| Reviews & Columns |
|
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
 DVD Talk Forum |
|
|
| Resources |
|
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
|
Columns
  
 
|
|
|
End Of Days: Collector's Edition
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
When the original director was let go from the project, "Relic" director Peter Hyams was brought in to helm "End Of Days". I'd enjoyed "The Relic"; beyond all of the silly dialogue, the film delivered some genuine scares and entertainment. "End Of Days" is much of the same, in my opinion. The script by Andrew Marlowe is certainly lacking, but the film technically looks fantastic, has some really impressive special effects, and for at least the first half of the film, kept me basically entertained. That's really the only job a film like this has, anyways.
Arnold plays Jericho Cane, a depressed former NYPD cop who finds that Satan has come to New York City looking to impregnate his chosen bride, Christine York(Robin Tunney). If he does, it's all over. So, it's up to Arnold to once again save the world. Byrne does a decent job as the Devil, but he's no Al Pacino in "The Devil's Advocate", and nothing here approaches some of the great "over-the-top" speeches that Pacino played with.
In fact, not much of this approaches a decent level in terms of dialogue, much of which is pretty silly. The performances aren't too bad - Arnold attempts to up the acting level a little further past his past pictures, but he's only moderately successful. I can't much blame him as he doesn't have much to go with from this script. Byrne does well with what he's given, which isn't a whole lot. Supporting performances from Kevin Pollack and Robin Tunney are fair, as well.
Again, for the most part, it's a fairly watchable picture. If anything adds to that, it's the film's impressive look. Technically, I really enjoyed the cinematography by director Peter Hyams, and the special effects are really quite well done. The score by John Debney is also quite haunting and successful. So, visually it looks great, but that can only carry a movie so far.
Let's face it, Arnold does well what Arnold does well, and that was highlighted in his last film, the more "action-oriented" "Eraser". This could have been a more enjoyable film, but it begins to fall apart at the end, partly because it begins to feel simply too long, and partly because all of the action nonsense towards the end becomes tiring.
I'd actually been looking forward to seeing this film when it was in theaters, but missed it. Universal's DVD actually rises above the already high level of what I've expected from their efforts, but I honestly found the movie dissapointing.
The DVD
VIDEO: Universal has done a wonderful job twice lately - for "The Bone Collector", they were able to capture all of the dimly lit interiors and sets extremely well. For the darkness of many squences of "End Of Days", they were able to capture the images perfectly. Director Hyams also works as the cinematographer on his films, and "End Of Days" is shot in rather similar fashion to "The Relic"(translation:really,really dark). Colors are accurate to the intent of the movie, not looking vibrant or bright, but rather dark and moody - there are no problems at all with colors. Flesh tones remain accurate, and black level is strong.
I was impressed greatly with the image quality. Whether on the city streets in the daytime, or in shadows and darkness, the image still holds up very well. There's absolutely not an instance of shimmering or pixelation to be found anywhere here, and the print used is in absolutely crystal clear condition. The work that Universal has done here is certainly some of their best. "End Of Days" looks great, and I have to give high praise to Universal for their effort.
SOUND: As good as the image quality is, the audio is equally impressive. This is a thunderous film at times, with plenty of heavy explosions. Surrounds are used agressively and intensely throughout the picture, and bass is remarkably deep as well. The score by John Debney("Liar,Liar", and also Hyams's "Relic") is one of the more haunting I've ever heard in a horror film like this, and it sounds wonderful on this DVD release, coming through with impressive clarity, and enveloping the viewer. Dialogue remains very clear and easily understood. This is a very explosive soundtrack that will likely entertain many.
MENUS:: These are magnificent menus by Universal, leading us into the main menu with a fully animated clip with narration. Once we're there, all of the other choices lead us through a wonderfully done animated environment. Impressive stuff, and a fantastic way to introduce viewers into the tone of the movie. Whoever did these menus did an amazing job.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from Director Peter Hyams. Although he's not always the most energetic speaker, I found him very interesting to listen to. It's a more technical commentary, taking a look at everything down to the tone of the images; he even discusses his use of darkness in most of his movies.
In a film with as many effects (and cool effects, too.) as this one has, it's always an important feature of the commentary to have details about how the effects were brought together. In this commentary, Hyams not only does a good job at discussing how they were achieved, but sometimes also discusses how he wanted effects to look.
