End of Days 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

End of Days 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson October 22, 2025

Peter Hyams's sixteenth big-screen feature End of Days (1999) was first reviewed on our site by my colleague Marty Liebman. Marty wrote about Universal Studios' BD-25 in 2008. For Marty's thoughts on the film and his evaluation of the a/v transfers, please check out the linked review above.

End of Days 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Scream Factory's "25th Anniversary Edition" comprises a two-disc 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray set that comes with a slipcover. The film appears in its original theatrical exhibition ratio of 2.39:1. The UHD is presented with Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible). Hyams approved a 4K scan of the original camera negative.

I own Universal's "Collector's Edition" DVD from 2000 which I have compared to Scream's discs. I will discuss the transfers in context with content from a long and comprehensive article Kevin H. Martin wrote on End of Days in the April 2000 issue of CineFex. Martin interviewed visual effects art director Ian Hunter, who lent insights into the shooting style of Hyams, who also served as DP. According to Hunter, Hyams favored heavy backlighting which you can see in a lot of the darker scenes. You may notice halo-like blooming of the highlights, which was intentional on Hyams's part. Indeed for a couple of the film's most fiery sequences, subway sequence super­visor Cheryl Budgett and cathedral sequence supervisor Edwin Rivera produced many blooming highlights on their fire shots to generate a type of lens fog over the whole composite. Even though Hyams used low-contrast filters, visual effects supervisor Eric Durst noted that the cinematographer kept contrast levels high by adding "deep shadow areas." Marty observed an occasional loss of shadow detail in the Universal transfer but fortunately shadow details is preserved on Scream's two transfers, especially the 4K.

End of Days contains 425 effects shots. The movie opens with an establishing shot of a priest looking out from a Vatican window (see Screenshot #13). CineFex reported that Centropolis Effects combined comet and moon imagery (derived from NASA photography) with a live-action fore­ground element filmed on stage and location plates of Vatican City. The moon reflected atop the Vatican dome and along the rooftops of other back­ground structures. One of the most remarkable effects shots was a maggot-infested apple that Christine York (Robin Tunney) and Jericho Cane (Arnold Schwarzenegger) peer inside of. Clean plates of an unsliced apple were fused with shots of a worm-infested apple. 3D animation of micro-skeletons inside the apple core were handled by Gary Abrahamian and John Jude Wissler of the visual effects company Rhythm & Hues. (See frame grab #12.)

Universal's progressively-encoded DVD reveals a number of dots and debris on the print in the first reel. These source flaws pop up periodically throughout the remainder of the film. The Scream discs show very few, if any, artifacts. There are a couple anomalies, though. Marty mentions a reel-change mark in the form of a "cigarette burn" that graces a shot on the Universal BD. This has actually been present since the DVD (#26) and is visible on Scream's standard Blu-ray (#27) and on the UHD (#28). Moreover, I thought I may have seen a photochemical stain on the right jaw of Christine (see Screenshot #s 29-31). However, this may be just a remnant or particle of the big fireball following her. (Or the flame's light emitting on her face.)

The Scream discs demonstrate improved colors in skin complexion over the DVD. For instance, compare screen capture #s 16-17 and 20-21 of The Man (Gabriel Byrne). In addition, contrast shows sizeable improvements. For example, compare the red tint on Jericho in #18 with #19. The DVD appears a notch darker in place. Grain is particularly visible in cityscape shots (see #s 38-40).

The feature on the UHD sports an average video bitrate of 87.4 Mbps and an overall bitrate of 98.2 Mbps for the entire disc. The Scream Blu-ray employs the MPEG-4 AVC encode and carries a standard video bitrate of 28000 kbps.

Screenshot #s 1-15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, & 40 = Scream Factory 2025 4K Ultra HD BD-100 (downscaled to 1080p)
Screenshot #s 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 29, 32, 35, & 38 = Universal Studios 2000 DVD (uprezzed to 720p)
Screenshot #s 27, 30, 33, 36, & 39 = Scream Factory 2025 BD-50 (from a 4K restoration)

Ten chapter breaks (accessible only via remote) accompany the 122-minute feature.

End of Days 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scream has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround mix (2950 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1680 kbps, 24-bit), a fold-down of the 5.1. The rough average bitrates are identical on the UHD and standard Blu-ray. I listened to Universal's Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track (448 kbps) and compared it to the DTS-HD MA 5.1. The deployment and delivery of sound f/x on the two tracks are similar. On the rear channels, I could hear crisply the sound of explosions, the ricocheting of bullets, flies buzzing, ambient street noise, and vehicles speeding by. But after listening to each, I feel that the mixes may have been done separately for the DVD and 4K/Blu-ray editions. It feels that the surround mix was recorded at a higher pitch or decibel level for the DVD. For example, Jericho's dialogue was more audible on the SD version when he was speaking during one of the underground tunnel scenes. When I played the UHD at an identical volume, I had a little difficulty discerning all of his utterances. Also, I don't know why Scream couldn't have given the 5.1 a maxed-out bitrate. (An average of 2950 kbps seems pretty low.)

