28 Days Later : Worst Film Evah!

Nick, I was suckered in by genuinely quite good reviews, a liking for good horror movies and genre tweeking. I did - of course - get everything I deserved.

Probably. Haven't seen 28

I remember vividly Alex Cox decrying aspects of 13 on Moviedrome - "The female characters have identical sweaters and identical shapes" or something like that.

things i like in starship trooper: it is based on the premise that the entire human race = utterly dim but underwear-model gorgeous gay men, some of them by chance in girl's bodies

28 days vs 28 Days Later...

Starship Troopers is ABSOLUTELY more than just a stupid action film. There's quite a lot (for an action film) of stuff that the viewer has to work out between the scenes. It manages to combine both sledgehammer-blunt and "you do the math" subtle messages.

(what mark said about pi. i can't bear to watch pretty woman.)

28 Days Later is probably not the Worst Film Evah - but it certainly seems to be trying.

other poor films: jeepers creepers, cecil b demented

'Flesh and Blood' is my contender for WFE. http://us.imdb.com/Title?0089153
ha, ha, Paul Verhoeven again! i didn't realise. just saw this at film soc one week and it was laughable. not helped by the audience who'd all been drinking but...

http://uk.imdb.com/Title?0280665

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/femme_fatale/

Will Brian DePalma never fuck off?

Sophie and I secretly heart Titantic - shuddupyaartphags.....

HOWEVER the funnist thing about 28 days is the tagline - by the creators of the beach, which surely is the shittiest movie which i couldnt sit though.

ABTRACT THOUGHT ALERT - i think kate boom could be good in a play based on hilary swank's performance in boys don't cry

Nowhere near as good as Threads or Survivors (its possibly on a par with the astonishingly racist Omega Man but less exciting). And completely drops the ball with its Apocalypse in as much as its a local apocalypse for local people.

Don't go in the transport cafe, don't go in the transport cafe. He goes in the cafe, there is a zombie. SHOCK!!!!

i thought DD was grebt in many a different way.

also i am NOW, THIS VERY MOMENT, going to the postbox with a cheque for you :)

calling me a fool would do. Come one Bob, where's my money?

Anyhoo, this reanimation of the thread addresses those who watched the special features, including extra footage that would have played up the presence of the "infected" as well as established a much bleaker tone, with the main male character dying at the end. Would it have been a "better" film -- whatever your take on "better" might be -- if the more depressing ending had been used?

it's a film with people who are like zombies in it rather than a zombie film.

likewise, it has soldiers in it but is not a war film.

Let's say the Rage virus is not the same as zombification (there is no voodoo that you do is the hoodoo what you do) - certainly in the fact that they move quite quickly and the reasosn for them allow a bit more thought. What the film thinks about would have worked in any armageddon situation, and is frankly laughable considering that the people who seem to be getting particularly uptight about the situation are trained members of the army. It dropped the ball on what the infected were eating, how they were surviving, what their needs and desires were which would have been a lot more interesting (and potentially ending with a cleverer ending than "Kill all baddies".)

that was way up-thread but i felt it needed repeating.

28 Days Later isn't so bad. the last third or so is really lame tho i think. i guess the point is that the hero = "infected" once he gets really pissed off? whatever.

that strobe/shutter lens effect is being way overused. a cheap way to punch up a fairly straightforward scene into something very TENSE. seems forced im afraid. the soundtrack was god-awful too.

the only time i jumped was when the car alarm went off. needed more zombies. and the happy ending was dissapointing since the previous 15 minutes seemed to be heading for a dark conclusion that would have made the relatively zombie-less final third worth it.

agreed that the first two acts much better than the third. but i was scared out of my wits enough.

i should still stress that i liked the movie. i also liked the unnaturally quick movements of the infected.

allison anders's "things behind the sun" is a contender.

ryan: yes, that's it. it's in a lot of other stuff too.

Holy shit. Knowing the entire plot from looking at the poster - classic or dud?

it disturbed and horrrofied in all of the right places, it was shot brilliantly, well written, well acted and well written.

i am still recovering, and have been unable to intellectulize it or critically anaylze it yet.

Perhaps this thread is just great viral marketing for the film, making punters see it with low expectations sothey think its alright afterwards.

