Essential for Physical Media Collectors
Summary
End of Days is one of Arnold’s more underappreciated efforts and Gabriel Byrne is suitably menacing as Lucifer; the 4K looks and sounds great with some fascinating special features. The interview with Peter Hyams alone makes this worth picking up.
Plot: YOU WILL BEAR WITNESS. All hell breaks loose when Arnold Schwarzenegger battles the ultimate evil in the supernatural action/thriller, End Of Days. When burned-out former New York City cop Jericho Cane (Schwarzenegger) is assigned to security detail for a mysterious stranger (Gabriel Byrne, Hereditary), he thwarts an assassination attempt. During the follow-up investigation, Jericho and his partner (Kevin Pollak, The Usual Suspects) save the life of a terrified young woman (Robin Tunney, The Craft), whose destiny involves death, the fate of mankind, and the devil himself. Now it’s up to Jericho to protect not only the woman, but also his very soul as he comes face to face with the most powerful enemy imaginable.
Review: I just picked up the 25th anniversary 4K of End of Days from Scream Factory as I only ever had the movie on DVD before. Directed by Peter Hyams (Timecop, Sudden Death) and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, this was a movie that channeled our fears of the upcoming new Millenium.
We were all worried that every computer would stop working and the world would end… none of that happened, but it was still an interesting premise for this movie. Throw in Gabriel Byrne as The Devil and we’ve got ourselves an underappreciated and still entertaining late 90’s action picture.
End of Days explores themes as guilt and self-sacrifice which is not what we’re used to from an Arnold movie. It’s a more serious film than what we were used to from the Austrian Oak which is perhaps why it isn’t talked about as much, but I really enjoyed that aspect.
Schwarzenegger gives one of his best performances and rather than making the usual heroic entrance, we first see him holding a gun to his head about to kill himself. Riddled with guilt over the death of his wife and child, he’s lost the will to live. This is not the invincible Arnie we’re used to and I liked seeing him do something different and for the most part it works well. Although there aren’t the constant one-liners we do get a few gems, and his “choir boy” speech remains a classic.
I think Gabriel Byrne steals the show as The Devil and he just has a lot of fun in the role. Robin Tunney is very sympathetic as Christine York (Satan’s chosen bride) who is literally going through Hell plagued with terrible visions of things to come.
The film has an unsettling and creepy vibe with easily the most disturbing looking homeless character of all time.
John Debney provides one of his all-time greatest scores which is a combination of action/horror and works in providing a tense and foreboding atmosphere to the film. It’s been used in countless trailers since as well.
In terms of action scenes, I have to say that my favourite is the helicopter chase at the beginning; it’s well executed and exciting, which shouldn’t be surprising as it’s directed by Peter Hyams; the man behind Timecop and Sudden Death, which are some of my all-time favourite JCVD films.
The finale is satisfying with great visuals provided by Stan Winston Studios; they have dated a little, but it still looks mostly awesome. It does have a more downbeat ending than most Arnie movies so that may be off-putting for some, but I thought it made a lot of sense considering the subject matter.
Special Features:
DISC ONE (4K UHD):
- NEW 4K Scan From The Original Camera Negative Approved By Director/Cinematographer Peter Hyams
- Presented In Dolby Vision
- Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround, DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
- Audio Commentary With Director/Cinematographer Peter Hyams
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY):
- NEW 4K Scan From The Original Camera Negative Approved By Director/Cinematographer Peter Hyams
- Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround, DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
- Audio Commentary With Director/Cinematographer Peter Hyams
- NEW “One Hell Of A Time: Peter Hyams At Universal” – An In-Depth Interview With Director/Cinematographer Peter Hyams
- NEW “You Will Bear Witness: Writing End Of Days” – An Interview With Screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe
- NEW “Hell Followed With Him: Inside The Effects” – An Interview With Visual Effects Supervisor John Des Jardin
- NEW “The Eternal Struggle: Scoring End Of Days” – An Interview With Composer John Debney
- “Spotlight On Location” Vintage Featurette
- “Special Effects: The Devil’s Playground” Vintage Featurette
- Theatrical Trailer
The 4K is the best the film has ever looked and sounded with the dark red and blacks nice and clear. The special features are where this shines though with my favourite being the 35 minute interview called One Hell Of A Time: Peter Hyams At Universal. He spends about 15 minutes discussing the making of Timecop which had me thinking why didn’t we get this on the Timecop 4K a few months back? He then goes into making Sudden Death and End of Days. He remains one of my favourite action directors who likes to do his action scenes practically rather than using ridiculously over the top set-pieces. There are 3 other new featurettes as well as a few archival ones which are all insightful and entertaining.
The only gripe I have with this which I’ve had with a few Scream Factory 4Ks is the lack of chapter selection on the menus. It is also doesn’t have them on the Blu-ray which is odd. It’s one of the most basic things and it’s beyond me why they keep leaving that out.
Overall, End of Days is one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s more underappreciated pictures with the right amount of horror and action. Gabriel Byrne steals every scene and there are some impression action scenes too. The film looks and sounds great with some hugely enjoyable special features making this a worthy addition to the collection.