The 6th Day: There’s Nothing Special About It
By Danny Sarnowski

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a fan of DVDs. They will also tell you that I enjoy an extra-packed two-disc special edition more than almost anyone else. I do. I love them. I love all the cool special features like commentary tracks and behind the scenes footage. I enjoy mulit-angle special effect deconstructions and the like. What I don’t like, however, what I despise with all my being, is studios releasing films as a special edition simply because they can. Because they have the content. A perfect example is on the horizon. An enemy, a plague. One to avoid. Columbia-Tristar Home Video will be releasing a two-disc special edition of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “film” The 6th Day. Why? What about this movie warrants any sort of special attention? What about it is worth remembering or commemorating in a special edition DVD? In an attempt to answer that question, and to hopefully save many of you from buying or renting it, I have decided to republish my review of this film from last year. Enjoy.

I do not know any member of the cast or crew responsible for the latest Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. To the best of my knowledge, I have never even been introduced to any of these people. So, I'm quite confused here. What could I have possibly done to any of them to make them think they should punish me so badly? Why do they hate me so?

To sit through The 6th Day is to sit through every cliché you've come to expect in a bad Arnold film and a bad sci-fi movie all rolled into one. There are holographic women, cars that drive themselves, and creepy, half-human children's toys. There are ray guns and super duper helicopters that can be flown by remote. And, since this is a futuristic sci-fi movie, we see "old cars" to let us, the stupid, inane, mouth-breathing audience, know that this car isn't one of the new ones. We learn that smoking is illegal, and we see that there is even a WOMAN president! I mean, it has to be the future, right?!?

In The 6th Day, Arnold plays Adam Gibson, a loveable, hardworking family man who likes things the old fashioned way. You can tell because he shaves with a razor and because the producers of this movie work very hard to make sure you get that picture. After agreeing to shuttle a Bill Gatesian mogul up to a snowboarding hill, everything goes wrong for old Arno and he ends up having to shoot his way out of sticky situation after sticky situation.

To be fair, Arnold and the gang are visibly trying harder than they have in years. Arnold attempts to elevate this pic above the standard shoot-em-up fair he’s been serving us since the 1980s. Questions are asked about souls, life beyond death, and the dangers of cloning. But it all gets pushed to the side in the end and Arnold (and friend) blast everything to hell in the name of family values. Ouch.

So, after sitting through this "film," how do I feel? Violated. Insulted. Embarrassed. Dirty. I feel bad about myself and those I watched it with. I feel bad because I know that somewhere out there, someone considers The 6th Day their favorite movie of all time. It's a thought that will keep me awake for days. Which is more than I can say for the "action packed scenes" of The 6th Day. Yawn.

The 6th Day
By Brian Sterr

The 6th Day was an excellent movie. It was a proud display of Arnold at his best. This is easy to see as there were two of him! Who could ask for more? The dialogue was witty, with such lines as “Why don’t you get cloned so you can fuck yourself.” and the ever-popular two Arnolds saying “cool” semi-simultaneously. The thing that really stood out and was a sign of an excellent film were the innovative and thought-provoking transitions. By giving a view of the city in fast-forwarded motion, it provided a deeper view and gave depth to the character of the city. I almost felt like I actually lived there, that I knew those people, and that human cloning was actually going on around me. For a few seconds, I was wondering if I was a clone. I was relieved when I found out that clones have little marks on the inside of their eyelids. I can now rest easy knowing that I am not a clone. The awesome special effects, especially the laser guns, used cutting-edge technology that hasn’t been seen since Star Wars. Overall, this movie was so good, I was almost expecting to see “Based on a true story” on the box. This movie has become one of my new favorites.

7 February 2002

The 6th day
By Sebastian Meade

Where to start? This movie was another one of Arnold's sci-fi flops. But I do have to say I can only see him doing his best in sci-fi movies. (With exception of Twins but then again you also have Danny Devito to spruce things up.) But really, this movie, rather than Arnold having three maybe four dumb one liners (which he is always the best at) he doubled that playing two people. I did however think it would be fun to have one of those remotes for a helicopter, but that was about all. I heard people commenting on the scene changes, yeah they were pretty bad, considering it was the same one every time! Maybe once or twice but they did it too many times for me. And just to say, there is a little doll thing, that scared me man. Anyway it was, as expected, a waste, I was at least glad I saw it with others that could laugh at this movie, because if I didn’t I would have hit a disappointment in the human society.

22 April 2002