El fin de los días

Listen, it's been more than a decade and we don't get movies like this anymore. The movie is dark, doesn't pull it's punches, full of action, VFX sort of holds up. Violence and gore is just the right amount.

I don't know what else to say, it's Arnold vs Satan and it delivers. Arnie gives his best performance of career and other characters don't really matter. Satan is all powerful but in meat body.

Sadly not many people are watching this and it's not popular on Netflix or prime. I had a blast on a weekend watching this with beer and fried chicken. You can do that too!

The 1999 movie "End of Days" from writer Andrew W. Marlowe and director Peter Hyams is definitely a noteworthy addition to Arnold Schwarzenegger's impressive movie career, especially since it is a nice change of genre for the action star.

Oddly enough, I think I've only seen "End of Days" three times since 1999, with the most recent being just now here in 2022. But I will say that this movie is very enjoyable and entertaining, and I like that there is much more to the storyline than just having Arnold beat up a bunch of henchmen while getting to the final showdown against whomever wronged him at the end of the movie. So thumbs up to writer Andrew W. Marlowe for the script and storyline in "End of Days". You should keep in mind that this movie is heavy set with a religious theme, just as a heads up.

Visually then "End of Days" is a good movie, lots of great special effects, which were necessary for a fantasy horror movie of this caliber.

I will say that the leading roles of Arnold Schwarzenegger (playing Jericho) and Gabriel Byrne (playing The Man) were interesting casting choices, but they worked out quite well. It was refreshing to see Schwarzenegger in a movie such as "End of Days". And needless to say that the charismatic Gabriel Byrne was just phenomenally well-cast for his role. The movie also have the likes of Udo Kier, Rod Steiger and Luciano Miele on the cast list. Good acting performances from all involved in the movie helped bring the movie to life in a believable manner on the screen.

"End of Days" is a movie that is very much watchable and enjoyable today, 23 years after it was initially released. If you enjoy Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, and haven't already seen "End of Days", then this is definitely a movie I will recommend you track down and watch. It is a way more dark and gritty movie than Schwarzenegger usually starred in.

My rating of "End of Days" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

Hyped to the heavens when it first came out as Schwarzenegger's comeback movie, this 1999 film steers the Governor away from his attempts at comedy and collaborations with Danny Devito and back into the sort of action packed carnage that made his name in the first place. However, where the likes of Commando had him portraying invincible supermen with a neat array of guns and one liners to hand, End of Days is considerably darker.

Set in New York on the eve of Millennium, the film shows a version of the Austrian Oak previously never witnessed. He plays Jericho Cane, an alcoholic ex-Cop in charge of a security squad who finds himself embroiled in a battle to save a young girl (Robin Tunney) from being raped by the devil (a sadly, rather ineffective Gabriel Byrne) and bringing about Armageddon. As you do.

Cane himself is not the best sort of man for saving all creation either. He is mired in deep depression, has abandoned any faith in God he may have once had and when we first see him, is contemplating suicide. However, saving the girl gives him a drive and determination even when faced with some conflicting views from the Catholic Church about how best to go about this. All of this takes place in a very grim and gritty vision of New York where the rain never stops falling, urban decay is rife and pillars of steam rise from manhole covers. It is a fitting location for the end of all creation to begin and cast a dark veil over the flick.

Of course, that isn't to say the film is all doom and gloom as there are a few glimpses of just how seriously the makers weren't taking their project (the argument between Arnold and Kevin Pollack in the former's apartment is hilarious). Plus, while the story and characters are all developed to match the atmosphere of impending dread during the first hour and a half, the last twenty minutes are made up of the kind of explosive action that strangely doesn't jar against the grimmer nature of the rest of the film, though the CGI devil at the climax is pushing it a little.

All in all, an enjoyable romp for fans of the Governator before his attention was diverted by a political career. It compares well to his classic eighties work by trying to do something different and while it may not gel properly in places, for a good 80% of the running time it does a very entertaining job.

Peter Hyams' End of Days stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a fired and alcoholic police officer, who is on the edge of sanity and tries to commit suicide very often. He is now private security guard and traps a mysterious sniper who tried to kill one of his clients. Soon he learns that there are some very bad things going on in the city, and the new millennium is very close..It is the last days of December, 1999.

