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489 comments in total

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41 out of 47 people found the following comment useful :-
It's AH-NULD VS. SATAN in the match of the century., 14 March 2004

Author: Scott LeBrun from Winnipeg, Canada

On the eve of the millennium, Satan arrives in NYC, takes over the body of an unidentified New Yorker (Gabriel Byrne) and sets out to find the young woman (Robin Tunney) who's destined to be the poor sap whom he must impregnate in order to bring about the destruction of Earth. However, AH-NULD is in his way, as miserable, alcoholic ex-cop Jericho Cane, who stopped 'believing' when his family was murdered by crooked cops.

I guess this is what you get when you want to mate a contemporary religious horror thriller with a typical Schwarzenegger action spectacle. This movie is quite loud, over-the-top, silly, and ridiculous - I don't think the film-makers really took themselves seriously - but I did find it to be entertaining. It certainly does have a lot of energy, and good performances by AH-NULD (believe it or not!), Byrne, Tunney, CCH Pounder (a criminally underused actress, in my opinion) and Rod Steiger, playing a priest 20 years after he played one in "The Amityville Horror". Packed with flamboyant special effects, this movie is obviously not out to scare anyone but to provide them with a goofy sort of diversion. Highlight is the battle in the subway system.

I'll admit that I do like it; it's a guilty pleasure, to be sure.

7/10

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32 out of 34 people found the following comment useful :-
Darker than your average action film, 19 November 2005

Author: ExpendableMan from United Kingdom

Hyped to the heavens when it first came out as Schwarzenegger's comeback movie, this 1999 film steers the Governor away from his attempts at comedy and collaborations with Danny Devito and back into the sort of action packed carnage that made his name in the first place. However, where the likes of Commando had him portraying invincible supermen with a neat array of guns and one liners to hand, End of Days is considerably darker.

Set in New York on the eve of Millennium, the film shows a version of the Austrian Oak previously never witnessed. He plays Jericho Cane, an alcoholic ex-Cop in charge of a security squad who finds himself embroiled in a battle to save a young girl (Robin Tunney) from being raped by the devil (a sadly, rather ineffective Gabriel Byrne) and bringing about Armageddon. As you do.

Cane himself is not the best sort of man for saving all creation either. He is mired in deep depression, has abandoned any faith in God he may have once had and when we first see him, is contemplating suicide. However, saving the girl gives him a drive and determination even when faced with some conflicting views from the Catholic Church about how best to go about this. All of this takes place in a very grim and gritty vision of New York where the rain never stops falling, urban decay is rife and pillars of steam rise from manhole covers. It is a fitting location for the end of all creation to begin and cast a dark veil over the flick.

Of course, that isn't to say the film is all doom and gloom as there are a few glimpses of just how seriously the makers weren't taking their project (the argument between Arnold and Kevin Pollack in the former's apartment is hilarious). Plus, while the story and characters are all developed to match the atmosphere of impending dread during the first hour and a half, the last twenty minutes are made up of the kind of explosive action that strangely doesn't jar against the grimmer nature of the rest of the film, though the CGI devil at the climax is pushing it a little.

All in all, an enjoyable romp for fans of the Governator before his attention was diverted by a political career. It compares well to his classic eighties work by trying to do something different and while it may not gel properly in places, for a good 80% of the running time it does a very entertaining job.

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35 out of 51 people found the following comment useful :-
Arnie vs. Satan, 18 December 2005

Author: MovieAddict2009 from UK

Arnold peaked at the end of the '90s, I guess. He's battled Terminators, Greek gods, bears, alligators, planes, and macho men in fish net clothing. The only choice left is, of course, Satan. So they put together a movie about Satan and gave Arnie the lead.

I think everyone working on this thought it would be much better than it actually is. The script was in development for years and Arnie fought to get it made. It's kind of unfortunate because Arnold gives a fairly decent performance in a film muddled with clichés. Of course, it's hard enough to buy a guy with a body like Arnold being a slob who drinks beer and pizza smoothees for breakfast. Getting someone like Jim Belushi might have seemed more realistic.

