As we approach the turn of the millennium, the Devil seeks to fulfill the prophecies about the birth of the Antichrist, looking for a bride in New York. Directed by Peter Hyams, with a script by Andrew W. Marlowe, this film has Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Byrne and Robin Tunney in the main roles.

One of the last films of the past millennium, it precisely addresses the end of it and the apocalyptic prophecies about that. It's a quite grim film, which puts the audience in suspense from the very beginning. The dark picture helps to amplify these feeling, with the most scenes taking place at night or on foggy or rainy days in New York, depicted like a real and decadent "sin city". The darkest character is undoubtedly the Devil, but the police fighting against him (played by Schwarzenegger) also has to face his own demons: alcohol, deep depression, lack of faith and lack of self-confidence, in a double combat, physical and psychological.

The film has great action scenes which strangely cohabit with several heavier scenes, almost terror. In fact, this is the major flaw of the film: it lives in a permanent dilemma between terror and action, thriller and suspense. We cannot say it's a horror movie or a thriller, or action. It's a mixture of all, which ends up easily displeasing the public looking for just one (particularly the terror lovers, as the film never gets to scare us truly). The climax is very interesting, makes good use of special visual and sound effects, manages to surprise and not be predictable, but some of the effects (the monster) are so "cliché" and far-fetched that destroy what was good.

The work of the actors is fairly good. This film marks the end of a comedy decade in Schwarzenegger's career, and he seems convincing in his role and doesn't make mistakes, giving another proof of versatility. He wanted, truly, show that it's not only a lot of muscles, and he succeeded. Robin Tunney looks a bit bland and hysterical in the role of Christine. Byrne made an interesting devil, very calm and cold, able to boot chills through the simple look. The soundtrack doesn't stand out particularly, with the exception of "Agnus Dei", it's main music, combining incidental chords with small arrangements of Gregorian chant.

The end of the 90s saw the human race suffering from a collective case of pre-millennium jitters, people convinced that the dawning of the year 2000 would be the beginning of the end. Some thought that technology would fail us, plunging humanity back into the dark-ages; others predicted cataclysmic natural disasters; overzealous religious types either looked forward to The Rapture or feared the oncoming of The Antichrist.

Biblical horror/action hybrid End of Days uses this last idea as the basis for its plot: Arnie Schwarzenegger stars as suicidal ex-cop Jericho Cane, who finds a new lease of life when he is pitted against none other than the devil himself (Gabriel Byrne),who is in New York searching for the woman with whom he will spawn a son. Robin Tunney plays the unfortunate young lady destined to bear the devil's offspring unless Jericho can keep her safe till midnight, New Year's Eve.

The hackneyed plot for this theological tosh feels almost as old as the 'good book' itself, clichéd and predictable throughout, right down to the trite 'cat scare', the Satanic aides, and the tragic central character having lost his faith due to the tragic murder of his wife and child. Arnie is as wooden as ever (not great when his character demands an emotional tour de force),Gabriel Byrne does a poor impression of Pacino from The Devil's Advocate, and Robin Tunney is forgettable. However, despite the over-familiarity of the material and the shocking acting, End of Days actually proves to be quite a bit of fun…

Hyams is an unexceptional but dependable director and he once again delivers a slick Hollywood product, ensuring more than enough overblown action and gratuitous violence to please the average Arnie fan. Memorable moments include Arnie chasing a gunman suspended from a helicopter, the star being beaten up by Margolyes of all people, the Devil punching a man right through the chest, and a spectacular train crash. The film also dares to do the unthinkable by offing Arnie at the very end, but only after he's pumped the devil full of high explosives and sent him back to Hell with his tail between his legs!

Such silliness isn't going to win any awards (not even Razzies, although it was nominated for several),but it's an enjoyable enough way to kill some time.

There's just so much that's laughably bad about this picture that finding a place to start this review is somewhat difficult. Now I could forgive a bad film if the elements used to tell the story had some kind of internal consistency, but this one is just all over the place. Think about it - the forces of evil are unleashed on Earth and Satan himself is scouring the streets of New York looking for the virginal bride that will plunge the entire world into chaos and eternal hell fire. So an alcoholic ex-cop with a nine millimeter Glock handgun is going to stop him? Seriously, how much thought was put into this?

Now I never saw this film until today, kind of appropriate I think because it's New Year's Day 2012, and later this year we'll have to get ready for the end of the world again when the Mayan Calendar runs it's course. Thoroughly familiar with the '666' Sign of the Beast concept, I just about doubled over when Rod Steiger came up with that '999' business - how could the film makers have ever foreseen Herman Cain's ill-fated economic plan an entire decade ago? I guess that's just one of the unintended bonuses of waiting until just the right time to watch an action flick in which the devil takes center stage.

Now I'll give credit where credit is due. The rattlesnake blood baptism of the newborn Christine was an intriguingly creative element, but if demonic forces were already at work at the tail end of 1979, why let the kid grow up in New York City and allow the Governator to get involved? The ceiling crucifixion of the visionary assassin priest was noteworthy, as well as the creepy subway guy who shattered into pieces - both were cool effects that might have carried more weight in a better story. The same goes for the underground ancient guy with his eyelids sewn shut.

But in the final analysis, none of this matters at all. I tried holding it together until the epic final battle between the forces of good and evil, when all of a sudden Arnie broke my concentration by yelling to Christine as they entered St. John's - "We must lock the doors!" Seriously, wasn't he paying attention earlier?