The 6th Day Blu-ray delivers stunning video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
"The Sixth Day" is set in a world of the very near future in which cattle, fish and even the family pet can be cloned. But cloning humans is illegal-that is until family man Adam Gibson comes home from work one day to find a clone has replaced him. Taken from his family and plunged into a sinister world he doesn't understand, Gibson must not only save himself from the assassins who must now destroy him to protect their secret, but uncover who and what is behind the horrible things happening to him. "The Sixth Day" is the story of Gibson's struggle to reclaim his life and his family.
This is the natural process of life. You're born, you live, and you die.
There are plenty of good Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, and while The 6th Day is
indeed
an
"average" Arnold movie, there really isn't anything on the
other end of the spectrum, a movie with Arnold that is just plain awful. Junior comes
very
close, certainly his worst movie, but I am such a big fan of the actor that I consider no film in the
annals of Arnold to be bad. This is certainly one of his lesser movies, coming at the tail end of his
career, only Collateral Damage and Terminator 3 coming
after this film as movies featuring Arnold in the lead role. The 6th Day is certainly a
departure from a film like Commando where
the plot is simpler, the guns are larger, and muscles there for everyone to see. Arnold is more of
an everyman here, rather than a superman, but to compensate the film gives us double the
Arnold fun, seeing the famed bodybuilder and actor cloned, two of him needed to destroy a
ruthless, cunning bad guy, perhaps Arnold's toughest challenge yet (that's not a liquid metal
killing machine, the devil, an alien from another world, Crisp, or Bennett).
Dis is gonna be da best movie eva! Dere are two ov us!
The 6th Day stars legendary action superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator) as Adam
Gibson, a
family man and adventure helicopter pilot living in a world where cloning pets is commonplace (at
the "Build-A-Bear"-esque "RePet" store in the mall) but
human cloning has been outlawed under the "6th Day Laws." He returns home one evening,
anticipating a surprise birthday party he's clued in on, only to discover the proceedings have
already
begun, and he's already inside! A clone has seemingly taken his place, though he is unsure as to
why or who is behind it. He soon finds himself under fire and under pursuit by a band of thugs
who
want him dead, all the while trying to piece together why he's been cloned and who is responsible
for the mess he finds himself in. He can trust no one, not even his closest friends, and because
of
the "miracle" of cloning, bad guys he manages to kill seem to reappear faster than he can say
"California." Gibson, with the help of an unlikely ally, must uncover a conspiracy revolving
around
the world of cloning and also save his family.
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode (Tomorrow Never Dies), The 6th Day makes for
an enjoyable Saturday afternoon action flick, one that both mindless shoot 'em up fans as well as
movie lovers looking for a bit more depth, story, character development, and intelligence will find
appealing. In the end, this is still a mostly run-of-the-mill, perhaps slightly above average action
film that is made a bit better by not one but two Arnold's thrown into the mix. His
enormous size and stature is definitely played down here--he never loses his shirt, deliberately
flexes his muscles for the camera, or wield weapons that should be mounted on a vehicle, not
carried by mere mortal man. Instead, he plays an average Joe, perhaps similar to his
character(s) in Total Recall though
not reaching quite the "superhero" status he comes to portray in that film. The 6th Day
also sports an all-star cast in support of Schwarzenegger, including Robert Duvall (We Own the Night),
Tony Goldwyn (The Last Samurai),
Michael Rapaport (Hitch), and Michael
Rooker (The Replacement
Killers).
Perhaps the weakest aspect of The 6th Day are the "henchmen" who, playing a vital role
in
the film, find themselves killed more than once, and come back as annoying as ever. I've never
understood why evil masterminds have such half-witted lackeys, perhaps so as to ensure they're
not smart enough to question his motives or think about overthrowing him. Nevertheless, these
clowns--excuse me--clones,
reminded me of "Beebop" and "Rocksteady" from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, bad
guys who, despite their strength and equipment, can never seem to get the job done, mostly due
to their mental shortcomings. Not even Michael Rooker, who is only halfway decent in his role,
can save them from their own ineptitude. That's the only real glaring weakness I found in the
film, and it's a minor one at that—while integral to the story, they don't necessarily do anything
more than put up some obstacles for Gibson to plow his way through. Otherwise, this
movie is fun and pushes all the right buttons. It has some classic Arnold dialogue, though like his
muscles and weapons, this script generally plays-down Arnold's opportunities for truly memorable
dialogue, although it did have me laughing at several classic Arnold-isms. All in all, what could
have easily been a B-movie on an A-list budget is made more than
serviceable here (with a thrilling final act), because after all, you just can't go wrong with Arnold
Schwarzenegger, or in this case, multiple copies thereof.
The 6th Day has been replicated for Blu-ray, and the result is an excellent, high-quality
1080p, 2.40:1 image. This film sports the same glossy, high-tech, clean look of I, Robot and the
results
approach the level of that disc, but ultimately fails to meet or surpass that lofty bar entirely. The
print is remarkably clean and fresh in appearance. I noted only one or two
very minor black specks, but we will each have to look very hard to notice them, and they were
so
minor
it's more happenstance that I happened to catch them. The computer animated sequences at
the
beginning are top-notch. Flesh tones are great, seemingly spot-on in accuracy. Black levels are
just
about perfect. Colors are good, though the film doesn't showcase an abundance of bright
primaries.