I really liked the scare department in this demonic little horror thriller from this talented director and director of photography, Peter Hyams. This film is full of effective and very ominous images and scenery and the film is very dark. I appreciate perhaps most the shots above the city and the twisted use of camera up there. That really creates a feeling of evil and that something very powerful and wicked is "above the city" and is about to get power. Hyams once again shows his talent as he has been the director of photography many times earlier in his own films. End of Days reminded me occasionally of Alex de la Iglesia's great horror film El Dia de la Bestia (Day of the Beast), a brilliant mix of black comedy and VERY dark imagery and atmosphere. As incredible as it sounds, this mainstream produced film is that effective, thanks to the talented men behind the camera.

There are some flaws, too, and the most irritating things is perhaps the cliche ending, which I definitely won't spoil here, but is without a doubt there only to satisfy the audience and create the safe and familiar Happy Ending. If this was made 20 years ago, the ending would definitely have been different; it would've been how the director wanted to, not hot the audience wanted to. That tones the otherwise great and exciting finale a little bit down, but fortunately it is not as syrupy as possible. Another negative thing that I can tell is the editing which is very fast, unstylishly and ineffectively fast and restless. Fast edits can be great elements if used right and with skill, but in this film, they are in my opinion gratuitously fast and too plenty. Just watch the action scenes and count how many edits there are in one minute. The editors should have realized that sometimes - and in this case - less is more. These "flaws" are still tolerable especially when I keep in mind how many positive points there are in this film.

End of Days is also very exciting and fast paced. The train segment is great and especially the clock ticking finale when the millennium is about to change, is very skillfully created and hold my full attention. The finale is pretty similar to the finale in Kathryn Bigelow's own millennium related film, a paranoid and effective thriller Strange Days (1995). In End of Days, there are also couple of genuinely frightening, scary, sudden and loud "shocks" that require a movie theatre to fully work. The nightmare sequences are also chillingly original and brought to my mind the great horror classics that even Hollywood sometimes produced. The demon which Christine sees in her dreams is very scary and almost as frightening as the similar character in David Lynch's masterwork Lost Highway.

As a horror film, End of Days works fine and creates an atmosphere that is so rare in mainstream films nowadays. I didn't have any expectations when I placed the VHS in my VCR, and so I was pleasantly surprised of what I saw and experienced. If we stay in the 90's, I could say that End of Days is kind of tamer version of Day of the Beast and without its comic elements. There are comic elements in End of Days, too, but those are not, fortunately, the usual Hollywood one-liners and stupid bits of dialogue. Gabriel Byrne over-acts occasionally little, but many guys who play devils seem to have this problem! He is almost as "cool and modern" devil as Al Pacino in Taylor Hackford's Devil's Advocate, a film which also has great atmosphere but is more restrained and drama oriented.

End of Days gets 7/10 from me. Great work again Peter!

End of Days is a good movie with a very different storyline and a good cast,with a very strong performance from the always brilliant Arnold Schwarzenegger.I expected this movie to be an action packed movie with an Armageddon type of theme to it,and I wasn't disappointed,but I really didn't expect it to be scary,there are actually some very frightening scenes in this movie,mainly any of Gabriel Byrne's scenes,and its a lot scarier than some of the ridiculous horror movie you would see today that aren't at all frightening.The movie is very unpredictable,and I was surprised it got such bad reviews,I really enjoyed it,it certainly wasn't perfect,but it didn't deserve any Razzie nominations.Arnold Schwarzenegger did a fantastic performance,Gabriel Byrne was very creepy and believable,and Peter Hyams did a great job directing this movie,it looked beautiful,none of them deserved Razzie nominations.Its certainly not Arnold Schwarzenegger's finest film,but fans of the actor will get a great kick out of this movie.

As the world reaches the year 2000,the Devil (Gabriel Byrne) is in search of Christine York (Robin Tunney) to make her his bride,its not up to police officer Jericho Cane (Arnold Schwarzengger) to keep her safe.