End of Days (film) Totally Explained

Everything about End Of Days Film totally explained

End of Days is a 1999 action/fantasy film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by Peter Hyams. It also featured Robin Tunney, Rod Steiger, Kevin Pollak, CCH Pounder, Udo Kier, and Gabriel Byrne as Satan. Tagline: The end is coming.

Plot

In 1979, a newborn girl named Christine York is found by Satanists (two of which are revealed later on as Dr. Abel, Christine's doctor, and Mabel, Christine's guardian). They see a symbol on her arm identifying her as the one chosen to bear Satan's son during the last hour on New Year's Eve, 1999. Just as she's being born, a priest in the Vatican witnesses a comet, described as the "Eye of God", heralding the birth of the one chosen to be the mother of Satan's child. The priest is then sent on a mission by the Pope to protect the girl. However, a group of other priests insist that she must be sacrificed to prevent Satan's plans.
   Twenty years later, not so long before the end of 1999, retired police officer Jericho Cane (Schwarzenegger), who is in a constant state of depression since his wife and daughter were murdered by robbers, is assigned to protect a Wall Street banker. They are attacked by a priest named Thomas Aquinas (Thomas Aquinas is also the name of a 13th century Roman Catholic theologian), who is eventually captured and taken to a hospital. Unknown to Jericho, Aquinas somehow knew the real identity of the banker – he's been possessed by Satan and now wields great powers. Satan locates Aquinas and, after taunting the helpless priest, brutally murders him, crucifying him on the ceiling. Jericho and his friend Chicago see a name amongst many other things scratched into Aquinas's skin, and after some guesswork, end up with Christine York and go to find her.
   Jericho and Chicago finds the now-adult Christine in her apartment, saving her life from a group of Vatican Knights seeking to kill her. That evening, Chicago waits in a van while Jericho discusses the recent happenings with Christine. Satan arrives and blows up the van, killing Chicago. As Jericho and Christine try to flee, they're apprehended by Mabel, but Jericho manages to overpower her. Outside, Marge, Jericho's superior from his days in the police force, and a police officer – both Satanists – confront Jericho, demanding Christine, and are killed. He and Christine escape to a nearby church to find some answers from a priest, Father Kovak.
   Kovak soon realizes Christine and the banker's roles, and explains that near the end of every millennium, Satan will possess a man's body to consummate with the flesh of a preordained woman. If he succeeds in taking Christine, then he'll have free rein over the world. After hearing that the only way to defeat Satan is to "have faith", Jericho tries to persuade Christine to come with him into hiding, but the convinced Christine prefers to stay. Frustrated, Jericho returns to his apartment. There, Satan meets with Jericho and tries to tempt him using his lost family in order to make him reveal Christine's location. Fortunately, Jericho resists and manages to throw Satan out the window. Suddenly, Chicago shows up, alive and well. Despite Jericho's initial suspicion, they make a plan to retrieve Christine.
   At the church, the Vatican Knights make another attempt on Christine's life, and again, Jericho saves Christine in time. But Satan appears and Jericho flees with Christine. However, Chicago betrays the two; he leaves with Christine while Jericho is beaten by a mob of Satanists and left for dead tied to a cross. The next morning, Jericho is found and rescued by Kovak, but immediately goes to get himself heavily armed and resume his search for Christine before New Year's Day. He notices a resurrected Marge and tails her to Satan's hideout. There, he manages to rescue Christine and kill Marge (again). Chicago steps in to stop Jericho, revealing that Satan made a deal with him for his life after blowing up the car he was in. He manages to overcome Satan's influence after some persuasion by Jericho; in retaliation, Satan sets him (back) on fire, killing him. Enraged, Jericho opens fire on Satan and escapes with Christine in the ensuing chaos.
   The two make their way through the hideout and into a subway line, boarding a train (modeled as an R33) and attempt to escape, but Satan catches up with them and kills the conductor. In the ensuing fight, Jericho launches an M203 grenade into Satan's body, buying time for him and Christine to escape. The banker's body is now irreparably damaged, and so Satan leaves to find a new host.
   Jericho and Christine escape to the streets and into another church, where he prays to God as a last resort, just before Satan smashes through the floor and confronts Jericho in his true form: A massive, demonic dragon. Satan enters Jericho's body and possesses him. Now controlled by the Beast, Jericho attempts to rape Christine, but with the help of Christine's begging words, Jericho fights Satan's control for a few seconds. Using what might have been his only opportunity, Jericho impales himself on the sword protruding from a fallen statue of Saint Michael the Archangel to disable himself for the few remaining seconds until midnight. At midnight, Satan is pulled out of Jericho's body and sent back to Hell. Jericho dies later after seeing a vision of his wife and daughter smiling at him.
   Christine thanks the deceased Jericho for saving her life as New York celebrates the start of the year 2000.

Reception

End of Days got largely negative reviews, with many critics especially criticizing its numerous plot holes, so-so acting, and its mixed success at humanizing Schwarzenegger's character.(External Link

) It grossed $66,889,043 in the U.S. and around $212,000,000 worldwide.(External Link

) against a budget estimated to be between $80 million and $100 million. The film was slightly profitable due to its strong international numbers and DVD sales, but its final numbers were not what Universal Studios had hoped for.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the film contained, for the most part, tracks by alternative metal and industrial rock bands. It also contains, as of May 2008, the only new single to be released by the "new line-up" of Guns N' Roses, the industrial rock track "Oh My God."

Track listing

Camel Song, performed by KoRn
So Long, performed by Everlast
Slow, performed by Professional Murder Music
Crushed, performed by Limp Bizkit
Oh My God, performed by Guns N' Roses
Poison, performed by The Prodigy
Superbeast (Girl On A Motorcycle mix), performed by Rob Zombie
Bad Influence, performed by Eminem
Nobody's Real, performed by Powerman 5000
I Wish I Had, performed by Stroke
Sugar Kane, performed by Sonic Youth
Wrong Way, performed by Creed

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger – Jericho Cane

Robin Tunney – Christine York

Rod Steiger – Father Kovak

Kevin Pollak – Chicago

CCH Pounder – Marge

Udo Kier – Dr. Abel

Gabriel Byrne – Satan

Miriam Margolyes – Mabel

Derrick O'Connor – Thomas Aquinas

Trivia

Many directors were asked to film End of Days: Marcus Nispel was originally going to direct it. Sam Raimi was offered the director's chair, but he opted out to direct For Love of the Game. Guillermo del Toro was also asked to direct but he turned it down.

The role of Christine York was originally supposed to be played by Kate Winslet, but Robin Tunney won the role.

The comet's configuration with the moon seen at the beginning of the movie would technically be impossible, since during a full moon, the comet's tail would be barely visible.

The weapon used by Schwarzenegger near the end of the film is a Heckler & Koch MP5 fitted with an M203 grenade launcher.

Richard Kelly's new film Southland Tales features a film-within-a-film called "The Power" in which Dwayne Johnson's character, Boxer Santaros, plays a police officer named Jericho Cane. Both End of Days and "The Power" center on the end of the world and draw heavily on the Book of Revelation.

Tom Cruise was going to play as Jericho Cane, but chose to work on Magnolia instead (External Link

End of Days was the last movie released on Laser Disc.

A Series 1 episode of Torchwood is entitled 'End of Days' and features a mythical creature called 'Abaddon', who is described as 'the great devourer' and 'son of the Beast'. The appearance of this creature resembles the Devil.

In the film, the priest quotes that the "greatest trick Satan played was convincing the world he didn't exist." This is similar to a line used to describe Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects in which Gabriel Byrne and Kevin Pollack also star.Further Information

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