By Doug Krentzlin,examiner.com
5. "End of Days"
This is the fifth of five recommendations of films involving New Year's Eve (to be presented in chronological order).
“End of Days” (1999) offers moviegoers the ultimate showdown: The Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger vs. the Devil a.k.a Satan, Lucifer, Mephistopheles, Beelzebub and the Prince of Darkness, played here by Gabriel Byrne who joined the distinguished company of others who have played the role including Walter Huston, Laird Cregar, Claude Rains, Ray Walston, Burgess Meredith, Gary Oldman and, my personal favorite, Peter Cook in “Bedazzled.”
Interestingly, the climax of “End of Days” takes place on the exact same New Year’s Eve that my previous selection ("Strange Days") does, 1999 (only in New York, instead of Los Angeles). The plot has a young woman named Christine York (Robin Tunney) being stalked by Satan and his cult of followers to be his chosen bride. (It seems that if they mate between 11 p.m. and midnight on Dec. 31, the world will end.) Standing between His Satanic Majesty and his “bride” is Arnold as ex-cop turned private security guard Jericho Cane.
Directed by Peter Hyams with his usual visual style, “End of Days” has a fairly unexpected surprise ending. And of course, typical with Schwarzenegger, there is lots of self-depreciating humor. Best of all is the scene where he takes various stale leftovers, puts them in a blender, purees them and, right before he drinks the mess, says: “They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
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