28 Weeks Later/28 Days Later [2 Pack]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

This two-pack features both the original and sequel to Christopher Boyle's well regarded post-apocalyptic thriller.

28 DAYS LATER: 28 DAYS LATER: This post-apocalyptic thriller is set in an empty, haunting London after a deadly, Ebola-like virus has swept through the city. Jim (Cillian Murphy), a bicycle messenger who was in an accident just days before the outbreak, is one of very few survivors who awakes 28 days later to a city that has been evacuated and is now utterly lifeless. He wanders the vacant streets of London feeling as if he's trapped in a never-ending hallucination. However, upon entering a church that is littered with dead bodies, he discovers that he is not alone-- the infected are still living. They are violently sick, fast-moving, bloodthirsty zombies who travel at night in ravenous packs. Jim manages to escape the infected and locate a band of survivors--Selena (Naomie Harris), Hannah (Megan Burns), and Frank (Brendan Gleeson)--and they join forces searching for solutions, clinging to hope that somewhere healthy humanity thrives.

28 WEEKS LATER: Danny Boyle's surprise 2003 hit, 28 DAYS LATER, gets the sequel treatment here. Few elements from the first film remain--actor Cilian Murphy doesn't return, and Boyle and screenwriter/novelist Alex Garland take producer credits this time out. In their places step director/co-writer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (INTACTO) and actor Robert Carlyle (TRAINSPOTTING), who bring the original story to its next logical step. The zombies (again referred to as the infected ) from the first film have died out and England is ready for repopulation. The American military are slowly bringing British citizens back to London, where a heavily guarded community is picking up the pieces and trying to return to normal life. Carlyle plays Don, a man who has lost his wife but is reunited with his children, Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) and Tammy (Imogen Poots), near the start of Fresnadillo's film. The two kids soon escape from the heavily guarded community, go off searching for their childhood home, and discover that mom might not be quite as dead as they originally thought. Chaos follows, with the sadistic military and the forlorn survivors battling both each other and the infected.

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 2
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Cillian Murphy - Jim
       Rose Byrne - Scarlet
       Jeremy Renner - Sgt. Doyle
       Brendan Gleeson - Frank
       Catherine McCormack - Alice
       Christopher Eccleston - Maj. Henry West
       Imogen Poots - Tammy
       Idris Elba - Gen. Stone
       Emily Beecham - Karen
       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
       Garfield Morgan - Geoff

• Director:

  Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Danny Boyle

• Producer:

  Andrew Macdonald, Enrique Lopez Lavigne, Allon Reich, Enrique Lopez-Lavigne

• Screenwriter:

  Enrique Lopez Lavigne, Rowan Joffe, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Jesus Olmo, E.L. Lavigne, Alex Garland

• Cinematographer:

  Enrique Chediak, Anthony Dod Mantle

• Composer (Music Score):

  John Murphy

• Editor:

  Masahiro Hirakubo, Chris Gill

• Production Designer:

  Mark Tildesley

• Supervising Art Director:

  Patrick Rolfe

• Art Director:

  Dennis Schnegg

• Supervising Art Director:

  Mark Digby

• Art Director:

  Patrick Rolfe

• Co-producer:

  Bernard Bellew, Bernard Murphy

• Executive Producer:

  Danny Boyle, Alex Garland

• Costume Designer:

  Jane Petrie, Rachael Fleming

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Glenn Freemantle, Simon Hayes, Ray Merrin, John Rodda, Graham Daniel

• Makeup:

  Konnie Daniel

• First Assistant Director:

  Toby Ford, Richard Styles

• Casting:

  Shaheen Baig, Gail Stevens

• Digital Effects:

  Framestore, Animal Logic Film, The Mill, Rising Sun Pictures, Prime Focus, Rainmaker Animation and Visual Effects UK, Senate Visual Effects, Rushes Post Production

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  Sean Mathiesen

• Makeup Special Effects:

  Dave Bonneywell

• Digital Effects:

