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(About Our Ads) "END OF DAYS" (1999) (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Byrne) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Extreme Extreme Extreme Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Moderate Extreme Mild Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Minor Mild Mild Extreme QUICK TAKE: Suspense/Horror: A former cop tries to prevent the Devil from impregnating a woman at the end of the millennium and thus causing the end of all mankind. PLOT: Jericho Cane (ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER) is an alcoholic and suicidal ex-cop who now works as a bodyguard with his buddy, Chicago (KEVIN POLLAK), protecting various important clients. After an attempt on a client's life by what turns out to be a tongueless priest, Thomas Aquinas (DERRICK O'CONNOR), who talks about the upcoming "end of days," Jericho and Chicago find a young woman, Christine York (ROBIN TUNNEY), whose picture the priest had in his possession, and manage to save her from being killed by some other religious men. It seems that every thousand years, the Devil shows up, takes a human form, and plans to sire a child at the end of the millennium with a woman born under the religious sign of a passing comet. As such, Christine is unknowingly the chosen one -- based on her birth twenty years earlier during the sighting of that comet -- to be the mother of Satan's child. With the Vatican and a local priest, Father Kovak (ROD STEIGER), announcing that they must save the woman's life while various other factions believe she must be killed lest all mankind be wiped out with the pairing, Jericho tries to save her while figuring out what's really occurring. He must then also contend with the Devil in his human form (GABRIEL BYRNE) who will do anything to find and then impregnate Christine before the new millennium dawns and thus insure the "end of days." WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of Schwarzenegger films (or of anyone else in the cast), they just might (although among kids this one seems most aimed at male teens). WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For intense violence and gore, a strong sex scene and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER plays an initially suicidal former cop who discovers that he must protect a young woman from Satan. Along the way he kills many of the devil's followers, is known for drinking (and does so occasionally ) and uses some strong profanity. GABRIEL BYRNE plays the human body inhabited by the devil who kills people, uses strong profanity and wishes to impregnate the chosen woman so as to create the end of days. KEVIN POLLAK plays Jericho's partner, a wisecracking man who also uses strong profanity. ROBIN TUNNEY plays the young woman who's been chosen to be the mother of Satan's child. ROD STEIGER plays a priest who wants to protect Christine. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief look at the content found in this R-rated thriller. Violence is extreme with many people being killed in all sorts of ways (including with varying weapons), often with extremely bloody and/or gory results. Other, non-lethal violence is also present. All of those scenes, others (including several "jump" scenes), and/or the whole Satan conquering the world element may be unsettling, suspenseful, or frightening to viewers, depending on their age and tolerance for such material. Bad attitudes rate as extreme as well. Profanity is also extreme, due to at least 20 uses of the "f" word, while other profanities and colorful phrases also occur. An imagined sex scene shows a man having sex with a woman while her adult and partially nude daughter pleasures herself, while other sexual material, nudity and some related dialogue are also present. A character is initially suicidal and an alcoholic -- all related to the previous violent deaths of this wife and daughter. Due to the amount and degree of the material that's included in this film, we suggest that you take a closer look at the more detailed content should you still be concerned about its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home. For those concerned with the repetitive flashing of bright lights on the screen, some moments of that occur in this film (at a near strobe-like rate). ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE People have wine in a restaurant. We see many empty beer bottles in Jericho's place. Noting that Jericho's statement of what a priest without a tongue said, a detective asks if he's been drinking again, causing Chicago to sarcastically comment that they got liquored up that morning. Jericho drinks liquor straight from a bottle. A man and his family have wine. Jericho finds Christine taking some sort of prescription pills. When she asks if he wants any (since they "relax her"), he states that he doesn't and that he drinks instead. Jericho drinks liquor straight from a bottle again. BLOOD/GORE A newly born baby is somewhat bloody and covered in mucous. A man runs a knife through a rattlesnake, killing it and spilling its blood onto a newborn infant (as well as sticking his finger inside it and then placing that finger into the infant's mouth). An injured man's face is rather bloody. We see a jar with a severed tongue in it as well as the blood-covered sheers used to cut it out. We also see some dried blood on the floor in the shape of various symbols. A man's body shatters like a broken statue and what's left of his shattered face still talks to Christine. A woman with the stigmata has bloody wounds in her hands and feet. We see a man impaled to a hospital room ceiling with surgical instruments stuck in his body (holding him up there) and blood dripping/running down from his wounds. We then see that bloody incisions in the form of words were cut into his body as well (in addition to a later bullet hole). We see a stream of blood on a bathroom floor and then see a dead man in a bathtub full of bloody red water. As that man is pulled from the tub, we see a bloody gash in his throat. The Devil hits a man in the face hard enough to kill him and cover his own hand in blood. We see the Devil's urine stream as he urinates on the side of the street. A woman's face and neck are rather bloody and have shards of glass sticking out from them. Jericho walks into a bedroom in the middle of an imagined