Rish Outfield's reviews
This was hyped as an Action movie, but it was really a Horror film. But don't tell anyone I said so.
So, it's the end of the 20th Century, and the end of the world as well . . . all going according to prophecy, unless someone tough intercedes, that is. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the world's nicest cybernetic organism faces off against Gabriel Byrne, playing that guy on the tuna cans (not Charlie). Who will win?
The fun was, there was actually a moment or two of doubt.
Gabriel Byrne was excellent, in the most interesting, most fun part of this film. But isn't playing evil always more entertaining than playing good? And playing the Devil, of all roles, has got to be a hell of a lot of fun (pun intended). Arnold Schwarzenegger, every boy's hero, had some difficult work here, and he pulled most of it off rather well. Still, the physical abuse this guy took with no detrimental effect was well above unbelievable. Although the violence was extreme, and the action over-the-top, I couldn't help thinking that Arnold's age is finally showing. Hey, I'm as sad about it as you are. Robin Tunney, who I'm sure I had seen in other things but never liked before, held some strange I-can't-quite-explain-it attraction for me. Hmm. Maybe it had something to do with who wanted to do her. And one of my favourites, Kevin Pollack, is the comic sidekick (again), who has a shining moment toward the end.
I thought it all worked well, and I liked this one more than I thought I would (I didn't expect much). Arnold still has all his charisma, and there were some brave choices in this role that made me enjoy it more. More than anything, I love the battles between Good and Evil (both capitalised) in movies like this (check out The Omen or The Stand, for example), and part of what worked best in this movie was the thought (awful as it is) that perhaps the devil WILL win. That's something that not a lot of films pull off.

The tyranist's thoughts
It is interesting to me that I could walk into a film that I know will be clearly horror, has one of the actors that I have a tender spot for, and an idea that has worked before not expecting anything special. What I found was special indeed. We have been reviewing movies with this kind of thing since we did the Omen trilogy and sometimes they are spot on, but most of the time they are just kind of interesting. Now, as we near the year 2000, many people feel that this kind of story is even better told. I can think of three movies that will have come out in the final third of the year that deal with the subject and I am sure that there are many more made for TV and video entries that I won't discover until next year. Of course, if you believe the movies, there is a slim chance that next year will be anything like all of the years preceding it.
Arnold does a fantastic job with what he has to work with (which is more than sometimes) and Gabriel Byrne makes the perfect devil. Combine this with a truly interesting storyline that is not unlike the Omen trilogy story and you're halfway there. The other half is made up of pretty good special effects, a creature made by our old friend Stan Winston, and an ending that is neither ludicrously happy, nor way too depressing. I enjoyed this movie much more than I expected to and I suspect now that it will hold up over time. Fortunately, it doesn't leave much room for a sequel. Hopefully, it will get the respect it deserves and will be watched by the same people who still love these movies about the End of days.