[TarpleyG]

Went to see 28 Days Later last night. In case you do not know, the premise is that some PETA types release "rage" infected primates from Cambridge. A bicycle messenger that was involved in an accident was out cold in a hospital for 28 days, wakes up and no one is around, encounters "rage infected" people trying to kill him, and then runs into a few normal people that save his a$$.

Anyway, being in England (London and Manchester) there are of course no guns to be found except for the rogue band of military personnel that is encountered around the middle of the movie. Seeing that guns do indeed take care of the "infected" threat, the main character in the movie still never opts to use a gun or take a gun with him. He and the heroine instead choose a baseball bat and machete respectively. Are the Brits really that brainwashed to believe that only the police and military needs firearms even in the face of total human annihilation?

Other than that, the movie was good. Great cinematography and good plot although a little depressing to envision.

GT

[Snowdog]

Just the producer's subtle attempt to dissociate guns with heroics. Seems this could become the current trend. Charlie's Angles seemed to go this route, IIRC.

Anyone having trouble with the thought of shooting someone, though having no trepidation of hacking someone with a bladed weapon certainly has a screw loose.

[Bravo11]

I went to see this movie last weekend and was major disappointed.
It was a weird Brit movie. I noticed early on that the guy never opted for any firearms, surely he could have picked one up from a dead cop. And what was the deal about having to siphon gas from an old truck. Why not just go to an abandoned service station. Thousands of vehicles around including Range Rovers and they use that mini-taxi. Two thumbs down.

[TarpleyG]

While I definitely agree with you on the taxi topic, I don't on the tanker truck. There was no eletricity to run the pumps. I asked my wife the same thing about the taxi last night when they drove out ofthe garage with it. Seems like he could've had his pick of any other type of vehicle around.

GT

[Bravo11]

Oh yeh, no electricity.

[WhoKnowsWho]

Guns for completely untrained noobs? Machete and bat are probably safer for them and each other... And a bat doesn't run out of hammer when you miss, it's not like they could stop at Wal Mart for more ammo.

Charlies Angels II just needs to curl up and die...

Run out of hammer? I was mixing words up for sure...

RUN OUT OF AMMO! :)

[Kaylee]

I dunno.. I found it just totally unrealistic....

... all the SA-80's actually worked right. ;) :p

-K

[trooper]

I noticed early on that the guy never opted for any firearms, surely he could have picked one up from a dead cop.

Yeah, right. In Britain...

[Skunkabilly]

I noticed the hero didnt use guns, but c'mon, if the heroes all had guns, horror movies would be too short.

I thought the movie was pretty good. If that were me, I woulda taken all those SA80 mags from the Brits when they weren't lookin'...reeehawww!!

[Mk VII]

as usual with these sort of shows...if your hero has exceptional intelligence, superhuman powers, AND is properly armed then all the villains will be dead in the first fifteen minutes - and then what are we going to fill the rest of the show with?

[Justin]

I noticed the hero didnt use guns, but c'mon, if the heroes all had guns, horror movies would be too short.George Romero's 'Dawn of the Dead' being a notable exception, and therefore the best zombie movie ever.

[yy]

And a bat doesn't run out of hammer when you miss, it's not like they could stop at Wal Mart for more ammo.

I was thinking the same thing -- no ammo problem. BUT wait, machettes (spell?) need sharpening and don't the heros have to deal with infection from the blood-spilling? This might be when bullets from 25 yards away is much preferrable to close quarter combat.

[HankB]

Sound like a remake of that Charleton Heston movie, "The Omega Man" . . . which was itself a remake of a Vincent Price movie, "I Am Legend" which was named after a book with the same title.

I guess it's hard to come up with new ideas . . .

[Double Maduro]

As my wife constantly reminds me,

"It's only a movie, Dear".

[Bravo11]

Yes HankB, thats the first thing I thought of "The Omega Man".
Starring our man Mr Heston. I figured it would be like that.
A good movie and I watch it whenever it comes on those classic movie channels. He had access to all the stores, gas, cars etc. just like you would want in that situation.

[MAKOwner]

I thought 28 days was lame as hell. The bat/machette as your main weapon is such a cop-out for the movie's writers. No imagination. Not only that, it's stupid as all hell to use a melee weapon on these fast moving zombies where a single drop of blood in your eye/mouth/a cut and boom, you're hosed. You wouldn't survive a single encounter with a zombie with this stupid setup. There are still shooting clubs and such in England isn't there? Some guns like shotguns or something are legal right? I'm not sure, but if I lived there I'm sure I'd know of somewhere that some kind of firearm could be gotten from, that would be my first priority in this situation. And if not there are still plenty of improvised weapons, like molotov cocktails (seems like they had maybe one in the movie) and such. If nothing else I would be a walking molotov cocktail ready to burn up a couple hundred zombies before they got me...