???

I can only assume he used to go out with girls with learning difficulties.

I think my dislike for this film has obviuously got personal dimensions which cannot be translated to the majority of other people.

did anyone notice the 'refuelling' scene which was suspicously similar to the helicopter refuelling scene in Dawn of the Dead.

do all british people vomit blood on each other, or is it just a weekend thing? ooh! or is it a northerner thing?

! I rather think you should.

http://chud.com/nextraimages/danny_boyle28weeks.jpg

Millions: Worst Film Evah!

anyway, yes he's good. he started on brookside, which helps.

Maybe Danny just doesn't know how to end a movie anymore (although the end of 28 Days Later doesn't bother me that much).

Tomb Raider may also be worse than 28 Days Later, I haven't seen it though.

All the London @ dawn views look perfect in grainy DV.

28 Weeks Later, unlike 28 Days Later, is astonishing, I think. At the start, I thought "Oh no, here we go again with the stupid fast cut close-up action stuff of the end section of 28DL" but it used that texture sparingly and very effectively.

The evocation of a modern war zone was more effective than anything else I've seen, despite the fantasy element.

That scene where they start the duck shoot was so fucked-up and horrible, not through graphicness, but just from the "everything's fucked" thing really being rammed down your throat. I could hear people sniffling all around the cinema. You don't often get that with an action sequence.

Loved the bravely unlit section of night, turning into morning after they escaped.

Surprised that the new Wembley Stadium let them shoot there, for a film like that, coming out just as it launches. That really packed a punch too.

Rewatched Day of the Triffids TV series last week, and had forgotten just how much 28DL borrowed from it. It wasn't really that great, though. Should have left it as a childhood memory.

The evocation of a modern war zone was more effective than anything else I've seen, despite the fantasy element.

It wasn't as effective as similar scenes in Children of Men, I don't think.

I agree that it's a pretty impressive film, up to a point. The final act is pretty bog-standard zombie chasey stuff. The opening sequence, on the other hand, is magnificent.

I thought about Children of Men on the way home, but though it had its strengths, I don't think that was really one of them, unless you count the whole thing as taking place in a war zone. The war zone bit at the end of COM was all a bit daft, for me.

28 Weeks Later had believable soldiers, being bored, being dumb fucks, being conflicted, being human. It had procedure. It has chaos. And, helpfully for someone who grew up in London, it had a context to which I could easily relate.

I couldn't disagree more. I enjoyed 28 Days Later but was really disappointed with the sequel. It had no characters worth caring about and when they tried to win our pity, it just felt cheap. (Cute but stupid kids? Innocent, faceless people? Sorry, not working for me.) The movie as a whole wasn't engaging at all. I think the fast cuts were the worst part though. Oh no, someone's been shot! Wait, who's been shot?

And if you're trying to protect the one person who may be the key to a cure, wouldn't you inform him of this, so that if something happens to you, your death wouldn't be in vain?

we've got a dedicated thread on this but no matter.

basically cf strongo on justice but: if the cuts are too fast, you're too slow.

as for not caring about the characters: speak for yourself. i was welling up when carlyle killed his wife, big style.

i still love this film.

I searched for the thread but couldn't find it. Anybody got a link?

Carlyle killing his wife was kinda funny, what with the eye-gouging.

it's not my fault you lack all human feeling.

Begbie Running from ZOMBIES: 28 Weeks Later, featuring Robert Carlyle, in theaters NOW!

Thanks!

Re: human feeling--true. I guess we aren't meant to understand one another.

;_;

Just to say that I like this film (28 Days Later) a lot. Just watched it for I think the third time and still really enjoyed it.

i like them both a lot. what's not to like?

I don't really know, but this whole thread seemed to be for the haterz, so...

Oh, the girl that plays Hannah either can't act for shit, or they're playing some weird trick on us by making her so ridiculously wooden for some obscure reason, but that's my only foible. I cannae understand that though, she's blatantly old enough to be able to act properly, but every line is delivered with clinical lack of expression.

Never saw the sequel, but I want to! I liked this movie. Maybe watching it on the shittiest of shitty VHS boots on a dark & stormy night made it scarier.

