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28 days later - good blind buy?

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28 days later - good blind buy?

Old 10-18-03, 10:28 PM
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28 days later - good blind buy?

PLEASE NO SPOILERS!

i dont usually like horror movies but this one entrigues me...ive heard its more than just a monster movie. like does it have a cool ending? like one that makes you go "WHOA!" out of surprise, suspense and just shock value? i love those kinda movies. (e.g. when i found out the endings to sixth sense and usual suspects, i got goose bumps...im just like "omg! wow thats so cool!" sort of thing).

plus ive heard good things about the alternate endings.

so gimme your thoughts but no spoilers...should i pick this up or is it just a monster movie where they die one by one? those are boring to me.
Old 10-19-03, 08:10 AM
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From what I remember, there isn't a shocking ending like in the movies that you mentioned.

Personally, I didn't think the movie was all that great. I definitely know that others will disagree, though, because of the thread that was in the Movie Forum. A lot of people liked the movie. I didn't find it particularly scary and actually thought it was pretty boring.

Since others have liked it, however, it's worth a look.

I can't speak for the DVD since I don't have the DVD.

Old 10-19-03, 04:44 PM
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I feel the same way as immortal_zues, I thought the movie was actually pretty boring. There are a few cool parts, but overall, it is a slow ride. The ending is not shocking either, I would give this a rental but it is not worth buying in MY opinion, however, my friend absolutely loved it.
Old 10-19-03, 09:49 PM
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Just saw DAY OF THE DEAD and loved that movie! Great story characters and music. Had me hooked from the start and never lost my interest.

I'm curious what those think who've seen the DEAD films and 28 DAYS LATER. Is 28 DAYS as entertaining? I might just rent this one.
Old 10-19-03, 09:58 PM
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IMO, 28 Days Later is nowhere near as entertaining as Day of the Dead.
Old 10-20-03, 08:32 AM
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It was pretty good. Some nice scary parts in the first half, but it went downhill after the introduction of the military angle.
Old 10-20-03, 09:18 AM
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I really enjoyed it. Plenty of great jump scares, and one of the most suspenseful tire-changing scenes in movie history. In hindsight, a lot less gore than I was expecting, which in and of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing.

This isn't really a zombie flick, per se, as much as it is an "infected, but very much alive, humans" flick.

The extras are quite good, and even include commentary from Danny Boyle on the photo galleries....



Here's my full review , if you're bored....
Old 10-20-03, 11:25 AM
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I thought it was very good. I especially liked the score. The ending(s) aren't particularly suprising. I don't have the DVD yet so I can't offer any advice in that department.
Old 10-20-03, 03:41 PM
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28 Days later DVD

I saw the DVD of 28 Days later last night. Althought the film(video?) was interesting, it was not several things.
First, it is not scary. The scenes of survivors being attacked by infecteds are too quickly edited to be frightening.
Second, it is not suspensful. With the exception of the flat tire scene in the tunnel(which is great!) the rest of the movie is more irritating the scary. Especially after the military becomes involved.
Third, and last, this is a not very good ripoff of Romero's Dead films, most notably, "Day of the Dead".
Very disappointing considering all the hype. The "Ring" movies, American and Japanese, were both better than 28DL.
Also, I thought the original ending(with all 3 characters being rescued) was too "Hollywood". The alternative theatrical ending was depressing but better.

Last edited by roger6868; 10-21-03 at 10:07 AM.
Old 10-20-03, 06:23 PM
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Re: 28 Days later DVD

Originally posted by roger6868
There are gaping holes in the story and although we know how they get infected, Boyle never explains why some survive, some are infected and some are just dead.
This was perfectly clear in the movie.

Spoiler:
The symptom of the virus is that it causes insane rage, to the point where that is the only function the brain is capable of. The "zombie's" instinct is to kill anything in its path. As such, they outright killed a whole lot of people. The ones who survived an attack (usually by killing the zombie) then became infected and turned into a zombie themselves.

The only people to remain uninfected were those who managed to avoid direct contact with the zombies, anything that would introduce the virus into their blood.