Apart from the physicality, Arnold's performance is fine. He cries. He does the emotion scenes well enough - at least well enough to find bearable.

It's the direction that ruins this movie. Peter Hyams is a terrible director and has ruined some very unique films in the past (his most notorious butchering in my opinion was of a 1983 Michael Douglas film called "The Star Chamber" - great premise, awful directing).

"End of Days" is like "Exorcist" meets every supernatural thriller ever made. On top of that, Gabriel Byrne should be more menacing. Robin Tunney should be less butch-looking. The direction shouldn't feel like some low-grade TV commercial - all style, no substance.

Is the movie terrible? No. It's not as bad as everyone made it out to be. But it's pretty much the definition of "mediocre." Do I own it on DVD? Hell yeah. It's an Arnold movie - it's an automatic must-buy. But if you're not a fan of Arnie, I wouldn't recommend it - at all. It pretty much feels like any average made-for-TV scary-flick - with even worse direction.

The only other good aspect of this film was that it brought Axl Rose out of seclusion to record his first original song in seven years with a new incarnation of Guns N' Roses. The song, "Oh My God," didn't do too well with the critics. A bit of a shame, really. I dug it. It also fits the industrial, edgy tone of the film.

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28 out of 43 people found the following comment useful :-
Jumps back and forth from logic-free concepts to formulaic action. **1/2 (out of four), 21 February 2001

Author: Blake French (baffilmcritic@cs.com) from USA

END OF DAYS / (1999) **1/2 (out of four)

By Blake French:

"End of Days" is the first movie to seriously argue that "666" the numerical sign of the devil, is actually a 999 upside-down. Since the film was first released in 1999, the movie could not resist to throw in that little contrivance. What can you expect from a movie when its premise is based on the concept that once every thousand years if Satan impregnates a woman during the hour from 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. on the last day of the millennium, she will give birth to the anti-Christ who will bring the world to an end? I am already thinking that the movie is vulnerable to logic (is the time given in Eastern Standard?) and it will make its own limitations at the convenience of plot. "End of Days" is particularly graphic in its use of violence, but never really scares us, even with such a horrifying premise like the end of humanity.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has not made a good movie in a long time. First "Jingle all the Way," then "Batman & Robin," now we have a movie that bounces back and forth between action and concept. There are the standard "action movie scenes," where a person sways from a helicopter in mid air, where a chase scene takes place at incredible heights, where someone grasps to a high window ledge, where a subway train crashes, where a massive fire erupts in Manhattan, and so on. There are also the false shocko moments followed with a sudden burst of loud, startling music: the its just a cat scene, its just another cop scene, its just a dream scene, its just your imagination scene, he's not really dead scene, and its just maggots suddenly growing out of an apple scene. The movie is also bound by philosophy. The action is focused towards Schwarzenegger saving the world, but he cannot do that all by himself, can he? Sure he can, if he can stop Satan (Gabriel Bryne), from impregnating Christine (Robin Tunney), who was born under the religious sign of a passing comet -- and based on her birth twenty years earlier during the sighting of that comet – is the chosen mother of Satan's child.

"End of Days" begins with an intriguing, although plausible, premise. The bizarre events that transpire a few days before the end of the millennium immediately inspire our curiosity. The action sequences are also fine, intensified by thrilling music and a fast paced style. The movie opens on a good note, and the remainder of the action sequences are also quite exciting. The scenes also inspire a few questions. Satan kills many people in this movie, people just like the hero, so why doesn't he just finish Arnold Schwarzenegger off like he does with so many other characters. On the other side, Schwarzenegger shoots the devil, who pulls his shirt up so we can see the bullet holes immediately healing. When using a machine-gun, the ammunition flings the Prince of Darkness backward and puts him down before he attacks again. There are simply no rules to abide by here.

"End of Days" does not have a whole lot of explanation; it plays sort of like your run of the mill action picture with the gimmick of the week. There just is not a lot of true involvement or engagement after the premise. We do care about Arnold Swarzzenegger's character, and Gabrial Bryne is an especially convincing Satan. He is devilish, with fiendish appeal, proving that tranquillity is the most terrifying evil. Al Pachino did an equally diabolical job in "The Devils Advocate," but Bryne is even more terrifying. Robin Tunney has nothing to do but exchange shameless subtext with Schwarzenegger's character. ("You're better than everyone else, just remember that." "I don't want to be better or worse, I just want to be normal.") She is more of a plot device than an actual character.