Probably don't bother with the sequel - the first act's pretty good, downhill from there. Also it takes very annoying (to me) liberties with London geography.

the sequel is better imo.

but even if not, if u liked the first, id definitely watch the second.

idk about ldn geography (well i do but could give a fuck) but it's a better sci-fi allegory than 'district 9'.

yeah district 9 did remind me of this and I vasty prefer 28 days later

yeah i think the sequel is better than the original

the problem with the first is that while i still like the third act, the whole "madman lording over a manor" thing is really an awkward plot device. the sequel is just a grisly and intense chase the whole way (though i guess the terminator-like pursuit of the two kids by that particular infected is a little lame as well...)

the opening scene of the sequel is the best thing in either of them

Yeaaah it's a stretch to say the second one is as good or better than the original (i mean the whole second half of that movie is just feels long) but the original's an undeniable classic. That said the second one probably isn't as bad as you think it is, even with the silly sequel title, I thought it was worth watching.

i liked a lot of the second half. least it wasn't as boring as the ecclescake stuff in the first film.

the opening scene of the sequel is the best thing in either of them

ha otm

but i loved the rest of the sequel too, not too fond of the original anymore though.

the opening scene of the sequel is the best thing in either of them

Oddly, that bit was done by the director of the first film, unlike the rest of the sequel.

Yeah, that opening scene from the second one is amazing. Still like the walk through deserted London from the first, ending with the church scene, which still scares the shit outta me.

Watched this again a couple nights ago (my gf hadn't seen it). Thinks it hold up pretty well.

Waiting for Pete to start ranting all over again.

http://www.cultjer.com/img/video/trance_redbtrailer_hd.jpg

Boyle peaked with Sunshine didn't he? Also, is that the CW now?

yeah Sunshine was dope

First trailer for the new one was pretty intense, new trailer is ... even more intense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYGG55qwQZQ

Though I've got to be honest, so much of life right now is constantly on edge that there are certain things I suspect I just don't have the emotional energy for.

Wow, they already shot the sequel to this (with the same cast and a different director)?

Or some sort of side project/spinoff thing, yeah.

The sequel/follow-up is/was directed by Nia DaCosta (eh), but I think I saw there's going to be a third new one iirc directed by Boyle again.

I really liked DaCosta's Candyman reboot/remake.

Started a rewatch of the second movie for the first time since whenever it was released. Didn't like it then, didn't enjoy the half I watched last night. Just ugly and unpleasant, characters and movie alike. In that regard it's a bit like "Day of the Dead," but minus the ace gore effects.

Stacked cast, though. Idris Elba, Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Imogen Poots, Robert Carlyle, Catherine McCormack ...

that's the film that caused me to fall in love with Imogen Poots

I think the film that caused me to fall in love with Imogen Poots was Kill!, an obscure Italian exploitation film released in 1971. It was directed by a chap called Romain Gary. It starred Jean Seberg:
https://www.shockcinemamagazine.com/kill-seberg.html

The ending sequence stands out. It's a kind of Sam Peckinpah massacre with people jumping on trampolines. I remember seeing it on TV in the 1990s. Imogen Poots was only three or four years old at the time, but I felt a kind of emotional tingling in my guts. I have left numerous clues in the visual media purposefully on many occasions since then but she has not responded. Perhaps her lack of response is a kind of response. The path of true love is complicated.

As for 28 Days Later, I saw it at the cinema when it came out! But I wasn't on Ilxor back in 2002 because the medication was all wrong. It's a really good film up until the "twist" with the army people, at which point it falls apart. For some reason it reminded of the John Mills Quatermass, in the sense that it had all the ingredients of goodness, the concept was good, it had a distinctive tone, but it didn't build up very well.

I remember that I had seen Night of the Living Dead for the first time shortly beforehand - that film may well have been shown on TV as part of the publicity for 28 Days, who knows - and it struck me that Night was actually nastier and more nihilistic than 28. The more modern film has a fairly happy ending, with an implication that the infectees are dying off and the heroes will be rescued. I wondered at the time if that was a side-effect of Saving Private Ryan and 9/11. The kind of everybody-dies nihilistic tone that was popular in the 1970s and again in the 1990s didn't sit well with the new millennium two-two.

