28 Days Later... (2002)

Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

Director:

Danny Boyle

Writer:

Alex Garland

Stars:

Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston

10 wins & 31 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alex Palmer	...	Activist
Bindu De Stoppani	...	Activist
Jukka Hiltunen	...	Activist
David Schneider	...	Scientist
Cillian Murphy	...	Jim
Toby Sedgwick	...	Infected Priest
Naomie Harris	...	Selena
Noah Huntley	...	Mark
Christopher Dunne	...	Jim's Father
Emma Hitching	...	Jim's Mother
Alexander Delamere	...	Mr. Bridges
Kim McGarrity	...	Mr. Bridges' Daughter
Brendan Gleeson	...	Frank
Megan Burns	...	Hannah
Justin Hackney	...	Infected Kid

Storyline

Animal activists invade a laboratory with the intention of releasing chimpanzees that are undergoing experimentation, infected by a virus -a virus that causes rage. The naive activists ignore the pleas of a scientist to keep the cages locked, with disastrous results. Twenty-eight days later, our protagonist, Jim, wakes up from a coma, alone, in an abandoned hospital. He begins to seek out anyone else to find London is deserted, apparently without a living soul. After finding a church, which had become inhabited by zombie like humans intent on his demise, he runs for his life. Selena and Mark rescue him from the horde and bring him up to date on the mass carnage and horror as all of London tore itself apart. This is a tale of survival and ultimately, heroics, with nice subtext about mankind's savage nature.

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Plot Keywords:

virus | military | london england | zombie apocalypse | laboratory | 

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Taglines:

Day 1: Exposure - Day 3: Infection - Day 8: Epidemic - Day 15: Evacuation - Day 20: Devastation

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and gore, language and nudity

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

27 June 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

28 Days Later...

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,500,079 (United Kingdom), 3 November 2002, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,061,858, 29 June 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$45,064,915

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$37,654,970

Company Credits

Production Co:

DNA Films, British Film Council

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Jim meets Selina and Mark early in the film, he asks them if he's hallucinating. A foreshadowing of Cillian Murphy (Jim) starring in Batman Begins (2005) as Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow. In the film, Dr. Crane/The Scarecrow creates a Fear toxin, a chemical compound that causes people to hallucinate and imagine their greatest fears and drives them insane, which Henry Ducard (Liam Neeson) uses a weapon in his plot to destroy Gotham City, which is foiled by Batman (Christian Bale).

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Goofs

During dinner, when the infected set off a tripwire outside the perimeter, Maj. West is wearing his 'Blues', No.2 dress. Immediately after the action, when he is explaining to Jim about giving his men women, he's changed into his DPM smock (battledress).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Activist: [the three animal activists arrive to the laboratory] Bingo.
Activist: [when seeing all of the caged apes] Fucking hell.

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Crazy Credits

Other than the Fox Searchlight logo, there are no opening credits whatsoever. The title of the movie, 28 Days Later, only appears as a descriptive subtitle.

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Alternate Versions

Fox Searchlight attached an alternative downbeat ending to all 1400 US prints of the film, while it was still in U.S. release. The revised ending was the one that appeared in the original script, but the script's ending was ditched in favor of a happy ending after it did not test well. Director Danny Boyle decided "We can't do this to people, because it was such a tough journey anyway."

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Connections

Referenced in Joe of the Dead: Acting in a George Romero Classic (2010)

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Soundtracks

Season Song
Performed by Blue States
Written by Andy Dragazis and Tahita Bulmer
Courtesy of XL Recordings
Published by Hero Music Ltd./Universal Music Publishing Ltd.
(c) 2002 XL Recordings Ltd. (exclusively license from Memphis Industries)

User Reviews

the one thing

The one thing that made this movie effective... well, let me back up. Ever have a nightmare where you're being stalked, or otherwise threatened, and you could die, and it's scary as hell? I mean, the absolute worst? Now, think: have you ever had a nightmare where someone you love was already dead, and you knew it, you saw it?

It's infinitely worse.

This movie recognizes that. There is some action, yes, mostly towards the end, but what makes this movie one of the scariest I've seen is its method of accessing the deepest fears in all of us -- not fear for ourselves, of our own deaths, but for others, our families and loved ones, and the utter, complete loneliness if they were to simply be gone forever. This is a post-apocalyptic movie that really drives in the impact of the idea, to devastating effect. It makes everything more engaging: the characters feel more real (though this is also due to the excellent script), the danger more immediate. But this is not a things-pop-out-and-scare-you horror movie. It's a film that will haunt you.