Excellent convincing set designs appear frequently, especially near the end where the characters wander through dark chambers and dim hallways. Cinematography also adds a nice touch to the suspenseful, mysterious atmosphere, all done by the movie's director, Peter Hyams ("The Relic"). It is too bad such good filmmaking does not have a story fit enough to back it up. One more thing I just have to mention: Why do the cops always show up at the end of the movie, after the action is over. I am getting very tired of that.

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22 out of 32 people found the following comment useful :-
End of Intelligence, 23 September 2006

Author: dunmore_ego from Los Angeles, California

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Arnold fans will holler in joy, fans of brainless action will holler in astonishment, and Catholics will just holler.

Illogically written by Andrew W. Marlowe and ham-handedly directed by Peter Hyams, *End of Days* gets The Terminator out of his open-backed hospital gown (Arnold Schwarzenegger's return to the big screen after his heart operation), whilst blowing things up in Mysterious Ways and blaspheming Biblical verse to give Catholics something more to whine about.

It is 1999 and doom-sayers the world over live in trepidation of their computers going fritz and losing their downloaded porn. Even as the technological stank of Y2K muttons the New York streets, ex-cop turned alcoholic security guard, Jericho Cane (Schwarzenegger, with the perfunctory "dead-wife-and-kid" back-story for Loose Cannon effect), must brave theological waters to save 20-year-old virgin Christine (Robin Tunney) from being conscripted as – wait for it – The Bride of Satan. Dun dah daaaarrrh! Stupidity ensues.

For every anti-hero, there is his anti-Christ. Gabriel Byrne is the devil here – and he's out to party like it's 1999, on a mission to impregnate Christine with the Anti-Christ between 11 pm and 12 midnight, December 31, 1999 – ironically, in the hour that all porn will be lost – thereby bringing about the End of Days. Being able to read minds, conjure hallucinations and employ limitless magic, it doesn't occur to Satan to expedite the impregnation process by appearing months in advance and courting Christine as a teen model and then closing the panty raid easily at the appointed time; instead, he appears on December 28th like a Keyser Soze Terminator and wonders why she doesn't welcome him with open thighs… (See above comment re: stupidity.) Here is a movie where nothing makes sense the moment it is uttered, let alone after contemplating its veracity or mythology. A priest (Rod Steiger) tells Jericho that '666' is really '999' upside down with a '1' in front of it. So wait - *Prince* is the Anti-Christ?

Satan Soze pursues Jericho and Christine (J and C – get it?) around town, at no point doing anything which would actually precipitate their capture. In one scene, Satan recreates Jericho's wife and child to tempt him into revealing where he hid Christine. But if he can see so deeply into Jericho's mind in recreating his family with enough nuance to inspire nostalgia, why can't he see where Jericho hid Christine not ten minutes ago?

Satan can make an assassin talk without a tongue, yet he can't make that assassin unjam a semi-automatic weapon. And when Jericho shoots Satan at point blank range, Satan is courteous enough to open his shirt to reveal the wounds closing, so Jericho won't worry unduly about Satan's health - not sanitary to go about with open bullet wounds… Matter of fact, instead of simply possessing Jericho himself to get close to Christine and rape her, Satan expends so much unnecessary energy on side-projects (crucifying the tongue-less guy, blowing up Jericho's partner (Kevin Pollak) and then saving him, and then blowing him up again, ridiculously battling Jericho when he could snuff him out with the effort of thought) that we wonder whether a more efficient assassin/lover shouldn't be put on the case – say, Antonio Banderas.

What I find most precious about *End of Days* is Arnold's valiant attempts at The Method: "sad" means scrunching up his eyes and not blurting out anything in a foreign accent; "depressed" means raising a bottle to his lips and not blurting out anything in a foreign accent; "deathly scared" means widening his eyes and not blurting out anything in a foreign accent. There's definitely a pattern here, if we could only decipher it.