John Debney's score is also a strong presence along the satellite speakers. He explained some of the choral effects he came up with in an interview with Rudy Koppl that appeared in Soundtrack Magazine (vol. 18, no. 72):

What I came up with was a boy's solo voice that would represent the angelic side, the good side, or God as it were. Then I took that a step further and found a couple of interesting samples of some other solo boy sopranos that were very demonic sounding. So what you'll hear in the score are three solo boys. The demonic boys are panned hard left and right, they kind of come at you whispering in your ear, always answering each other. The angelic boy states his theme a lot more infrequently, he's always in the middle or high up in the mix.

The boys' voices effectively signify the presence of good and evil characters. Debney noted in this interview that he also layered a variety of diverse instruments into his score: a duduk, conch shells, a shofar (a kind of rams horn trumpet), didgeridoo, and some unusual trombone samples. The score reminds me of Jerry Goldsmith's music for The Omen films.

There are hard-coded English subtitles for the Italian dialogue (see Screenshot #s 14-15). I also watched End of Days with the optional English SDH switched on. This track delivers a complete and accurate transcription of dialogue and sound f/x.

End of Days 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Scream has licensed an archival commentary track and EPK-style featurettes which date back to Universal's 2000 DVD. It has also recorded four new interviews with crew members.

DISC ONE: 4K UHD

• Audio Commentary with Director/Cinematographer Peter Hyams - I echo Marty's general observations about this track but regard it higher than he does for the informational value Hyams imparts. It's true that it has gaps throughout. Hyams lauds Schwarzenegger's performance and cites how cooperative the actor was during production. Hyams discusses various technical aspects, including miniature pieces that were designed. Hyams doesn't talk during the end credits. In English, not subtitled.

DISC TWO: Blu-ray

• Audio Commentary with Director/Cinematographer Peter Hyams - I echo Marty's general observations about this track but regard it higher than he does for the informational value Hyams imparts. It's true that it has gaps throughout. Hyams lauds Schwarzenegger's performance and cites how cooperative the actor was during production. Hyams discusses various technical aspects, including miniature pieces that were designed. Hyams doesn't talk during the end credits. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW One Hell of a Time: Peter Hyams at Universal – An In-Depth Interview with Director/Cinematographer Peter Hyams (34:34, 1080p) - Hyams starts off the interview with words about studio executive Ned Tanen and an episode of Amazing Stories that he directed. The first real section is devoted to Timecop and Hyams's experiencing working on it. In particular, he discusses producers Moshe Diamant and Larry Gordon as well as actors Mia Sara and Bruce McGill. He also talks about the themes of the film, designer Syd Mead, and a prologue that he wrote. The next section covers Sudden Death. Hyams tells of working with Jean-Claude Van Damme again. Excerpts from the film and behind-the-scenes footage are shown. In the final section, Hyams explains how he got attached to End of Days, working relationship with Arnold Schwarzenegger, writing for the Gabriel Byrne character, and how he directed Robin Tunney. Hyams also goes into some of the action scenes and practical effects. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW You Will Bear Witness: Writing END OF DAYS – An Interview with Screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe (28:25, 1080p) - Marlowe recalls after writing Air Force One, he was in contact with producer Armyan Bernstein, who introduced him to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Marlowe talks about developing the script for End of Days. While it was tailored for Arnold, Marlowe states that he wanted to do some different things for his character, which Arnold hadn't done before in past projects. Marlowe describes the research base that shaped his screenplay. He delves into Hyams's visual style and his aesthetic choices. He also discusses the characters of Jericho, Satan, Christine, and Chicago. Marlowe examines the narrative, the themes of End of Days, and some scenes that didn't make their way into the film. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Hell Followed with Him: Inside the Effects – An Interview with Visual Effects Supervisor John Des Jardin (12:13, 1080p) - Des Jardin is interviewed remotely. He talks about the V.I. Effects shop and the photographic effects that were incorporated into End of Days. He spends a segment discussing the apple scene. More, Des Jardin also delves into scanning an actor in 3D, plate photography, and the use ScotchLite for a bedroom scene. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW The Eternal Struggle: Scoring END OF DAYS – An Interview with Composer John Debney (15:56, 1080p) - Debney recalls initially meeting Peter Hyams as a possible composer for Sudden Death. Debney describes the music he wrote for End of Days in the main titles, as well as the instrumentation and choral music used there and for other parts in the film. The composer explains a technique he employed known as 'backwards vocalization." He also talks about electronic music and how it can be misused. In addition, Debney speaks about the main characters in the film and themes that he wrote. In English, not subtitled.

• Spotlight on Location: END OF DAYS (25:15, 480i) - a making-of doc featuring interviews with cast and crew. The talking heads are shown in 1.33:1 while clips from the film are displayed in 2.39:1 non-anamorphic.

• Special Effects: The Devil's Playground (34:59, 480i) - a compilation of vintage featurettes that focus on special effects for certain scenes and sequences in End of Days. These programs show a lot of the animation work that was done.

• Theatrical Trailer (1:17, 480i) - an official trailer for End of Days that's been horizontally stretched.

End of Days 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

End of Days is a fine contribution to the religious horror subgenre with a provocative exploration of interesting ideas associated with The Devil, the apocalypse, and Y2K. I feel that the Schwarzenegger character is underwritten in the sense that Jericho should be smarter than how he's portrayed on screen. (Screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe mentions in the interview on the second disc that he wrote some context-based scenes that enriched Jericho's character but these were either not shot or dropped for different reasons.) Scream Factory has significantly upgraded the picture with a new 4K restoration of the OCN. The recent interviews are quite informative. A SOLID RECOMMENDATION.