28 Days Later... (2002)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Danny Boyle

Writer:

Alex Garland (written by)

Release Date:

27 June 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

His fear began when he woke up alone. His terror began when he realised he wasn't.

Plot:

Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

Plot Keywords:

Virus | Coma | London | Survivor | Hospital

Awards:

7 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

Alex Palmer	...	Activist
Bindu De Stoppani	...	Activist
Jukka Hiltunen	...	Activist
David Schneider	...	Scientist
Cillian Murphy	...	Jim
Toby Sedgwick	...	Infected Priest
Naomie Harris	...	Selena
Noah Huntley	...	Mark
Christopher Dunne	...	Jim's Father
Emma Hitching	...	Jim's Mother
Alexander Delamere	...	Mr. Bridges
Kim McGarrity	...	Mr. Bridges' Daughter
Brendan Gleeson	...	Frank
Megan Burns	...	Hannah
Justin Hackney	...	Infected Kid

Also Known As:

28 Days Later (UK) (closing credits title)
29 Days Later (USA) (longer version)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and gore, language and nudity.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Spanish | Finnish | French | Korean Sign Language | Italian

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | France:-16 | India:A | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Canada:16+ (Québec) | Canada:18A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-18 | Germany:18 (nf) | Hong Kong:IIB (cut) | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:PG-12 | Mexico:C | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Philippines:R-18 | Poland:18 | Portugal:M/18 | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:NC-16 (edited for re-rating) | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #38512)

Filming Locations:

Badminton House, Gloucestershire, England, UK

Company:

DNA Films

Trivia:

The shot where Jim sees the dead mother holding onto her dead baby is based on a photograph Danny Boyle saw of a mass of Kurd bodies after they had been gassed.

Goofs:

Continuity: Towards the end of the movie, Hannah crashes the car through the gate. But in the next scene, the car is seen without any damage at all.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Activist: Bingo.

Movie Connections:

References Day of the Dead (1985)

Soundtrack:

An Ending (Ascent)

An Existential Drama,with Horror woven in

The 2003 State-side release of Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later" was advertised as being a shockful scare-fest of a movie. I didn't get around to seeing it until a few days ago and I gotta feel like that was somewhat of an embellishment on the promoters' part.

When environmental terrorists attack a lab that contains diseased chimps who are infected with a "Rage" virus, they unwittingly let loose a plague that lays waste to England and(perhaps)the rest of society. The 28 Days later of the title cuts to a mostly abandoned London where a coma-tized bicycle courier named Jim(Cillian Murphy,effective) wakes from his stasis to find himself alone in a hospital. As he searches London for signs of life,he is rescued from raging zombies by a couple of survivalists(one of them,the lovely Naomie Harris)who he follows from place to place to keep alive. From there,he also meets a man and his daughter(Brendan Gleeson,terrific,and Megan Burns,good)and they try to find a refuge out of London-town. A recorded message of a "paradise" where "salvation" can be found is tracked by Frank(the man) on his shortwave radio.

This film feels more like a meditation on what happens to people when they are reduced to their lowest elements. A friend of mine told me that this movie's running zombies was what inspired the zombies in the remake of "Dawn of the Dead",but where "Dawn of..." was pretty much a full-throttle action/horror hybrid from about start to finish,this film plays more like a "What if..." movie,with less emphasis on the creatures themselves and more on the (lucky?) survivors. There are also disturbing lessons on the nature OF survival,too.

An very interesting and disturbing flick that probably sold itself wrong.