Set sometime in the future, Adam Gibson (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is your regular run of the mill family man, with a loving wife and cute little daughter. He’s got a great job and lives in a pretty nice house, complete with matching picket white fence. Everything seems to be going fine until the morning he wakes up to find that he’s been cloned by an evil corporation, and that the clone is living his current life! All hell eventually breaks loose as Arnie desperately looks to straighten things out.

I’m sort of in the middle with this one because there were plenty of things I really dug about the movie but other elements which I could have definitely done without. With that having been said, this flick seems to be a step in the right direction for Arnie, I mean, it’s nowhere near as bad as END OF DAYS, his last disaster. Still, watching the big man play the lunchbox type family man was hilarious in itself and if you can suspend your belief for 2 hours, you’ll be alright. I really dug on all the crazy gadgets in the movie, particularly the helicopter hybrid race which had some pretty nifty cinematography and nice special effects. If you’re looking for a typical explosion/action blockbuster though, I’m afraid this ain’t your movie. It focuses more on the whole cloning mystery than it does providing mind blowing thrills, which may surprise (and disappoint) some Schwarzennegger fans.

But my real beef with the movie was how awful the bad guys were and how crappy their acting was. The henchmen were cartoonish at best and the head villain, a cardboard cut out character, two factors which kind of hurt the flick’s plot. The whole film could’ve also easily been trimmed down by some 15-20 minutes as I often found myself waiting around for things to happen. Still, if you’re into cool glimpses into the future, I think science fiction fans will definitely appreciate certain parts of the movie, ie: cloning pets, a virtual girlfriend and cars that drive themselves. For the most part, I was entertained by the chases and twists in the plot and with that having been said, I’ll carefully recommend this one as a last minute rental, but don’t kill me if it wasn’t your thing.

Video: The movie was extremely engaging to look at with all of its futuristic gizmos floating around and the DVD presents a clean transfer which won’t disappoint viewers. Watching all the CGI effects, the detail and sharpness levels were all top notch. I noticed only the slightest hints of grain during the actual movie and edge enhancement was virtually non-existent. Simply put, a nice looking disc from start to finish that’s presented in a anamorphic format. (2.35:1)

Audio: Working with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the audio much like the visuals, wasn’t exactly "incredible" but it wasn’t much to complain about either. The movie continually shifts between longer dialogue exchanges and moments of ass kicking action and the disc does a solid job of accommodating what’s happening on the screen. When things get out of hand, the DVD will up the volume and pound out the score accordingly. Like I said, it’s not reference quality but enough to keep the acoustic fanatics happy. Not surprisingly, there were no commentary tracks from Arnold to be found but then again, would you want to listen to him talk about his movie for 2 hours? I rest my case. They do however, include a commentary from composer Trevor Rabin who tells us about his inspirations for composing the music and is worth (I use that term loosely) a listen if you’re REALLY a big fan of the movie’s soundtrack. Otherwise, don’t bother.

Boy, they sure half-assed the extras, let me tell ya. Kicking off the extras is "Re-Pet", a 3-minute extended infomercial from the movie for the company that can clone your pet. The Re-Pet themed trailer (1 minute) is also included. Trailers for the SIXTH DAY, GATTACA, FINAL FANTASY and HOLLOW MAN round out the extras but in all honesty, previews for other movies hardly qualifies as "added material". C’mon guys, at least give us a "making of" featurette! I will admit, though, that the DVDs menus had some cool animation with decent sound.

Let’s do the math here. What do you get when you combine a so-so Arnie flavored futuristic suspense flick with a DVD that has some seriously pathetic extras? Not much, I’m guessing. I’ll cautiously tell you good folks to rent this one, but ONLY if there’s nothing else at the local video store and you really need something to tide you over for the evening. Be forewarned, DVD Freaks!