In the end, the devil is dispatched not by the holy men whom Catholics pray to for deliverance from apocalypses such as these, but from the atheist Jericho. While the timid men of an impotent god exhort "faith" and quiver in their cells doing nothing about Satan actually walking amongst them, the Prince of Darkness is thwarted by a nullifidian with a big gun and a foreign accent. Which clearly says something that Catholics blindly refuse to hear: that even if the Devil were to exist, those who have been indoctrinated to unconditionally and irrationally fear him would be unable to conjure a belief in his downfall, let alone act towards it. Further, they might not truly WANT him defeated, for only through his contrary polarity does their god's existence become tenable.

For it is written in the Book of Revelations: "And the Prince of Darkness shall descendeth upon the Earth without any solid game plan, and impregnate a virgin on a date which won't have any significance until the Gregorian Calendar of the 1500s adopts the day numbering which will put it in sync with the equinoxes and the Anno Domine syntax which will annoy sensible people for millennia, by which time, Christians will have forgotten Christ's actual birth date and appropriated the pagan Saturnalia festival in its stead. And the Prince shall effect a Revolution through tight purple pants and ambiguously-lesbian band members…" I can believe the people being drained of blood and crucified, and the alcoholic built like a Mr. Universe; I can believe that a giant, supernatural monster can't kill a guy armed only with a foreign accent; I can even believe that the devil needs to perform some hokey thirteenth century Celtic Druid ritual as foreplay - but what I cannot believe is the 20-year-old virgin in New York City in 1999.

Especially around Prince...

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20 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
One Of Arnold's Most Entertaining Movies, 2 June 2006

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

Despite the hokey theology and overdone action, I still enjoyed this film and found it to be astounding in certain parts, thanks to some incredible special- effects, at least when it came out in 1999. They still look pretty cool. I also enjoyed the nice visuals and excellent sound.

You just can't take the story seriously, but how many films can you, especially Arnold's wild movies? They are just there to be enjoyed, to get a couple of hours of escapism entertainment. Among the baloney, however, are a few profound statements of truth. Rod Steiger provides them as a priest in the film. Unfortunately, the devil (Gabriel Byrne) has some, too!

Overall, the story is very involving, so much so that it that at 125 minutes it can wear you. About 15 minutes of less action would have been best. One of Arnold's most entertaining movies.

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9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Arnold's Last Great Movie, 26 June 2006

Author: SFDarkMirror7 from United States

After "End Of Days" Arnold had not really made a hit. "The 6th Day" was a decent SCFI movie, but was a little too corny. "Collateral Damage" was also just a decent action movie, that suffered from some bad writing. Finally "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" was a pretty big letdown with way too much humor that just felt so forced.

"End of Days" is for sure his last great movie. "End of Days" takes place right around when 1999 was coming to an end and many people thought the world was too. Well in the film the Devil(Well played by Gabriel Byrne)must mate with a chosen woman who could bring the earth to an end. So, it's up to burned out cop Arnold to stop this plot from happening.

The movie has a very goofy story only teenagers would find brilliant, but the movie does have lots of big loud action,great performances,and is well directed by Peter Hyams(Sudden Death,A Sound Of Thunder).

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Arnie's back and the Devil's got him., 21 May 2002