Even though a great deal of the commentary does focus on the technical aspects of the film as well as the director's past experiences in art and filmmaking, there is still some comments directed towards the actors. Hyams does praise his actors and talk about their performances, but doesn't hang forever on talking about them. His thoughts are very organized, and he moves from subject to subject without going too far down the road with a topic.
Although there are some small pauses during the discussion, none of them becomes distracting or noticable. I particularly liked the tone that the director brought to the table - his remarks have a very honest feel and that I thought made the discussion even more interesting, where occasionally, he remarks on little things that didn't turn out quite right. There are even a few very funny remarks on occasion.
All in all, I really liked this commentary, and I felt it actually got better as it went on.
Trailers: Trailers are offered (both in Dolby Digital 5.1) for "End Of Days" and "U-571", and both sound absolutely fantastic.
Spotlight On Location: Universal has been putting out "Spotlight"'s for many discs now, but their last few have been even more in depth and enjoyable. "End Of Days" continues that new streak with the documentary here, which lasts about 25 minutes. There are plenty of the usual elements, such as clips from the movie and comments from all of the actors involved. Although some of the interview responses are fairly predictable. Some of the crew comments though, do offer some stronger information about the work that the production had to do. Also included are some cool clips of some of the larger sequences being filmed.
The Special Effects: This section is broken up into smaller sections that take a more in-depth look at how the visual effects were done for some of the major effects sequences in the film. These involve interviews with those involved in more specific areas of effects production, such as people who were involved in making the miniatures, as well as those involved in some of the computer FX. I was extremely impressed not only by the work that was done by these talented individuals, but also by the quality of these featurettes. They do a wonderful job at explaining all of the details, and take you through each and every step of the process. There are 9 sequences highlighted, and they are all very interesting to watch.
Text Notes: Production info, cast&crew bios and text notes on the Book Of Revelation are offered.
Soundtrack Presentation: Videos for Everlast and Rob Zombie.
Also: DVD-Rom features.
Final Thoughts: I'm actually going to give a moderate recommendation to "End Of Days". While I was dissapointed by the movie, Universal has produced a wonderful Collector's Edition DVD. If you're looking for action (and some incredible sound), you'll find it here, along with some excellent additional features.
When the original director was let go from the project, "Relic" director Peter Hyams was brought in to helm "End Of Days". I'd enjoyed "The Relic"; beyond all of the silly dialogue, the film delivered some genuine scares and entertainment. "End Of Days" is much of the same, in my opinion. The script by Andrew Marlowe is certainly lacking, but the film technically looks fantastic, has some really impressive special effects, and for at least the first half of the film, kept me basically entertained. That's really the only job a film like this has, anyways.
Arnold plays Jericho Cane, a depressed former NYPD cop who finds that Satan has come to New York City looking to impregnate his chosen bride, Christine York(Robin Tunney). If he does, it's all over. So, it's up to Arnold to once again save the world. Byrne does a decent job as the Devil, but he's no Al Pacino in "The Devil's Advocate", and nothing here approaches some of the great "over-the-top" speeches that Pacino played with.
In fact, not much of this approaches a decent level in terms of dialogue, much of which is pretty silly. The performances aren't too bad - Arnold attempts to up the acting level a little further past his past pictures, but he's only moderately successful. I can't much blame him as he doesn't have much to go with from this script. Byrne does well with what he's given, which isn't a whole lot. Supporting performances from Kevin Pollack and Robin Tunney are fair, as well.
Again, for the most part, it's a fairly watchable picture. If anything adds to that, it's the film's impressive look. Technically, I really enjoyed the cinematography by director Peter Hyams, and the special effects are really quite well done. The score by John Debney is also quite haunting and successful. So, visually it looks great, but that can only carry a movie so far.
Let's face it, Arnold does well what Arnold does well, and that was highlighted in his last film, the more "action-oriented" "Eraser". This could have been a more enjoyable film, but it begins to fall apart at the end, partly because it begins to feel simply too long, and partly because all of the action nonsense towards the end becomes tiring.
I'd actually been looking forward to seeing this film when it was in theaters, but missed it. Universal's DVD actually rises above the already high level of what I've expected from their efforts, but I honestly found the movie dissapointing.
