent story next time? It is hard to believe anyone gave this movie a good review. That speaks volumes for anyone who gave this movie more than a 3 on AICN's 1 to 10 scale. A total waste of money and an insult to the viewer's intelligence.
-
The problem with this movie, no matter how far out it is, is that it deals with issues you actually need actors to make it work, to make it believable. Well, Arnie is not the actor for this movie. The reason is: He opens his mouth too often. Arnie is great doing the Commando, Terminator parts etc, but his acting skills suck and therefore so does this movie. It had good parts, but it doesn't help when you couldn't care less if Satan took over this world or not. Nice try, though.
-
I cannot believe noone has brought up what an absolute disaster of an awful movie EOD was. But this is not the bad thing. No.....remember that film Usual Suspects?? Gee....that was a cool film, wasn't it? There were some excellent lines in that script. Wasn't one of them, by that Spacey guy, about the devil? Yeah...that was cool. And so, let me ask, WHAT THE FUCK WAS ANDREW MARLOWE THINKING WHEN HE PUT THAT GODDAMN LINE IN A FILM!?!?!?!?!? DO YOU KNOW ANYONE ON THIS PLANET THAT WOULD NOT RECOGNISE THAT LINE? GEE, WHERE HAVE WE HEARD THAT ONE BEFORE?? I'm sorry, but End of Days makes Eraser look like they had Orson Welles onboard. It was easily one of the worst films I think I have seen this year. Mulan was a festival compared to this globule of pus. And it wasn't the "religious bullshit" that bothered me. Are you kidding? Did anyone even pay any attention to the religious side of this movie at all? It was so irretrievably awful, I felt sorry for the fuckin catholics. Fuck satan or the antichrist. They had to act in this bloody film! The fact that people were laughing out loud is the only thing I enjoyed. A dude spat out his drink at the "greatest trick the devil ever pulled" line. People nearly cried in the "christ in New York" line. The idea that the catholic church are saviours did not even rear its head. The movie was too busy setting arnold's best friend aflame twice, impaling the star on a sword against a ashen CGI bat-demon(which, I'm sorry, but watch the fuckin lab scene in ID4), and making Gabriel Byrne act out a grovelling bastard of a role that steals all its charm from an immeasurably better Pacino. The editing, as most people said outside, was some of the worst ever witnessed on a screen, and the script made Police Academy 6 look like the Shawshank Redemption. In it's most basic form, which is often, EOD has one, superior message: Andrew Marlowe, and Peter Hyams should be crucified for a couple of days, and then shot in both eyes. Go to Hell.
-
I cannot believe noone has brought up what an absolute disaster of an awful movie EOD was. But this is not the bad thing. No.....remember that film Usual Suspects?? Gee....that was a cool film, wasn't it? There were some excellent lines in that script. Wasn't one of them, by that Spacey guy, about the devil? Yeah...that was cool. And so, let me ask, WHAT THE FUCK WAS ANDREW MARLOWE THINKING WHEN HE PUT THAT GODDAMN LINE IN A FILM!?!?!?!?!? DO YOU KNOW ANYONE ON THIS PLANET THAT WOULD NOT RECOGNISE THAT LINE? GEE, WHERE HAVE WE HEARD THAT ONE BEFORE?? I'm sorry, but End of Days makes Eraser look like they had Orson Welles onboard. It was easily one of the worst films I think I have seen this year. Mulan was a festival compared to this globule of pus. And it wasn't the "religious bullshit" that bothered me. Are you kidding? Did anyone even pay any attention to the religious side of this movie at all? It was so irretrievably awful, I felt sorry for the fuckin catholics. Fuck satan or the antichrist. They had to act in this bloody film! The fact that people were laughing out loud is the only thing I enjoyed. A dude spat out his drink at the "greatest trick the devil ever pulled" line. People nearly cried in the "christ in New York" line. The idea that the catholic church are saviours did not even rear its head. The movie was too busy setting arnold's best friend aflame twice, impaling the star on a sword against a ashen CGI bat-demon(which, I'm sorry, but watch the fuckin lab scene in ID4), and making Gabriel Byrne act out a grovelling bastard of a role that steals all its charm from an immeasurably better Pacino. The editing, as most people said outside, was some of the worst ever witnessed on a screen, and the script made Police Academy 6 look like the Shawshank Redemption. In it's most basic form, which is often, EOD has one, superior message: Andrew Marlowe, and Peter Hyams should be crucified for a couple of days, and then shot in both eyes. Go to Hell.
-
I think it would be a far stretch of the imagination to believe that this movie is scripture based. The end of the world will come soon. Take a moment to read Romans chapter one, and ask yourself if just about all the puzzle pieces are in place. I don't necessarily believe it will happen with the coming of the new millenium, but it will happen soon. Jesus says that no man will no the hour, but, maybe the season. He also says that not even the angels know the time. It worries me that there is so little faith left, but here again is something that must happen in order for the end to come. As a matter of fact the only way to possibly delay the end would be for more people to turn to God instead of away.
-
You said in your review that in End of Days, there was an 18 year old virgin that Satan has to boink, but she is actually 20 years old, since she was born in 1979.
