The 6th Day: Special Edition

-Sony Pictures (2000)

Summary:

Not one, but two Arnolds fight to save the day from a greedy corporate guy that looks a lot like Bob Saget.

My Thoughts:

What makes a movie a "good" movie? I often ponder this question when I'm bashing a film such as Titanic, while lavishing the praises of a film like Logan's Run.  Mostly, I think what makes a film good or not is how enjoyable it is. A lot of how you find a film enjoyable depends on your expectations. The 6^th Day is a film that I like, yet I know that it's probably a crappy film for a lot of other people. I knew that going in, so I wasn't all that disappointed.

If you're any kind of fan of this site (and really who isn't?), you know I love my Arnold films. I know I wouldn't like The 6th Day if some lame-ass action actor like Steven Seagal would have been the star. I mean, it’s hard to resist a film that features Arnold much less one that features TWO Arnolds.  With this in mind, The 6th Day is pretty much a standard action adventure where stuff blows up and some people get killed. It isn't the best Schwarzenegger film ever made, but it is far from the worst. It's also got enough humor and interesting ideas about the future to keep you involved in the rather weak story.

The plot is fairly simple. Human cloning is illegal in the future, but there is of course one evil corporation that clones high profile clients for a huge profit. When the head honcho, played by actor Tony Goldwyn, is murdered by an anti-cloning extremist his company clones him and the victims that died with him in order to cover it all up. Unfortunately, there was a switch and they ended up with two Arnolds instead of one. This leads to chases, explosions, and lots of other fun stuff. Like remote control jets!

From the beginning, the film is funny, both intentionally and non-intentionally. In the beginning of The Sixth Day we are treated to a a pro-football game where a top level player is injured…for a XFL team. Yes, that XFL.  From there on, things like nacho flavored bananas help shape the world around Arnold. The best future device/invention that I have seen in any movie is in this film: the virtual, holographic, and sexually interactive girlfriend. It would be the greatest invention of all time, and should be worked on immediately. Scientists of the world unite!

The film's biggest flaw is that while it's good, it's never really gripping. It goes from good moment to good moment to okay to good again. It also tries to deal with the serious issues of morality and death, but they are in the context of an escapist action film that doesn't take itself seriously most of the time. By the end I found myself wishing that it would wrap up soon, which is never a good sign. This film is a great rental, but only a good buy if you love Mr. Schwarzenegger.

Extras:

The cupboard is pretty bare with this disc. You get an isolated musical score with commentary by Trevor Robin, the composer. This doesn't really appeal to me much, but maybe there are some music majors that might enjoy it.

A trailer for the film is included with a couple of other commercials…I mean trailers for other films.

There are the usual, bio/filmography talent files, which don't add a whole lot more than what you'd find on the internet. 

The best special feature is the Re-Pet commercials which appear in the film. They are entertaining and a nice bonus, but it would have been a better disc if there was more of this sort of thing.

Score:

Film: 7.0

Extras: 3.0

Edition: 4.0

-Paul