End of Days

For about ten seconds--when Arnold Schwarzenegger incredulously asks of the coming apocalypse at midnight on December 31, 1999, "Is that Eastern Time?"--there's a spark of hope that End of Days is clued in to its own absurdity. Unfortunately, it's too little too late in this preposterous supernatural thriller starring Schwarzenegger, in a "look at me, I'm tormented" performance as an alcoholic ex-cop chasing Satan (Gabriel Byrne). Yes, there's plenty of gun-firin', helicopter-danglin', subway car-explodin' action, not to mention quite a bit of unpleasant brutality, but there's also utterly unbelievable scenes in which our hero stumbles onto clues from matchbook covers and randomly selected books off a shelf. Gabriel Byrne plays the Prince of Darkness effectively as a smug libertine with a very short temper--but that's a paltry reason to watch this murky dud that tries to chuckle its way out of the corner it writes itself into. Not recommended. (S. Renshaw)[Blu-ray Review—Sept. 2, 2008—Universal, 123 min., R, $29.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1999's End of Days features a nice transfer and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. DVD extras include audio commentary by director Peter Hyams and a “MyScenes” feature that lets viewers bookmark favorite clips. Bottom line: this is still not one of the Governator's finer efforts.]