The 6th Day
| The 6th Day | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Roger Spottiswoode |
| Produced by | Jon Davison Mike Medavoy Arnold Schwarzenegger |
| Written by | Cormac Wibberley Marianne Wibberley |
| Starring | Arnold Schwarzenegger Michael Rapaport Tony Goldwyn Michael Rooker Sarah Wynter Robert Duvall |
| Music by | Trevor Rabin |
| Cinematography | Pierre Mignot |
| Editing by | Michel Arcand Mark Conte Dominique Fortin |
| Studio | Phoenix Pictures |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 28, 2000 (Tokyo International Film Festival) November 13, 2000 (premiere) November 17, 2000 (Theatrical) |
| Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $82 million |
| Box office | $97,085,477 |
The 6th Day is a 2000 American science fiction action thriller film directed by Roger Spottiswoode, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as family man Adam Gibson, who is cloned without his knowledge or consent in the future of 2015. It was a success at the box office despite mixed reviews from critics, and Schwarzenegger received a salary of $25 million for his role in the film.[1]
It is considered to be one of the jewels of Schwarzenegger's post-Batman & Robin roles, which have developed a cult following as vastly underrated films. The film also opened at #3 at the North American box office, making 13 million USD in its opening weekend.
Contents |
Plot [edit]
In 2015, cloning technology is sufficiently advanced that the "Sixth Day" laws prohibit reproducing a complete human because the first human cloning attempt came out deformed and retarded. Michael Drucker (Tony Goldwyn), the owner of a pet cloning company Replacement Technologies, hires charter helicopter pilot Adam Gibson (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and partner Hank Morgan (Michael Rapaport) for a ski trip. Due to Drucker's prominence, the two must first undergo blood and eye tests to verify their identities and aptitude. On the day of Drucker's arrival, the same as Gibson's birthday, Gibson finds that his family dog Oliver — which belongs to his daughter Clara (Taylor Anne Reid) — has died, and Morgan offers to fly Drucker instead to allow Gibson time to have the pet cloned. After visiting the RePet shop, Gibson reconsiders and instead gets Clara a Sim-Pal doll.
Gibson returns home and discovers that not only has Oliver already been cloned, but a purported clone of himself is celebrating with his family. Replacement Technologies security agents intent on killing Gibson give chase. He seeks refuge at Morgan's apartment after the police betray him to the agents. Minutes later, Tripp, a religious anti-cloning fundamentalist, kills Morgan and informs Gibson this Morgan was a clone. Tripp then admits having killed both Drucker and the real Morgan on the mountaintop earlier that day. Tripp then commits suicide to avoid being captured by Drucker's security team.
Gibson sneaks into Replacement Technologies and finds Dr. Griffin Weir (Robert Duvall), the scientist behind Drucker's human-cloning technology. Weir confirms Tripp's story about Drucker and Morgan, adding that clones of them were made to cover up the incident using data from the earlier medical (DNA sample) and eye (memory backup) exams. However, they believed Gibson was flying the helicopter and accidentally cloned him as well. Drucker's security has been trying to kill Gibson to keep the cloning operation a secret; the real Drucker was cloned after dying three years before, and could lose all his assets if the revelation became public, since clones are devoid of all rights. Weir, sympathetic with Gibson's plight, gives Gibson a memory disk of the Drucker clone but warns him that Drucker may go after his family.
Weir learns that his wife Katherine (Wanda Cannon) — whom he had cloned after she died five years ago — was dying of a traditionally childhood disease. When he discovers the other clones also have shorter lifespans due to fatal diseases programmed into them, he confronts Drucker, who explains that adding the illness to her genome was a clerical error, such illnesses were only supposed to be added to the secretly cloned politicians and their family in order to blackmail them into legalizing medical cloning. Incensed by Weir's promise not to clone his wife or anybody else again, Drucker kills the scientist, intending to later clone Weir and Weir's wife with their recent memories erased.