scene and sees blood everywhere. Blood squirts out as the Devil is shot, but his bullet hole wounds immediately heal. Jericho's hands are very bloody after cutting them on some broken glass. A person's arm is a little bloody after being shot there and the same holds true for another man's hand in a later scene. One half of Jericho's face is very bloody after being beaten and later we see someone stitching up one of his wounds. The Devil drives his fist completely through a man's body (resulting in a bloody scene). We see a man whose body has been ripped apart by an explosion (with a severed hand, severe cuts to the head and a huge chunk of his torso missing). DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Obviously the Devil and all of his many minions have both for plotting to cause the end of days (as well as killing many people, making God out to be the "bad guy" and an underachiever as far as the day to day happenings in life, and stating to a statue of Jesus that he died for nothing). Jericho and Chicago remove evidence from a suspect's "home" without telling the police. Some may see Jericho as having both for not believing in God (he's upset that his wife and child were murdered). FRIGHTENING SCENES Some viewers may find the whole Devil issue and related plot unsettling, as well as brief images of the devil during the opening credits, transparent floating images, and a larger than life, truly monstrous version late in the film (that will truly be frightening to any younger kids allowed to see it). In addition, scenes listed under "Violence" or "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to some viewers. A nurse takes a newly born baby down into the hospital morgue where some people perform a ritualistic ceremony on it, including removing a rattlesnake from a jar, cutting it open and letting the blood drip on the infant (as well as putting the blood on its lips). We see a distraught Jericho holding his gun to his forehead, prepared to shoot himself. A creepy looking guy with weird hair confronts Christine on a subway and then shatters like a statue with his partial face still talking to her (it turns out no one else saw this but her). We see a woman with the stigmata who has bloody wounds in her hands and feet and screams. Jericho makes his way through a darkened building and tunnel while following one of the Devil's minions. The entire, drawn out ending sequence, where Jericho battles the Devil and his minions and is nearly hit by a train, and he and Christine then try to fend off attacks coming at them through various parts of a subway car, Jericho hanging from a moving train, Jericho encountering a monstrous version of the Devil etc... may be rather suspenseful to some viewers. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Machine Guns/Grenade launcher/Knives: Used to threaten, wound or kill people or the Devil. See "Violence" for details. Knife: A man uses one to cut through a rattlesnake, killing it and spilling its blood in a ceremony. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "F*ck me," "What the f*ck?" "Who the f*ck are you?" "Stop being such a p*ssy," "What the hell?" "Scumbag," "Screw you" and "Go to hell." Jericho mixes all sorts of usually incompatible food items into a blender, mixes them up, and then drinks the concoction. Kids prone to Devil worship might be somewhat inspired by this film (including a ceremony where a rattlesnake is killed with a knife to drip its blood onto a newborn infant). JUMP SCENES The sudden sound of Chicago at the door (when we're expecting a gunshot) might make some people jump. A cat suddenly pops from an opened door. A detective and her team suddenly burst into a darkened room, surprising Jericho and Chicago. A presumably dead man suddenly rears up and grabs someone. An apple Christine cuts in half suddenly has miniature, writing souls sticking out like worms from the inside. An old man with eyes sewn closed surprises Jericho. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of such music plays during the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) A song contained what sounded like an "s" and "ass" word, although more could have been present. PROFANITY At least 20 "f" words (3 used sexually), 12 "s" words, 3 slang terms using female genitals ("p*ssy"), 16 hells, 3 asses (1 used with "hole"), 3 S.O.B.s, 1 crap, 1 damn, and 5 uses of "Jesus," 3 of "Oh my God," 2 each of "G-damn" and "God" and 1 use each of "For Christ's sakes" and "Christ" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY After the Devil gets inside a man, that man then goes and grabs a woman seated in a restaurant, removes her bare breast from her dress and fondles it (we see glimpses of it as well as his hand on it) while passionately kissing her (and she doesn't react negatively to all of this, but instead appears overtaken with passion). He then walks away. A man confronts Christine on a subway car and says "He's coming for you...he's going to f*ck you" (with the latter part said several times). We see an imagined image of the Devil having sex with a woman (on top of her with movement but under the sheets) while her daughter lies next to them in the bed, bare-breasted and feeling her crotch (through the sheet covering it). As the mother and daughter's legs touch and then morph together, we still see the daughter's bare breasts as well as her pleasured facial expressions. The combined women then briefly turn into Christine (with the Devil on top of her) until she wakes up from this nightmare. We briefly see Christine's bare breasts as she undresses to take a shower. When Jericho questions whether Christine has seen the Devil before, she finally admits that in her dreams she's "been making love to him all my life." The Devil runs his hands along Christine's bare legs and kisses her right before he plans to impregnate her in a public ceremony (but nothing else sexual happens). SMOKING The Devil blows cigarette smoke into a sick man's ventilation tent in a hospital. Later, he uses a lit cigarette to light a flammable stream of urine to blow up several vehicles. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Jericho is suicidal over the deaths of his wife and daughter (that occurred sometime in the past before this story begins) and must then relive their deaths through an imagined scene created by the Devil. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The Devil, the whole notion of the "end of days," and his comments on God being the "bad guy" instead of him having that designation. VIOLENCE A man runs a knife through a rattlesnake, killing it and spilling its blood. An earthquake-like event causes pieces of buildings to fall to the street (crushing cars) and explosions from under the street to blow up cars on top of it. The Devil flows inside a man (who will embody Satan for most of the film) and knocks him around a restroom. The Devil causes a restaurant to explode, presumably killing everyone inside. A sniper opens fire on Jericho's client, but he steps in the way and takes two bullets (into his bulletproof vest). As a result, the limo races off and crashes into other vehicles, causing even more to crash. The sniper then shoots at a helicopter carrying Jericho and Chicago, with Jericho firing back at him. They then pursue the suspect along the roof of a building until Jericho, suspended from the helicopter, grabs the sniper. As they dangle from a wire high above the streets, the sniper then pulls out another gun and tries to shoot Jericho, causing them to slide down the helicopter wire toward the street. The sniper eventually falls and crashes through a skylight to the sidewalk. Jericho then chases him into a tunnel where both hold their guns on each other with Jericho finally shooting and wounding him. A man's body shatters like a broken statue and what's left of his shattered face still talks to Christine. We see a man impaled to a hospital room ceiling with surgical instruments stuck in his body (holding him up there) and blood dripping/running down from his wounds. We then see that bloody incisions in the form of words were cut into his body as well. The Devil makes a young punk get hit (and presumably killed) by an approaching bus. A cop shoots what had previously been considered a recently deceased man who suddenly rears up. We see a man with a slashed throat lying dead in a bathtub. Some religious figures break through Christine's door trying to get her (after she sees the above). She then throws a piece of furniture through a window, shattering the glass. The men then find her hiding in a closet and she hits one in the face with a high heel shoe, but the others then drag her out and pin her to the bed, preparing to sacrifice her (via a knife to the throat) for the good of mankind. As this occurs, Jericho and Chicago arrive and, hearing her screams, race into her building and get into a gun battle with some of the men. Jericho then gets upstairs and battles with a man he eventually throws down the stairs while Christine escapes from the knife-wielding man and tries to defend herself with a fireplace poker. She eventually kicks him in the crotch and Jericho then struggles with him, but he escapes. The Devil hits a man in the face hard enough to kill him and cover his own hand in blood. We see the Devil's urine stream as he urinates on the side of the street. We then see the urine as it flows toward a van (which the Devil then ignites, causing a flame to run along it and then blow up two vehicles, presumably killing the people inside them). One of the Devil's minions, an older woman, punches Jericho and then throws him around a room, eventually smashing him into a wall by rolling a piano into him. She then grabs him by the hair and smashes him into a wall again. He eventually grabs her and smashes her down through a glass coffee table. Later, the Devil pushes a shard of glass sticking out from her neck even deeper into her wounds. Two cops shoot at Jericho and Christine. After Jericho pretends to give up, he shoots both of them dead when they prepare to kill him. Jericho witnesses an imagined, but realistic scene of his wife and daughter (who were previously dead) and then of some thugs racing in and grabbing them. He then tries shooting and jumping on them, but his actions are to no avail. We then hear the gunshots that kill the wife and daughter. The Devil grabs Jericho and lifts up him by the neck. Jericho then repeatedly shoots him but the Devil's bullet wounds immediately heal. The Devil then throws Jericho out the window, causing him to grab a hold of the broken glass (and cutting his hands). The Devil then steps on Jericho's hands trying to make him fall or comply with his wishes. Jericho then grabs the Devil and yanks him from the window, sending him falling many stories until he crashes into the top of a truck. Jericho shoots a person in the arm to see if they're real or one of the Devil's minions. Some religious types grab Christine and threaten to kill her with a knife. In turn, Jericho shoots off the blade and then through the assailant's hand and threatens to shoot others. The Devil stabs a priest in the head with a small cross, smacks another to the floor and then grabs another priest and breaks his neck (spinning his head around backwards). A man hits Jericho with a baseball bat and the two then fight. A man then abducts Christine as a mob closes in on Jericho. He fights off many of them with severe blows, but they finally overtake him, repeatedly beating him on the ground. As the Devil approaches, Jericho then shoots him through his hand, but it doesn't hurt him, and the Devil then kicks him across the alley and into a wall. We then see that the crowd has drawn Jericho up the side of a building in a crucifixion pose. Jericho shoots a minion dead and then opens fire on the Devil and other minions with his machine gun (killing several of them). The Devil then sets a person back on fire (that completely engulfs and then kills that person). Jericho then fires several grenades that blow up and then set off even bigger explosions in this underground chamber. Jericho and Christine jointly shoot another person dead. The subway train they're on then smashes into the Devil at a high speed. They then take turns firing at the Devil as he tries to get at both of them through various parts of a subway car. The Devil then drives his fist through the train operator's body. Jericho fires an explosive that knocks the Devil back into another subway car and both explode. Another subway car then crashes into the exploded one. A church is ripped apart as the Devil tries to get to Christine. A man is thrown about a church and then grabs Christine and drags her along the floor. A character is impaled on a sword and dies. Reviewed November 22, 1999 / Posted November 24, 1999