6th Day, The / Last Action Hero (Box Set) > Reviews > 6th Day / Last Action Hero Review

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	One good and one reasonable film
Disadvantages:	None really

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

== The 6th Day (2000) ==

Details

Director: Roger Spottiswoode

Main Cast: Arnold Schwarenegger, Robert Duvall, Michael Rapaport, Wendy Crewson, Tony Goldwyn

Genre: Sci-Fi / Action

Plot

In the cliched Sci-Fi setting of the near future, cloning technology has advanced to the stage whee some scientists claim that complete human cloning is possible, however this is still technically illegal.

That does not stop a sinister corporation headed by a man like Michael Drucker (Goldwyn) though and when good everyday american family man and ex-US Air Force pilot Adam Gibson (Schwarzenegger) comes home from work one day to find that a clone has replaced him.

If that is not enough there are also a number of assasins keen to wipe out the remaining evidence, otherwise known as Gibson's life. He must struggle not only to stay alive but also to solve the mystery of who is behind it all in an attempt to reclaim his life.

Review

Somewhat unusual for Sci-Fi films of the period, this one had a good premise, a good script and some solid performances to add to the futuristic special effects. Schwarzenegger pulls off one of his better rles, managing to combine the action-packed arnie of the terminator films with the moresubtle and sympathetic ones of his comedic films into a charachter that the viewer can both get excited for and care about. The only down side is that his accent makes it hard to believe in the average-american-guy sense of the role.

A correct balance is found between the playing up of the cloning in technological and emotional terms and the action of what is otherwise a simple good vs. evil action flick. The only exception being the slight overdoing of the final action scenes

Overall this is a good Sci-Fi film that will unfortunately be classed as an 'Arnie' rather than as a stand-alone item of it's own. In terms of 'Arnies' it is one of the better ones and deserves more credit than it gets.

Rating: 7/10

Last Action Hero (1993)

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Director: John McTiernan

Main Cast: Arnold Schwarenegger, Austin O'Brien, Charles Dance

Genre: Sci-Fi / Action
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A young boy called Danny Maddigan (O'Brien) is given a magic ticket to the latest Dick Slater movie which transport's him into Slater's world, where the good guys always win and the bad guys always lose. However when a hitman called Benedict get's hold of the ticket he goes the other way to our real world. No longer restricted by the rules f that world he realises that killing the actro that plays Dick Slater (Schwarzenegger) he will also claim Slater himself.

Slater and Danny travel back to our worls in order to try and stop Benedict from elimination both Arnie and Slater.
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This is a movie that seems to polarise opinion greatly. If viewed as a bog-standard action movie then it is clearly below par, extremely cliched, cheap and derivative. However seen as a spoof of a bog-standard action movie then the movie ha much moe subtlety and depth.

My opinion is somewhere between the two. Whilst the spoof elements are very entertaining and cleverly played, they are perhaps too subtle at times for a film that was promotd as an action flick rather than a comedy. Also there are no excuses for the action scenes being 'THAT' bad, especially as the joke begins to run very thinly after the film's half-way point.

That said the film does provide some very entertaining moments, chief among them are Slater meeting the real-life counterpart of one of his enemies and the realisation by the charachters that all their pain and suffering has been purely for the amusement of us.

Overall yes this is a hit and miss film and I understand why some don't like it, I thought it was good, but it won't be one i' repeating again anytime soon.

Rating: 5/10

DVD

Overall as a DVD multi-pack this is not a bad purchase, especially as you can get both films for a combined price of around £5-6 in many stores.