The 6th Day wants to be a big, loud thriller about identity and the future. It mostly fails. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, the 2000 film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Adam Gibson, a charter pilot whose life gets broken apart when a clone of himself shows up at home. The movie is built on a simple premise: human cloning is illegal, but some rich men have figured out how to do it anyway, and now Gibson has to fight to prove he is the real one. That premise is clever enough. The execution is not.
The film opens in 2015, a few years after the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep made animal cloning common. Cloning corporations like Replacement Technologies sell copies of pets through stores called “RePet.” Gibson is a family man with a wife named Natalie, a daughter, and a partner named Hank. His quiet life ends when he is hired for a snowboarding trip by Michael Drucker, the billionaire owner of Replacement Technologies, who asks him to take a drug test. Gibson’s wife tells him their daughter’s dog has died, and he heads to a RePet store to get a new one. Meanwhile, Hank pretends to be Gibson and flies Drucker to the mountains, where they are killed by an assassin named Tripp.
The plot moves fast. Gibson buys a life-size animatronic doll called a “SimPal” for his daughter instead of a real dog. When he gets home, he finds a clone of himself living with his family. Before he can act, he is taken by Marshall, Drucker’s head of security, along with his agents Talia, Vincent, and Wiley. Gibson escapes, killing Talia and Wiley, and goes to the police. The cops believe he is an escaped mental patient. Drucker, somehow alive, tells reporters he has no plans to push for the repeal of the “Sixth Day” laws against human cloning. But he and his chief scientist, Dr. Griffin Weir, have already perfected illegal human cloning and bring Talia and Wiley back to life.
Gibson breaks out of the police station and kills Wiley again. He finds Hank at his apartment, still alive, and brings him home. Gibson considers killing his clone but changes his mind. Marshall and Talia arrive, and Gibson has to pretend to be the clone to send them away. Back at his apartment, Hank is killed again by Tripp, who is shot by Gibson. A dying Tripp reveals he is an anti-cloning extremist who killed Drucker, who was then cloned along with him.
Trailer, via Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers.
Schwarzenegger’s Heavy Lifting
Schwarzenegger carries the film. As Adam Gibson, he plays a man who suddenly has to prove he is the real one, and the confusion works in his favor. The performance is steady rather than spectacular, but the material gives him room to play both sides of the equation. The movie asks the audience to watch two men who look identical and try to guess which one is lying. Schwarzenegger handles the physical comedy well, especially in the action scenes where Gibson fights his own clone.
The Supporting Cast
The supporting cast is solid but underused. Tony Goldwyn plays Michael Drucker, the billionaire who hires Gibson for the snowboarding trip. Michael Rapaport plays Hank, Gibson’s partner who pretends to be him. Michael Rooker plays Marshall, Drucker’s head of security. Robert Duvall plays Dr. Griffin Weir, the chief scientist. Sarah Wynter plays Talia, one of Marshall’s agents. Wendy Crewson plays Natalie, Gibson’s wife. Rodney Rowland plays P. Wiley, another of Marshall’s agents. Terry Crews appears as Vincent, and Colin Cunningham appears as Tripp. Ken Pogue appears as Speaker Day, and Wanda Cannon appears as Katherine Weir.
The Title’s Biblical Reference
The title refers to the Genesis creation narrative, where God created humanity on the sixth day of the universe’s existence. It is a thin hook for a film about cloning, but it fits the idea of humans being made anew. The film also uses the idea of the sixth day as a way to talk about the law against human cloning. The “Sixth Day” laws were put in place after a botched attempt at human cloning went wrong, and the movie spends some time explaining why the public is against it.
The Plot’s Weak Points
The problem is that the plot is thin and repetitive. Once Gibson escapes from Marshall’s agents, the movie spends a long stretch of time with him running around, getting into fights, and trying to figure out who is working against him. The pacing slows down in the middle, and the twists that should be surprising feel obvious once they land. The film asks the audience to wonder whether Gibson is the real one, but the setup is so simple that the payoff loses its force.
There are also some logic holes that strain credulity. If Gibson is being chased by assassins, why does he spend so much time talking to strangers? Why does he return home to his wife and daughter instead of fleeing? The movie does not explain these choices, and they weaken the sense of danger. The film also leans heavily on action set pieces, but the stunts are standard for the era and do not elevate the material.
The Villains and Their Tricks
The villains are supposed to be dangerous, but they are easy to avoid once Gibson figures out their tricks. Marshall and Wiley are supposed to be a threat, but the film does not commit to making them fully realized characters. The female leads, Wynter and Crewson, are mostly there to react to Gibson’s actions. The film also has a problem with its villains. Marshall and Wiley are supposed to be dangerous, but they are easy to avoid once Gibson figures out their tricks.
The Anti-Cloning Extremist
The reveal that Tripp is an anti-cloning extremist who killed Drucker and was cloned himself is the most interesting twist in the film. It suggests that the fear of cloning runs deep, and that even those who oppose it might be willing to commit murder to stop it. The film could have spent more time exploring this angle, but it cuts away before the idea fully takes hold. Instead, the movie rushes to its conclusion, leaving the anti-cloning movement as a footnote rather than a central part of the story.
The Science Fiction Premise
The premise of human cloning being illegal is a good one. The film uses it to ask questions about identity, memory, and what makes a person unique. Gibson’s clone looks exactly like him, but he knows things Gibson does not know, and Gibson wonders if he is the real one. The movie touches on these themes lightly, but it never digs deeply enough to make them stick. The “Sixth Day” laws are presented as a fact of life, and the film does not explore why they exist beyond the botched attempt that created them.
The Ending
The ending is rushed. After Gibson kills Tripp, the film wraps up quickly, tying off loose ends without giving the audience much closure. The villain is dead, the clone is gone, and Gibson is left wondering if everything that happened was real. The film does not answer the question it raised at the beginning, and that feels like a missed opportunity. A stronger ending would have let Gibson confront the idea that he might not be the real one, but the film chooses a safe resolution instead.
The Numbers
- Title: The 6th Day (2000)
- Director: Roger Spottiswoode
- Writer: Cormac Wibberley, Marianne Wibberley
- Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rapaport, Michael Rooker, Robert Duvall
- Runtime: 123 minutes
- Genre: Action, Science Fiction, Thriller
- Tagline: “Are you who you think you are?”
- Budget: $82 million
- Box office: $96 million worldwide
- Schwarzenegger’s salary: $25 million
The 6th Day is a film that had a good idea and wasted it. The premise is strong, but the execution is weak. The plot is thin, the pacing drags, and the characters are underwritten. Schwarzenegger does his best with the material, but even his presence cannot save a movie that does not know what it wants to be. The film is not terrible, but it is forgettable. It is a movie that will be remembered for its premise and its star, not for anything it achieves.
The 6th Day is a film that tried to be a thoughtful science fiction thriller and ended up being a standard action picture with a cloning hook. It is not a failure, but it is not a success either. It is a film that will be forgotten quickly, and that is the kindest thing that can be said about it. The score reflects that.
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