My quips with the weapons/defense aside I still thought the movie sucked. Felt like a typical British movie, just somehow off. I didn't get this "great cinematography" and "really scary" and such crap others get out of it...

[meathammer]

I really liked that movie. I was thinking the same thing, "They need guns!". But, if you couldn't find any firearms, (it is in England) and you probably wouldn't know how to use it anyway, you would opt for a melee weapon.

Besides, the last thing I wanted to see was a cliche, 1980's action hero mowing down zombies with a machine gun. (That would have been entertaining, but not fitting in this flick.) There's been way too many corny movies lately, I thought it was a breath of fresh air.

[Cosmoline]

Someone else actually knows about "I Am Legend"! It's a wild movie, though not quite as wild as "Omega Man."

I think we need a third remake, but nobody could do it like Chuck. And that funky music.

From my long, long on-line debates with many YOB's, my attitude is best summed up with quote Burt from "Tremors," "I wouldn't give YOU a gun if it was World War Three!" These people, indoctrinated from birth to hate and fear firearms, would at first be revolted, then start covering everyone and capping off rounds left and right. Especially if all social constraints were gone, I'd MUCH rather have the Brits armed with clubs or frozen fish.

[telomerase]

>Yeah, right. In Britain...


Actually, Trooper, many English police do carry guns, though usually "semi-concealed" in a large pocket. They could only get away with being unarmed back when all the citizens down to the 90-year-old ladies had cane guns, umbrella guns, elephant guns, etc. etc.

[50 Shooter]

Sticking to the movie, the main character never had a chance to pick up a firearm until close to the end of the movie. He did use one of the SA-80's that he got from one of the brit soldiers, once it was out of ammo he dumped it. The soldiers were using their rifles to shoot the zombies that and they also set up booby traps and landmines.

If you remember, she told him not to get any blood in your eyes or mouth. If you did, your DONE! And she was pretty damn handy with that machette.:what:

[Camel]

I thought 28 Days Later was one of the best zombie movies Ive seen. Remember there arent a bunch of guns in England. You cant just grab a shotty at your nearest A-Mart.

[trooper]

Actually, Trooper, many English police do carry guns, though usually "semi-concealed" in a large pocket. They could only get away with being unarmed back when all the citizens down to the 90-year-old ladies had cane guns, umbrella guns, elephant guns, etc. etc.

Really? I do know that they have some sort of firearms teams that handle armed suspects once the bobbies call them in, but I was under the impression that British constables in general carry only a baton/tonfa. At least that's what a British police officer told me.


Regards,

Trooper

[Bog]

Hm..... speaking as an educated well-read semiBrit, I'd say that the vast majority of people would not pick up a gun - either through indoctrination, in the vast majority of cases, or rarely through being smart enough to say to themselves "I don't know how to use this".

Of the small remainder, a large proportion of those who would pick up the gun would be hideously unsafe with it - remember, they will have learned everything they know from books, movies and first-person shooters. They'll do things like have their finger on the trigger to brace the weapon as they draw the slide back, be unprepared for the strength of the spring on the slide and Do Something Stoopid.

I would guesstimate that under one percent of nonmilitary personnel in the UK could pick up a gun and handle it safely. I'm including the police in this figure, 'cause out of 60 million people, there just is no gun awareness - at all.

Go figure.

[Ol' Badger]

"Come out Neville"
I Am Legend was a good book, but to short.

Normalcy is for the majority

[Lictalon]

Well, there's a reason that this movie had to be based in Britain:

British Subject: "Ahh! Zombies! What'll I do, what'll I do..." *crunch* *scream* *slobber* *brains being eaten*

American Citizen: "Zombies, eh? Good thing I got that progressive reloader for the .50 cal...Hon, I'll be on the roof with the Barret. Bring me up a few rounds when ya get a chance..."

[Chupacabra]

I saw this movie a couple of weeks ago and I really liked it. Excellent cinematography, excellent acting, very creepy atmosphere. It got a bit weird after they met up with the soldiers, but I felt pretty satisfied how it all turned out.

The soldiers had the right idea mining the yard and just mowing the infected down with machine guns. Personally I would prefer a semi-auto 12guage with slugs or 00 buck instead of a machette or baseball bat! A big*** rifle would be nice too.

http://staff.washington.edu/bfiguero/Images/snipersmile.gif

:D

[slh02]

The whole time I was watching this movie I was thinking to myself "There is a reason this movie is set in England."

