For a movie about cloning, it's only appropriate that The 6th Day, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is instilled with a strong sense of déjà vu, namely from Arnold's previous "Who am I?" outing, Total Recall. In that movie, Arnold is a normal Joe who discovers that his entire reality has been co-opted by an evil conspiracy, and has to take his life back by force. The same premise applies here for Roger Spottiswoode's clever if overlong sci-fi thriller--Arnold thinks he's a regular guy leading a regular life, until a twist of fate puts him on the run from a vast conspiracy that's replaced him with a clone. While he's trying to evade the evil genetics corporation--and its trendy, deadly, clone-friendly assassins (who don't care how many times they're killed: there's more where that came from)--his double is snuggling at home with his wife and daughter. And new legislation outlaws the existence of human clones, so somebody's got to go. But who gets to be live and who gets to be the dead Memorex man?
Why does said genetics corporation want to clone people? How does the kindly scientist (Robert Duvall) fit in? What's the mystery behind the slick billionaire (Tony Goldwyn) who runs everything? It's all kind of irrelevant in the end, as long as it provides a chance for Arnold to indulge in some energetic mayhem and explosive action. What distinguishes The 6th Day is its sneaky, humorous--and chilling--look at the near future, taking everyday technological advances and turning them up just a couple notches, envisioning an era with cloned pets, virtual girlfriends, and computers running most everything, from the refrigerator to your car. Arnold is supposed to be a throwback to the "real" world--you can tell because he cherishes his vintage, navigation-system-free Cadillac--but as usual, he just brings his behemoth presence to the role and not much else. Still, he's a friendly enough hero, and he rolls with the punches (literally) all the way through to the end. Too bad the film overstays its welcome by about half an hour--a little shorter and it could have been a breezy sci-fi/action romp. With scene stealers Michael Rooker, Sarah Wynter, and Rod Rowland as the trio of cloned assassins who always come back--again and again. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Firmly in the above-average category The title, the trailer and the subject matter (cloning) make you wanna see this film. Add to that the fact arnie is in it makes it all the better. HOWEVER, as many have pointed out already, it gently brushes over the real issues of cloning and romps on with the usual explosions, action, chessy lines and the one-man-against-the-system cliche.
It could have been soooo much better but as it is, its a good film by Arnie. Lets hope his final movie outing before politics takes over full-time is better.
Total....ummm....Arnie Well....as allready mentioned..this is basically Total Recall version 1.5. It lacks any of the refinement of the original...making it little better than a sort of first draft of Paul Vernhovens Sci Fi romp.
First things first..the script is poor..with random action secquences thrown in for good measure. Arnie still is in possension of his coustomary one liners...but as they are attached to lack lustre violence they simply dont seem very good (they never do..just they dont seem funny in this contex.) The... more info
Cloning up the wrong tree To like this movie really depends on whether you are a Schwarzanegger fan or not since you go in expecting certain things such as big explosions, wooden acting and a script that gets sacrificied in the name of entertainment. The subject of cloning is controversial to say the least and some where in the future there will be a film that tackles this on a more personal deeper level but unfortunately this isnt it. At best, 6th Day touches upon cloning at a superficial level and it is hard to take the... more info
Arnie's back where he belongs I was surprised to find myself liking this movie as my views on yet another Arnie 'action' movie are obstacled by a string of predictability. To my delight The 6th Day had everything I wasn't expecting.
Arnie plays the part of Adam Gibson, a fighter pilot and kind hearted family man blessed with a beautiful wife and sensible daughter, events unfold (sorry folks this is really a film where even the slightest plot giveaway can ruin the rest of the film) and he finds he has an illegal human clone of himself... more info
![The 6th Day [2000]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516V6A26QPL._SL160_.jpg)
