28 Days Later Blu-ray Release

[cbraver]

On a whim I picked up the 28 Days Later blu-ray release. The original DVD release was pretty poorly done, especially in audio, so I was hoping for a redemption.

Video:

The video in this release will not impress. The movie was filmed on a purposefully poor quality camera to give the film an edge, and I wasn't really expecting too big of an upgrade in terms of video quality, but I did want something. It looks like an upscaled DVD, that's about it.

Audio:

This is where there is a huge improvement. The original DVD sounded flat, like a 128 mp3. This soundtrack is certainly better, with "the infected" screams being truly horrifying. Subwoofers will get a reasonable workout (they didn't go for the overdone bass booms like Saw or some of the new-age movies), but the gem in this movie is the screaming treble. It's what makes the tracks terrifying. It's what makes you jump. I think many of us are bass junkies at heart, but in a good horror movie, treble is what makes us move. I can't comment on the surround tracks because I'm a 2.1 guy.

If you are a Boyle fan, buy it. If you just want to enjoy 28 Days Later with better sound quality and a bit better video, give it a rent. It's worth that.

Cheers!

 

[Jack Hammer]

After reading the review on HighDefDigest, I decided to pass on this one for now on BD. They basically had the same experience as you, poor video, improved audio. Still a very good movie. Thanks for posting the review.

Jack

 

[cbraver]

I plan on checking out the Blu-Ray of 28 Weeks Later next, which is also a good film. I think that the Blu-Ray will be more of an upgrade than was possible for 28 Days Later, just because of the filming techniques. 28 Weeks Later isn't great on DVD, but the picture and sound quality are leagues ahead of the standard DVD of 28 Days Later. So, I'm expecting a bigger jump on that.

As far as zombie flicks go, I think technologically Resident Evil (the original) is still the best for picture quality, with Extinction having the best sound quality. But, the movies aren't nearly as good as the 28 Days/Weeks series imo.

 

[j_garcia]

The one I was disappointed in recently was Starship Troopers - it looks almost identical to the SD DVD and even the sound isn't that much improved. 28 Days and 28 Weeks have been on sale a lot, so I may pick them both up next time they are around $12 or so.