28 Days Later (Widescreen Edition)

Amazon.com

The director/producer team that created Trainspotting turn their dynamic cinematic imaginations to the classic science fiction scenario of the last people on Earth. Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up from a coma to find London deserted--until he runs into a mob of crazed plague victims. He gradually finds other still-human survivors (including Naomie Harris), with whom he heads off across the abandoned countryside to find the source of a radio broadcast that promises salvation. 28 Days Later is basically an updated version of The Omega Man and other post-apocalyptic visions; but while the movie may lack originality, it makes up for it in vivid details and creepy paranoid atmosphere. 28 Days Later's portrait of how people behave in extreme circumstances--written by novelist Alex Garland (The Beach)--will haunt you afterward. Also featuring Brendan Gleeson (The General, Gangs of New York) and Christopher Eccleston (Shallow Grave, The Others). --Bret Fetzer

Description

Hailed as the most frightening film since The Exorcist, acclaimed Director Danny Boyle's visionary take on zombie horror "isn't just scary…it's absolutely terrifying" (Access Hollywood).

An infirmary patient awakens from a coma to an empty room…in a vacant hospital…in a deserted city. A powerful virus, which locks victims into a permanent state of murderous rage, has transformed the world around him into a seemingly desolate wasteland. Now a handful of survivors must fight to stay alive, unaware that the worst is yet to come…

Customer Reviews:

28 "zombies" later.......2007-09-07

Ok, first and foremost..."28 days later" is not a zombie movie, no matter how it was marketed, or reviewed or talked about. The bad element of 28 days are people infected with a viral toxin (rage), that causes them to succumb to extreme violent acts. They are not dead, or undead. The do not devour their victims. They are not rotting...etc.

While 28 days shares familiar territory with Romero's classic Living Dead movies and an introduction to the lead character ripped from Day of the Triffids, the zombie genre ends there.

What "28 days later" is, however, is a very good low budget suspense flick with a great opener, a good middle section and an ok end section, which despite being entertaining kind of loses its way. It starts of well, with the actions that release "rage" virus and its scenes of a deserted London with unknown unseen danger and drips with atmosphere. People from Britain (or anyone whose spent some time in the city) could easily imagine themselves in Jim's dilemma, played admirably by Cork's Cillian Murphy.

Going into too much detail will spoil the suspense for those who haven't seen the film, but needless to say Jim eventually meets and runs away from the "infected", right into other survivors (including another Irishman Brendan Gleeson) who have been managing to hide out and stay "normal" in the face of overwhelming odds. Together this group decide to hook up with a military outfit that has set up the "answer to infection" in Manchester.

"28 Days Later" has enough to hold the viewer for its duration, in fact it rewards several viewings (I seen it three times now). But the budget constraints do show at times and the story does seem to run a little out of steam. It's very apparent that director Danny Boyle wasn't sure how to end the film and one is left a little let down at the films conclusion. This feeling may disappear however, now that "28 weeks later" is out and the second installment of the drama lets us into other areas of life in infected Britain, although I have yet to see that particular episode.

All in all, "28 Days Later" is an effective and entertaining film, with some fine scenes...but it ain't "Day of the Dead", but then again, nothing is.

Stop calling it a zombie movie.......2007-09-06

OK, 28 days later is an OK virus movie. A monkey that's been experimented on and infected with the "Rage" virus bites an activist who in turn is infected and attacks her mates. Explodes and you have a post-apocalyptic story with some great shots of abandoned streets and markets and some good chase scenes taboot. Add some great film treatments and good camera work and it's an edgy flick with some nice emotional touches.

BUT! It completely fails to be a Zombie movie.

Aside from breaking all conventions in Zombie movies, there aren't any walking dead. Between 28 days later and 28 weeks later, we find out that the infected, although usually killed through conventional zombie means (remove the head or destroy the brain) can also drown, bleed to death, asphyxiate, die from being gassed, starve, and be generally mauled. All their primary bodily functions are still going and that's what keeps them alive. Zombies (as originally portrayed in Night of the Living Dead) die and then start causing trouble.

If you don't look at it as a Zombie movie, it's an OK flick. If you're expecting a Zombie movie (and you know what a Zombie movie IS), you'll be disappointed.

ONE OF THE GREAT ZOMBIE MOVIES!!.......2007-09-01

a city ravished by disease, millions of zombies, only a few survivors, and you turn with just one drop of blood...crazy. loved this movie, i thought it was very well done. all the chaos, a world of the dead, where's saftey, how do you get out? i love zombies, i think they're the freakiest. they're people and they're dead, and all they want is to eat people. pretty damn scary. the whole movie was very good, i really liked it. i didn't get scared, but the film in general was wicked good. two thumbs up no doubt.

Charming, Poignant, and Inspiring.......2007-08-03

Having long been a fan of Sandra Bullock's, I expected 28 Days Later to be another one of her light-hearted, action-packed comedies (or are they comedy-packed action flicks?). I was in for a real surprise, however, as we are taken through the story of Gwen Cummings, played by Bullock, who is sent to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. At first she resists getting involved in the program, and refuses to admit that she has a problem, but as she gets to know her fellow patients and as she gets the chance to look deeper inside herself, she learns to accept that she does in fact have a problem, and only then is she able to have true hope for the future. She then wakes up 28 days later in the abandoned hospital only to learn that the world has changed drastically while she was in her unconscious stupor, and most people have been infected by a horrible and extremely contagious virus that turns even the kindest person into a hate-filled zombie filled with uninhibited violence. And she must face the question: who is the real enemy here? The blood-vomiting zombie-like infected who would love nothing more than to bite her throat out...or is the real enemy HERSELF?

Entertaining movie.......2007-08-02

Although the plot is not original this was a well made film. Good acting, good script, good directing and excellent camera work. Well worth seeing.

Average customer rating:

ID4???

The Day After Tomorrow [Blu-ray]

Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

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ASIN: B000VDDWE2
Release Date: 2007-10-02

Description

When global warming triggers the onset of a new Ice Age, tornadoes flatten Los Angeles, a tidal wave engulfs New York City and the entire Northern Hemisphere begins to freeze solid. Now, climatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid), his son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) and a small band of survivors must ride out the growing superstorm and stay alive in the face of an enemy more powerful and relentless than any they've ever encountered: Mother Nature!

Customer Reviews:

ID4???.......2007-09-11

I won't pre-order this until amazon fixes the simplest mistake and replaces the Independence Day cover to The Day After Tomorrow's cover. Really, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to tell the difference.

The Day After Tomorrow (Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Good Movie
Beyond belief
A decent movie that takes pause to think
Horrible movie, but inexplicably enjoyable
It may not be smart, but it sure is pretty...

The Day After Tomorrow (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Dennis Quaid , Jake Gyllenhaal , Emmy Rossum , Dash Mihok , and Jay O. Sanders
Director: Roland Emmerich
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005JMXX
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Amazon.com

Supreme silliness doesn't stop The Day After Tomorrow from being lots of fun for connoisseurs of epic-scale disaster flicks. After the blockbuster profits of Independence Day and Godzilla, you can't blame director Roland Emmerich for using global warming as a politically correct excuse for destroying most of the northern hemisphere. Like most of Emmerich's films, this one emphasizes special effects over such lesser priorities as well-drawn characters and plausible plotting, and his dialogue (cowritten by Jeffrey Nachmanoff) is so laughably trite that it could be entirely eliminated without harming the movie. It's the spectacle that's important here, not the lame, recycled plot about father and son (Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal) who endure an end-of-the-world scenario caused by the effects of global warming. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the awesome visions of tornado-ravaged Los Angeles, blizzards in New Delhi, Japan pummeled by grapefruit-sized hailstones, and Manhattan flooded by swelling oceans and then frozen by the onset of a modern ice age. It's all wildly impressive, and Emmerich obviously doesn't care if the science is flimsy, so why should you? --Jeff Shannon

Description

Customer Reviews:

Good Movie.......2007-08-28

Typical "don't believe the scientist until its too late" plot. However, 21st century special effects makes for an entertaining movie.

Beyond belief.......2007-08-23

This is the biggest piece of balderdash I've seen in a while. Environmentalists and climatologists everywhere must be having severe cases of mental diarrhea due to embarrassment from this remarkably absurd rip-off of scientific theories. It makes Night of the Living Dead look like science fact. I suppose if I had seen it on a huge screen the visuals might have been impressive but on a TV screen - forget it. The only thing that saves this loony tune waste is the always exceptional performance of Jake Gyllenhaal. In fact, I suspect the only people who should buy this DVD are die-hard Gyllenhaal fans and folks who think it might someday become one of those "its so bad its good" cult films. Otherwise, don't waste your money or your time.

A decent movie that takes pause to think.......2007-08-09

All of our main characters survive that in reality most if not would have died had these events really happened. They built a pretty good story around a worst case scenario and the acting wasn't bad, not great but 3 stars. I've watched this movie a couple of times and I think that's all the life I will get out of it, worth watching, but not worthy of library space.

Horrible movie, but inexplicably enjoyable.......2007-08-07

If you look at this from the point of view of a film connoisseur, The Day After Tomorrow is simply awful. The plot doesn't really make sense, the science is nonsensical, the acting is nothing special, the dialogue is downright horrendous, and the film sort of seemed like Independence Day and Deep Impact smushed together into one giant cliche.

Well, I enjoyed both of those movies, and I enjoyed this one. There's something endearing about it despite how truly poor quality it really is. You can practically see what's going to happen before it does, yet somehow you still get excited when it does happen. I watched the ending 3 or 4 times in a row. And the special effects, which are really the only remarkable part of this movie, are spectacular. The science is bad, but they twist the explanation just well enough that you can convince yourself that it MIGHT be possible, sort of like Jurassic Park. The acting gets the movie done. The only really awful part is the dialogue, but as long as you're not too finicky, you will probably enjoy this movie.

Two-star film, but I had a five-star viewing experience and would watch it again.

It may not be smart, but it sure is pretty..........2007-08-07

As improbable as `The Day After Tomorrow' really is, it doesn't have to be realistic to fulfill its purpose. It's not there to really engage us emotionally or mentally as much as visually, and in that visual sense `The Day After Tomorrow' soars. Now director Roland Emmerich is no stranger to the science fiction disaster film, and not unlike his previously successful entries, this one also sports some amazing special effects. From twirling twisters to tidal waves and that slowly creeping icy air, `The Day After Tomorrow' sports an amazing lineup of natural disasters. Watching the multiple tornadoes rip through the California city is impressive, and watching gallon upon gallon of water drown New York City is nothing short of breathtaking. So, it's safe to say that what `The Day After Tomorrow' lacks in brains it makes up for in cool CGI effects.

So, what of this plot? Well, it appears that weather patterns are showing an alarming possibility that soon, within the next hundred or so years, we could undergo yet another ice-age. That's where Jack Hall comes in, a climatologist who discovers the evidence to support this. Of course no one will pay attention to Hall and his discovery will prove true, except not even Hall expected it to happen so soon. The real story though involves Jack's son Sam who has traveled to New York with some class mates and ends up in the middle on a flood that destroys the city. Jack then has to race to his rescue before he freezes to death.

As you can see, the plot is plenty far fetched, but the action more than makes up for it. As Sam and his friends try to survive they must find food and medical supplies while fighting the increasing cold, the rising waters and a pack of temperamental wolves who happen to escape confinement during the flood. The wolf pack has been met with mixed reviews, as in some loved it an others found it ridiculous and unnecessary. I loved it. It was an interesting and intense inclusion, even if it wasn't the slightest bit realistic. When the movie as a whole is completely unbelievable and, yes, unrealistic, then there's nothing wrong with adding even more layers of complete and utter fiction as long as it looks good.

As far as the acting is concerned, it's all decent. Your standard action film acting if you so desire to label it. Dennis Quaid is one of those actors who I've always enjoyed yet felt he never really tapped into his potential, save except his performance in 2002's `Far From Heaven', and here he delivers but again it's nothing beyond acceptable. Jake Gyllenhaal is an actor with a future, that's for sure, and his performances are always believable and effortless. Here he does a great job juggling emotions amid a hole-riddled plot. Emmy Rossum should really stick to singing, as her grandest performance was in `The Phantom of the Opera' but at least here she delivers a stronger performance than her `Poseidon' disaster. The strongest performance here though came from the actress with the least screen time, Sela Ward. She is just the definition of class and she manages to instill emotion in a rather emotionless film.

So, in the end `The Day After Tomorrow' delivers some extraordinary eye candy and is worthy of any science fiction action movie buffs library. No, it's not smart, but it doesn't need to be; and to answer the question of some in regards to the movie's title, it refers to the day `AFTER' the calamity, when everything is not what it once was. Come on people; is it really that hard to figure out?

Average customer rating:

Blah
Better Than Ever!
An awesome DVD! (Original Australian language track included!)
Man Stripped Down.
mad max US edition

Mad Max (Special Edition)
Starring: Mel Gibson , Joanne Samuel , Hugh Keays-Byrne , Steve Bisley , and Tim Burns
Director: George Miller (II)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005R2IS
Release Date: 2002-01-01

Amazon.com

The Road Warrior is already a classic, sans condescending genre distinctions like "sci-fi" or "action." But the story of Mel Gibson's stately antihero begins in Mad Max, George Miller's low-budget debut in which Max is a "Bronze" (cop) in an unspecified postapocalyptic future with a buddy-partner and family. But unlike most films set in the devastated future, Mad Max is especially notable because it is poised between our industrialized world and total regression to medieval conditions. The scale tips towards disintegration when the Glory Riders burn into town on their bikes like an overamped cadre of Brando's Wild Ones. Representing the active chaos that will eventually overwhelm the dying vestiges of civil society, they take everything dear to Max, who will exact due revenge. His flight into the same wilds that created the villains artfully sets up the morally ambiguous character of the subsequent films. --Alan E. Rapp

Description

Setting Mel Gibson on a sure path to superstardom, this highly acclaimed "crazy collide-o-scope"(Newsweek) of highway mayhem "cinematically defined the postapocalyptic landscape" (TV Guide). Featuring eye-popping stunts that are "electrifying and very convincing" (Variety) and "an authentically nihilistic spirit" (The Village Voice), Mad Max is "pure cinematic poetry" (Time). In the ravaged near future, a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets, the ruthless gang laughs in the face ofa police force hell-bent on stopping them. But they underestimate one officer: Max Rockatansky (Gibson). And when the bikers brutalize Max's best friend and family, they send him into a mad frenzy that leaves him with only one thing left in the world to live forrevenge!

Customer Reviews:

Blah.......2007-09-01

I thought this movie was boring and it didn't let you get to know any of the characters. The only good thing in this movie is a young, cute Mel Gibson.

Better Than Ever!.......2007-08-31

Mad Max Special Edition is great!!! Not only does it contain the actual aussy voices from the cast (Not American Overdub Like The Original), the second DVD offers the making of Mad Max and the history of Mel Gibson and his acting career. Mad Max was always a cult classic, on DVD it's a new experience.

Thomas

An awesome DVD! (Original Australian language track included!).......2007-08-22

Right off the bat, I want everyone who reads this review to know that Mad Max Special Edition contains the original Australian language track.
I was mislead by another review, it said that MGM's Mad Max Special Edition didn't have the original track, but the old discontinued Orion version of Mad Max did. Well, that was false information, because after all the time, effort, and money it took to track down that elusive version, it turned out to only play in the US Dubbed English Language track! So disregard the information in that review and buy this one.

PROS: Plays in both Fullscreen and Widescreen!
In addition to the US Dub, this DVD contains the option to switch the Language track to the original Australian track!
Contains 2 Documentaries, "Mel Gibson: The birth of a Superstar" & "Mad Max: The Film Phenommenon!"
Theatrical Trailers.
Audio comentary with Jon Dowding, David Eggby, Chris Murray, & Tim Ridge.
"Road Rants" Movie Trivia & Fun facts about the movie!
Photo Gallery
TV Spots
And More!

CONS??? Well... Since the DVD is double sided, it's harder to hold it without smudging it, I guess that's a con...?

Overall: Mad Max is an excellent movie that's fun to watch, easy to follow, easy to appreciate, and exciting to boot! Combine that with the original Australian language and a whole lot of special features, and all you have to ask yourself is, "Do I want my popcorn buttered, salted, or both?

Overall Rating: 5 Stars!

Man Stripped Down. .......2007-08-15

To his feral state. Yes, I'm aware of the feral child character in Road Warrior but in Mad Max we see the beginning of this imagined society's serious decline. It's rather humorous that a film that seems so low budget to us today can be as entertaining and riveting as this one is. Watching this now, for the fourth or fifth time, I have to say that this very young Mel Gibson, did he not already possess a legitimate level of talent, would not have been so believable in this role due to his physical appearance. His polish and chiseled features really don't fit in amid the band of miscreants that is the cast, but we soon forget our initial impressions due to his performance. The people in Mad Max are far closer to man's actual state than most of us care to admit. The audience can completely relate to Max's reaction at the end of the film and we cheer for him and long to press our feet even more heavily upon the accelerator.

mad max US edition.......2007-08-13

when i bought mad max(eu edition) it had no extras the sound was 1.0 dolby that was it but complete original soundtrack, then in the US a version was brought out with Aussi sound 5.1 and a documentary so i bought this one aswell, when viewing the movie i soon found out that the soundtrack is not complete, for instance in the opening chase going after the nightrider the guy in the interceptor eventualy says ï'm gona ram him he repeats this many times, í only heard it twice in the US edition, but still the US editon comes with many more extras

Average customer rating:

Relentlessly depressing, but should be seen anyhow
Cheesy but still pretty good
If the bombs don't kill you, the acting will
Frightening Thought
A wickedly entertaining 80's propaganda film

The Day After
Starring: Jason Robards , JoBeth Williams , Steve Guttenberg , John Cullum , and John Lithgow
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001WTVUW
Release Date: 2004-05-18

Amazon.com

Few American movies have dealt as graphically with nuclear holocaust as The Day After, which accounted for the controversy that surrounded the telefilm at the time of its initial network broadcast. In previous films, nuclear warfare was a matter for crusading politicians or military might, but here, both are kept in the background (the airman played by William Allen Young is more concerned with returning to his new wife than his duties) and the focus is fixed firmly on middle America--literally so, as the setting is Lawrence, Kansas, the near-center of the country. Audiences are briefly introduced to a representative cross-section of American life, including a doctor (Jason Robards), a young bride-to-be (Lori Lethin), a graduate student (Steve Guttenberg), and an academic (John Lithgow), before the Bomb hits nearby Kansas City. The ensuing destruction is utterly horrific, but a few manage to survive to struggle vainly with rising radiation levels and the slow, inevitable collapse of society. As a protest vehicle, The Day After is a triumph--its scenes of nuclear devastation remain the most powerful statements against nuclear armament ever depicted. It's buoyed by strong direction from Nicholas Meyer, who previously specialized in fantasy (Time After Time), and a capable cast who weather the material with grim determination. Edward Hume's script occasionally stumbles into sudsy territory, but the end result compares with equally moving British efforts like The War Game and Threads. The original network broadcast ran 120 minutes (edited from three hours); this is the 126-minute European theatrical cut. --Paul Gaita

Description

The countdown has begun! Against the real-life backdrop of the U.S. deployment of WMDs in Europe during the escalating Cold War, this "dramatically involving [and] agonizingly graphic film" (The Hollywood Reporter) about nuclear holocaust detonated a direct hit into the heartland of America.Starring Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, Steven Guttenberg, John Cullum and John Lithgow, this "controversial, potent drama" (Leonard Maltin) remains "one of the most talked-about programs in history"(Newsweek)! When Cold War tensions reach the ultimate boiling point, the inhabitants of a small town in Kansas learnalong with the rest of Americathat they have fewer than 30 minutes before 300 Soviet warheads begin to appear overhead! Can anyone survive this ultimate nightmare...or the nuclear winter that is sure to follow?

Customer Reviews:

Relentlessly depressing, but should be seen anyhow.......2007-09-08

At the end of this movie, you'll look up and your first thought will be "Thank God, it's all still here." I was a teenager in the 80's when I saw this on TV and it has always stayed with me.

I love just about anything from the 1980's now and regularly pull out movies from that era- but this is one I just can't see again. However, I'd recommend it to everyone anyhow, to see once. It personalizes the results of nuclear conflict in a way no other movie did before or since.

Funny thing is, the world today feels like it was safer back then, when we were fairly sure that nuclear weapons were only in the hands of (relatively) rational human beings instead of lunatic terrorists.

Cheesy but still pretty good.......2007-08-12

Yes, some cheesy acting here and there, some melodrama and so forth. But it was an 80s telemovie, so what more could one expect? Okay, to be fair, the portrayal of nuclear devastation and the resulting radiation poisoning is quite good. And to know that almost everyone is doomed is a sobering thought to ponder at the end, after viewing the final scene of two strangers trying to comfort each other in the aftermath of the holocaust.

If the bombs don't kill you, the acting will.......2007-07-22

"The Day After" was one of a series of films made in the 1980's. Of these, only "Testament" could be called a success. The films were part of a massive campaign by the USSR and Western leftists to keep ground-based nukes from Western Europe. The CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest), a "disinterested" group that hilariously declared itself non-partisan, led the charge with graphic descriptions of nuclear winter or worse. After deployment and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union, the subject was never broached. The hype was huge - psychiatrists and child psychologists were ready to help grieving students who happened to watch the show, the papers played it big, the media gave it all the free publicity you could want...and it was still an artistic blunder.

Besidess blocking the weapons (not necessarily a bad thing), the movie had two purposes: (1) Visualzie the horrible affects of a nuclear war and just as important (2) make the Soviet Empire and the West morally equivalent - no good or bad guys - just "big guys" and "little guys" I'd expected a powerful, thought-provoking show but instead got a disaster on all fronts (artistic, political and military). The dialogue was possibly the most stilted and amateurish ever presented on screen. It sounded like a high school play at times - awkward & hesitant. Husbands and wives spoke like strangers, family talk was from Ozzie & Harriet, a 6th grader asks, "Daddy, whut's radiation?" Folks on the brink of starvation resist the only method for replanting crops. No one has heard of an EMP and (you have to smile) when it hits, EVERYONE stays in their car trying to start the engines, oblivious to the zillion others around them with the same problem. Politically it's a phony Kumbaya Moment. In crimson Kansas folks greet the Soviet closure of West Berlin with a shrug - no expressions of outrage. At the end, the President (read Reagan) gives a ridiculously upbeat speech - we have not surrendedred and he invokes God and patriotism. All the while, victims moan and the camera shows devastation. Apparently the purpose of the awful dialogue was to make folks sound like "simple folk" who loved mom, pop, God & corn. Although set in the 80's, the viewer for some reason kept getting glimpses of what looked like film from the 1950's.

It is the acting that really "bombed". Poor Jason Robards comes in for the most criticism. Unlike everyone else, his clothes stay clean and fresh. He appears drunk or doped during the entire film, stumbling and slurring his way through the most unlikely of circumstances. It's as if the writers tried to substitue incoherence and mangled steps for serious lines. Amy Madigan is present as a pregnant woman and whines as usual. Steve Gutenburg is a student with embarrasingly poor lines. John Lithgow plays an exasperated know-it-all. The extras hired to portray victims never spoke a word - did the bomb suddenly remove the gift of speech? Emotions were surface - you feel as if the actor could just as easily cry as laugh. The chemistry between the romantic couples was about as heated as a male model and a beauty queen.

This is too bad because the few good scenes were very affective - the harried soldiers, the moment the bomb hit, the panorama of utter destruction and that final tragedy when student met the daughter and both had lost their hair. For obvious reasons, the start of the war was obscure - after all, who cares about blame in such a catastrophe? Who attacked first, who initiated the first nuclear strike, why did the USSR block Berlin in the first place? I kept waiting to see the rest of the world but that would have entailed creativity and another story. In this case the writers were inadvertently correct to focus on this locality. The outside world is a mysterious unknown, like Medieval times when one only knew the village in which they were born and died. The film was promptly criticized by Sagan (CSPI) as too "optimistic". You can't please all the folks all the time, I guess. My grade - C-

Frightening Thought.......2007-06-11

Hello. I remember all the "buzz" about this show when it first appeared on television in 1983. At the time, I was prolly at work and also didn't have a VCR then. Now that I have seen it in its entirety, it is an absolutely frightening experience. Now, the dangers of nuclear war are more relevant: India and Pakistan have it... North Korea has it...Iran it trying to get it... Israel has it... the list goes on... The acting in "The Day After" is awesome. Jason Robards is amazing. I was pleasantly surprised by Steven Guttenberg. He's known mainly for those "Police Academy" movies, but he gave an fantastic performance. That sequence where you first see several closeup shots of the Kansas City skyline is ominous, because you kind of have an idea of what will happen next. I can see "The Day After" being remade, to take advantage of our modern technological advances. All in all, the film serves as a reminder that there will never be any winners in a nuclear conflict.

A wickedly entertaining 80's propaganda film.......2007-05-22

Just happening to catch this little gem from the 80's recently on cable, all the memories flood back from the original airing on ABC when I thought: "So, what's the big deal?!".

Having known someone who saw the film in a preview in Lawrence, KS and having been told about the people in the audience sobbing hysterically, I was expecting so much more that I got when I finally had the opportunity to see it for myself. It is only the context of history that now lays bare the hilariously tacky overacting and absurdly ridiculous plot that obliterates Kansas City, but spares the ICBM fields from any strikes, which in reality would have been the converse (in other words-Buh Bye, Lawrence). Not to mention the embrace of the idea of a local skirmish culminating in a 'bolt from the blue' nuclear attack on the US.

All the bunny huggin' liberals writing the glowing reviews of this film also bring me back to the 80's, when the very same no-nukes crowd went absolutely crazy during Reagan's brinksmanship with the (now FORMER) USSR.

This is a quite dramatic, and suspenseful film nonetheless, but to me represents the zenith of the 80's anti-nuclear movement with a masterfully executed attempt at affecting public opinion through production of a straight propaganda piece. Contextually, a great historical snapshot of the opposing side of the strident debate about deployment of the Pershing II in Europe, the MX missle, the 'leaked' planning studies for the aftermath of WWIII, and Reagan's hardline position against the Soviets, all of which scared the bejesus out of the aforementioned bunny huggers.

Of course, with twenty years now in the rearview mirror, the USSR fallen, Reagan vindicated, and after a massive nuclear build-down, it only serves as punctuation to this film, a nice little postscript of historical perspective to complete the circle begun in 1983.

Highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

Day of the Dead [Blu-ray]
Starring: Terry Alexander , John Amplas , Don Brockett , William Cameron , and Lori Cardille
Director: George A. Romero
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

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ASIN: B000UR9QGC
Release Date: 2007-10-02

Day of the Dead (Divimax Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

Maybe better than Dawn?!? Maybe!
GOOD, VERY GOOD
Wow, a zombie movie that actually delivers!
I WANT MY MONEY BACK FOR THIS ONE
The least popular in the series

Day of the Dead (Divimax Special Edition)
Starring: Terry Alexander , John Amplas , Don Brockett , William Cameron , and Lori Cardille
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008G8L9
Release Date: 2003-08-19

Amazon.com

Chapter three of George Romero's mighty zombie trilogy has big footsteps to follow. Night of the Living Dead was a classic that revitalized a certain corner of the cinema, and Dawn of the Dead was nothing short of epic. Day of the Dead, however, has always been regarded as a comedown compared to those twin peaks--and perhaps it is. But on its own terms, this is an awfully effective horror movie, made with Romero's customary social satire and cinematic vigor--when a "retrained" zombie responds to the "Ode to Joy," the film is in genuinely haunting territory. The story is set inside a sunken military complex, where Army and medical staff, supposedly working on a solution to the zombie problem, are going crazy (strongly foreshadowing the final act of 28 Days Later). Tom Savini's makeup effects could make even hardcore gore fans tear off their own heads in amazement. --Robert Horton

Description

Divimax is a High Definition (HD) film transfer process that provides state-of-the-art picture quality--and can be viewed on any home entertainment system.

Customer Reviews:

Maybe better than Dawn?!? Maybe!.......2007-08-07

As with Dawn I neded to see this one more than once to see the genuis behind the film. Romero May be considered a one trick pony but I love his trick. Dare I say the best make-up effects of any zombie movie.

GOOD, VERY GOOD.......2007-07-26

The film is good (but Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead are better) and this dvd is one of the best editions I've ever saw. Image clear and good sound. The extras are good also very informative. Could have been better if the film and the extras would have subtitles in spanish or english.

Wow, a zombie movie that actually delivers!.......2007-07-15

After slowly going through the ranks of zombie movies available here on Amazon and receiving disappointment after disappointment, I was beginning to think there wouldn't be any zombie movies that could satisfy me (other than good ol' Night of the Living Dead, which I love). I guess I should have looked to Romero again sooner. This man truly deserves the title of King of the Zombie Movie.

Although some of the performances of certain characters here such as the military head honcho, his men and the doctor are too over-the-top and caricaturish for my tastes and would otherwise have earned the movie just a 4-star rating from me, this movie has other worthwhile qualities which really bump it up to a full 5 stars in my evaluation.

First and foremost is the absolutely OUTSTANDING job Tom Savini did on the make-up and special effects, which still hold up just fine today. He manages to outfit HUNDREDS of zombie extras, and make each one absolutely unique, perfectly believable and genuinely horrific. What an amazing job! (A word of warning to the squeamish: be prepared for gore!)

And second, there is a superb performance from Sherman Howard as the doctor's zombie test subject "Bub". He takes what was just a small non-speaking part and runs with it, turning him into an unforgettable icon of the zombie genre. I was amazed to learn from the interviews in the bonus materials that in fact one of the most memorable scenes with Bub --where he is exposed to music on a Walkman-- was actually Howard's own idea. This kind of openness and willingness to let his actors contribute on Romero's part takes this movie from being just your average horror flick and imbues it with moments bordering on the profound. This movie even helped me to understand my own inexplicable fascination with the zombie genre lately, as the doctor astutely observes: "Zombies are us!"

So in the end it is the contributions of many people that have combined to set this film apart from the pack. Even though Romero was forced to scale back on his first grandiose vision for the film due to budget constraints, he was able to compensate and find substitute solutions that worked just as well if not better. Be sure to watch the excellent bonus materials to get a better appreciation of what they managed to achieve here in spite of many obstacles.