I could swear that the Metro newspaper at the time had some kind of promotional comic that advertised the film. Or it was a series of half-page comic-style panels that explained the plot. Probably very rare now. There's an allusion to a promotional comic here, but this version was never published. I also remember that even as early as 2002, at which point New Labour had only just invented multiculturalism, the decision to make the cast (a) an Irish man (b) an black woman (c) a little white girl who would presumably grow up to be Phoebe Waller-Bridge, e.g. white but good (d) a bunch of evil white people and their black friend (e) a buffoonish, stupid white man who dies felt like a triangulation, a calculation, a cliche designed to stick it to the man.

I have a Romain Gary book called The Ski Bum... don't think I've actually read it

So, having seen the new one yesterday, two things:

1) That is some DARK comedy right at the end. Real folk horror shit. I’m still not sure how I feel about it myself! (Because fuck a Garland in general and this is probably just him being more edgelordy than anything else.)

2) Leave it to an American writer — specifically, this one — to do a “gee let’s discuss that ending” and *not get the reference.* I partially understand him not getting it but woof.

https://gizmodo.com/28-years-later-ending-explained-jimmy-baby-2000617543

So thumbs up or down? Seeing this on Sunday.

Generally liked it -- I think its strongest points were effective visual storytelling (not TOO much expo dumping, other things revealed by context) and world-building as such. Other things not as much or so much.

It's amazing to me that Germain Lussier gets paid for writing.

ok I'll bite, what reference is the Gizmodo writer missing? that they're dressed like Teletubbies?

never mind, I get it now: Jimmy Savile. definitely did not pick up on that while watching the movie bc I only had the vaguest idea of what he looked like.

Boyle is an amazing director. I was nonplussed by the ending (and the plot in general) but Boyle’s New Wave sensibilities are so, so enjoyable to me. I was reminded of Coppola’s similar affectations on Dracula but Boyle does it better, keeps it feeling kinda-cheap and kinda-slapdash and it works so well

And I might’ve said it already but the “Boots” sync is one of the most inspired bits of music supervision I have ever experienced, both in the trailer and the film proper

Really is. And it was ultimately down to the trailer makers, not Boyle and Garland!

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/28-years-later-poem-chant-rudyard-kipling-1236437024/

Hilariously, Lussier now has a new post up basically quoting from a Business Insider interview with Boyle and Garland detailing the ending and therefore the thing that Lussier completely whiffed on:

https://gizmodo.com/28-years-later-ending-explained-jimmy-savile-2000619052

Co-sign on those FGTI posts.

I did not clock at all the Saville connection. Being American and only learning of Saville via the documentary that came out a few years ago.

Baffling as that finale was, I admired its left-turn absurdity. And assumed (correctly) there were sequels planned following that tone and line.

Enjoyed this. And the “Boots” sequence was something else. Though was similarly aware I was only partially grasping what that was about. Striking all the same.

really enjoyed this. had hung out at Cheddar Gorge a few weeks ago so kind of wacky to see a bunch of Jimmy Savilles parkouring around it. the kid was a v good actor.

Liked this a lot, was even quite moved. There's something of "Night of the Hunter" about it.

Interesting. I adore NOTH, but it didn’t come to mind watching this. Enjoy your movie takes, Ryan, will inevitably rewatch this when it hits streaming and I’ll keep that in mind.

Not to derail, sure there’s a thread for it, but I also recently watched the Trainspotting sequel and it was kind of great? Really impressed me. I’ll keep that to another thread, curious of others thoughts.

finally saw this today & really dug it - it felt almost like a folk horror, i loved how self-contained the story was. ending was wild, i had to explain Jimmy Savile to Mr Veg so that was fun

also the Lindisfarne setting was really excellent & the Kipling was A+ fucking loved that

also that mask! and the memento mori sculptures!

loved it, thank god for Danny Boyle imo! I think if it were just Garland solo it would have been far more grim

The year's most unusual hit. I'm not sure how much of the film sticks but what's there impressed me.