The interiors of the cloning facility are metallic and a bit dark, but what colors there are definitely
pop off the screen. The image has a nice three-dimensional quality to it. Film grain is apparent,
very light in appearance, hardly noticeable in many scenes,
though there are a few select scenes where it spikes quite a bit. Some of the dated special
effects also fare poorly under the harsh light of high definition, especially the exciting final action
sequence. I was highly impressed by the look of this film, and its clean, lustrous source material
makes for a near reference-quality disc.
Just as exciting and high in quality as the video presentation is the lossless Dolby True HD 5.1
sound mix. The track is excellent; it is loud without being boisterous, and the mix moves around
the listening area flawlessly. There is nary a dull moment to be heard, and the sound design is
outstanding, keeping the viewer engaged and engrossed in the story, the soundtrack raising the
quality of the movie quite a bit. The helicopters-transformed-to-jets sequence near the beginning
of
the film really shows off the quality of this track. It's engaging, fast-paced, and puts your system
through the paces. The planes swoop from the front to the rear listening area and right to left
across
the front and the back channels, and the subwoofer rattles and rolls with good, deep bass. The
entirety of the soundstage is put to work, and it is perhaps the best sounding scene in a movie
filled with demonstration-worthy audio sequences. Gunfire is of
the laser or energy beam variety, and it makes from some very exciting sonic sequences, again
completely encompassing the viewer, blasts coming towards and away from you from every
direction. Bass can
be quite deep and powerful, never distorted or too heavy. The track is mixed very well, with no
one
element coming across as too either dominant or too light. Dialogue reproduction is uniformly
excellent. The 6th Day sounds excellent on Blu-ray, and fans of action films will be very
happy with what they hear.
Though not jam-packed with features, The 6th Day does a fine job of bringing viewers a
decent array of extra materials. First up is Showtime Special: The Future is Coming
(480p,
15:33). This feature proves rather bland, the epitome of the behind-the-scenes feature, a piece
showing interviews with cast and crew discussing the film, its themes, and why the story is so
timely, all intercut with scenes from the film. There is also a look at the making of some of the
special effects seen throughout the movie. Animatics allows viewers to select from two
different scenes: Snowy Mountain Animatic (480p, 2:43) and Rooftop Animatic
(480p, 3:30). Basically, these are animated storyboards that better assist the director in showing
just how he or she wants a scene to look rather than employing only a series of still drawings on
paper that serve the same basic purpose.
On the 6th Day is a series of nine featurettes, all presented in 480p: Another Way to
Fly (4:42) looks at the creation and usage of the "Whisper Craft" seen in the film;
Finding
Sim Pal Cindy (7:48) examines the work involved in creating this futuristic toy; The Art
of
the Chase (6:03) is a behind-the-scenes look of the car chase seen in the film; Over the
Cliff (3:29) analyzes a crucial action sequence where a character jumps off a cliff; Virtual
Girlfriend (4:30) takes a peek at the special effects used to create this unique and futuristic
character; In the Tank (6:36) showcases the challenges of shooting underwater;
Free Falling (3:19) looks at what it takes to create the illusion of a character falling from
an incredible height; Detonation (3:44) defuses some myths as to what it takes to
create a
realistic explosion in a Hollywood movie; finally, Enhancing the Look (8:09) shows the
basics in the approach towards creating an end product for a special effects-laden film, notably
making us believe the screen is big enough to present two Arnolds at the same time.
Next are a series of storyboard comparisons for three crucial scenes: Car Chase (4:10),
Whisper Craft-Crash (1:22), and Cloning Tanks (2:21), all presented in 480p
standard definition. The scenes show the final cut of the movie on one half of the screen with
the original storyboards on the other. Repet-Infomercial (2:36) and TV Spot
(0:46), both presented in 480p, are mock pieces that show us what we might see on
television in the future. This disc also features BD-Live (profile 2.0) content. Accessing this
feature
takes a few moments, so be patient. Viewers are able to watch either standard definition or high
definition trailers for upcoming or already released Blu-ray movies, as well as theatrical previews
for movies coming soon. I ended up selecting the HD preview for Prom Night. My
Internet connection is only moderately fast, and the process of downloading the 2:18 HD trailer
took about 20 minutes, and a blue progress bar showed how far along I was. The trailer then
took several long seconds to begin playback. The image is 1080p, and the audio is Dolby Digital
2.0 Channel. The quality of the presentation was acceptable. This disc is also D-Box equipped for
use with that equipment, and contains 1080p trailers for Damages: The Complete First
Season and Rescue Me: The Complete Third
Season.
The 6th Day may not be the best Arnold movie, or the best action/sci-fi movie ever
made,
but it is very serviceable nonetheless, an enjoyable, well-paced romp replete with great visuals,
solid action, a good story, and decent acting and direction. The movie's shortcomings are minor,
as
long as it is not looked at through the same lens as more highbrow films such as Schindler's
List. As Arnold's screen-presence matured, it seems that he reached a point where he chose
roles casting him as more "average" characters, foregoing the
larger-than-life characters of Commando and Predator in favor of more
traditional action hero
types, and he was able to make the transition seamlessly. Arnold fans should be very pleased
with
this Blu-ray release of The 6th Day. The video quality is excellent, better
than your average Blu-ray but not meeting or surpassing the look of the very best. The audio is
also outstanding, creating a lively sonic experience that adds to the flair and fun of the film. The
supplemental materials are also entertaining and worth watching. This disc
comes highly recommended for Arnold completists (such as myself) and definitely worth checking
out for
Blu-ray fans in general.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that they will release the Arnold Schwarzenegger film 'The 6th Day' on Blu-ray April 8th. Video will be presented in 2.40 1080p accompanied by a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. Extras include a Showtime special, making-of ...
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