I’m sure that is something most people find as entertainment – Conan vs. Uther Pendragon.
Video:
"End of Days" is a very dark picture. Much of the film takes place at night – notably between Eleven PM and Midnight on December 31st, 1999. There is a scene or two early in the film that takes place in daylight, but after that, practically everything takes place in the shadows. That is where demons prefer to walk. The 2.35:1 framed film looks very good in its 1080p/VC-1 transfer. Relying heavily on dark scenes and demanding strong shadow detail and black levels, "End of Days" succeeds. There are a few instances where color is allowed some screen time and the transfer displays the pretty colors rather nicely, but there is a lot of blacks and browns in "End of Days" and Arnold and Byrne are both clad in dark clothing throughout the film. Detail is fairly strong, but during many of the darker scenes, the lighting does not allow for the strong level of detail that has become synonymous with a Universal HD-DVD release. There are some moments that are quite striking – the scene involving Arnold being ´crucified´ comes to mind as looking extremely good.
Sound:
Coming fully equipped with a highly coveted Dolby TrueHD soundtrack, "End of Days" sounds fairly impressive. The film also features English and French 5.1 English Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks and a Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mix. Flipping between the TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks easily shows that the top-of-the-line Dolby format is easily superior and the difference was quite noticeable. Sound just seems so much fuller and detailed with TrueHD than it does with the Dolby Digital mix. There is a lot of bass as the .1 LFE channel allows the subwoofer to heavily thump through the film. The film does not utilize the rear surrounds as much as one would expect a horror/action film, but there are a couple nice ambient moments when the rear surrounds come alive. Dialogue is fairly strong and the bigger problem is deciphering some words with Arnold´s heavy accent. The soundtrack for "End of Days" is not as aggressive or enveloping as many other high-budget action films, but it still sounds pretty good.
Extras:
All of the supplements from the standard definition DVD release have made their way to the HD-DVD release. Universal continues to do a wonderful job in this area and though there is not a large wealth of value added content for "End of Days," it is nice to see that the HD-DVD is not a downgrade. The most notable and important extra is the Feature Commentary with Director Peter Hyams. Hyams does a good job on the commentary track and is very personable and interesting and gives a lot of information on the making of the film. The Spotlight on Location is the standard promotional making-of-featurette that runs for about a half an hour and provides as much behind-the-scenes information as it does back-patting to promote the film. The Special Effects is a series of nine featurettes detailing the special effects used in the film. At the time, these were pretty cutting edge, but they now seem quite dated. It is still nice to watch what was involved into bringing "End of Days" to life. The Book of Revelation is a series of text notes on the film´s prophecy. Soundtrack Presentation featuring Everlast and Rob Zombie Music Videos and a Theatrical Trailer complete the supplements.
Closing Comments:
I did not like "End of Days" when I first saw it in the theater. I don´t even fully recall the name of the girl I took to that film, but I think her name was Lisa. Not much of an impression was made that night. "End of Days" arrived at my door in HD-DVD form and after revisiting the disappointing picture, I found it entertaining, but not as an action film or a horror film, but as a character film. The supporting cast is very good and Arnold is in standard form. The effects were decent at the time, but this is all about the suave style shown by Gabriel Byrne´s interpretation of Satan. The HD-DVD disc features a pretty good image quality that holds up nicely in the films dominant dark scenes. Universal has included a Dolby TrueHD track and this is the first time I can remember this being included on a Universal release. The supplements are the same as those in the standard definition disc and the commentary is worth a listen and the rest is as passable entertainment as the film itself.
"End of Days" is a very dark picture. Much of the film takes place at night – notably between Eleven PM and Midnight on December 31st, 1999. There is a scene or two early in the film that takes place in daylight, but after that, practically everything takes place in the shadows. That is where demons prefer to walk. The 2.35:1 framed film looks very good in its 1080p/VC-1 transfer. Relying heavily on dark scenes and demanding strong shadow detail and black levels, "End of Days" succeeds. There are a few instances where color is allowed some screen time and the transfer displays the pretty colors rather nicely, but there is a lot of blacks and browns in "End of Days" and Arnold and Byrne are both clad in dark clothing throughout the film. Detail is fairly strong, but during many of the darker scenes, the lighting does not allow for the strong level of detail that has become synonymous with a Universal HD-DVD release. There are some moments that are quite striking – the scene involving Arnold being ´crucified´ comes to mind as looking extremely good.
Sound:
Coming fully equipped with a highly coveted Dolby TrueHD soundtrack, "End of Days" sounds fairly impressive. The film also features English and French 5.1 English Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks and a Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mix. Flipping between the TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks easily shows that the top-of-the-line Dolby format is easily superior and the difference was quite noticeable. Sound just seems so much fuller and detailed with TrueHD than it does with the Dolby Digital mix. There is a lot of bass as the .1 LFE channel allows the subwoofer to heavily thump through the film. The film does not utilize the rear surrounds as much as one would expect a horror/action film, but there are a couple nice ambient moments when the rear surrounds come alive. Dialogue is fairly strong and the bigger problem is deciphering some words with Arnold´s heavy accent. The soundtrack for "End of Days" is not as aggressive or enveloping as many other high-budget action films, but it still sounds pretty good.
Extras:
All of the supplements from the standard definition DVD release have made their way to the HD-DVD release. Universal continues to do a wonderful job in this area and though there is not a large wealth of value added content for "End of Days," it is nice to see that the HD-DVD is not a downgrade. The most notable and important extra is the Feature Commentary with Director Peter Hyams. Hyams does a good job on the commentary track and is very personable and interesting and gives a lot of information on the making of the film. The Spotlight on Location is the standard promotional making-of-featurette that runs for about a half an hour and provides as much behind-the-scenes information as it does back-patting to promote the film. The Special Effects is a series of nine featurettes detailing the special effects used in the film. At the time, these were pretty cutting edge, but they now seem quite dated. It is still nice to watch what was involved into bringing "End of Days" to life. The Book of Revelation is a series of text notes on the film´s prophecy. Soundtrack Presentation featuring Everlast and Rob Zombie Music Videos and a Theatrical Trailer complete the supplements.
Closing Comments:
I did not like "End of Days" when I first saw it in the theater. I don´t even fully recall the name of the girl I took to that film, but I think her name was Lisa. Not much of an impression was made that night. "End of Days" arrived at my door in HD-DVD form and after revisiting the disappointing picture, I found it entertaining, but not as an action film or a horror film, but as a character film. The supporting cast is very good and Arnold is in standard form. The effects were decent at the time, but this is all about the suave style shown by Gabriel Byrne´s interpretation of Satan. The HD-DVD disc features a pretty good image quality that holds up nicely in the films dominant dark scenes. Universal has included a Dolby TrueHD track and this is the first time I can remember this being included on a Universal release. The supplements are the same as those in the standard definition disc and the commentary is worth a listen and the rest is as passable entertainment as the film itself.
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