I enjoyed this too. I watched "28 Days Later" first, since I'd never seen it, but that wasn't really necessary since the premise is clear enough. I still haven't seen "28 Weeks Later" but that one is supposed to be the least essential of the three. The acting and directing definitely seemed to be better than one would expect in a zombie movie, so I guess credit to Boyle. There's plenty of fantasy world-building, gross-out violence and suspense, but the moments of punctum in the Barthesian sense were the moments of mundane domestic life.

astonishingly beautiful images in nearly every second of this movie. danny boyle!

i kinda hated the framing device, and it was one of the rare times i wish a movie were longer just so we could live in the world a little longer. but otherwise really phenomenal

Some of those decisions I blame -- credit? -- on editing. In many ways, though, this one's the best of the bunch. Ralph Fiennes, like every aging UK acting ham, is in his own fantasyland and is most welcome.

the scene with Ralph Fiennes made me openly sob in the theatre...

this is almost two hours???? felt like 90 mins

I never thought I'd reach a point in my movie watching where I look forward to Ralph Fiennes.

loved his character and his transformation of Spike's worldview, that the infected, the non-infected, we're all the same species, we all deserve to die with dignity. but the mom stuff, a little close to home atm

I liked it — possibly better than the first one, tho I haven't seen that since it came out so can't say for sure. Never bothered with the second one. I like the world-building, trying to think concretely about what would have happened over the course of decades. I also like the realization right at the end that for most of the movie we've been isolated on the small island and of course the mainland has all kinds of crazy shit also happening on it. (Which will obviously be fleshed out — or flayed out — in the next films.)

Boyle's editing tricks are mostly effective, it reminded me what an entertainingly kinetic director he can be. Also agree that Fiennes took an actually difficult role and imbued it with real feeling.

xpost the shots of the Alpha lying in wait as the sun set were incredible

The best in the series imo

so where do you go from here

28 decades later? jump to 2315?

28 Centuries Later.

"Remember humans?"

"no"

FIN

I still haven't seen "28 Weeks Later" but that one is supposed to be the least essential of the three.

Correct. I had never seen it before but watched it after seeing Years. It's vaguely interesting as an Iraq War allegory, but is much less effective than the other two from a dramatic standpoint.

One thing I didn't care for: Doyle intercutting bits from Hollywood versions of British history (Ivanhoe, Agincourt).

it was ok once, a bit odd to do multiple times

Also: is this the best and the hottest that Aaron Taylor-Johnson's been on film?

certainly wasn't Nocturnal Animals

I wanted him to be my papi.

One thing I didn't care for: Doyle intercutting bits from Hollywood versions of British history (Ivanhoe, Agincourt).

I've been thinking about that, in some ways it felt like the most personal part of the film for Boyle. I don't know how well it works within the context of the film, but my guess is it reflects Boyle's own absorption of British history as a postwar kid, which would have been full of stories of British conflict from William the Conqueror to World War II. The idea of England itself as a battleground, which is outside his own direct experience but no doubt ever-present in the movies and books of his childhood. (The use of "Boots" fits there too, obviously.) So I read it as a connection between this story and those stories, the sense that this has been violently contested land for most of its history.

As my wife remarked, "It's a very British film!"

I understood his intent but it came across as hamhanded.

Kudos to Alfie Williams, a quite unaffected child actor.

My sister hated this film!

so where do you go from here

28 decades later? jump to 2315?

icydk the next one is out in January and will have more of the Jimmy Savilles and Ralph Fiennes. Nia DaCosta directing, shot b2b so that Boyle could move onto post.

there is a third Years script (all three by Garland) for Boyle to shoot asap if this first one did well enough.

Williams is astounding for a debut.

Agree with everyone, this is surprisingly great with some astonishing filmmaking, and the bookends are some of the dumbest shit you’ve ever seen

Scotch kid from the beginning nick furies into the picture in a jimmy savile cosplay outfit does some xxxtreme to the max poochie moves turns to the camera and says “that’s right folks, the next movie is gonna be so fuckin stupid”

Spoiler alert, but the thing that most puzzled me is why does the orange doctor guy off the Mom as soon as he diagnoses the cancer? Is it because he wants the skull for his collection? It was weird how fast that happened.

well he told her she had mere months to live, she was in extremely agonizing pain and severe cognitive impairment since it had metastasized to her brain. the trip was Spike's idea, and not hers, and she was probably mostly just hanging around for his sake and because she didn't have anybody to give her a way to die painlessly and with dignity back at home, and the doctor was giving her exactly that.