Because the zombies are only capable of pure rage, they would not do things that a normal human body needs to survive, such as eating. Hence they would eventually all starve to death and the virus would burn itself out if quarantined.
Old 10-21-03, 02:22 AM
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dang...not what i hoped. might rent instead.
Old 10-21-03, 09:04 AM
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I bought the R2 DVD of this movie a week or so before it was released theatrically in the US. I've seen it about 6 times since then. I love this film. I'd suggest it as a blind buy for anyone. I think some people were overhyped by the ads on this movie and the pay off wasn't worth it to them. On the other hand all I had was a description off the back of a case and it's been one of the best horror/survival movies I've seen in a long time.
Old 10-21-03, 03:18 PM
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I bought it a blind buy based on the reviews and others who've seen it. But let me tell you this, the movie isn't even scary and entertaining. Its boring. It has 3 other alternate endings, meaning the director doesn't really know what his doing and the writer has no clear vision. Don't waste your money, don't even rent it. Don't believe the hype (best horror/survival movie).
Old 10-21-03, 04:27 PM
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i would also suggest renting this one. i saw it in the theatre, and was let down. much sloppiness re: the undead "rules", which need to be observed more closely IMO. and the film goes into the toilet in the second half, with plot cliches galore.
Old 10-21-03, 05:43 PM
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I bought the R2 blind and loved it!
Old 10-22-03, 11:29 AM
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28DL

OK I'll go with Joshua's explaination about why some are infected and bla bla bla. My opinion about the movie is unchanged. It was WAY over-hyped and did not live up to the reviews i read before seeing it. The film(well, not a film, really. A video) was about as scary as a Halloween rock video. In fact, that's what it looked like.

Last edited by roger6868; 10-22-03 at 11:32 AM.
Old 10-22-03, 11:36 AM
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I bought this blind and watched it for the first time last night. I loved it!

However, the advertisements are somewhat misleading. While it does have some horror elements, it's not really a horror movie. It's clearly not meant to be "scary." I would label it a "Post-Apocalyptic Character Study" myself. Not too original, either...but I still had a good time.

I look forward to going through the special features tonight.
Old 10-22-03, 11:37 AM
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Originally posted by Duodenum
much sloppiness re: the undead "rules", which need to be observed more closely IMO.
It sounds like you need to see this movie again...

Spoiler:
There are no undead in the movie.
Old 10-22-03, 02:10 PM
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My thanks to anyone who posted in this thread that they didn't like this film. Based on those comments, I rented rather than buy it. I'm glad I did. It wasn't scary. It was just plain boring.
Old 10-22-03, 04:47 PM
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Originally posted by matome
It was pretty good. Some nice scary parts in the first half, but it went downhill after the introduction of the military angle.
Exactly. I wanted to see this movie so bad and the Idea and setup I thought were done well, but the angle mentioned just completley ruined it
Old 11-07-03, 02:38 AM
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thanks to this board - i rented it and this was the worst movie i have ever seen in my life. nothing what i hoped or expected. horrible action, not scary at all, stupid story, bad acting. in fact i liked the extreme alternate ending way better than the real ending!

they dont even explain why the main character was never infected in the first place! was he locked in the room or something?

ugh...horrible.

(and i also rented bulletproof monk thanks to this forum, and it was better than 28 days later but im glad i only rented it instead of buying. not high enough on my list to warrant a purchase)

this forum just saved me like $20!
Old 11-07-03, 10:42 AM
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Originally posted by atari2600
they dont even explain why the main character was never infected in the first place! was he locked in the room or something?

UHHHHH yeah they actually do show why he wasnt infected.

Spoiler:
He was in a coma and the hospital people locked the doors to the patients and left the keys under the door for them to get out when they wanted
Old 11-07-03, 10:47 AM
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Originally posted by atari2600
thanks to this board - i rented it and this was the worst movie i have ever seen in my life.
This says more about the number of movies you've seen than it does about 28 Days Later.
Old 11-07-03, 11:42 AM
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yeah probably but it still sucked. i was so disappointed!

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