The DVD
VIDEO: Universal has done a wonderful job twice lately - for "The Bone Collector", they were able to capture all of the dimly lit interiors and sets extremely well. For the darkness of many squences of "End Of Days", they were able to capture the images perfectly. Director Hyams also works as the cinematographer on his films, and "End Of Days" is shot in rather similar fashion to "The Relic"(translation:really,really dark). Colors are accurate to the intent of the movie, not looking vibrant or bright, but rather dark and moody - there are no problems at all with colors. Flesh tones remain accurate, and black level is strong.
I was impressed greatly with the image quality. Whether on the city streets in the daytime, or in shadows and darkness, the image still holds up very well. There's absolutely not an instance of shimmering or pixelation to be found anywhere here, and the print used is in absolutely crystal clear condition. The work that Universal has done here is certainly some of their best. "End Of Days" looks great, and I have to give high praise to Universal for their effort.
SOUND: As good as the image quality is, the audio is equally impressive. This is a thunderous film at times, with plenty of heavy explosions. Surrounds are used agressively and intensely throughout the picture, and bass is remarkably deep as well. The score by John Debney("Liar,Liar", and also Hyams's "Relic") is one of the more haunting I've ever heard in a horror film like this, and it sounds wonderful on this DVD release, coming through with impressive clarity, and enveloping the viewer. Dialogue remains very clear and easily understood. This is a very explosive soundtrack that will likely entertain many.
MENUS:: These are magnificent menus by Universal, leading us into the main menu with a fully animated clip with narration. Once we're there, all of the other choices lead us through a wonderfully done animated environment. Impressive stuff, and a fantastic way to introduce viewers into the tone of the movie. Whoever did these menus did an amazing job.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from Director Peter Hyams. Although he's not always the most energetic speaker, I found him very interesting to listen to. It's a more technical commentary, taking a look at everything down to the tone of the images; he even discusses his use of darkness in most of his movies.
In a film with as many effects (and cool effects, too.) as this one has, it's always an important feature of the commentary to have details about how the effects were brought together. In this commentary, Hyams not only does a good job at discussing how they were achieved, but sometimes also discusses how he wanted effects to look.
Even though a great deal of the commentary does focus on the technical aspects of the film as well as the director's past experiences in art and filmmaking, there is still some comments directed towards the actors. Hyams does praise his actors and talk about their performances, but doesn't hang forever on talking about them. His thoughts are very organized, and he moves from subject to subject without going too far down the road with a topic.
Although there are some small pauses during the discussion, none of them becomes distracting or noticable. I particularly liked the tone that the director brought to the table - his remarks have a very honest feel and that I thought made the discussion even more interesting, where occasionally, he remarks on little things that didn't turn out quite right. There are even a few very funny remarks on occasion.
All in all, I really liked this commentary, and I felt it actually got better as it went on.
Trailers: Trailers are offered (both in Dolby Digital 5.1) for "End Of Days" and "U-571", and both sound absolutely fantastic.
Spotlight On Location: Universal has been putting out "Spotlight"'s for many discs now, but their last few have been even more in depth and enjoyable. "End Of Days" continues that new streak with the documentary here, which lasts about 25 minutes. There are plenty of the usual elements, such as clips from the movie and comments from all of the actors involved. Although some of the interview responses are fairly predictable. Some of the crew comments though, do offer some stronger information about the work that the production had to do. Also included are some cool clips of some of the larger sequences being filmed.
The Special Effects: This section is broken up into smaller sections that take a more in-depth look at how the visual effects were done for some of the major effects sequences in the film. These involve interviews with those involved in more specific areas of effects production, such as people who were involved in making the miniatures, as well as those involved in some of the computer FX. I was extremely impressed not only by the work that was done by these talented individuals, but also by the quality of these featurettes. They do a wonderful job at explaining all of the details, and take you through each and every step of the process. There are 9 sequences highlighted, and they are all very interesting to watch.
Text Notes: Production info, cast&crew bios and text notes on the Book Of Revelation are offered.
Soundtrack Presentation: Videos for Everlast and Rob Zombie.
Also: DVD-Rom features.
Final Thoughts: I'm actually going to give a moderate recommendation to "End Of Days". While I was dissapointed by the movie, Universal has produced a wonderful Collector's Edition DVD. If you're looking for action (and some incredible sound), you'll find it here, along with some excellent additional features.
|
| Popular Reviews |
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
|
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices 
| |||||||