MovieFreak.com - "28 Days Later" Widescreen Special Edition DVD Review by Dennis Landmann

DVD REVIEW

28 Days Later - Widescreen S.E. (2002)

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Danny Boyle

Rating: R

Distributor: Fox Home Entertainment

Release Date: October 21, 2003
Review posted: October 21, 2003

Spoilers: Minor

Reviewed by Dennis Landmann

"That was longer than a heartbeat." - Jim

Synopsis

Jim (Murphy) wakes up from a coma in a deserted London hospital. He walks the streets of London dressed only in a hospital gown and immediately notices something is dead wrong (literally): the streets are completely deserted. He encounters a group of zombie-like people inside a church and finds himself running for his life. He's lucky to meet Selena (Harris), a survivor who helps him escape to safety. From her he learns 28 days ago an infectious disease, transmitted by blood, infected people with murderous rage. Jim and Selena later meet Frank (Gleeson) and his daughter Hannah (Megan Burns). Together they drive to Manchester and on the way encounter a group of uninfected soldiers. All seems to be fine for the time being until they realize the infected are not the only ones to worry about.

Critique

You've seen the ads for this film. "Scary as hell," claims the Daily Mail. And Access Hollywood says "it's absolutely terrifying." Usually those blurbs neither jingle my balls nor say much of anything about a film, but in the case of 28 Days Later the descriptions place the film in the right context. The Rolling Stone quote sums up the film the best by calling it "visionary and scary."

With 28 Days Later comes the second collaboration of writer Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle. In an indirect sort of way they previously worked together on The Beach. Let me tell you, I really think if Garland had adapted his own novel the film would have been better. I read the novel twice and I still think it had much more potential to become a really good film. Boyle did pretty nice job directing it, but the script just didn't work and I think Leonardo DiCaprio was kind of the wrong choice. But 28 Days Later pairs these two talented people directly and the outcome is a pretty cool film.

The "cool" about the film is the story and how it was made. The story is not very original as other films have explored the end of the world, such as The Omega Man with Charlton Heston, but Alex Garland gives it a neat twist. Danny Boyle opted for DV cameras for this low-budget production and they proved to be very resourceful, especially during the filming of empty streets in London or the incredible shot of an empty freeway. Those scenes are the first indication of Boyle's terrific visual style. He knows exactly when to shoot a scene in close-up and when to use wide shots. The use of CGI effects in some scenes is quite effective, such as the shot of Manchester up in flames.

28 Days Later stars a mainly unknown cast, except for the familiar faces of Brendan Gleeson and Christopher Eccleston. It just so turns out both Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris hold very good screen presence here. They share some really good chemistry, especially towards the end. I find most of the film flawless, that is, every scene is in its right place and fulfills a purpose. The only minor quarrel is when the story slows down a bit with the soldiers in the fortified castle. Tension still exists, but sometimes the pace slows down a bit. And once the rain starts pouring like crazy the pace picks up again and the action is on auto-pilot.

In conclusion, 28 Days Later is well-acted, visually stimulating, scary and downright cool. It's good to see the horror genre revitalized by a refreshing film like 28 Days Later after many years of dumb sequels or cheesy copycats.

The Video

Fox presents 28 Days Later in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Danny Boyle shot this film with DV cameras and the film obviously looks different. This doesn't mean the film looks inferior, not at all. In fact, 28 Days Later exhibits a much more realistic feeling as images come and go, especially during scenes where the infected attack our characters. In those cases editor Chris Gill speeds up the action and splices scenes to give images a more effective look.

In terms of print quality, some minor flaws exist. For example, softness is apparent in wider shots. Close-ups are generally more detailed and defined. Also, the quantity of grain during night time scenes is quite excessive, which is most likely due to the lack of natural light, though I believe the low-budget production did have enough money to light every scene. Making up for that are the vibrant and colorful daylight scenes, especially in the beginning. Sometimes colors are subdued, which adds to the film's realistic look. I think 28 Days Later looks better at home than it did in theaters, therefore making this a generally nice presentation considering the resource.