also, it's likely that nobody ever told Spike what cancer is, obviously his parents would remember as they grew up before the outbreak and also y'know, books still exist, but once he understands what's happening, the mother probably realizes this is as good a time as any to say goodbye

It's what I loved mist about the film. Ruthless yet filled to surfeit with feeling.

the bookends are some of the dumbest shit you’ve ever seen

i liked the stupid ending. wouldn’t have been right to end it on a sappy wistful spike walking away from home scene imo

Just seen this and enjoyed myself a lot. Typical Garland in that it's pretty incoherent: he seems to enjoy world-building and moving pieces around but it's hit and miss as to what sticks, and you get the sense there are just-as-interesting things happening off screen somewhere. Felt like a graphic novel adaptation?

It was generally pretty savage about England. Slaughter of the innocents while Father prays and Tellytubbies plays; closing with a Saville cargo cult. Plus the whole loose Brexit commentary. Nice.

Also, was um Fiennes shagging Samson the alpha? No idea why he wouldn't just kill him if he's that much trouble. All that iodine to wash away the guilt.

feel like Fiennes believes that the humans who are infected are so by bad luck and not of their own free will, and if one has to be killed in self-defense, so be it, but if they can be treated humanely and tranquilized, that's preferable.

he talks of Samson as if he has tremendous respect for him as a being

I was being facetious (mostly) and yeah, he'd gone full Treadwell about Samson.

i missed 2 minutes of the beginning of the movie and am also fairly ignorant about Saville so was thankful to get that part explained to me

I liked that the Swedish guy who initially appears as a savior is basically just an asshole. Which is more likely than not in that situation.

he was a good and needed addition to demonstrate how the people in the quarantined British Isles are dismissively seen by the rest of the globe, plus an opportunity for a very on-the-nose "what's that?" when he pulls out a smart phone.

Yep!

I figured we were off spoiler tags, sorry!

Good that the doomed migrant was white European. Honestly, no idea what to make of the Saville thing. Tending towards the edgelordy.

Felt like a graphic novel adaptation?

of what?

spoiler tagging it then...

very confused by any filmmaker who would decide to follow a genuinely well earned emotional payoff with the mum, with that "lol jimmy was a paedo" edgey dickhead ending. just extremely strange, and having lost my mother in law to cancer last year - left me feeling even a little angry with the incredible dumbness of that decision making. in a sane world, the film cuts to credits the second he puts the skull at the top of the pile.

up until that ending; i was actually thinking its by far the best film in the series - it grew on me throughout but i think its only on the strength of the performances, as the world building is fairly weak and often nonsensical. one of those films where when you're watching, the editing and pace keeps you held, but within 5 minutes of leaving the cinema and your brain kicks in, you realise very little of it made sense

OK, so ... even before the ending this movie was far stranger and more visually striking than I expected it to be, which I suppose partly compensates for it being pretty uneven, with parts that were stupid and parts that were ... I was going to say smart, but none of it was particularly smart, and I'm not even taking into account the ending, which makes me think the next one will be akin to something like Sam Raimi or George Miller, (even more) stylized and goofy.

Kid was good, Fiennes a fine update on Kurtz. I barely remember Romero's "Survival of the Dead," but something in my brain recognized some similarities. Strange that a film as quirky as this one, with a setup so odd, and themes so distinctly British, is being handed off to Nia DaCosta to continue the story.

Okay, so we have Bone Temple trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOwTdTZA8D8

Mad Max vibes, but tbh that trailer kinda gave me a headache.

yeah the first couple films in the franchise had a 'here & now' freakiness (like the original Mad Max) but this looks more like Game of Thrones or something fantastical

This one gave me Thunderdome vibes. Tbf, I like Thunderdome, but this doesn't look like an expansion of this world that I want to see.

Watched 28 Years this weekend. I’d seen some spoilers here and there, but wasn’t prepared for the Fiennes character being that affecting. Great standout performance as a character that has a perpendicular take to the main character’s group, and it changes the shape of the plot

Watched 28 Years Later just now and the ending was incredible, haven’t laughed that much at a film in forever. Rest of the film pretty great too but it was such an insane tonal shift that worked for some reason.