  LipSync Post, Chocolate Lab

• Makeup Special Effects:

  Anthony Parker

• 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

REVIEWS:

• 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
• The infected are back, and with them the core creative forces behind the surprise international hit 28 Days Later, as director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo picks up the torch originally sparked by Danny Boyle to offer a true rarity in the world of horror sequels -- a film that nearly eclipses its predecessor on all counts. While die-hard Boyle fans may initially balk at this sequel due to the fact that the visionary director opted not to reprise his role at the helm, a quick glance at the credits reveals that not only did he remain onboard as executive producer, but original producer Andrew Macdonald, original writer Alex Garland, original editor Chris Gill, and even original composer John Murphy -- whose swelling score effectively drives home the emotion of the smaller, quieter moments while seamlessly sweeping the viewer up in the action scenes -- all saw fit to remain on board in order to keep the machine running smoothly. Throw into the mix a promising young director whose debut feature Intacto drew impressive reviews from international critics, and you have the perfect recipe for a sequel that impressively maintains the aesthetics and intimate feel of the original while subtly expanding on the mythology in a manner that, while impossible to discuss without resorting to spoilers, feels both fluid and organic. Most fans of the original will admit that while they do indeed like the film it does have its fair share of problems -- a reality that Boyle himself seemed to acknowledge while laughingly dismissing some of his more far-fetched ideas in the DVD extras -- and though the sequel too has a handful of eyebrow-raising issues, the overall result is a thinking person's "zombie apocalypse" flick that maintains an impressive emotional core while never losing sight of its genre roots.
  
  As a filmmaker Fresnadillo's abilities may not yet be honed to the fine point that Boyle's were by the time he took on the infected, though for his sophomore outing the Goya-winning director does display an impressive ability to conjure convincing performances from his players; Robert Carlyle in particular hits all the right notes as a survivor of the original outbreak whose fate is sealed by a particularly reprehensible act of cowardice, with Mackintosh Muggleton and Imogen Poots always convincing as his skeptical and fiercely independent children. Whereas Fresnadillo could be accused of relying too much on the eye-straining grand mal school of camera jostling when things take a turn for the worst and the infection reemerges, it's hard to argue that the technique effectively conveys the chaos that characters trapped between trigger-happy snipers and teeth-gnashing ragers would be feeling as bullets whizzed by their heads and adrenaline-fueled cannibals storm the streets killing anything that moves. Even when his technique is more restrained, however, Fresnadillo's uncanny ability to make viewer believe they have a grasp on the situation before pulling back to reveal that things aren't quite what they seem goes a long way in driving home the disorienting volatility of such an explosive scenario. In terms of screenwriting Fresnadillo (along with collaborators Enrique Lopez Lavigne, Jesus Olmo, and Rowan Joffe) do occasionally rely too much on exposition, though that fairly minor shortcoming is ultimately offset by the creation of characters that are identifiable and sympathetic, and unrelentingly tense situations that truly fray the nerves. Ever since Night of the Living Dead "zombie apocalypse" films have been rife with political subtext, and while it will be clear to many precisely what the screenwriters are getting at when the new arrivals pull into an eerily quiet London where U.S. soldiers stand at the ready on every street corner, 28 Weeks Later refuses to go for the obvious. The military forces in charge of reestablishing society more aren't evil, self-serving occupiers as much as they are inept, well-intending protectors who are ultimately consumed by a situation they just can't wrap their heads around. The subtle commentary on life within a "surveillance society," while never really explored in such detail, also provides compelling food for thought.
  
  In the end 28 Weeks Later is a film that's likely to be as polarizing for many viewers as it's predecessor was due to its outspoken politics and unique experimentation with genre standards, yet for those seeking out a stripped down summer frightener that doesn't take three hours to make its point, impressively expands on the ideas of the original while upping the scale and terror ante, and actually attempts to stimulate thought rather than insulting the viewer's intelligence, there's quite a bit to like about this vicious little summer screamer. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi