End of Days

1999 "Prepare for the end."
5.8| 2h1m| R| en| More Info
Released: 24 November 1999 Released
Producted By: Beacon Communications
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

On 28 December 1999, the citizens of New York City are getting ready for the turn of the millennium. However, Satan decides to crash the party by coming to the city and searching for his chosen bride — a 20-year-old woman named Christine York. The world will end, and the only hope lies within an atheist named Jericho Cane.

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eric262003 In this horror/action movie "End of Days", Arnold Schwarzenegger assumes the role of Jesus Christ only going incognito and under the name Jericho Cane as he procures his role as the saviour from the devil's wrath in the next thousand years. According to director Peter Hyams that this is the the most pro-religious film in cinematic history. It's also nifty that the greatest action film star ever has turned in his heavy ammunition in exchange for faith in God. With that said I asked myself, can Schwarzenegger be able to withstand this movie without his ammunition? The story pans out just like the traditional apocalyptic action films with as many recyclable elements from other films making this film lack in originality. We have the leading character Jericho Cane on the brink of suicide. The only thing that he cherishes comes in the manifestation of a ballerina musics box that once belonged to his daughter. Everyday he thinks of his wife and his daughter's deaths and has felt guilty about it being that he was hardly ever at home to spend time with them. Of course Hollywood will likely to rub that in our faces. Jericho has a chance redeem himself by trying to save the like of a young Christine York (Robin Tunney) from becoming the mother to the devil's child.Gabriel Byrne really is a scene chomper here as the epitome of Satan posing as a menacing businessman complete with an evil grimace. In reality Byrne is just a banker who's been possessed by the devil while in a restaurant bathroom. The evil entity makes residence in the poor soul's body and fulfills its wrath within him. One time he was a mild-mannered gentleman, but after leaving the bathroom, he comes out a different person as he purposefully grabs a woman's breast, then proceeds to kiss her, most may call it rape, but she doesn't seem to mind. It may not be categorized as a personification of evil, but knowing the scriptwriters behind this film, they may tell you a different story.It turns out that Satan's mating ritual with Christine must emanate before New Year's Eve of 1999 and that Christine's future is at stake. In one of the more macabre scenes in "End of Days", newborn Christine was abducted from the maternity ward to the morgue was injected with snake's blood while Satan's followers started chiming evil prayers in Latin. Since then she has been watched over a guardian named Mabel (Miriam Margolyes). At least she can strike the at the most untouchable Schwarzenegger when the action get rough.This movie seems to touch upon ancient mysticism with a very convoluted logic to it, which is interesting in itself. However, it still an action film top priority and doomsday and conspiracy theories which raise philosophical possibilities is just an after thought. We all in the end just came for the mindless shootings, beatings and chases. Hell one character rips out his tongue, puts it in a jar and gets nailed to the ceiling of the hospital room. This helps Jericho solidify what he's up against.Alongside Kevin Pollak as his one-liner induced sidekick, Bobby Chicago, Schwarzenegger can overcome the religious barriers and spew out a rather mean-spirited quip due partially because he is an atheist. After a two year hiatus from that God-awful 1997 "Batman and Robin" he seems trimmed down and has stepped up his ante a bit in the action scenes, but the implausible script is the elephant in the room that's hold him and the others back from their potential. It's unconvincing to see Schwarzenegger dangling one-handed from a skyscraper. With the whole new millennium coming at the time, there's really no intensity with the exception of a few billboards indicating Y2K. I just wish they emphasized it a bit more.
Leofwine_draca After the relative quiet patch of the mid '90s, Arnie is finally back on form in this apocalyptic thriller. Aside from all the comedies he made (which I'm frankly not interested in and have no wish to see), the three recent films he has made have been rather disappointing: TRUE LIES and ERASER had fine action and special effects, but both films were shallow and not serious enough. And the less said about BATMAN AND ROBIN the better. Still, END OF DAYS is a wonderfully fun film in which the horror and action genres are skilfully combined by veteran Peter Hyams (OUTLAND).Sure, the critics might have hated it, but they hate all of Arnie's films anyway and never give him any scope for success. I expected a lot from this film and I got it: fine acting, good special effects, exciting action sequences, and there was even more besides, as the film raises some interesting questions on the likes of God and the Devil. Thankfully these ideas never get in the way of the frenetic action, and the second half of this film becomes a cat and mouse thriller, one of my very favourite types of film.Having been away for over two years due to his heart operation, Arnie is finally back on our screens and shows us once again how he has matured as an actor. From simply being an expressionless muscle-bound hulk in stuff like THE TERMINATOR, he gradually developed a likable persona, who delivered some trademark quips and one-liners, and now finally he accepts his most challenging role to date: a complex, downtrodden character, on the verge of suicide and grieving the death of his wife and child. Yes folks, Arnie cries. Aside from his well-drawn character, Arnie also shows us that he is still more than capable of carrying the action scenes, too old? No way.The actor is well supported by comic sidekick Kevin Pollack, who is not bad in a relief role, and also Gabriel Byrne as Satan himself. Byrne injects just the right amount of charisma, impish charm and evil into his character, so Satan is a memorable guy in this film. Robin Tunney (THE CRAFT) is thankfully given little screen time as the film's heroine, so she comes off well, as a girl who both knows what's going on and yet refuses to accept it. There is a totally gratuitous nude scene of her character though, so be warned. Further down in the cast is exploitation favourite Udo Kier, one again playing a bad guy and meeting a sticky end, Rod Steiger who makes a believable and amusing priest, and Miriam Margoyles, who surprisingly beats up Arnie's character in one scene before being thrown through a coffee table.Aside from the many horror elements (a stigmata victim, a man who is nailed to a ceiling, Latin writings which foretell of death and destruction) there is a plentiful helping of gore, as many Satanist thugs are dispatched by Arnie's character, Satan burns, rips out the heart of, and kills people who stand in his way. The special effects are mainly of the pyrotechnic variety, although we do get a few sequences of Satan regenerating himself after being harmed. Stan Winston's CGI winged demon at the end of the film is impressive too, especially as it is only shown briefly which makes more impact on the viewer.The action sequences are well staged and very exciting, from a huge fight in a house where Tunney is besieged by homicidal Vatican priests, to the climatic fight on a train which culminates in a huge explosion. The best moment comes when Arnie fends off a huge gang of street thugs, breaking and hitting them until he finally succumbs. Yes, Arnie does take a huge beating in this film, he even needs stitches and comes across much more vulnerable than the typical action persona he plays, immune to bullets and other weapons. END OF DAYS is a great (if generic) slice of entertainment, and should be shown to Arnie fans, horror movie buffs and action aficionados alike.
bazmitch23 This movie tries to combine religion mixed with an Arnold action film, but the two don't mix. They just don't. An Arnold movie is supposed to be full of one liners, action scenes and Arnold being Arnold. A religious film is supposed to be clever. We have really stupid dialogue and clichéd action scenes. Satan himself is incredibly stupid. He knows about the guard being a pedophile and Jerico's wife and daughter being killed, yet he does not know the location of where Christine is.Well, if he did, we wouldn't have a movie would we? And for some stupid reason, he doesn't kill Jerico when he crucifies him. He doesn't even hammer nails through his wrists and feet.But he can't do that, cos you can't kill Arnold. He's the hero. He has to save the world.We have some pretty bad special effects. The scene where the Albino smashes into pieces looks like a PS1 game and the scene where Satan makes love to the woman and her daughter and they morph together like a Bosch painting looks unconvincing. However, Satan himself looks okay and the scene where the Church is being destroys looks good. I actually thought they built a giant church set and destroyed it all, but it was a miniature. Fooled me.Gabriel Byrne struggles with his New York accent, to the point where he gives up and does his own Dublin accent. By the way, the scene where Satan takes over Gabriel's body, he walks out of the toilet, kisses a woman and then leaves the restaurant. We then cut to inside the restaurant where we have the woman reacting to something. We then cut to outside the restaurant as it explodes. What, did Satan put an explosive inside the woman when he kissed her? Although full of flaws, I actually liked the film. I thought it was fun. I liked Arnold being Arnold, Gabriel Byrne has fun as Satan and the scene where Miriam Margoyles kicks Arnold's ass was funny.I loved the finale in the church. I thought that scene was really effective. This film came out the same year as Stigmata which also starred Gabriel Byrne. And this film features a scene with Stigmata in it. This film also came out the same year as Dogma, which although was a silly comedy, it was actually quite clever. Kevin Smith is a religious nut and it shows in his dialogue. Between those three films, I prefer Dogma. At least it knew how to be clever in it's religion topics. The whole "The number of the Beast is not 666. When viewed upside down it is 999, like in 1999, the year of his return" was just..........................., I'm no expert on religion, but................... really? I know you have to come with a reason for the world ending in the year 2000, but...... I dunno. I heard that Satan comes back every 999 years. I dunno. But then again, as stupid as it sounds, it IS only a movie after all. If you're expecting a clever religious film, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for Arnold fighting the devil, this is it.
kols Always been one of my favorite Schwartz movies and I've always wondered why. At best, it's a piece of meaningless fluff adding nothing to the cannon of any of it's genres (action, horror, Satan looking for an excuse for some fun). And, in many ways, it doesn't really make a lot of sense.Nor should it - it's an action movie. Except for their internal logic, no action movies make sense. The point is to get on the roller coaster and enjoy the ride.And that's where I finally figured it out - for me, at least, this is an iconic roller coaster ride. Just watched it on MAX and was a little shocked at how good an action movie it is; everything just worked, even the most ridiculous bends in physical reality (which, after all, are signature to the genre).For me, the movie just flowed, beginning to end, aided by one feature that it does not share with many movies, regardless of genre. It uses dialog only when absolutely necessary. For me, this is what raises it to the level of 'favorite'. I've always regarded film as a visual media and The End of Days tells it story visually, the script is secondary. This, by itself, endears me.All movies require some degree of Suspension of Disbelief and The End of Days is no exception but, given the usual Suspension given to action movies, it becomes a virtually flawless example of its kind and a hell of a good roller coaster ride.Likes and dislikes being what they are and being tied exclusively to the individual doing the liking or disliking, I'd simply recommend 'give it a try' within the parameters demanded by its genre. You might be surprised.