That reason is because if it were set in the United States, it would be all of ten minutes long!:D

[Kaxter]

I thought this movie was not only one of the best horror movies made, but also one of the better movies ever made. At first, I thought to myself "monkeys causing widespread disease, a few people try to save the world"....a 12 Monkeys rip off....but it wasn't when I got to really thinking about it. The movie had no guns in it because it would have made it damn dumb, and I think we all know that. How fun is it to watch people blow up bad guys for 2 hours? I think we all remember "starship troopers"...now THAT was a bad movie.

Danny Boyle is the director of this film, and if you watch trainspotting (one of the most brilliant films EVER made) then you will understand him quite a bit more.

[ShaiVong]

It had some good parts.. But there were some serious problems.

They had molitov cocktails in the beginning, why didnt they stick with that?!

Fred had riot gear and a shield that protected him from the infected when he bashed two up, why did he leave them behind?!

It's ENGLAND for gods sake, get a sword and shield!

30 days and the military guys are turning into rapests?! I've gone longer than that; married!!

The Military guys just spray from the hip? Did this movie smack you as anti-gun and anti-military?

So the skinny main character clubs one kid with a basball bat and now hes rambo? WTH?
:scrutiny: :barf:

That WAS a cool scene in the end where he sticks his thumbs in that guys eyes, very realistic.

I kept hearing "SCARY AS HELL!". It had some suspence, but it was a long shot from 'scary'. I think it would be a streach to even call it 'creepy'.

Oh well, worth the $3 to see it i guess. :rolleyes:

[TarpleyG]

$3.00 :what:

Movies must be cheap up there. The matinee here is ~$6.00 and after 6 PM they are $8.50.

Anyone go this weekend to see the "alternate" ending after the credits? Just wondering what they did different.

GT

[ShaiVong]

yeah, I saw the alternate ending before i saw the movie. They were having problems, so by the time they showed it lots of us had already arrived for the next showing.

Ill post what happens below: skip down if you want it to be a suprise.









































When the guy gets shot in the gut by the last army guy, they rush him to the hospital. And he dies. It ends with the black chick saying "We have to keep moving". And thats it, they leave.

[Arcli9ht]

Unless I am mistaken, in the last scene when they are in the farmhouse, there was a SA-80 leaning up on the windowsill. So they did take some with them after the military guys.

/Arcli9ht

[Dr.Rob]

You guys ever see "Dog Soldiers?" British SAS troops vs Werewolves in the English woods? Being heavily armed really didn't matter much.

Very silly in some spots. But come on, it's a monster movie.

And hey even Dawn of the Dead featured zombies getting splattered with chainsaws, helicotper blades, machetes etc.

[ShaiVong]

Ultimate zombie splatter movie: Dead Alive, NOT RATED version. The R version is a waste of time.

Four words, lawnmower on a shoulder sling.

[gunsmith]

the millitary guys were taken from the novel "day of the triffids"
the book is much better then the movie.
can't remember the name of the author but the same thing happens
; hero uses triffids to trap kill their captors.
I think most English I've met would try to talk to the zombies before
losing the fight.
except for their millitary, who wouldn't have a problem shooting zombies,
a British sniper shot an Iraqi officer at more then 1000 yrds
during the conflict:cool:

[Oracle]

Spoiler alert....


















28 Days Later is a tremendous movie in the zombie horror genre. It's one of the most realistic I've seen, if not the most realistic I've seen. It has a good premise, and a possible (if fantastic) cause and effect. Remember, he didn't pick up a gun at the end because he really didn't have time, he was trying the get the heck out of that house, and then he was gutshot. The black girl did have a chance to pick up a gun, and she did. Even the teenage girl picked up a gun. I don't think the movie was "anti-gun" at all, I just think it was realistic considering how British society is, and the poor availability of firearms in that country. I think that Jim (the main male character) didn't have a machete or sword because he couldn't find one, I doubt that they are that common in England. So, he grabbed what was available...a baseball bat. He did have the common sense to grab something, and the will to protect himself and others. I think this movie is pretty pro-self defense, and not anti gun in the slightest.

[gryphon]

28 Days Later was a bad zombie movie, as the people were not really zombies at all. They were infected with a virus, that caused them to hemorrage and go crazy wanting to kill.

In order for it to be a zombie movie the person infected would have to die and be re-animated.

