28 Days Later [WS]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Animal rights activists free a group of infected chimpanzees to horrifying results in this speculative sci-fi horror effort from Trainspotting director Danny Boyle. Waking from a coma in a deserted London hospital 28 days later, bicycle courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) takes to the deserted city streets in a state of mystified confusion. Joining forces with another group of survivors following a terrifying encounter in a seemingly abandoned church, Jim soon learns the truth behind the deserted streets and the menacing creatures that lurk in the shadows. It's soon revealed that the chimpanzees had been harboring a deadly virus that sends its victims into a furious, murderous rage, and in the days following the initial exposure, the entire population was nearly wiped out due to the resulting homicidal rampage. Is there still a glimmer of hope for humanity -- or has the deadly "rage" virus found its way to foreign shores and infected the entire planet? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Surround
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Features:
  • cc
  • Audio commentary by director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland
  • Three alternate endings
  • Deleted scenes with optional commentary
  • "Pure Rage: The Making of 28 Days Later" featurette
  • Jacknife Lee music video
  • Animated storyboards
  • Still photo galleries
  • Theatrical trailer

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Cillian Murphy - Jim
       Naomie Harris - Selena
       Brendan Gleeson - Frank
       Megan Burns - Hannah
       Christopher Eccleston - Maj. Henry West
       Marvin Campbell - Private Mailer
       Sanjay Rambaruth - Private Davis
       Ray Panthaki - Private Bedford
       Junior Laniyan - Private Bell
       Leo Bill - Private Jones
       Ricci Harnett - Corporal Mitchell
       Stuart McQuarrie - Sgt. Farrell
       Luke Mably - Clifton
       Justin Hackney
       Kim McGarrity
       Alexander Delamere - Mr. Bridges
       Emma Hitching - Jim's Mother
       Christopher Dunne - Jim's Father
       Toby Sedgwick
       David Schneider
       Jukka Hiltunen
       Bindu de Stoppani
       Alex Palmer
       Noah Huntley - Mark

• Director:

  Danny Boyle

• Producer:

  Andrew Macdonald

• Screenwriter:

  Alex Garland

• Cinematographer:

  Anthony Dod Mantle

• Composer (Music Score):

  John Murphy

• Editor:

  Chris Gill

• Production Designer:

  Mark Tildesley

• Supervising Art Director:

  Mark Digby

• Art Director:

  Patrick Rolfe, Dennis Schnegg

• Costume Designer:

  Rachael Fleming

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Ray Merrin, Glenn Freemantle, John Rodda, Graham Daniel

• First Assistant Director:

  Richard Styles

• Casting:

  Gail Stevens

• Special Effects Supervisor:

  Richard Conway

• Stunts Coordinator:

  Nicholas Powell

• Special Effects Supervisor:

  Bob Hollow

• Line Producer:

  Robert How

• Creature Effects:

  Cliff Wallace

• Prosthetic Makeup Effects:

  Cliff Wallace

• Second Unit Director Of Photogra:

  Thomas Townend

REVIEW:

• Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland (and Boyle's longtime collaborator, producer Andrew Macdonald) bounce back from the relatively big-budget debacle of The Beach with 28 Days Later, a kinetic low-budget horror film. The filmmakers gratefully acknowledge their debt to a bunch of classic horror and science fiction movies, especially George Romero's Living Dead films. There's even a kickass black woman (Naomie Harris) who saves the hero's neck like in The Omega Man. But 28 Days Later has its own style. Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (The Celebration) uses digital video surprisingly effectively, adding to the film's gritty immediacy, with a few nice surreal touches (e.g. the painted flowers along the road) thrown in. The dark inflections of John Murphy's bass-driven score help moves things along, too. The story is simple and lends itself to allegorical readings, with its somewhat pro forma anti-authoritarian slant. There are a few nicely played shocks, and some amazing, haunting images of a deserted, "Rage"-ravaged London. The recently comatose main character, Jim (Cillian Murphy), begins as a cipher, but gradually comes into focus thanks to Murphy's soulful performance, and his chemistry with the fierce Harris. Brendan Gleeson (Gangs of New York) maintains his excellent track record as a lovably gruff father vainly trying to keep some sense of normalcy in his young daughter's life. Things get a little ham-fisted in the last third of the film, bogging down a bit when the ragtag group reaches a military outpost in northern England and predictably finds something even worse than the diseased lunatics they're fleeing. But for the most part, 28 Days Later is a good, scary horror film, and a worthy successor to the forebears it references in nearly every frame. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi