DOOMSDAY

Directed & Written by Neil Marshall
Cinematography by Sam McCurdy
Music by Tyler Bates
Cast: Rhona Mitra, Malcolm McDowell, Bob Hoskins, Nora-Jane Noone, Alexander Siddig, Adrian Lester & David O'Hara

2008/113 mins/Color/Dolby Surround 5.1
2.35:1 anamorphic/US/English/NTSC Region 1

Review from the Universal DVD

The deadly Reaper virus is rapidly spreading itself in Scotland. In order to protect the rest of the planet, the British government seals the country with a large wall to keep the Scottish inside their country and leave them to die.

Forward 30 years later, now. The virus is back, this time slowly infecting England. A group of elite soldiers lead by Eden (Rhona Mitra) is send to Scotland to find a possible cure. But what they will discover on the other side is almost as terrible as the virus itself.

One thing that's for sure is that director Neil Marshall is a fan of the genre. He previously gave us two great films, DOG SOLDIERS and THE DESCENT. DOOMSDAY is another prime example of his love and passion for the cinema he love. Filled with elements of ESCAPE FROM ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, ROAD WARRIORS, EXCALIBUR, DAY OF THE DEAD and all of the highly entertaining Italian Post Nuke Pasta films of the 1980s, DOOMSDAY is an amalgamation of all of them but more importantly and cool homage. And as always, Rhona Mitra is simply stunning and amazing... this time cast as some kind of female version of Snake Plissken.

DOOMSDAY is one kick ass flick loaded with great action sequences, fights, blood, gore and fun. The musical score by Tyler Bates highly reminded me of all the great scores from John Carpenter back in the 1980s. For me the best thing about DOOMSDAY was to see a major Hollywood studio producing such a film! It’s been almost 20 years since we last had the chance of seeing such a film in theater, thank you Universal Studios! And unlike DEATH PROOF and PLANET TERROR, this is actually a great recreation of the genre films of that time.

DOOMSDAY is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. As expected from any new film, the transfer is simply great with rich color saturation, deep blacks and no compression or artifacts. The English Dolby Surround 5.1 audio track is loud and clear but a DTS track would have been much welcomed. There is a choice of English, Spanish or French subtitles. The disc also features two versions of the film; the theatrical cut and the 4 minutes longer unrated version.

There's a commentary track with director Neil Marshall and actors Sean Pertwee, Darren Morfitt, Rick Warden, and Les Simpson. It’s interesting but a little too quiet. 'Anatomy of Catastrophe: Civilization on the Brink' is an 18 minutes behind-the-scenes, where the cast and crew talk about many aspect of the film. 'The Visual Effects and Wizardry of DOOMSDAY' is a 9 minutes featurette on the FX created for the film. They've tried to do them as real as possible, using CG only when really necessary. Lots of cool Matte paintings were created for the film. 'Devices of Death: Guns, Gadgets and Vehicles of Destruction' is a very enlightening 20 minutes featurette. The disc features some cool 3D animated menus. The film itself is separated in 20 chapters stop. We also get trailer for IN BURGES, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and HELLBOY II THE GOLDENT ARMY. The disc comes in a keep case with no booklet or inlay card.

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Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2008. ©

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