So, in that respect, I don't even classify it as a zombie movie as to me it technically is not one. There were however a bunch of similarities to Romeros movies, which didn't help it either. I understood the lack of guns part because of the location, and even the car thing I understand initially. None of them probably knew how to hotwire a car, and unles someone died in their car, then I doubt the keys would be there for them to grab. I would have made a conscious effort to find something better, but that's me.

Overall, I'd say it would have been better for me as a rental, rather than spending $8 on a theatre ticket.

[Mk VII]

the 'feelgood' ending is open to objections as well. Why would the rest of the world risk infection spreading outside the British mainland to help this small number of survivors? It's a few lives against millions. How do we know those flocks of sheep running over the hills aren't a reservoir of infection? We already know it can jump the species barrier.
The most sensible course would be to drop several neutron bombs on the country and kill every living thing. No fallout, and after a few years you can recolonise it

[aikidoka-mks]

Of course the movie wasnt perfect but I saw it with my gf. We though it was pretty good. Not sure I can remember a "zombie" film where they sprinted after you. The scene in the tunnel creeped me out a bit. The church scene bugged me also.

I know one thing I would have done different. Upon waking up in a hospital and seeing conditions like that I certainly would not be yelling HELLO until I figured out what was up and had something substantial to defend myself with.


Mark

[Newton]

The British make this kind of movie SO much better than Hollywood.

Dog Soldiers was absolutely superb, the fire and movement scenes were very realistic with calls of "Target", "Stoppage", "Stand to" etc 28 Days was a low budget, high grossing movie that put an interesting twist on an old theme and made a lot of money.

Cops in Britain don't carry guns, so a dead cop would be even less use than the average breathing variety. The main character acquired an SA80A2 as soon as one became available from the troops.

As for the SA80A2, the laughing is quickly becoming an embarassed silence. That rifle is now so improved that British special forces experience in the Gulf showed that the M-16 performed no better in the sand, there are reports that the SAS/SBS/Royal Marine Commandos etc are seriously considering a switch back to this weapon, currently they have the option to use non-standard weapons and choose the M16/HK53/FAL etc - watch this space.

[HBK]

Spolier question below, someone answer please:















Does the main character get gut shot at the end?

[Zedicus]

TarpleyG: Are the Brits really that brainwashed to believe that only the police and military needs firearms even in the face of total human annihilation?
You Hit the nail on the head!

[jimbo]

Lictalon,

Your description of Brit subject vs USA Citizen was FREAKING HILLARIOUS!!!!!!:D :D :D :D

Thanks for the laughter.:D :D :D

[c_yeager]

***spoiler***

















In the original release of the film (european) there was no feel good ending. That was added for the American audience. I woudlnt blame the filmmakers for that. And it makes sense that noone but the soldiers had guns cause the fact is that in england pretty much noone but soldiers have guns. And remember its not like these people had time to prepare. The whole country basically got screwed in a matter of days. The only people who were still alive were the ones who holed up and hid. Id imagine that the folks who went out looking for stuff like guns etc. wound up dead in pretty short order. You noticed that the "zombies" didnt give up till they were dead. So, its pretty much a matter of if your seen your a corpse if you arent armed. Personally i liked the idea about hiding untill they starved to death.

[Duncan Idaho]

lawnmower on a shoulder sling.Pssst...that's 5 words.


28 Days Later is a tremendous movie in the zombie horror genre. It's one of the most realistic I've seen, if not the most realistic I've seen. ROTFLMFAO!!!

[zpo]

About the no electricity to run the gas pumps, the gas pumps in America (mostly) have a crank on the inside for emergency use. I don't know about "over there" but I don't see why not. Also I don't know if that varies by brand of gas pump. Are there different brands?(of manufacture, not gas).

[c_yeager]

Ok let me just say that REALISM has absolutly NO place in a zombie movie. The only gauge of its quality should be how much you ENJOYED it. If you liked it was good. If not then it wasnt. And i wouldnt know to look for a crank to pump the gas. Id imagine that your average london dweller has even less mechanical aptitude than me.

[Oracle]

Eh, I appreciate realism in a zombie movie. Helps me to "suspend disbelief", which is usually prett difficult in zombie movies (even though they are very entertaining). Regardless, I enjoyed 28 Days Later, I thought it was a great movie,. Of course, I play All Flesh Must Be Eaten (http://www.allflesh.com) on a regular basis, and am a zombie movie fan in general, so, it's likely that I would enjoy it :).

