End of Days
USA 1999
Reviewed by Mark Kermode
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
New York, 1979. Christine York is born and secretly anointed by a satanic cult. December 1999, renegade priest Thomas Aquinas' assassination attempt on a Wall Street banker is foiled by bodyguard Jericho Cane. Aquinas rants about the "end of days" before he dies, but when his body is discovered to lack a tongue, Cane suspects he's gone mad himself. However, he learns of a Vatican conspiracy to prevent the birth of the Antichrist. Cane and his partner Chicago trace the now-grown Christine York who is being pursued by both a priestly hit squad and by Cane's Wall Street client, who is possessed by Satan. The prince of darkness wishes to impregnate Christine with his child on the eve of the new millennium thereby bringing about the "end of days" foretold in the Book of Revelations.
Overcoming a horde of attackers, including Christine's nanny Mabel, Cane persuades Father Kovak and his band of priests not to kill Christine but to protect her in their church. Having failed to tempt Cane with the return of his deceased wife and child, Satan enters Kovak's church and attempts to deflower Christine while engaging in a violent battle with Cane. Satan is defeated finally by Cane, who sacrifices himself to save Christine. The world is saved.
Review
"I've seen a lot," says Arnold Schwarzenegger in the middle of this abysmally lumpen cross between The Omen (1976) and Lethal Weapon, "but nothing that would make me cut out my tongue!" End of Days is dreadful enough to make most viewers consider gouging out their eyes in order to avoid seeing a second time the spectacle of the world's most wooden actor pretending to undergo a spiritual crisis. Idiotic beyond the point of redemption, this sinfully stupid farrago manages to insult audiences and critics, Christians and Satanists alike, reducing 2000 years of fertile mythology to the level of an incoherent pop video.
The problems with End of Days are legion. From Andrew W. Marlowe's stunningly illiterate script (which manages to make The Omen's author David Seltzer's work read like the sublime visions of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin) to jobbing journeyman Peter Hyams' nuts-and-bolts direction (he was brought on board to join the dots when feature first-timer Marcus Nispel was passed over), the entire film looks and feels like nothing more than a cynical salvaging exercise. The special effects are fabulously unspecial, the plot twists extravagantly straightforward, and the character development retarded beyond redemption. Worse still, the apocryphal source material, from which even the most talentless storyteller could spin a passable yarn, is made to sound boring.
The performances are also uniformly terrible. It's easy to laugh at Rod Steiger as the huffy priest who doesn't think there's anything funny about a man called Thomas Aquinas attempting to stop the devil getting laid, while boggle-eyed Udo Kier has never been anything less than hilarious. But we should expect more from Gabriel Byrne and Kevin Pollak, whose pairing constantly reminds us how good they both were in The Usual Suspects. Sadly, all we get here is a lazy turn from Pollak, and scenery chewing from Byrne, who outdoes his randy priest role in the equally abominable Stigmata and prances around like a man possessed by a fit of the vapours.
Bad acting honours, however, are reserved ultimately for Arnie himself, who moves like the ice-demon in the lowest ring of Dante's Inferno, with about as much human warmth and slightly less facial expression. Called upon to cry over the loss of his wife and child, he can do nothing more than wince like a constipated man with conjunctivitis. Equally, when asked to throw down his weapon before the altar and call upon God for help, Arnie's unique Austro-American lilt becomes more impenetrable than usual. Will God hear him? And if he does, will he be able to understand him? At the time of writing, End of Days had already flopped in the US, and by the time of publication, its dated millennial tag will doubtless have made it as appealing to punters as cold leftover turkey. All of which may prove that in the end Schwarzenegger was indeed a 20th-century phenomenon, and is now merely a man out of time.
