End of Days (1999)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

One of my all time favorites.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

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.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's career path changed in the 90's. He began branching out into comedies as the era of macho action faded. His success in that endeavor is a matter of opinion (I think Jingle All the Way was the best comedy he did). But in his filmography of the time is a stand-out, an action/horror movie that was less Predator and more Exorcist. End of Days was the End of Days for Arnie's acting career for about a decade as he focused more on politics and the movie itself was so critically panned that you can see why Arnold may have disappeared from Hollywood for a while. Perhaps he saw that his time was up and he should move on to trying new things. After all, one of the reasons we love Arnold so much is that he will try anything and isn't afraid to fail.And End of Days is a testament to that, I mishmash of genres and ideas that for all intents and purposes shouldn't work. There's a bit of The Exorcist mixed with Y2K conspiracies with a touch of The Mummy's brand of action/horror. There's a bizarre dynamic of typical cop films, Vatican drama, and over-the-top action. Arnold plays a sympathetic character,albeit a two dimensional one, who also happens to be a bad ass killing machine with little care for property damage or manslaughter charges. It's a film that is constantly morphing into something else, providing what turns out to be a good popcorn flick despite all the flaws.Arnold plays Jericho, the typical washed up cop whose family was killed by robbers. During a routine job he is pulled into a world of demons and holy men, a war between good and evil to prevent the end of days. Satan walks the Earth to have a child with a young woman and herald in the apocalypse on Y2K. The Vatican wants to kill the girl to prevent this, Jericho decides he wants to defeat Satan and save her. Thus he faces off with Satanists, members of the Vatican, and eventually takes on Satan himself.The movie is grungy and ugly in a way that compliments the plot. It reminded me a lot of the horror/action comic books of the time. The direction is pretty standard and to tell the truth, the majority of the film is pretty run-of-the-mill. The action is nonstop but none of it is original. The acting is typically pretty bad, though Arnie gives a decent performance by his standards and Gabriel Byrne is a ham as Satan. The only really bad performance was Robin Tunney as Christine, the woman meant to have the devil's child. She was a God-awful choice for a female co-star and even if Arnie isn't giving his charismatic best, he looks positively stellar beside Tunney.What I liked about the movie pretty much comes down to subject matter. I'm a sucker for this kind of religious horror film, especially if done in a more urban fantasy type way. I liked all the ideas presented even if they weren't cohesive enough to make the movie anything less than awkward. But as the definition of a "turn off your brain" film, it works.Another thing I want to point out is that the ending doesn't cop-out. With an ending like the one in the film most movies would go for some sort of ham-fisted plot device to present a happy ending. But instead, End of Days sticks to what happens and feels so much more refreshing for it.End of Days isn't a memorable movie, it arguably isn't even good. But it's a ton of fun and propelled by some silly performances and a script that moves at a breakneck pace. It's formulaic and does nothing new, it's not even scary to tell the truth. But there's a lot of entertainment to be found in it and even if Jericho is two-dimensional, it's nice to see an Arnold Schwarzenegger character with a modicum of backstory, emotion, and motivation.

The church has searched for Christine York (Robin Tunney) since her birth but the forces of evil have controlled her from the start. It's December 28th, 1999, Satan takes possession of Gabriel Byrne's body in NYC. Jericho Cane (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a tired ex-cop drunk haunted by the deaths of his wife and daughter. He is part of a security team hired to protect a wall street scum that turns out to be Satan. As he and Bobby Chicago (Kevin Pollak) investigate an attempt on Satan by a priest, it's closing in on the new millennium and they follow the leads to Christine.Director Peter Hyams is trying to bring a dark apocalyptic drama with some gritty hard-boiled style. I think he has potential to be something good. There is a definite 'Se7en' vibe to this movie. But then he's also trying for ridiculous over the top action. I wish he forgets about this being a Schwarzeneggar movie, and concentrate on making this dark.I do have a minor problem. I'd probably keep Jericho as a cop. It would be more logical for him and his partner to keep investigating if they are cops. If they are the security, why would Satan be walking around by himself? And it would solve the problem of Jericho having to work for Satan.The bigger problem is Arnold going up against Satan. The idea of the ticking clock is obviously hokey to begin with. Then the question becomes how would Arnold defeat Satan. The mismatch seems overwhelming. And it isn't particularly clever how the movie resolved the problem. The climatic scene on the altar is just awkward.

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.