So yes this movie is not perfect, but I still feel that what was achieved deserves 5 big stars from me. Well done!

I WANT MY MONEY BACK FOR THIS ONE.......2007-06-21

I LOVED THE NIGHT AND DAWN OF. THIS ONE HAD SUCH BAD LANGUAGE I COULD NOT WATCH IT. I LOVE BLOOD AND GUTS BUT THAT LITTLE FOUR LETTER WORD, YOU KNOW WHICH ONE, REALLY PUTS ME OFF...

The least popular in the series.......2007-05-31

"Day Of The Dead" is, without a doubt, one of the GORIEST films ever made. The premise is pretty simple. A medical team, and a military unit are holed up in an underground missile silo, occaisionally flying a helicopter up and down the coast, looking for fellow survivors, while unbelievably gruesome experiments are being performed by one of the medical personnel on captured "specimen" zombies, in an attempt at finding why the dead are walking. The soldiers just want to shoot them in the head, as that's all that has been proven to stop them; the problem? The zombies outnumber the living by at least 400,000 to one. There's just too many. With a way to modify their behavior, maybe the survivors can stand a chance, but the odds are slim to none of such an insane idea working.

Of course, tensions mount. The claustrophobic living conditions, the bleak atmosphere, and physical and mental strain are taking a very heavy toll, as hope is quickly vanishing. They just want to get out of there, but, as Doctor Logan says, "...where would you go?" People critical of this movie say it has too slow a start, but I say no. The script focuses mainly on how these people are coping, and they aren't coping very well. Detractors say the dialogue has too much shouting, but I wonder how these people themselves would act in such egregious, horrible conditions. No, it is a very well-written script, albeit not George Romero's original one, which everyone says is far superior. It is a very tense screenplay, depicting, in what I would call a very realistic scenario. Not the world being overrun with walking dead, of course, but imagine a somewhat diverse group of people who really can't stand one another, being trapped in a situation where they must cooperate, but just can't anymore. A bloodbath is just one bad day away.

The special make-up effects are among Tom Savini's best work. The zombies in this installment are more decayed looking, which ties in with how the story unfolds in the series. In "Night..." most of them look somewhat ordinary, and the black and white film just makes it eerie. In "Dawn... (the original)" Most of the undead are just discolored, with a few really nasty ones, as time has taken its toll. In this installment, in 1985, seventeen years after the contageon has started, most of them are in the final stages of post mortem rot. It really is what the world would be if such an awful thing could take place.

One little subtlety in the script, that looks like an inconsistency, but isn't, would be when Rhodes decides to start executing people. The people he shoots do not get back up. And one of the soldiers suicides after being bitten in the shoulder by a zombie. He doesn't get back up, and the hordes of undead feast on his carcass. These deaths happened underground, not from infected zombie bites. Keeping in mind, the reason for this outbreak was in "Night..." in 1968, and the reason was some kind of radioactive fallout from a contaminated space probe. The air above ground is contaminated. Hence, underground, and no reanimation. Plus, two of the deaths were from gunshots to the head, guaranteeing no reanimation.

It is a simple, yet very complex story, and some people don't get the ending. It's simple, really. The first scene (spoiler here) is a dream sequence, and after all the nightmarish events of the story, the last remaining characters flee to an island somewhere out in the ocean, and apparently one fell asleep, just to wake up on the island. Physical exhaustion. The last part of the escape, jumping to the island, is nothing more that a time-lapse in the script.

Yes, this is a very good movie of this type, one that I feel is underappreciated.

The Day After Tomorrow (Full Screen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Good Movie
Beyond belief
A decent movie that takes pause to think
Horrible movie, but inexplicably enjoyable
It may not be smart, but it sure is pretty...

The Day After Tomorrow (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Dennis Quaid , Jake Gyllenhaal , Emmy Rossum , Dash Mihok , and Jay O. Sanders
Director: Roland Emmerich
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002MB7QW
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

Good Movie.......2007-08-28

Typical "don't believe the scientist until its too late" plot. However, 21st century special effects makes for an entertaining movie.

Beyond belief.......2007-08-23

A decent movie that takes pause to think.......2007-08-09

Horrible movie, but inexplicably enjoyable.......2007-08-07

It may not be smart, but it sure is pretty..........2007-08-07

Average customer rating:

28 "zombies" later
Stop calling it a zombie movie
ONE OF THE GREAT ZOMBIE MOVIES!!
Charming, Poignant, and Inspiring
Entertaining movie

28 Days Later (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Alex Palmer , Bindu De Stoppani , Jukka Hiltunen , David Schneider (IV) , and Cillian Murphy
Director: Danny Boyle , and Toby James
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000BZJCM
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Amazon.com

Description

Hailed as the most frightening film since The Exorcist, acclaimed Director Danny Boyle's visionary take on zombie horror "isn't just scary?it's absolutely terrifying" (Access Hollywood).

An infirmary patient awakens from a coma to an empty room?in a vacant hospital?in a deserted city. A powerful virus, which locks victims into a permanent state of murderous rage, has transformed the world around him into a seemingly desolate wasteland. Now a handful of survivors must fight to stay alive, unaware that the worst is yet to come?

