DVD Review: Resident Evil / Resident Evil: Apocalypse

By Jeff Swindoll Sep 4, 2007, 16:44 GMT

Resident Evil:Stars: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin CrewesDirector: Paul W.S. Anderson Synopsis: A virus has escaped in a secret facility called "The Hive," turning the staff into hungry zombies and releasing the mutated Lab "Animals" that they were studying. The complex computer shuts down the base to prevent infection. The parent corporation sends in an elite military unit, where they meet Alice, who is suffering from ...more

Resurrected edition is a good moniker for this set since Sony resurrects these titles onto DVD just in time to try and cash in on the next sequel hitting the theaters.  If you already own the previous editions I can’t imagine that you’ll want this new one. 

The Resident Evil franchise is based on the popular game and stars Milla Jovovich.  In the first film, a team of crack commandos is storming a mansion that contains a secret entrance to an underground biological facility called the Hive.  Alice (Milla Jovovich) is an amnesiac resident of the mansion and she and several others go along for the ride.  The computer system has put the facility into a state of lockdown. 

Our heroes mistakenly reboot the computer and open the doors.  It seems that a biological agent was released and all the workers in the facility have turned into flesh-eating zombies and rebooting the system has freed them.  So now they have to get to the surface before the facility is sealed forever so that the virus cannot escape. 

The second film finds Alice in a world where the virus has escaped and the Umbrella Corporation is sealing off the entirety of Raccoon City to keep the virus from spreading any farther.  Alice and a group of survivors are recruited by a computer programmer to escort his stranded daughter out of the infested city. 

I had not watched either Resident Evil films before or played the game, just never got around to it.  I thought that the first film was rather good.  It had a comic book feel to it, but was still a good action-adventure ride.  The second film made me think of Planet of the Apes.  The 60s Apes movies were very popular in their day but each subsequent sequel found itself with a smaller budget than the one that proceeded it.  I’d have to say that it felt like Apocalypse either suffered in the budget department or maybe it was change of directors. 

Apocalypse felt a little too much like a comic book, the first one had a certain amount of reality (well, as much as a zombie movie can have) but the sequel felt so unreal.  The costumes felt like costumes and the characters weren’t given much development in the sequel. 

Detective Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillroy), looking like she’s going trick or treating as Lara Croft, seems to take over for a time and Alice takes a backseat in the proceedings.  I liked the first film much better than it’s sequel (we’ll have to see what direction the third sequel goes in).

Sony brings out this compilation just in time for the third sequel, Resident Evil: Extinction.  Holders of the original discs will want to hold onto them since this version just compiles the films and a slim selection of extras (compared to what was on the first releases). 

Resident Evil is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and Resident Evil: Apocalypse is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1).  Both are enhanced for 16x9 televisions. 

Disc 1 contains both the films and a 2 minute scene from Resident Evil: Extinction.  Sadly, no commentary tracks from the previous releases have been included.  Disc 2 contains the 5 minute “Evolution of Resident Evil: Bridge to Extinction” which summarizes the events of all three films regarding the spread of the virus.  Next are 47 minutes of featurettes (Diary of an Apocalypse, Zombie Dog POV test, Undead Boot Camp, Stuntman Set Tour) from the other releases.

The “Evil Archives” contains image galleries for the Art Department, Production Photos, Publicity, Set Design, and Storyboards.  The “Memory Retention Training” section is a quiz about the films that shows you a clip and then asks you about the scene you just watched.  Finally there are previews for other Sony DVDs.  The case does contain a ticked to see the new film, but it might be cheaper for you just to get one at the box office. 

If you don’t have the previous discs then you can pick up this set and get a free ticket to the sequel, but if you have the other releases then you have the better discs.  This set is pared down from what was previously released.  I liked Resident Evil, but thought that the sequel was only mediocre.  I’ll have to see if my Planet of the Apes theory holds up with the third sequel. 

Resident Evil / Resident Evil: Apocalypse is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.