Credits
- Director
- Peter Hyams
- Producers
- Armyan Bernstein
- Bill Borden
- Screenplay
- Andrew W. Marlowe
- Director of Photography
- Peter Hyams
- Editors
- Steven Kemper
- Jeff Gullo
- Production Designer
- Richard Holland
- Music
- John Debney
- ©Beacon Communications, LLC
- Production Company
- A Beacon Pictures presentation
- Executive Producers
- Marc Abraham
- Thomas A. Bliss
- Co-producers
- Paul Deason
- Andrew W. Marlowe
- Executive in Charge of Production
- Nancy Rae Stone
- Production Supervisor
- Angela Heald
- Production Office Co-ordinator
- Robert West
- Production Co-ordinator
- NY Crew:
- Mark Christian Subias
- Beacon Production Co-ordinator
- Richard Devinki
- Unit Production Managers
- Paul Deason
- NY Crew:
- Denise Pinckley
- Supervising Location Manager
- Kokayi Ampah
- Location Managers
- Michael A. Haro
- NY Crew:
- Heidi Topper
- Post-production Supervisor
- Bradley M. Goodman
- Assistant Directors
- William M. Elvin
- David A. Ticotin
- Jack Steinberg
- Elaine R. Wood
- Mark S. Constance
- Joe Lotito
- Andrew Ward
- Kristina M. Peterson
- NY Crew:
- Stacy Beneville
- Script Supervisors
- Tricia Ronten
- NY Crew:
- Sheila Paige
- Casting
- Jackie Burch
- ADR Voice:
- Barbara Harris
- Camera Operators
- Stephen Campanelli
- Additional:
- Mike Scott
- Michael Ferris
- Michael St. Hilaire
- NY Crew Additional:
- George Patterson
- Alec Hirschfeld
- Steadicam Operator
- Stephen Campanelli
- Wescam Operators
- Peter Hyams
- NY Crew:
- David Norris
- Visual Effects Producer
- Kurt Williams
- Visual Effects Supervisor
- Eric Durst
- Visual Effects Art Director
- Ian Hunter
- Visual Effects Editor
- Pamela Choules
- Visual Effects Co-ordinator
- Garv Thorp
- Visual Effects Post-production Co-ordinator
- R. Scott Shields
- Visual Effects Camera Operator
- Thomas Shaughnessy
- Visual Effects Illustrator
- Jamie Rama
- Visual Effects Photography
- The Chandler Group
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Don Baker
- Visual Effects Director of Photography:
- Timothy Angulo
- Producer:
- Bob Shepherd
- Production Manager:
- Scott Pourroy
- Production Co-ordinator:
- David Sanger
- Director of Photography:
- Anna Foerster
- Motion Control Camera Operator:
- Rob Menapace
- Digital Video Technicians:
- Mike Uguccioni
- Dempsey Tillman
- Visual Effects Engineer:
- Keith Claridge
- Subway Train Miniature Sequence/Church Pyrotechnic Effects
- Stirber Visual Network Inc
- Supervisor:
- John K. Stirber
- Train Crew Chief:
- Jeff S. Pyle
- Subway Crew Chief:
- Duke Dixon
- Model Makers:
- Ed Lawton
- Michelle Weaver
- Henry Gonzalez
- David Freund
- Tony Moffett
- Mike Delaney
- Mechanical Crew Chief:
- Charles Cook
- Electronics Chief:
- Steve Humphrey
- Painter Foreman:
- Richard Ewan
- Pyro Crew Chief:
- Roy Downey
- Pyro Crew:
- Roy Goode
- Donn Markel
- Paul Vigel
- Co-ordinator:
- Maureen O'Connor
- Visual Effects and Digital Creature
- Rhythm and Hues
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- John 'D.J.' Desjardin
- Visual Effects Producer:
- Gary Nolin
- Digital Effects Producer:
- Bryan Hirota
- Compositing Supervisors:
- Hoiyue Harry Lam
- Cheryl Budgett
- Edwin Rivera
- R&D Supervisor:
- Bill Dietrich
