It is taking me a while to get around rating everyone who has read and rated my reviews. I will get ...
It is taking me a while to get around rating everyone who has read and rated my reviews. I will get around to it I promise, It just may take a little time.
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His fear began when he woke up alone. His terror began when he realised he wasn't
Movie: Written by Alex Garland (The Beach) and directed by Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave and Train-spotting). 28 days later centres on the popular science fiction (and Zombie film) subject of the Post Apocalyptic Survivor, although the usual catalyst of the apocalypse tends to be nuclear war in this movie it is disease.
The movie starts out with us witnessing three animal rights activists breaking into a lab to "liberate" the imprisoned animals. Once inside they learn that the Chimps are infected with a virus called "rage". Then in true activist style and despite our cries of "don't open the cages" they open one of the cages. Which apart from being amazingly stupid, (as let's face it, the name "Rage" does not suggest that they are placid), needs to take place or we do not have a movie. Low and behold after witnessing when chimps attack we have our first rage victims.
Whiz forward 28 days and we see Jim (Cillian Murphy) wake up in a hospital bed to find the building devoid of humans, in fact it seems that London in its entirety is devoid
of humans. Dazed, Jim walks the deserted streets and is eventually saved from a gang of the "infected" as they are fondly known, by Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley) who explain exactly what has happened since he was in the hospital, and it's all bleak. They meet up with other survivors, Frank (Brendon Gleeson) and his daughter Hannah (Megan Burns) in a block of flats where together they hear a broadcast from Manchester where soldiers have congregated and so they all set off up North to meet their salvation…hopefully.
Generally I am not a massive fan of Danny Boyle movies. I've seen (Shallow Grave and Train-spotting) and they did nothing for me (Although they both score highly on IMDB). Perhaps it's a style thing, I am not saying they are bad films, I'm just saying that I personally didn't like them. I had also seen 28 days later many moons ago and can remember thinking that it was ok, but nothing outstanding. However a few years have passed since then and I have been watching a few Zombie movies recently and although not a Zombie movie per se as the "bad guys" in the film are infected with disease rather than the walking dead, I wanted to give 28 Days Later another chance, this time on the UMD format for the Sony PSP.
The film itself I enjoyed much more than the first time I watched it. Seeing a desolate London reminded me of the times when I had to walk to Aldgate in the early hours and there was not a soul about, except of course I was safe in the knowledge that at no point would a hoard of rabid human beings start chasing me. And if you're a Londoner like me the film gets added points for the desolation scenes that are set there, as we see and point out areas that we have visited and or work in and think how the hell did they arrange no one to be around when they filmed.
But for me it made me realise that us brits can make good films, where you care about the characters and unlike Shaun of the Dead which was more comedy than horror, 28 days is a frighteningly real look into an apocalyptic Britain, using a storyline that is believable and realistic. After all what do we know about the kinds of experimentations that go on in these secret labs?
Genre wise it I pretty much a standard horror/zombie flick which doesn't really break any new ground, thankfully Boyle has taken a step back from using the film as a gore fest and used its material more wisely than that, giving us a good character based story where we genuinely care about them, even if I do think it is a bit of a cop out at the end! However we all know that if this was an American film it would be full of loud noises and heavy weaponry trying to woo the audience with special effects and explosions and I am almost thankful that the budget didn't allow that, not that I think that Boyle would have compromised himself by doing that anyway.
It's not that I don't like the explosions and the guns but sometimes the phrase less is more is relevant and such is the case with 28 days, another issue that I had was that Harris was a bit weak in the role or Selena, she didn't seem to convey strength, her cockiness seemed a little false, Gleeson as the cockney cab driver gave the whole film a more dynamic feel, and we could relate to him more than the others, we wish him to survive past the end credits.
Overall it is a pretty good movie the first half of the film is much better and much stronger than the second half, and if you can overlook the sometimes wooden delivery of lines and reactions to situations (of which there are a few) and the plot holes (of which there are many) then it is a pretty good movie to while away 90 minutes.
Picture and Sound: The picture quality was superb, a crisp clear picture even if it is on a 4 inch screen. Sound wise it was another story, even in the +2 setting in the PSP I could barely hear the dialogue with the standard headphones that came with the PSP. The external speakers are way too tinny and really bad quality, so I had to use some headphones I have indoors with a volume adjustment on it, and it was passable although not outstanding.
Extras: There are no extras on this UMD Disk
Please note: I wrote this review for a site that I moderate on, I wanted to cross post here for others to read, these are all my own words and has not been copied from anyone else.
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Production Year: 1984 - Horror - Director: Joe Dante - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, Frances Lee McCain, Judge Reinhold, Corey Feldman
Production Year: 2004 - Horror - Director: M. Night Shyamalan - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Brendan Gleeson
Anti-vivisection activists make a very bad judgment call and release an experimental ... more
monkey infected with "rage".28 Days Later..., as the title has it, bicycle messenger Cillian Murphy wakes up from a post-traffic accident coma in a deserted London hos...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Anti-vivisection activists make a very bad judgment call and release an experimental ... more
monkey infected with "rage".28 Days Later..., as the title has it, bicycle messenger Cillian Murphy wakes up from a post-traffic accident coma in a deserted London hos...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
A powerful virus is unleashed on the British public following a raid on a primate research ... more
facility by animal rights activists. Transmitted in a drop of blood and devastating within seconds, the virus locks those infected into a permanent murderous rag...
In this film from director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland a powerful virus is ... more
unleashed on the British public following a raid on a primate research facility by animal rights activists. Transmitted in a drop of blood and devastating within second...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Superb, exciting, bloody, poignant, beautifully made, well acted and Directed. Disadvantages: Digital film may be cheaper Mr Boyle, but that's only because it looks like a home video. Please stop using it.
willgould 14.11.2002 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of 28 Days Later (DVD)
Advantages: An entertaining film, shows london completely deserted and makes you think! Disadvantages: Not as scary as it's made out to be, too many holes and inconsistences in the plot
GR-Design 11.11.2002 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of 28 Days Later (DVD)
![28 Days Later ... [DVD] [2002]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78528816.jpg "28 Days Later ... [DVD] [2002]")
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