6th Day (2000)

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 lam 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

Arnold x 2

Not a masterpiece, but action with Arnold Schwarzenegger is never boring, and in this flick it is two of him. In addition it is a lot of interesting stuff in the bonus disc. A must have for Arnold fans. Well worth the money. November 19, 2008

Fast Action Film That Is NO Clone Of "Total Recall"

This review is for "The 6th Day" (Special Edition) DVD Release Date: 2002
PLEASE NOTE THAT ONCE AGAIN AMAZON HAS LUMPED REVIEWS FOR ALL VERSIONS OF "The 6th Day," THUS DENIGRATING THIS DVD VERSION!!!

I find it completely incomprehensible that viewers actually conceive of "The 6th Day" as a remake or some other incarnation of "Total Recall." The premise of both movies is completely different. The only commonality I find in the two movies is they are both excellent science fiction films, and they both are outstanding examples of movie entertainment.

The premise of "Total Recall" is that the main character has had his memory "ineptly" altered so that he begins to remember the "truth," and then deal with it. The premise of "The 6th Day" is one in which the main character, Adam (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) is cloned, for nefarious reasons, without his knowledge. However, Adam, who was supposed to be killed, quickly discovers that he has been cloned, and sets out to regain his life and family. Moreover, while altering a person's memory is almost "routine" in "Total Recall," cloning of humans is expressly forbidden in "The 6th Day" (law). Hence, Adam must set out to prove who he is in "The 6th Day," while Douglas Quaid (also played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) in "Total Recall" is trying to unearth the "truth," or his real memories.

While I am unsure of why a second disc was needed, the bonus features add nicely to the film itself. And while I will always view "The Villain" as my favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger film, "The 6th Day" is better than many of his movies. The director, Roger Spottiswoode, has provided a movie that delivers plenty of suspense and turn-around surprises, raises issues about cloning (albeit, not in any thought provoking fashion), and "plenty of good entertainment." "The 6th Day" is science fiction action at its very best, and well worth owning.

Please Note: If this review was not helpful to you, I would appreciate learning the reason(s) so I can improve my reviews. My goal is to provide help to potential buyers, not get into any arguments. So, if you only disagree with my opinion, could you please say so in the comments and not indicate that the review was not helpful. Thanks. September 5, 2008

Excellent tranfer to DVD

This review deals with the picture and sound quality only. Read other reviews for the plot, acting, etc. "The Sixth Day" picture and sound quality are perfect. With an anamorphic widescreen format, the image is nearly high definition quality. The sound is quite good also because it was remastered. Viewed on a 46-inch Samsung high defintion LCD TV (and played on a Toshiba 1080p HD DVD player), the picture and sound are simply stunning! May 8, 2008

I might be back

The Sixth Day DVD


The Sixth Day is A Science Fiction movie about a man who is unknowingly cloned. Arnold Swarzenner is the protagonist, he must prove that he's the real one while, at the same time, battling against the organization that cloned him, they are out to shut him up. Plenty of action and thrills.

Recommended for both the Science Fiction fan and the Arnold Swarzennegger fan.

Gunner December, 2007

December 14, 2007

An intelligent sci-fi action movie from your old pal Arnie

Adam Gibson is an average guy living in the near-future (2015 according to Schwarzenegger). It's a nice place to live in. Cars can drive themselves, holograms are commonplace, helicopters can turn into jets and pistols fire lasers. But the most important difference is the widespread use of cloning technology. If your pet dies why not get it cloned? It's mind can be uploaded into a computer chip as long as it's still fresh and then downloaded into the cloned body through the eyes. The pet's back, good as new, and nobody could tell the difference. Of course a human mind is supposedly too complex for this procedure and human cloning is illegal anyway. However a corporation is secretly cloning humans as a way to achieve immortality, with the best intentions of course. No one wants to die and a clone is essentially the same person as the original.

This time they've made a bit of a booboo and they've cloned poor Adam Gibson while he's still alive. The poor guy comes home after a long day's work to find that he's already there. And to top it off people are trying to kill him and no matter how many times he kills the assassins they keep coming back. It's up to Adam to get his life back, defeat the bad guys and think of some witty one-liners to say while doing it.

The 6th Day raises some interesting metaphysical questions. If a person's mind can be stored in a computer chip and copied endlessly, is there really such a thing as a soul? Is a clone the same person as the original, considering they have exactly the same personality and memories? Is this really a triumph over death or just a delusion based on downloaded memories?

Some people have complained that this movie shows a very unrealistic portrayal of cloning. It involves an adult-sized fetus which is injected with the DNA of the person being cloned and then left to develop into that person before having the person's mind downloaded into its brain. The scriptwriters seemed to think this wasn't much different from today's cloning which kinda ruins the movie's message a bit but it doesn't really matter. The 6th Day is a great action-packed thriller for lovers of sci-fi and Schwarzenegger. August 9, 2007

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