- Visual Effects Production Manager:
- Sara DeCesare
- Digital Production Manager:
- Julie Fischer
- Inferno Artists:
- John Heller
- Cesar Romero
- 2D Digital Artists:
- Kenneth Au
- Chris Bergman
- Colin Campbell
- Gregory Elwood
- Kelly Fischer
- David Gutman
- Laura Hanigan
- Jennifer Ann Howard
- Christopher Ivins
- Matt Kelly
- Lance Laspina
- James Doyoung lee
- Sean Hyun-In Lee
- Sean McPherson
- Lisa L. Pollard
- John Garrison Rauh
- Jonathan Robinson
- Marcus M. Rubone
- Rick Sander
- David Santiago
- Hudson Shock
- Cybele Sierra
- Jeff Sutherland
- Julius Yang
- Serkan Cihangir Zelzele
- Lead Character Animator:
- Erik Lee
- 3D Animators:
- Gary Abrahamian
- Todd Wilbur
- Anders Ericson
- 3D Digital Animators:
- Ivan DeWolf
- Dan Kaufman
- Scott Giegler
- Stu Mintz
- 3D Digital Artists:
- Geoff Harvey
- John Jude Wissler
- Caleb Howard
- Jonathan Wood
- Modelling Supervisor:
- Jelena Erceg
- Modelling Artist:
- Dottie Starling
- Digital Texture Supervisor:
- Diana Miao
- Digital Art Director:
- Alison Yerxa
- Digital Effects Painters:
- Chris Consani
- Meg Harders
- Rotoscope:
- Marian Rudnyk
- Felix Ojeda III
- Software Supervisor:
- Douglas Harsch
- Film Editorial Manager:
- Joshua Margolies
- Visual Effects Editor:
- Zeke Morales
- Scan/Record Supervisor:
- Megan Bryant
- Production Co-ordinator:
- Chad Hellmuth
- Chief Technologist:
- Mark A. Brown
- Systems Department:
- Steve Linn
- Lance Kimes
- Greg Bradner
- Fred Simon
- Walid Harmoush
- Executive Producer:
- Lee Berger
- Additional Digital Visual Effects/Computer-Generated Imagery
- Centropolis Effects
- Digital Effects Supervisors:
- Conny Fauser-Ruemelin
- Mitchel Drain
- Digital Producers:
- Drew McKeen
- Steven Puri
- President:
- Mark Franco
- Head of Production:
- Aaron Dem
- Production Co-ordinator:
- James D. Tittle
- Compositors:
- Nelson Sepulveda
- Mario Peixoto
- Abra Grupp
- Kevin Souls
- Cristin Pescosolido
- Paint Supervisor:
- Robert Cribbett
- Digital Artists:
- Brian Wolf
- Jennifer Bourne
- Jon Doyle
- Ozzie Carmona
- Digital Effects Editor:
- Kosta Saric
- Additional Digital Visual Effects/Computer-Generated Imagery by
- Todd-AO/Hollywood Digital-West
- Digital Effects Supervisor:
- Peter Koczera
- Effects Producer:
- Cindy Jones
- Inferno Artists:
- Anita Razzano
- Eroc Moralis
- Data Management:
- Kit Young
- Systems Administrator:
- Robb Cadzow
- Scanning/Recording Services
- Cinesite
- 3D Body Scans
- Cyber F/X Inc
- Special Effects
- Co-ordinators:
- Thomas L. Fisher
- Scott R. Fisher
- NY Crew Co-ordinators:
- Jeff Brink
- Connie Brink
- Foreman:
- Andrew J. Miller
- Gang Bosses:
- John J. Downey
- Ronald D. Goldstein
- Jay 'Bee' King
- Technicians:
- William W. Schepler
- Ron Epstein
- Robert L. Slater
- Administrator:
- Paula D. Fisher
- NY Crew:
- Wayne Miller
- Harold McConnell
- Model Maker
- Jason Mahakian
- Church Miniatures/Effects
- Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc
- Ian Hunter
- Matthew Gratzner
- Shannon Blake Gans
- Miniature Effects Supervisor:
- Matthew Gratzner
- Model Crew Chief:
- Forest P. Fischer
- Mechanical Crew Chief:
- Scott Beverly
- Lead Model Maker:
- Paul Clemente
- Model Makers:
- Greg M. Boettcher
- Jeffrey Cupernell