Customer Reviews:

28 "zombies" later.......2007-09-07

Stop calling it a zombie movie.......2007-09-06

ONE OF THE GREAT ZOMBIE MOVIES!!.......2007-09-01

Charming, Poignant, and Inspiring.......2007-08-03

Entertaining movie.......2007-08-02

Although the plot is not original this was a well made film. Good acting, good script, good directing and excellent camera work. Well worth seeing.

Average customer rating:

You also might want to get the great miniseries, "Oppenheimer"...
Quality
War criminals?
A series of talking heads, doesn't add much to the history of the atomic bomb
Not what I expected

The Day After Trinity
Starring: Paul Frees , and J. Robert Oppenheimer
Director: Jon Else
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000648XV
Release Date: 2002-05-14

Description

The Day After Trinity is a haunting journey through the dawn of the nuclear age, an incisive history of humanity's most dubious achievement and the man behind it--J. Robert Oppenheimer, the principal architect of the atomic bomb. Featuring archival footage and commentary from scientists and soldiers directly involved with the Manhattan Project, this gripping film is a fascinating look at the scope and power of the Nuclear Age.

Customer Reviews:

You also might want to get the great miniseries, "Oppenheimer"..........2007-09-09

The BBC released the great mini-series "Oppenheimer" on Region Two DVD format last year.

This great mini-series is still felt to be the best re-creation on film of the people and events leading up to the explosions of the atomic bombs in August 1945. A young SAM WATERSTON plays Oppenheimer brilliantly.

It took years for the BBC to decide to release the series in DVD format, and then it was only in Region Two (PAL), the format used in the UK.

You'd think that they'd release it on Region One (US format), given the fact thatit starts Sam Waterson. However, it has not yet been released in the US.

The three-disc series, which also stars a brilliant David Suchet as Edward Teller, is available thru Amazon in the UK (www.amazon.co.uk) and on eBay in the UK (www.ebay.co.uk) for about $22.00 plus shipping.

Multi-format players are available in the US. It is my understanding that they have to be hacked to play other formats than Region 1,? due to licensing restrictions. I purchased an inexpensive player on eBay (US), which with shipping cost $50.00. The supplier provided the easy instructions to adapt it to Region Two format.

It is worth going to all of this effort to view again this great mini-series, which was virtually ignored in the US when it was shown here, but which remains unrivaled for both its acting and its accurate re-creation of the events surrounding Oppenheimer, his downfall, and the creation of the atomic age.

Quality.......2007-09-03

The Day After Trinity is an excellent documentary about Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atom bomb. The interviews of famous scientists who worked at Los Alamos are remarkable in themselves. The film poses questions about the ethics of nuclear armaments, and the relationship between science and politics in weapons development and deployment. Every American should see it.

War criminals?.......2007-06-27

Nice piece on fervor that surrounded the Manhattan Project. Interesting human interest story of how thousands of people worked for years designing the most powerful weapon ever, but didn't realize the consequences on dropping one in a city full of people, until they see it go off in the desert.

A series of talking heads, doesn't add much to the history of the atomic bomb.......2007-04-11

I got this DVD after having read Richard Rhodes's "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" and "Dark Sun". Plus, I had grown up from childhood reading a lot of other books about the making of the atomic bomb.

I had even seen that famous clip of Robert Oppenheimer before, in grade school, a long, long time ago, in an educational movie about the making of the atomic bomb, where he says:

"....We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, "Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." I suppose we all thought that one way or another...."

And so I got this DVD, hoping to learn more, about that interview, about Robert J. Oppenheimer, etc.

But NOOOOO.....This DVD turns out to be mostly a series of talking head interviews of a number of the more junior (at the time) physicists involved in the Manhatten Project. Several of them, especially Robert Wilson, speak of their horror and their early opposition to further development and use of the atomic bomb. Almost all of them speak of Robert Oppenheimer, and reminisce about the many conflicts and contradictions of Oppenheimer.

But that's all there is to this DVD. It does not fully explain the contradictions in the life of Robert Oppenheimer, nor how the course of events post-WWII played out that led to Oppenheimer losing his security clearance. It doesn't even explain the setting of that famous Oppenheimer interview quote. A video clip of that famous quote, by the way, can be found online if you search for it.

The DVD only has a couple of other clips of Oppenheimer in action.

All in all, this is a mediocre DVD that does not add much more information if you already know much of the history of the making of the atomic bomb, and Oppenheimer's role in it.

However, if you don't know ANYTHING about this history, probably you'll find this DVD to be fascinating.

Not what I expected.......2007-01-19

The period around the turn of the 20th century produced an enormous burst of discovery in physics. Often, it is the character of people involved that make this such a fascinating period of history. Still, the technical details of discovery and how it broadens our understanding of the physical world intrigues me to a somewhat larger degree. As I was predisposed to the technical, I had hoped for more technical detail in the film. However, far from disappointed, I watched the DVD twice the day I received it and found the film both compelling and entertaining. Oppenheimer's story, told by those yet alive at the time. A look into the Los Alamos community. His political "rise and fall." A rich and rewarding look into the not so distant past. Highly recommended.

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