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Movies / On DVD / 28 Days Later
28 Days Later

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28 Days Later (2003)

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Reviews Counted:196

Fresh:173

Rotten:23

Average Rating:7.3/10

Consensus: 28 Days Later is both a terrifying zombie movie and a sharp political allegory.

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: After breaking into a primate research facility, a group of animal rights activists discover caged chimps chained up before banks of screens displaying horrifically violent images. Ignoring the... After breaking into a primate research facility, a group of animal rights activists discover caged chimps chained up before banks of screens displaying horrifically violent images. Ignoring the warnings of the terrified researcher who maintains the chimps are 'infected', they begin to free the animals and are immediately subjected to a bloody attack from the enraged creatures. 28 days later… Cycle courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakes from a coma in the deserted intensive care unit of a London hospital. Mystified, he wanders the wards and corridors in search of others and eventually heads into the city streets, calling out for help. As the shadows lengthen Jim seeks shelter in a church only to find dead bodies piled in heaps on the chapel floor. A sudden noise alerts him to the presence of a priest but his lightening speed, blood stained eyes and murderous screams send Jim reeling into the street. More "infected" are attracted by the noise and Jim runs in panic and confusion as a growing flock sprint after him through the dark streets. A sudden explosion from a makeshift bomb heralds the arrival of fellow "survivors" Selena (NAOMIE HARRIS) and Mark (NOAH HUNTLEY). Following a daring rescue they take Jim to safety and start to explain to him the nature of the infection, that it is transmitted in the blood, is overwhelming within seconds, that Britain has been overrun and that they have no way of knowing if it has spread worldwide. Selena and Mark reluctantly agree to help the shell-shocked Jim return home to Deptford to find his parents, with terrifying consequences. Later, as they sneak through the darkened streets, Selena and Jim spot a lone light in a tower block and investigate to see if there are other survivors. The unlikely pair they find are father and daughter Frank (BRENDAN GLEESON) and Hannah (MEGAN BURNS) whose water supplies are running dangerously low and are desperate to find alternative shelter. As the group takes shelter in the tower block, an automated radio broadcast is picked up. A Manchester-based group of soldiers, led by Major Henry West (CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON), claim to have the 'answer' to infection and invite any survivors to join them at their blockade. Faced with no practical alternative, the group sets out northwards in Frank's black cab unaware that the worst is yet to come. Directed by Danny Boyle, 28 DAYS LATER is from an original screenplay by Alex Garland, the author of The Beach, and produced by Andrew Macdonald. The film stars Cillian Murphy (DISCO PIGS), Naomie Harris (WHITE TEETH), Christopher Eccleston (24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, THE OTHERS, SHALLOW GRAVE), Megan Burns (LIAM) and Brendan Gleeson (THE GANGS OF NEW YORK, THE GENERAL, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: A.I). [More]

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns, Brendan Gleeson, Luke Mably

Director: Danny Boyle

Director: Danny Boyle
Screenwriter: Alex Garland
Producer: Andrew MacDonald
Composer: John Murphy
Studio: 20th Century Fox

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Reviews for 28 Days Later

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101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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A fine contrast of surreal loveliness and video-shot gore.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
06/27/03
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

To each his own apocalypse, so to speak, but Danny Boyle has come up with a whopper.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
06/27/03
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

The operatic gore eventually goes over the top.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
06/27/03
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

The movie works first and best as an attempt to capture what's vital and primal about horror movies, which in recent years have mostly surrendered to slickness, irony and gimmicks.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
06/27/03
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

It's a quality horror flick of the sort we're promised once or twice a year, but genuinely receive maybe four times per decade.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
06/27/03
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly

Derivative but horrifically effective.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
06/27/03
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

Boyle and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, a veteran of low-tech Dogme films, work wonders with a digital camera.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
06/27/03
Shawn Levy
Shawn Levy
Oregonian

This smart, genuinely creepy movie also feels real, which is why its horrors hit so hard.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
06/27/03
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald

Hits all the right buttons of a satisfying end-of-the-world yarn.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
06/27/03
Robert W. Butler
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star

What 28 Days Later lacks in budget it more than makes up in grainy style and unrelenting tension.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
06/27/03
Louis B. Hobson
Louis B. Hobson
Jam! Movies

Brisk, smart and often truly frightening.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
06/27/03
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

[Boyle's] back on British turf here and in fine dark form.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
06/27/03
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail

The rare horror film that splatters and pauses to consider the splatter, that follows a traditional storyline and then improves upon it, and that avoids cliches while playing one out.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
06/27/03
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

If 28 Days Later falls short of classic horror movie status, Boyle pokes the genre with a sharp enough stick to prove it has some nasty life in it yet.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
06/27/03
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

Few movies have managed to tap into our fears of bioterrorism, the unknown and sociopathic rage as effectively as this one does.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
06/27/03
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

This starkly beautiful, harrowing journey into the worst that can happen opens with video feed images of our unnatural disasters.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
06/27/03
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post

Exhilarating, exciting and, thanks to its cool, mostly unknown leads and touches of black humor, is destined to be a hipster cult classic, much as Trainspotting was before it.

Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
06/27/03
Mary F. Pols
Mary F. Pols
Contra Costa Times

A tough, smart, ingenious movie that leads its characters into situations where everything depends on their (and our) understanding of human nature.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 3 Comments
06/27/03
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I think Garland and Boyle just want to make our flesh creep by showing someone else's flesh decaying. If that's their aim, they achieved it.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
06/27/03
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

Terrifying on the basic heebie-jeebie level, respectful toward its B-movie forebears, and all the more unnerving for coming out in this fretful era of SARS and germ warfare.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
06/27/03
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
 
 
101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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Latest News for 28 Days Later

October 06, 2008: A Director for 28 Months Later? Opens in new window
Who is Paul Andrew Williams, and why is his name being bandied about in connection with "28 Months Later"? Follow the link to find out! More...

September 12, 2008: Another 28 for Danny Boyle? Opens in new window
Could there possibly be a second sequel to "28 Days Later"? Danny Boyle thinks so, although he seems worried that his idea might be silly. More...

May 06, 2008: Neil Marshall's 10 Post-Apocalyptic Picks
The Doomsday director runs RT through the movies that inspired his cyber-punk vision of a dodgy future. More...

October 10, 2007: RT's Top 50 Horror Movie List Unmasked
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