The 6th Day

I am an Arnold Fan. I can proudly say that because he has brought much entertainment into my blockbuster movie going experience, and I don't think we'll ever see someone like him on the big screen again. That's a big statement, almost as big as the Austrian Oak himself, but you can't deny the fact that each and every one of you has a favorite Arnie movie of some sort that you love. I can also guarantee that The 6th Day is not it. That's the sad part of this review.

With his last big hit being the 1994 Blockbuster True Lies, Arnold was typecast as Mr Freeze in the huge flop called Batman & Robin. His then agent was immediately fired and following some delicate heart surgery and a stint away from movie making came back to the silver screen in End Of Days. This was a different Arnold, an older Arnold, An Arnold that was showing his age. The Arnold of old was gone.

Director Roger Spottiswoode of Tomorrow Never Dies fame decided to use Arnold in a topical movie about the recent surfacing of cloning being used in the DNA industry. When Arnold has fought everyone from a an out of this world alien to the devil himself, who is left to match up to his abilities? Arnold himself of course.

The 6th Day focuses on the issue of cloning and how the cloning of pets/animals in a few decades from now is considered normal, yet the cloning of humans has been outlawed. When a team decides to take the cloning of humans out of their secret laboratory, Adam Gibson (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is their first test subject. Soon Adam finds out that there are two of him and if word gets out, their illegal operation is doomed so it is a group of henchmen, led by Robert Marshall (Michael Rooker, Cliffhanger), to find the original Adam and kill him. But which one is which and is he the only one being cloned?

How do I check if I am a Clone?

The more I watched this movie, the more I went back to check certain scenes, the more I looked back upon other titles from Columbia Tristar, the more I loved this transfer. That about sums it up so far.

To begin the superlatives we have an image with excellent sharpness, although marred by some slight edge enhancement in more contrasting scenes. The rich colors and deep blacks help to define a very highly contrasted image that leaps out at you off the screen and cries perfection. Coupled with great shadow detail and great detail in general, the image here is one that certainly helps the enjoyment of watching the film on this format.

Those of you with a nice high resolution projector setup will sing these praises again and again. In comparison to the region 1 release, THIS is the reason why we always stress just how good PAL resolution can look in comparison to its NTSC counterpart. The differences here are night and day (and that's not the only thing different with this disc, read the extras below).

Along with the video excelling in every department, the audio does an excellent job of recreating the futuristic soundscape portrayed in the movie.

The special effects are given a boost from the sound with many a directional effect being experienced and loads of activity from all 5 speakers. Bass response was adequate enough although I felt it could have had a little more.

The most notable scene would have to be the flight back from the ski slopes where the Whisper craft is being remote piloted by Arnold. That little stint of flying low and through the mountains creates a very enjoyable sonic experience that uses every aspect of your sound setup.

10 behind the scenes featurettes on the making of the movie. The main one being a 15-minute making of titled "The Future is Coming" with various interviews of cast and crew and an in depth look at the movie and it's current affair issue of cloning. The other nine are located in a subsection entitled "On the 6th Day" that features various short (sub three-minute) features on different aspects of the movie from the techniques used to create various machines, equipment, stunt work, miniatures, compositions and more. These featurettes are an excellent collection of extras for anyone interested in how big and small special effects are created. Some nice tricky green screening as well.

Opting out of a director's commentary, this DVD features a sole commentary track in the form of an Isolated musical score with optional commentary by composer Trevor Rabin. Trevor tells us the ins and outs of the composing process for a movie and how musical 'spots' are chosen but when it comes time to hear the actual isolated score he seems to babble on rather than letting the score play.

Two animatic to final film comparisons showcase the mixture of computer renders with storyboards to produce a glimpse of what the final show will look like once the 3D digital effects are completed. The two scenes here are the Snowy Mountain flight and the Rooftop scene. Three storyboard to final film comparisons show the storyboard in the top half of the frame with the final shot in the bottom half. The scenes played out are the Car Chase, Whisper-Craft Crash and the Cloning Tanks.

4th generation clone.

In a different approach, the RePet Infomercial and RePet TV Spot from within the movie are shown in there entirety here.

To finish up we have the usual suspects such as talent profiles of the main cast and crew, the original movie trailer plus bonus movie trailers for Close Encounters and Vertical Limit all rigged together via some simply Animated Menus.

The local release is clearly the weapon of choice given its superior image quality and the actual existence of extras.

Arnie has made some sort of a comeback with this latest effort, although age seems to be catching up with him fast. This reviewer would like to see True Lies on DVD, coming in September, as well as Arnie teaming up with James Cameron again for True Lies 2 and his greatest epic 'Crusade'.

This DVD is an exceptional looking piece of digital imagery and sound and a worthy addition to any Arnold fan's collection. Couple this with the slew of extras that the US release does NOT have and you've got a real region 4 winner here.

Always make sure to check out the Arnold Fan if you are one.