[MAKOwner]

Finally got around to seeing Dawn of the Dead the other day. I don't know if it's just the gunowner SHTF thing in me or what but that movie rocked. Cheesy acting etc, sure, but it was great. That's how you make a damn zombie movie, stupid British... Time for a remake.

[Navy joe]

The no gun thing was painful, our hero uses a rifle quite adeptly in an anti-material role to shoot a chain in two and then runs around sticking folks with a bayonet, gouging eyes and such. You'd think Richard Dean Anderson wrote the script. I liked the movie, but it was obviously Brit. Big ol trucks everywhere and they got to ride a chintzy little taxi.

They missed some Hitchcock chances. Why weren't the rats in the tunnel infected? Of course that would have ended the movie too quick, but I was just waiting for the girl to get her head chewed off by them. What about the crow at the barricade? He was most likely nibbling on the dead guy, a infected bird or three would have been great, could have even added a little comic value with the baseball bat.

Hmm, what can I get that will spatter the max amount of blood everywhere? Hey, I know a machete!

the 'feelgood' ending is open to objections as well. Why would the rest of the world risk infection spreading outside the British mainland to help this small number of survivors? It's a few lives against millions. How do we know those flocks of sheep running over the hills aren't a reservoir of infection? We already know it can jump the species barrier.

I think we are left to assume that the rest of the world has its own problems which is most likely considering how disease spreads these days. The plane at the end is a BAC Lightning II flying british colors so it's safe to assume that Britian is helping itself.

The untold good news? The Chunnel. Surely some infected got through to the other side and cleaned house.

[atek3]

You'd think Richard Dean Anderson wrote the script
HAH. For any of you who don't get the joke. Richard Dean Anderson aka MacGuyver was an actor on a TV show in which the main character is a total gadget guru... who won't touch guns. A bad guy is coming, so he'll spend 10 minutes rigging a homemade potato cannon that fires Cayenne pepper at the eyes of a foe but won't spend 2 seconds picking up a gun from an unconscience opponent. Really the predecessor to the 'fashionable gunfree' charlie's angels.

atek3

[Oracle]

If you listen closely, the girl in the movie states that before media contact ended, they got word that the "Infection" had spread to both New York and Paris.

[MAKOwner]

Richard Dean Anderson lays down the law with guns in Stargate SG-1. His character isn't anti-gun (although he could be with the whole son-shot-with-his-pistol thing), and I detect no underlying anti-gun stuff in the show. He's massively blown away alot of people and aliens in that show as have the other characters... With sweet weaponry I might add (USAS-12, P90, MP5...) Show is fairly "tactical" most of the time too, love it...

I definitely got annoyed with the crap in MacGyver way back when, and I was only like 12 at the time too...

[Aikibiker]

Aparently this guy thinks the same way we do about zombie movies.

http://kungfool.transpect.net/webpages/archive_CK/200307_2.html

A warning though, Art's Grandmother would not like the language on this site.

ZPO,

Where exactly is that handcrank? One never knows when such information could prove useful.

[Dr.Rob]

Parisian zombies?

Maggot faced zombie idly puffing on a Gitanes while his skeletal dog feasts on the husk of a charred hand.

"Garcon, these brains need more garlic"

Turning to a sumptuously clad in fur, face like something mother used to bake, beauty.

"Ah mon bel, let's go to the cinoteque and see Godard's classics."

'No, pierre, c'est passe, let's catch Copper Chick in Zombie town tis Tres American!"

(With apologies to Kurosawa and Goddard)

I say we send Rowdy Roddy to liberate Paris.. with a chain gun.

[slh02]

For the person who said Dawn of The Dead needs a remake, its happening as we speak and is currently scheduled for a fall release IIRC. It has the big black dude from Pulp Fiction (Ving Rhames, I think his name is) in it. I have yet to see the original but have heard its the best zombie flick ever. Unfortunately no video store around here has it available to rent.

[snubby]

I know one thing I would have done different. Upon waking up in a hospital and seeing conditions like that I certainly would not be yelling HELLO until I figured out what was up and had something substantial to defend myself with.

...Another thing: wouldn't it have been quicker/easier to just spell out "HELP" instead of "HELLO" with the gigantic letters at the end of the movie? But I guess they didn't have much else to do while awaiting rescue.

[c_yeager]

The buzz on the Dawn of The Dead (aka best zombie movie ever) is that tis going to have NOTHING to do with the original. And Romero has zero to do with it. The script is available online and it appears to be in the process of REALLY sucking.

CORRECTION: there are script REVIEWS online. I havent found the actual script though. I just wish they would make it a different movie altogether rather than trashing the name of an already decent film.