Bullet Points: The 6th Day
I suspect it was some time after True Lies, that re-watching Arnold Schwarzenegger classics like Predator and Commando took precedent over keeping up with Arnold’s mid-90’s and beyond movie releases. This would explain why up until a week or so ago I had never seen The 6th Day, a movie that initially opened in theaters on November 17, 2000…
- The Clone Wars: The 6th Day takes place at some point in the future, a future where cloning humans has become a hot button issue and rightfully so. Apparently after Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996, scientists started pushing forward, cloning other animals, then human organs… then they even tried to clone a human. But the human cloning experiment went terribly awry and as result cloning humans was outlawed.
- Above the Law: One of the most vocal and powerful opponents of the “6th Day Law” that prohibits human cloning is billionaire Michael Drucker (Tony Goldwyn). Drucker is the owner of Replacement Technologies, a company that owns and operates RePet (a company that can clone your favorite pet so you never have to say goodbye), SimPal (a next level My Buddy for kids) and even an XFL expansion team. There are some anti-cloning extremist that believe Drucker is abusing his power, technology and wealth, and along with Dr. Griffin Weir (Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now), is in fact illegally cloning humans.
- The Catalina Wine Mixer: Adam Gibson (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Conan the Barbarian) is a family man, who owns and operates his own helicopter charter company along with his friend Hank Morgan (Michael Rapaport, Metro). Adam and Hank’s live will change forever when Michael Drucker hires them to transport him to a ski resort… things don’t go as planned for anyone that day… not Adam, not Hank, not Drucker or (SPOILER ALERT – the assassin who attempted to kill Drucker!)
- Double Trouble: While Hank was the one who actually piloted Michael Drucker to the ski resort, Adam went down to the mall to visit RePet to see about cloning the Gibson family dog, who had to be put down earlier that day. Adam is not high on the whole pet clone thing and despite his wife Natalie’s insistence opts to buy his daughter Carla a SimPal instead, realizing he’ll have to have the tough conversation with Carla about what happened to the dog…. but when Adam gets home he sees the dog running around in the yard… then in the window he sees himself at his own birthday party celebrating with family and friends. WTF?!?!?
- Attack of the Clones: That’s about the time Adam is visited by some Replacement Technologies security agents led by Robert Marshall (Michael Rooker, Cliffhanger) and all hell breaks loose… we get a car chase that ends with Adam’s Cadillac driving off a cliff, Adam managing to survive, only to find himself nearly eliminated at the police station after going there for help and eventually realizing the only way he is going to get answers is to go to to Replacement Technologies. But he is not going to go alone, he’ll have some help… from himself!
I think one of the reasons it took me more than two decades to check The 6th Day out is because of what could be described as apathy for the film. In the twenty-one years since the movie hit theaters, with all my interactions and conversations about action movies, The 6th Day has never come up. Nobody ever raved about The 6th Day to me and demanded that I watch it immediately (SPOILER ALERT – I probably wouldn’t) and nobody shit all over it and told me to continue avoiding the movie at all costs?!
But after finally watching The 6th Day, I believe I have figured out why the movie didn’t resonate enough to evoke a strong reaction either way… it’s the villain. Tony Goldwyn looked the part, but the character of Michael Drucker wasn’t really evil. Drucker was warped, he had a God complex, but I did not get diabolical vibes from him… so he wasn’t really a feared villain. Nor was he an over the top villain that you’d never forget, in fact he was overshadowed by everyone of his underlings… and when one of them is Michael Rooker that’s not hard to believe.
The 6th Day did have some things going for it. A strong hero with double the Arnold for a good chunk of the movie, a bit of mystery with who is a clone, who isn’t a clone… some comedy and most importantly some big budget action sequences. But The 6th Day does reinforce the theory that the villain makes or breaks the movie…
Some would say the Bonus Bullet Points could make or break a review on this site…
- If You Ever: …believed the song “Teddy Bear’s Picnic” should be featured in an action movie, then The 6th Day is the movie for you.
- Introducing: Terry Crews made his acting debut in The 6th Day as Vincent, one of the members of The Replacement Technologies security team.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see a star quarterback get severely injured in a game, only to come back the following Sunday at 100%, then The 6th Day is the movie for you.
- Favorite Quote: “That’s for sleeping with my wife… in the damn mini-van.”
