And on the 6th Day, God made Schwarzenegger.
01/11/2000 . Source: Stephen Hunt 

The movie 6th Day marks our Schwarzenegger's return to the world of science fiction, and like Total Recall, his new SF movie addresses some interesting questions about identity (The posters for the 6th Day even wear a very PK Dick'ish strap-line that reads 'Are you who you think you are?').

Buy The Sixth Day in the USA - or Buy The Sixth Day in the UK

This film is set about twenty five years in the future, in a genetically engineered world where disease has been largely conquered, where animals can be cloned right off the extinction list, and Frankenstein foods have helped erase hunger from the third world.

Arnie plays Adam Gibson, a war hero from the Rainforest War who is living as a civilian whisper-craft pilot with his wife and kids, in a semi-idyllic middle-class dream world.

There are notes of dissonance though, like the Christian right-ring blockading cloning stores as if they were present day abortion clinics.

While dead pets are fair game for resurrection, the Senate have passed the 6th Day Statute, declaring human cloning illegal after a bodged attempt at said feat resulted in some nasty results.

Like Total Recall, though, Arnie's home life is exposed as not quite what he thought - and he is soon plunged into a mystery suspense where he tries to unravel the dirty exploits of a Bill Gate-like figure, Michael Drucker (played by Tony Goldwyn), dodging laser bolts at every turn.

Drucker owns a corporation - the Genetics Industry equivalent of a far future Microsoft - along with his slightly more sympathetic partner, Graham Weir (played by Robert 'Apocalypse Now' Duvall).

Mr Big Business is up to no good, and its up to our Arnold to sort the ruthless fellow out. From what we've seen, the plot looks set to address a lot of big ethical issues about genetic engineering and cloning - interspersed by Mr Schwarzenegger lasering out the brains of corporate agents and chucking people through windows, of course.

Arnie's dialogue is witty enough, and the purists will love the scene when Schwarzenegger, upon leaving a cloning shop, addresses a clone-your-dead-pet salesman with the line: "I may be back." And the slippery salesman quips: "Oh, you'll be back."

This line is given extra resonance in a world where dead loved ones can be illegally resurrected!

The script was written by husband and wife team Cormac and Marianne Wibberley, and is now rapidly being overtaken by real world events (such as the BT soul-catcher project to record human memory on chip, et al).

Designers Jim Bissell and John Willett created a universe which is far lighter than Bladerunner's mean streets - a deliberate choice by the producers to create a world familiar enough that the genetics angle didn't come across as science fiction of the Doctor Who variety.

Most the tech is a real world extrapolation of current trends - so you have nacho-flavoured bananas, electric computer auto-pilot cars, laser pulse pistols, and hologram advertising floating around the malls and the like.

The villain of the piece seemed better fleshed out than the average cardboard cut-out lunatic.

Although as mad as a biscuit and ruthless to a fault, the tycoon has some noble chit-chat about using genetic engineering to feed the third world, saving the world's Mozarts for future generations, and making sure people never have to go through the pain of losing a loved one again.

If we told you more, we'd have to introduce some serious spoilers about the plot which'd ruin your viewer-type enjoyment, so we'll leave you to make up your own mind on this movie.

However, we're giving it a tentative thumbs up! Out at the flicks from November 19th.