The 6th Day

The 6th Day (2000)

Director: Roger Spottiswoode

Writer: Cormac Wibberly, Marianne Wibberly

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Micahel Rapaport, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rooker, Sarah Wynter, Wendy Crewson, Rodney Rowland, Terry Crews, Robert Duvall, Wanda Cannon, Taylor Reid

Synopsis:

In the near future, cloning technology has advanced to the point where it's possible to clone just about anything other than a human, which is illegal. Charter pilot Adma Gibson (Schwarzenegger) returns home from work to find a clone of himself with his family. But, before he can discover what's going on, he is attacked by a group of assailants who want him dead for some reason. Adam must escape and discover the truth about his clone from Michael Drucker (Goldwyn), the CEO of Replacement Technologies, a major conglomerate controlling cloning technology. Adam soon becomes embroiled in a massive conspiracy when all he wants is to get his life back. But is it really his life?

First Impressions:

I caught this one in theaters when it was released and enjoyed it well enough. Unfortunately, by this point in Arnold's career, the quality of his output was starting to wane. I view this film as the last decent movie Schwarzenegger put out. It was basically the swansong to the 'Golden Age of Arnie.' I felt the film wasn't terrible back then, but it didn't really bring anything new to the table. In fact, I felt like the filmmakers were trying hard to replicate what was done in Total Recall by calling into question the hero's perceptions of reality. Unfortunately, the attempt was pretty transparent and didn't work as well as the filmmakers hoped. Still, it had solid action and an interesting premise; that was enough for me 20 years ago. I guess it's time to see if that's enough for me now, so let's jump right in. 

Story/Direction: 

"Doesn't anybody die anymore?"

As I mentioned, The 6th Day tries to jump on the Total Recall bandwagon to somewhat middling success. The focus on cloning technology, which was in the media forefront at the time thanks to that sheep, creates interesting ethical and moral questions, which is the hallmark of a good cyberpunk story. Unfortunately, unlike Total Recall, the film sets those questions in the background and focuses on the action. This is probably because the older movie was able to pull from a story written by one of the greatest and most adapted sci-fi authors of all time, whereas this film appears to be a completely original tale. That's not to say that the movie's story and plot fall flat; it just doesn't meet the standard that it set for itself.

One of the main reasons for this is that even by the end of Total Recall (SPOILERS AHEAD), it's left open for debate as to whether the events of the film actually happened or whether it was all just a part of Quaid's implanted fantasy. It's that ambiguity that helped make the movie a classic. With the 6th Day, we're given a similar style twist, but it's revealed early in the third act, and there really isn't any ambiguity surrounding it. It really felt like a missed opportunity to me. As mentioned, interesting questions are posed, but I don't feel like the film sank its teeth into such a complicated issue; instead, the moral was human cloning=bad. Missed opportunities all around.

Acting/Characters:

This is now my eighth review of a Schwarzenegger film. At this point, there really isn't much more I can say about his acting abilities. God bless him; he tries, but nobody goes to these films to watch him act; they go to watch him kick ass, and that's what he does here. So instead of talking about the film's star, I'm going to go off-book a bit and talk about some supporting performances. Let's start with the film's primary antagonist, Michael Drucker, played by the underrated Tony Goldwyn. The role of Drucker was one that's perfectly suited to Goldwyn, who's been a terrific character actor for a while. He plays the character like a psychopath. He's ruthless, cunning and incredibly smart, but he's charming and manipulative and can even pass himself off as caring to those unaware of his true nature. It's a very understated performance as a villain, which is a refreshing change from the scenery-chewing megalomaniacs that are so common in the genre.

The flip side to Goldwyn's menacing villain is Robert Duvall's turn as Dr. Griffin Weir, the real brains behind Drucker's cloning technology. Duvall plays Dr. Weir as a good man who made some poor decisions. The first among those is the decision to associate himself with a scum-bucket like Drucker. Weir simply wants to make life better for others and, unfortunately, used the money and clout from an evil man to accomplish those goals. Duvall plays Weir as a kindly grandfather type, and while the character has made mistakes in the past, he does his best to atone for them throughout the film's runtime. 

The rest of the cast is solid, including Michael Rooker as Drucker's primary henchman, Marshall. We're also treated to one of Terry Crew's earlier film roles, which unfortunately doesn't let him show off his considerable charm. Micahel Rapaport also makes an appearance as Adam's best friend, Hank. It's a solid cast, for sure.

Visual/Special Effects:

For a sci-fi film, there aren't a ton of special effects in the movie, but those there were done well. Most of the visual effects consist of lasers for the film's weapons and a bit of make-up/dummy work for in-progress clones. There's also a bit of iffy early-2000s CGI work in the form of Adam's futuristic helicopter/jet vehicles, but they're used sparingly. Overall, the film holds up well visually.

Score/Music:

The film's score, composed by Trevor Rabin, is pretty unmemorable. Unfortunately, I don't recall much, if any, of the film's music. But, as I say frequently, that's not always bad. At least the music didn't pull me out of the film. But, overall, the movie's score is just...meh.

Action:

Here's the meat and potatoes of any Arnie flick. It's really why we watch any of his films. Everything else is just gravy. So how does the action hold up? It's okay, I guess. There are a few decent sequences, including a fun car chase and a gunfight inside a cloning facility. The action is all done competently and is engaging on the screen, but it's all pretty standard fare and doesn't push the envelope like you hope an action movie would.

Final Verdict:

The 6th Day is an okay film. Unfortunately, it's one of those easily forgotten entries in Arnold's filmography, and rightfully so. Still, it's worth a watch if you're generally into Arnie films or sci-fi films. Otherwise, it might be good to give it a pass.