Author: Chris Brown (chrisbrown6453@hotmail.com) from Fresno, CA USA

End of Days is the first movie Arnold Schwarzenegger had made since his heart surgery and he seems fine. You may have heard rumors that the big man tries acting this time out, but not to worry; his moments of soul searching and introspection are kept to a minimum. He does get crucified, however, which requires a bit of a stretch. Lots of firepower, violence, special effects and action deliver just what fans of the star want from a movie. As such, it is a relatively painless watch and delivers some goods. A few days before the millennium, earthquakes and subterranean fires hit New York. Relax...it's just the Devil arriving. He has come to town to meet his bride and to conceive a child, the antichrist. Biblical prophesies have warned that if the Devil has his way with a certain virgin between 11pm and midnight on New Year's Eve it will bring about the so-called "End of Days." Satan will be able to take control of the Universe away from God for the next thousand years. Jericho Cane, an alcoholic ex-cop now working in security, seems to be the only person in the tri-state area capable of saving mankind. Where is Mayor Giuliani when you need him? With Arnold on the case, who needs elected officials? Robin Tunney plays the spunky virgin in question who has been destined for this unholy union since birth. Kevin Pollack, as Jericho's mouthy sidekick, gets most of the funny lines. Gabriel Byrne adds a touch of class playing "The Man" who has devilishly taken over the body of a Wall Street banker. Great disguise, Lucifer! My favorite scene was the knock-down, drag-out fight Arnie has with rotund little Miriam Margolyes who plays one of the Devil's minions. Oh yea, and that awesome dinner scene when Lucifer grabs that womans..um…well, you'll see. Director Peter Hyams gets the big action set-pieces right and does his darndest to pass Los Angeles off as New York. That is actually the Times Square celebration of 1998/99 that we see at the moment of climax. No matter how hard they tried, downtown Los Angeles is not NYC.

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16 out of 28 people found the following comment useful :-
I Wonder What The Story Behind The Production Is ?, 8 December 2003

Author: Theo Robertson from Isle Of Bute, Scotland

Watching END OF DAYS I got the distinct impression this movie had problems in the early production stage . The story as revealed at the start of the film involves two sets of the clergy , one of which is trying to protect a young virgin from the clutches of Satan while the other set is trying to murder her so he won`t mate with her . So far so good , so why include the character of Jerico Cane , a burned out suicidal cop ? After all the story could have worked without his inclusion even though it may have been too similar to THE FINAL CONFLICT in feel and execution , but I still feel Cane didn`t have to be included while the role of the hero could easily have gone to a good guy priest . Worse still Jerico Cane is played by big Arnie which means through box office necessity ( ie box office bucks ) instead of END OF DAYS being a haunting supernatural drama it ends up being a supernatural action/adventure movie that doesn`t work . It should also be pointed out that Arnie doesn`t have the acting range to play a burned out sucidal cop . How about this as a casting premise: Anthony Hopkins plays a disillusioned priest trying to save Christine York from Satan . Doesn`t that sound a whole lot better ?

Not to be too negative the story is interesting in places , and I`m sure the first draft of the script was very moody and atmospheric until the screenplay was re-written to death . Gabriel Byrne plays Satan with the exact right mixture of charm and menace which leads me to believe he`d be the perfect choice as The Master if Hollywood ever make a big budget screen version of DOCTOR WHO . Peter Hyams direction while not perfect is far better than much of his work in recent years and does manage to inject a fair amount of mood into his work . But at the end of the day ( Pun intended ) this movie would have worked a lot better if we had an acting star instead of an action star as the hero

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the best..., 1 March 2003

Author: Mat Pinckney from London, England

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Arnold Schwarzenegger's comeback film, 'End of Days' absolutely made an impact on film that year. While watching it, I kept seeing images that stood out, and that I remembered (The Man (Gabriel Byrne) looking at Christine (Robin Tunney) in the car, Jericho (Schwarzenegger) looking around the reverend's home). This film is one of Arnold's most serious, most dramatic, and most dark. He plays the character of Jericho Cane extremely well (crying over his daughter's music box for eg.), and keeps his performance constant throughout. The ending of the film, *POSSIBLE SPOILER* where Jericho drops his weapon in favor of faith is hugely powerful, accompanied by the haunting choir music that is the film's background. *END SPOILER*

Kevin Pollack's character, Chicago, acts as light comic relief, but also gives some of the great lines in the film ("It's official. I'm never sleeping again"). He also provides a great performance in the more dark, serious parts of the film.

Robin Tunney is perfect as Christine York, with the character having a very vulnerable edge, and the relationship between her and Jericho forming an almost father-daughter relationship.

Finally, Gabriel Byrne's portrayal of the man is amazing. He gives the character a certain edge, which makes Satan seem almost accessible at times, but can quickly become terrifying in an instant.

The script is strong, and the special and visual effects are amazingly impressive.

9/10

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