- Seth Curlin
- Lulie Diorio
- Val Favela
- Lars W. Hagen
- Patrick Hinkle
- Brian Marn
- Michelle Morgan
- Logan Payne
- James Peterson
- Brian Ripley
- Gary Rhodaback
- Brandon W. Seifert
- James Waterhouse
- Tamara D. Waters
- Kirk M. Yamashita
- Mechanical Effects:
- Brian Kelly Hahn
- Pete Gerard
- Mike Woolaway
- Michael R. Padilla
- Brian Jaecker
- Co-ordinator:
- David Collier
- Requisitions:
- Jennifer Hawk
- Painters:
- Leigh-Alexander Jacob
- Shelly McKnight
- Catherine Burns
- Dan Brodzik
- Video/Computer Graphics Consultant
- Liz Radley
- Computer Animation
- David Watkinson
- Puppeteers
- John Rosengrant
- Richard Haugen
- Matthew Heimlich
- Trevor Hensley
- Joey Orosco
- Robert Ramsdell
- Timothy Ralston
- Jeffrey Charles Edwards
- Art Directors
- Charlie Daboub
- NY Crew:
- Teresa Carriker-Thayer
- Set Designers
- Al Hobbs
- Mike Stassi
- Maya Shimoguchi
- Julia Levine
- Greg Berry
- Set Decorator
- Gary Fettis
- Illustrators
- Mauro Borelli
- Phil Shearer
- Mariano Diaz
- Senior Production Illustrator
- Nikita Knatz
- Storyboard Artists
- Collin Grant
- Kevin MacCarthy
- James Doe
- Costume Designer
- Bobbie Mannix
- Costume Supervisors
- Carlane Passman Little
- NY Crew:
- Gail Fitzgibbons
- Make-up
- Department Head:
- Jeff Dawn
- Key:
- Louis Lazzara
- Dayne Johnson
- Creature Design/Creation
- Stan Winston Studio
- Effects Supervisors:
- Stan Winston
- John Rosengrant
- Concept Designer:
- Mark 'Crash' McCreery
- Lead Key Artist:
- Joey Orosco
- Key Artists:
- Trevor Hensley
- Rob Ramsdell
- Jason Matthews
- Bill Basso
- Greg Figiel
- Make-up Application:
- Richie Alonzo
- Key Animatronic Design:
- Jeff Edwards
- Rich Haugen
- Matt Heimlich
- J. Alan Scott
- Art/Mold Technical Deptartment Supervisor:
- Tony McCray
- Key Art/Mold Technicians:
- Joe Reader
- Eric Ostroff
- Art/Mold Technical Department:
- Keith Marbory
- Rob Phillips
- Lou Diaz
- Darin Bouyssou
- Alon Dori
- Dave Beneke
- Grady Holder
- Carey Jones
- Mark Jurinko
- Lindsay MacGowan
- Gary Yee
- Foam Technician:
- Mark Viniello
- Key Fabrication:
- Connie Cadwell
- Key Hair:
- Michael Ornelaz
- Executive in Charge of Operations:
- Tara Meaney-Crocitto
- Production Co-ordinator:
- Stiles White
- Special Make-up Effects
- Kurtzman, Nicotero & Berger EFX Group, Inc
- Shop Supervisor:
- Shannon Shea
- Sculptors:
- Gino Crognale
- Garrett Immel
- Norman Cabrera
- Scott Patton
- Bruce Fuller
- Mark Tavares
- Lab Technicians:
- Brian Rae
- Al Lorenzana
- Rick Bongiovanni
- Louis Kiss
- James Hall
- Justin Ditter
- Karen Keener
- Jason Collins
- Brian Demsky
- Al Tuskes
- Steve Hartman
- Ron Pipes
- Tamara Carlson
- Michael McCarty
- Mechanics:
- Tim Ralston
- Wayne Toth
- Production Staff:
- Kamar Bitar
- Karrie Ralston
- Chiz Hasegawa
- Hair Designer
- Peter Tothpal
- Key Hair Stylist
- Jennifer M. Bell
- Main Title Design
- Greenberg/Schluter
- Titles/Opticals
- Pacific Title/Mirage
- Orchestrations
- Brad Dechter
- Frank Bennett
- Don Nemitz
- Chris Klatman
- Pete Anthony
- Music Supervisor
- G. Marq Roswell
- Music Co-ordination
- Christopher S. Parker
- Music Editors
- Tom Carlson
- Temp Dub:
- Curt Sobel
- Music Scoring Mixer
- Alan Myerson
- Recordist
- Dave Marquette
- Electronic Music Mixer
- Michael Stern
- Soundtrack
- "Little Yurt on the Prairie" by David Hoffner, Kongar-ol' Ondar, performed by Ondar; "For the Beauty of the Earth" (trad), by Conrad Kecher; "Deck the Halls" (trad), performed by Ottmar Liebert; "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (trad), performed by Bing Crosby; "Superbeast" by Rob Zombie, Charlie Clouser, Scott Humphrey, performed by Rob Zombie; "Crushed" by Fred Durst, DJ Lethal, performed by Limp Bizkit; "Slow" by Roman Marisak, Jeff Schartoff, performed by Professional Murder Music; "Camel Song" by Jonathon Davis, Reginald Arvizu, Brian Welch, James Shaffer, David Silveria, performed by Korn; "The Christmas Song" by Mel Tormé, Robert Wells, performed by Nat King Cole; "Oh My God" by Axl Rose, performed by Guns 'n' Roses; "So Long" by Danny Lohner, Eric Schrody, performed by Everlast
- Production Sound Mixer
- Gene S. Cantamessa
- Re-recording Mixers
- Michael Minkler
- Frank Montaño
- Additional Audio
- Mark Ormandy
- Kerry Carmean
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Mike Wilhoit
- Co-supervising Sound Editor
- Kelly L. Oxford
- Dialogue Editors
- Laura R. Harris
- Lauren Stephens
- Sound Design Editors
- Tony Lamberti
- Alan Rankin
- Sound Effects Editors
- Scott Sanders
- Hector Gika
- Chris Assells
- Scott Gershin
- ADR
- Mixer:
- Robert Deschaine
- Editor:
- Michelle Pazer
- Foley
- Artists:
- Jeffrey B. Wilhoit
- James Moriana
- Recordist:
- Greg Zimmerman
- Mixer:
- Nerses Gezalyan
- Editor:
- Craig Jaeger
- Aerial Co-ordinators
- Chuck Tamburro
- John Tamburro
- NY Crew:
- Al Cerullo
- Stunt Co-ordinator
- Steve M. Davison
- Animal Trainer
- Jim Brockett
- Animal Suppliers
- Brockett's Film Fauna
- Helicopter Pilots
- Charles A. Tamburro
- Rick Shuster
- Al Cerullo Jr
- John Tamburro
- Al Cerullo
- Cast
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Jericho Cane
- Gabriel Byrne
- The Man
- Kevin Pollak
- Chicago
- Robin Tunney
- Christine York
- C.C.H. Pounder
- Detective Marge Francis
- Rod Steiger
- Father Kovak
- Derrick O'Connor
- Thomas Aquinas
- Miriam Margolyes
- Mabel
- Udo Kier
- head priest
- Victor Varnado
- albino
- Michael O'Hagan
- cardinal
- Mark Margolis
- pope
- David Weisenberg
- OB/GYN
- Rainer Judd
- Christine's mother
- Luciano Miele
- pope's adviser
- Jack Shearer
- Kellogg
- Eve Sigall
- old woman
- Robert Lesser
- Carson
- Lloyd Garroway
- Gary Anthony Williams
- utility workers
- John Nielson
- hospital cop
- Yannis Bogris
- skateboarder
- Elliot Goldwag
- Thomas' doctor
- Elaine Corral Kendall
- anchor
- Denice D. Lewis
- Emily
- Rebecca Renee Olstead
- Amy
- Matt Gallini
- monk 1/intruder
- Marc Lawrence
- old man
- Van Quattro
- Satan priest
- Chuck Tamburro
- helicopter pilot
- Lynn Marie Sager
- head priest wife
- Linda Pine
- head priest daughter
- David Franco
- assistant priest
- Steven Kramer
- businessman
- Melissa Mascara
- businessman's wife
- John Timothy Botka
- cop at Thomas'
- Walter von Huene
- motorman
- Father Michael Rocha
- Father Mike
- Certificate
- 18
- Distributor
- Buena Vista International (UK)
- 10,969 feet
- 121 minutes 53 seconds
- Dolby digital/Digital DTS sound/SDDS
- Colour by
- DeLuxe
- Super 35 [2.35:1]