28 Days Later (spoilers)

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Art Of Film is pretty quiet, so I'll post here:

28 Days Later wasn't a masterpiece (and I walked in expecting a Sandra Bullock sequel;), but I loved it. It was basically a great DTV B-movie on the big screen.

I thought it had a great message about looking past one's immediate surroundings and situation to see the larger picture. Like the last half of The Pianist (a GREAT film), the end of the world can be all around you and as far as the eye can see, but that doesn't mean that it's literally true. And there's a certain romantic quality to zombie films -- a small group against the world -- that I really respond to.

Okay, the choppy editing was an acquired taste. And one, I contend, used more for flash than for any real artistic value... but I can live with that. And the lack of jump scares (I HATE jump scares) made up for it.

The soldiers were an interesting lot... creepy, yet sympathetic. I had no real feelings for the "Dawn Of The Dead" villians, but these guys struck me as... human. They believed the world had ended, and acted accordingly. The final battle was a conflict of beliefs.

At the end, 28 Days Later makes *you* the psycho... you see through the eyes of the frustrated optimist, and the time to cheer is that cathartic moment when he kills everyone in his way. Of course, I *was* cheering... in that situation, I'd be Cillian Murphy. But I like to think I can understand why others would be Christopher Eccleston. That's the mark of a good story.

Oh, and see Whale Rider, it's brill.

-- Inu (paul@nadisrec.com), July 10, 2003

Answers

I've always thought Fail Safe was a chilling doomsday movie. Another interesting one was Dr. Strangelove

-- Barb e (Suesuesbeo9@cs.com), July 26, 2003.

P.S.: As much as I liked the film, I do NOT get why the infected didn't attack each other. Their "mindless rage" seemed pretty selective. :P

-- Inu (paul@nadisrec.com), July 10, 2003.

the book "lucuifer's hammer" by larry niven & jerry pournelle is one of the coolest end-of-the-world stories i've read. can anyone else suggest a good doomsday type book/movie?

-- cory guy (gauthier1222@rogers.com), July 10, 2003.

that should be "lucifer's hammer"

-- cory guy (gauthier1222@rogers.com), July 10, 2003.

Nature's End, by my favorite alien abductee Whitley Strieber, was a pretty good read.

And I've said it several times already, but "Miracle Mile" kicks ass. =)

-- Inu (paul@nadisrec.com), July 10, 2003.



"Earth Abides" is a good end of civilization book as is "I am Legend", the original 1950s book Omega Man was based on (kinda).

-- Rasputin (kchorn@ecpi.com), August 08, 2003.

hey thanks ppl, i'm heading out to the library right now

-- cory guy (gauthier1222@rogers.com), August 10, 2003.

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