Since this film's November 2000 theatrical premiere, the prospects
for human cloning have become more likely from a technological
standpoint, but less likely politically. Hence this film's underlying
conservative pressure to legislate against the science was prophetic.
Director Roger Spottiswoode and screenwriters Cormac and Marianne
Wibberley give us laws based on the claim found within the Book of
Genesis that man was crafted on the sixth day of creation, the Sixth
Day Laws, hence The 6th Day.
In the not too distant
future the XFL has been resurrected, android-like dolls are affordable
toys, computers are entrusted with driving our cars, and dead pets may
be replaced with clones to avoid childhood angst. Obscenely rich
entrepreneur Michael Drucker (Tony Goldwyn) is campaigning for a
relaxation of anti-cloning laws to permit the extension Dr. Griffin
Weir's (Robert Duvall) cloning technology from organs to organisms. We
soon learn that a vast and illegal human cloning facility has been in
operation for years, the reasons for which will ultimately become
clear. Swept into a deadly conspiracy to keep hidden Drucker and
Weir's laboratory is Adam Gibson (Arnold Schwarzenegger).
Gibson and his partner, Hank Morgan (Michael Rapaport), run a
helicopter charter service. For a run that would take Drucker to the
top of a snowy mountain for a little skiing or snowboarding, Morgan
steps in to pilot the flight for Gibson, freeing him to visit RePet.
It seems that Gibson's family dog had to be put down and he
reluctantly agreed to consider a cloned pet to prevent his daughter's
emotional pain. It's his birthday, and when he returns home that
evening, he's shocked to find another self enjoying family and friends
at a surprise party. He sees what he's not supposed to see, a sixth
day law violation, a clone. He becomes a target of assassination.
At first Gibson is inadvertently resourceful, dispatching his
assailants. When the dead brutes reappear, the puzzled Gibson becomes
more aggressive. It doesn't take long for him to understand that not
only has he been replaced by a clone, but that his pursuers are being
cloned as well. Gibson fights to survive, to regain his life, and to
stop a deadly conspiracy. 
This is a nice little sci-
fi/action/adventure yarn that draws on Schwarzenegger's strengths
without taxing his acting ability. It has a clever premise that's
exploited with a single glaring flaw. The filmmakers seem to
understand the concept of a clone. (Of course, it is necessary to
ignore the means of creating clones from "blanks," a
convenient artistic license.) They rightly understand that a clone is
a separate being whose life experiences diverge from its original upon
its creation.
Consider the lives of Gibson and his clone.
Clearly they do not share consciousness; they are individuals. And the
filmmakers understand that, for all intents and purposes, as far as
society in concerned a clone can be successfully substituted for the
original and function identically. The clone doesn't even need to have
knowledge of its origin. But the villains of the piece seem to think
that cloning is the key to their immortality. Just duplicate your
memories and have them implanted within a familiar shell. The
assassins walk into death situations in the belief that they will
reawaken, but duplication without a transfer of consciousness is
simply death and replacement. Dead is dead.
Video:
How Does The Disc Look?
The film's theatrical aspect ratio
of 2.35:1 is presented in anamorphic video and the transfer appears to
be identical to the single disc DVD released by Columbia on March 27th
of last year. Edge halos are more prominent in this transfer than most
of Columbia's most recent efforts. Small object detail suffers as a
result. Chroma is vividly painted to the screen with bright primary
colors and natural skin tones. I'll mention that during the early
football scenes, reds tend to be so bright as to appear iridescent (it
appears so both in my home theater and on my computer). This unnatural
emphasis does not reoccur during the rest of the film. Brightness and
contrast take advantage of the full video dynamic range. Compression
artifacts like blocking and mosquito noise are not at all
noticeable. 
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
With
no Dolby Surround to get in the way, this Columbia disc defaults to
Dolby Digital 5.1. The surround channels are used aggressively to
extend the action beyond the confines of the screen. This is not an
official EX mix, yet EX decoding was perfect and effective. Sound
effects have a pleasing punch with good bass extension. Trevor Rabin's
orchestral and electronic score is designed to provoke viewer reaction
and lacks any strong themes. It's presented reasonably well with a
moderately good fidelity. Dialog fidelity is beyond criticism.
The foreign language tracks are in French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
The audio tracks are supplemented with English Closed Captions and
optional English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai, Korean, and
Chinese subtitles. 
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
When this film was originally released, it was supposed to
have been a special edition. Those plans were scrapped, despite the
release of extensive supplements outside Region 1, so this is that
two-disc release that should have been. On the first disc may be found
an isolated music score with understandably infrequent
commentary by composer Trevor Rabin. He explains his musical
approach based on the action within each scene. It would have been
considerate of him to reserve his comments for between cues, but he
insists on talking over his own music. Perhaps this is to encourage
the purchase of the score CD. His commentary is the same as included
on the original release. Disc two contains new material.
The
Future Is Coming is a Showtime Extras featurette that runs 15:30
in full frame video. (With the exception of a few trailers, all the
supplements on this disc are in non-anamorphic widescreen or full
screen.) This is a typical promotional short with many quick cuts from
the film and comments by players including Schwarzenegger, Duvall,
Goldwyn, Rooker, and Crewson and filmmakers including producer
Medavoy, producer Jon Davison, co-executive producer Daniel Petrie
Jr., and director Roger Spottiswoode. I've described previously such
shorts as extended trailers; the term certainly applies here.
Much more interesting and reveling are the shorts in the On The
6th Day section. Another Way To Fly (4:40) describes the
creation in both practical and special effects the whisper craft,
hybrid helicopter/jets. Finding Sim Pal Cindy (7:45) takes us
through the design and fabrication of the Cindy animatronic doll.
The Art Of The Chase (6:01) shows us how the stunts were
performed during the early car chase sequence. Over The Cliff
(3:27) demonstrates how the car drop was accomplished. Virtual
Girlfriend (4:28) highlights the blend of practical and visual
effects as Hank Morgan's holographic girlfriend is brought to life.
In The Tank (6:34) describes both the underwater work and the
construction of that highly complex set. Free Falling (3:16)
shows us the rig used for the high falls in the show. Detonation
(3:42) introduces us to the pyrotechnicians who brought a large
miniature down in a ball of fire during the show's climax. And
Enhancing the Look (8:06) focuses on the visual special effects
of compositing, motion control, and CGI. Nicely done. I only wish
Columbia had offered the option of automatic sequential play.
Storyboard Comparisons is fairly self-explanatory. Three
sequences - Car Chase, Whisper-Craft Crash, and Cloning Tanks - are
featured. For each, the filmed sequence and the sequential storyboards
share a horizontally split screen. A RePet Infomercial runs
2:34; I'm kind of sold on the hypoallergenic option. A 45-second
RePet TV Spot is also included. Two animatics - crude
computer animation blended with storyboards that demonstrates camera
angles and timing - are included: one for Snowy Mountain (the whisper-
craft race back to the charter landing pad) and one for Rooftop
(during the climax of the show). Filmographies are included for
five of the principals.
From the Theatrical Trailers
page you can access anamorphic trailers for The 6th Day, Jet
Li's The One, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and a
non-anamorphic widescreen teaser trailer for the May 2002 theatrical
release of Spiderman.
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you
get when you pop the disc in your PC?
No ROM extras have
been included.
Parting Thoughts
For those of you
who did not buy the film on DVD before, this is a bit of a no-brainer.
If you like a strong, near-future action/adventure flick and won't be
distracted by the villains' delusion of immortality, this disc is easy
to recommend. For those of you who bought the original release, you'll
have to decide if the supplements are worth the price, and remember
that the feature appears to be the same transfer.
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