The Audio

Fox presents 28 Days Later in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Sound effects are quite effective with much emphasis placed on the reproduction from rear speakers. The crackling and noises of the infected appear from all sides of the soundfield, which makes for a chilling late-night presentation, but you have to have all the lights off. Turn up the volume a little higher than normal and you'll have a grand old time watching the film in the dark, which will probably increase your hearing senses. So, sound design is pretty nice here. Also, John Murphy's score adds a great mood to the film and presentation, and rear speakers are active, too. Dialog is clear and easy to understand. Some of the accents by the cast are no problem at all, in fact, they're kind of fun. Overall, this presentation is pretty good.

Alternative audio options include Dolby Surround dubs in Spanish and French.

The Extras

Fox Home Entertainment usually knows exactly how to do special editions correctly and 28 Days Later is no exception. Most of the extras are carried over from the Region 2 U.K. release.

The audio commentary by Danny Boyle and Alex Garland is filled with anecdotes, interesting discussions, and moments of silence, but overall it's an informing chat. Boyle and Garland are good together as their discussions come naturally as opposed to any awkwardness. The commentary can only be accessed through the language selections menu.

Next, there are 6 deleted scenes available with optional commentary. There is one ambiguous sequence ("motorway carnage") where the characters are supposed to find all streets and freeways littered with damaged cars and other carnage. As presented here the scene is unfinished and Boyle explains in the commentary CGI would have been used to digitally erase moving traffic and put in additional damaged cars. Boyle goes as far as to call at least part of the sequence "pathetic," but that's certainly his choice. Other deleted scenes include Jim, Selena and Mark inspecting an abandoned train that was turned into a hospital, Jim and Co. imitating taxi drivers on the way to Manchester (I think it is Garland who is surprised to see the "embarrassing scene" included in this section), and a few others, including more shots of Jim walking the empty London streets.

[Note: Skip to the next paragraph to avoid spoilers.]

The DVDs most hyped supplemental features are 3 "killer" alternate endings, which mirrors the campaign of John Dahl's Joyride (that DVD included a completely different second-to-third act at 40 or so minutes). The first ending is the one that was attached to prints of 28 Days Later four weeks after theatrical release. It is dubbed "what if" and explores the possibility of Jim dying in a hospital. The second ending is kind of the same, except a chicken turns up somewhere and it's only Selena and Hannah who signal the aircraft with the huge "hello" banner.

The third is billed as the "radical ending" and explores the story where it could have gone if it weren't for the soldiers. It is presented in storyboard form; Brendan Houghton's drawings are very cool. Meanwhile, Alex Garland reads stage directions and Danny Boyle reads the dialogue. Before proceeding with the presentation Boyle apologizes if it should become too confusing. The ending picks up after Frank becomes infected and the characters move to the abandoned research facility we saw in the beginning. After nearly 12 minutes of a pretty cool presentation, Boyle acknowledges the ending is quite implausible.

Then there is Pure Rage: The Making of 28 Days Later (24:22), presented in widescreen, which goes as far as to include interviews with "professors" who comment on the realism of the film's virus, as well as hinting at the possibility of a deadly disease impacting society right now, though these people repeat themselves a little too much. Other points of discussion are shooting with DV cameras, script issues, special make-up effects, training the actors, and getting London to look completely deserted for a few minutes. The documentary is narrated to good effect and provides pretty decent insight into the making of the film.

Next up is the Galleries section. Polaroid still gallery runs just above 4 minutes and consists of a still photo montage with running commentary by Boyle. He explains Polaroids are very important to keep continuity in tact. Production still gallery is another still montage with commentary but is longer at 18 minutes and much more interactive/interesting. Boyle stresses the importance of having a still photographer on set all the time, because the marketing of films in magazines and newspapers usually relies heavily on stills. The Marketing section uncovers the film's teaser trailer, theatrical trailer, effective animated storyboards from the U.K. website (1:33), and a Jacknife Lee music video (6:22), which with some really cool beats condenses the most important scenes of the film into an extended clip reel. Pretty cool.

Overall, these extras are pretty cool and very well worth your time. You can select to view the film with optional English and Spanish subtitles. The 113-minute feature is organized into thirty-two chapters.

Overall

28 Days Later features some pretty cool thrills and scares, but it's really the execution of the story that makes the film entertaining and compelling to watch. The teaming of Boyle and Garland is very good. Video/audio quality is pretty good. Extras are enjoyable, informative, and worthy of the "special edition" banner. The DVD comes highly recommended and makes for a definite purchase for fans of the film. Others should very much consider getting it, too.

RATINGS SUMMARY