Just thought that you might want to know... -
I enjoyed it, and it had a different type of ending. Arnie played a bit harder of a character. Movie was poorly written tho. In the movie Satan says "I didn't want to kill you" but never explains why or why he doesn't just kill him. Oh well.
-
A movie reviewer that doesn't hate all movies!This is a Goddamn miracle.I have faith now that some immpossible things may be true.
-
if you are living like there is no God dear one, you better be right.
-
Amazingly, this review was pretty much on the mark. Simply put, we have to regard movies like this along the equal footing like a fantasy genre or something. But equally amazing is that there are many folks out there who don't like this movie due to the religious overtone - silly of course, probably even bigoted. Of course the real weakness of the movie is that unbelievably that Satan is so weak that he can be defeated by a mere mortal. But Arnold is rather soulless so I guess if anyone can do it, its Arnold. Personally, I like the movie and thought its merits outweight the debits.
-
Absolute crap!!!! I think it would have been a better movie if they stuck to the Bible. I can't believe you actually saw this movie three times Harry. if you can't end a movie properly, don't even give me the action crap! It started out promising enough, but just like every crappy formulated movie these days, I knew I was in for a let down. They should have dispensed with any type of humor alltogether(Satan and Arnold) and just made a good dark apocolyptic film...I thhink Independence day has ruined movies for all time. If you keep feeding the audience crap, they are going to develop a taste for it. Let's try to use film to get people thinking again instead of just feeding the idiots what they are used to. To see a good ending, go see Green Mile.
-
Mr. Smug Twat
If God is what you say he is, your ability to comprehend him is somewhat less than the ability of a labrador to understand the poetry of Baudelaire. Answers on a $10 bill marked 'for the needy Churches, c/o Banco Embezzlo, Zurich' -
He was the only reason that i whent to see this movie, and I think that he was the only one that did not make a total fool of him self. I like him like that.
but I tan't say the same for Arnold, his dialogs was jost as bad in this movie as in the Batman one. -
What??!!?? Red Heat was one of Arnold's middle of the road movies? What were you smoking that day??
Red Heat had a decent story line, great cast members that he couldn't overshadow, and the classic short appearance of a female cast member, Gina Gershon, who would later go on to make a name for herself in cinema ala Sharon Stone, who also made a few short appearances eventually winding up to be the corpse that the main charater(s) must avenge.
And the movie actually manages (somewhat) to work his accent in as an aspect of the character that he is portraying. And I think Belushi does make fun of the accent at some point in the movie if I remember correctly.
I put this movie up there as one of Arnold's best films. It is at least as good as Predator. -
When I first heard of EOD I was pretty excited. I expected to see a kick-ass Apocalypse-in-New-York movie, loaded with CG effects, burning gothic churches, showers of heavenly fire and angels hurling spears through the canyons of skyscrapers like holy sidewinders. Not because I believe in such things, but because it would make a darn cool movie. Pretty much same way I don
-
First, please do not put this movie in the same paragraph with Rosemary
-
Nobody has much of a problem with the Old Testament stories about the Ark, and Moses and so on. For one thing, Jews, Christians and Muslims all believe in it, and give nods of the hat to the old prophets. And it doesn't give rise to the same "weirdness" issues you find in Revelations. Let's face it, Moses parting the Red Sea is great stuff for films. Heston gets up there and does his thing, and the sea parts, and he makes some speach. Wow. Now Heston attacking the Whore of Babylon while riding a nine-eyed goat who's talking backwards about seven seals--that's another story! Even after all these centuries, Revelations is some really, really, really weird shit. As far as the "Catholic" issues--if the shit ever does hit the fan, are you going to "talk things over" with the Lutheran pastor, or are you gonna get your ass down to a real Catholic priest?
-
I am always surprised at the "public trough" mentality towards religion. Reading the accounts on this site of movie fans ripping religion by saying, "...nobody believes that crap anymore!" makes me wonder where they get their data. I am a religious man, but I don't attend Arnold films to get my weekly dose of metaphysics. Arnold is Arnold, full of violence and silly lines. Worship, regardless of who believes what or how many believe what, is a whole seperate kettle of fish. In this regard, Talk Back's review was very fair in its assessment of this film. He reveiwed the film on its merits, and lack of same. The subject matter called for a certain amount of the ever popular "Catholics vs Satan" disposition. This is not exactly virgin territory, pun intended, by the way. For some ninny who just forked over 8 bones to watch what he should know ahead of time to be a science fiction extravaganza, and then to pretend to know anything about the thoughts of the public at large regarding Christianity's viability, better he eat his Raisinets and shut his pie hole; BETTER HE HAD NEVER BEEN BORN!!! Sorry, I just couldn't resist that line...In any event, I really enjoyed that review, and I will continue to check out your future efforts. ~~~ Finn
-
The problem with this film was not the "religion", it was hardly an accurate representation of Catholism today. The problem with it was the the fact that it was boring. It was just Terminator 2 all over again:
1. Both have Arnie as the main hero.
2. In both he must save the life of a vulnerable child from evil.
3. This evil was a seemingly indestructable human form.
4. Arnie gains his humanity by helping this child.
5. Arnie and child form loving bond.
6. Arnie must break the bond by killing himself to save the child, and ensure the future of the human race.
We saw it all in T2. It was way better in T2. I got bored.
Rob
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