Drucker orders his agents to abduct Gibson's family in exchange for the disk. Gibson devises a plan with his doppelgänger to destroy Drucker's facility and save his family in the process. Gibson gives himself up and learns he was actually the clone all along. Drucker's agents forcibly extract the Gibson clone's memory to find the real Gibson, who hid in the helicopter on the way to the Replacement Technologies complex to rescue his family and plant a bomb. The Gibson clone fights off Drucker's agents and Drucker — who was mortally wounded in the chaos — tries to clone himself. However, the malfunctioning machinery causes the new Drucker to have a disfigured appearance. Drucker pursues the Gibson clone onto the roof with his men and opens fire as the clone desperately seeks an escape. The real Gibson arrives after spiriting his family to safety, and together they hold off Drucker's goons. The Gibson clone pilots the helicopter at Drucker with a remote control, causing Drucker to jump onto a glass roof to avoid its blades, but the glass breaks and sends him falling to his death. The two Gibsons successfully get away as the complex blows up.
Now having a more moderate view of cloning, the original Gibson arranges for his clone to move to Argentina to start a satellite office of their charter business. The clone's existence is kept a secret, especially upon discovering that his DNA has no embedded illnesses, giving him a chance at a full life. As a parting gift to the real Gibson's family, the clone gives them Hank's RePet cat. The real Gibson gives the clone a flying send-off.
Cast [edit]
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Adam Gibson and his clone
- Michael Rapaport as Hank Morgan, Adam's best friend
- Tony Goldwyn as Michael Drucker, the CEO of Replacement Technologies and the main antagonist
- Michael Rooker as Robert Marshall, a Millennium security agent and Drucker's right-hand man
- Sarah Wynter as Talia Elsworth, an assassin working for Drucker
- Wendy Crewson as Natalie Gibson, Adam's wife.
- Rodney Rowland as P. Wiley, an assassin working for Drucker
- Terry Crews as Vincent Bansworth, an assassin working for Drucker
- Ken Pogue as Speaker Day
- Colin Cunningham as Tripp, a religious fundamentalist strongly against cloning.
- Robert Duvall as Doctor Griffin Weir, Drucker's scientist in charge of the cloning
- Wanda Cannon as Katherine Weir, Griffin's wife
- Taylor Anne Reid as Clara Gibson, Adam's daughter
- Jennifer Gareis as Virtual Girlfriend
- Don McManus as RePet Salesman
- Andrea Libman provides the voice of SimPal Cindy, an animatronic mannequin child
Box office and reception [edit]
The film opened at #3 at the North American box office, making 13 million USD in its opening weekend. It made $96 million worldwide against its $82 million budget.
The film received mixed reviews. The film-critics aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes listed a 40% positive rating.[2] The 6th Day earned three Razzie Award nominations for Schwarzenegger: Worst Actor (as the real Adam), Worst Supporting Actor (as the clone of Adam) and Worst Screen Couple (Schwarzenegger as Adam and Schwarzenegger as the clone).
Production [edit]
Locations [edit]
- Vancouver, Canada
- Vancouver Library Square, Vancouver, Canada
- Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
- The Darkness House, United States
- McMath Secondary School
- Simon Fraser University
- Toronto Eaton Centre, Toronto, Canada
- Ladner, British Columbia, Canada
Home video releases [edit]
The 6th Day was released on video on the following dates:
| Release Date | Territory | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 27, 2001 | U.S. and Canada | DVD | Discontinued |
| May 27, 2001 | U.S. and Canada | VHS | Discontinued |
| June 3, 2003 | U.S. and Canada | DVD | Special Edition |
| December 15, 2003 | U.S. and Canada | DVD | Schwarzenegger Action Pack: The 6th Day and Last Action Hero |
A Blu-ray version was released in the United States and Canada on April 8, 2008.
Product placement [edit]
The film set in 2015 opens with scenes of an XFL football game.[3] The XFL franchise folded after its first season in 2001.
References [edit]
- ^ Grover, Ronald (2002-01-25). "Schwarzenegger Flexes Some Muscle". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
- ^ The 6th Day at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ "XFL Ready To Line It Up".
External links [edit]
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The 6th Day |
- The 6th Day at the Internet Movie Database
- The 6th Day at AllRovi
- The 6th Day at Metacritic
- The 6th Day at Box Office Mojo
- Lee, Patrick. "Schwarzenegger and Spottiswoode clone around in The 6th Day". Sci Fi Channel. Archived from the original on June 3, 2004.
|
||||||||||||||
