Sixth Day
It costs me 1.2 million to bring you guys back. Try to be worth the money.
A review by Mike Shea Movie Rating: ( * * * · · ) DVD Rating: ( * * * * * )
seen from him in a while. Sixth Day is right on the verge of good science fiction, and although it doesn't quite make it, it is a lot better than many others who have tried.
The Sixth Day does a good job of building a detailed future vision, most of which seems based on cloning. Dogs, cats and football stars are all cloned and given their original memories via some magic set of sunglasses. Other elements are added in to give a bit of flavor, but a lot of them feel a bit overemphasized instead of the subtleties we see in movies like Blade Runner or Fifth Element. The virtual sex chair that Arnold's wacky sidekick (Robert Duval plays the cloning doctor who begins to realize what the true ramifications of cloning are. The movie does a good job of giving us some food for thought on the issues of cloning. From genetic diseases to the actual concerns of humanity, much of the subject is discussed between the action sequences. At one point, a newly grown clone strips his old clothes from his older self. The older self suddenly seems to realize that even having an exact duplicate of yourself down to the last thoughts won't really keep you alive. Dead is dead.
The action sequences aren't too bad, but don't have the power we have started to expect from recent action movies. It is on par with previous Schwartzenneger action movies like Ang Lee have started showing us how action scenes are another form of artwork, it is hard to go back to the old style action scenes.
The DVD for Sixth Day is a lot like you would expect. It has a 2.35 to 1 16x9 enhanced picture and a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. There is a directors commentary as well as other features but no DTS audio track.
Sixth Day is Total Recall for 2001. It has a nice science fiction plot that is a bit more than they typical crap we are fed as sci-fi, and although the action isn't great, it isn't too bad. It is a little obtuse with some of the science fiction elements that might have gone in better as background, but it doesn't do too much damage. While it isn't the next Bladerunner, it is not a bad movie at all.