Universal joins team Blu with ‘Doomsday’, their first day and date theatrical Blu-ray release and their high-def presentation does not disappoint.
The pic itself from ‘The Descent’ writer/director Neil Marshall is the perfect hi-def release, a glorified B-movie that’s not shy about its origin amalgamation of early eighties pics like ‘The Road Warrior’ and ‘Escape from New York’.
Neil Marshall burst onto the scene with the perfectly-titled ‘Dog Soldiers’ in 2002 - a little-seen werewolf pic where a group of British soldiers head into the Scottish highlands for a routine military operation and discover those local legends might have some truth to it. The film was a low-budget creature-feature of the best kind.
Outdoing himself in 2005 with the claustrophobic classic ‘The Descent’, one of my favorite horror films of the past decade, you could say that my expectations were high for his next film – you could also say I was pacing back and forth like a caged lion to see what he had in store…
Smooth narration from Malcolm McDowell sets the tone: In the near future, we learn of a deadly plague called the ‘Reaper’ virus – a disease not dissimilar to what was found in ’28 Days/Weeks Later’ but instead of ending up as zombies, the infected die almost immediately in a pool of blood and vomit.
This plague erupts in Glasgow and spreads to millions of Scottish citizens. Seeing no choice, the British government constructs a massive wall along the border and orders Scotland a no-fly zone. Quarantining Scotland and leaving every citizen within its confines, infected or not, to die; Britain itself has now become cut off from the world.
25 years later when the virus had been thought to be contained and every citizen in Scotland dead: a small outbreak occurs in London forcing the Prime Minister (Alexander Siddig) and his villainous right-hand man Canaris (David O’ Hara) to enforce the help of Bill Nelson (Bob Hoskins) and his Department of Domestic Security team led by Major Eden Sinclair (Rhone Mitra, exploding onto the screen as a Linda Hamilton in T2 doppelganger).
Spotting a few survivors in Glasgow via satellite, the government determines that the brilliant Scottish scientist Dr. Kane, who was working on a cure before he was quarantined, might have made a cure after all.
The plan is to dispatch a small team into Scotland to find Dr. Kane and figure out the key to the survivors and before you can say ‘Aliens’ meets Snake Plissken, the DDS team which includes the usual ragtag group of hardened soldiers and pansy scientists, stumble upon a quick realization that a few helpless survivors is not all that occupies Glasgow…
I’ve noticed that other reviews have really gone into depth in describing what happens next but I find the film will work better if you discover the next developments for yourself. Needless to say, incessant violence, gore, action and chase sequences abound and most genre fans should be more than pleased with the amount of mayhem that unspools.
That said, I’ve found that this film has a real love/hate following with the hate camp dismissing the pic as nothing more than a string of blatant rip-off sequences, an unoriginal film void of any complex motivations.
The love faction, of which I consider myself a member, could argue that the “homage’s” (indeed enough to make Tarantino blush) are a love letter to the films Neil Marshall grew up with and he has no shame about deftly handling a film we all would have liked to see in the eighties.
And what separates Neil Marshall from, say, Eli Roth (who also makes no bones about borrowing) is that Marshall has genuine talent as a filmmaker where Roth just seems to emulate.
It is a fine line, I know, but there are standalone sequences in ‘Doomsday’ that has a verve and energy all its own that could stand up to some of the bust cult sequences of the eighties.
Some of this is due to the prevalent violence and gore that will make even hardened horror fans squirm in their seat (I never saw the rated version so I can’t say for sure but I believe that this is one time where that ‘Unrated’ banner really means something – one sequence makes me rule that ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ is now for pansies).
Certainly, the film isn’t perfect. It has a disjointed, unfocused feel here and there and the heroes outside of Rhona Mitra are barely sketched at best with the villains carrying on that eighties caricature tradition, but the cast carried by seasoned pros such as Bob Hoskins, Malcolm McDowell and David O’ Hara fill out the film nicely.
Rhona Mitra capably pulls off the female ‘Snake Plissken’ role and also gets my vote for being the next Tomb Raider if that franchise ever pops up again.
‘Doomsday’ makes its high-def debut with an outstanding 1080p/VC-1 encode. With the splatter of blood, gore, explosions and fire raging across the screen at any given moment, this encode could have proved difficult but everything looks exquisite.
Detail is flawless and contrast is spot-on so whether we’re visiting the deserted streets of Glasgow, the overpopulated streets of London or the beautiful landscapes of Scotland, the eye candy never stops.
It seems Universal wanted to come out swinging and swinging they did – this could be my new demo disc for all those high-def doubters out there.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is also demo worthy with enough forceful, aggressive speaker action to wake the dead. Rear channels are brimming with abundant ambiance and the action, quieter dialogue moments and score all add up to make the experience that much more immersive.
Special features include an audio commentary from writer/director Neil Marshall and actors Darren Morfitt, Rick Warden, Sean Pertwee and Les Simpson. It’s a good listen for fans but it’s slightly perplexing that the actors included had comparatively light roles – I can understand why Hoskins and McDowell might not be attainable but where’s Rhona Mitra?
Next is the Blu-ray exclusive ‘U-Control’ track, a Universal PiP feature that was carried over from their HD-DVD days. An essentially on-the-fly track that allows users to access featurettes, interviews and trivia while watching the film.
Obviously meant for second and third viewings considering you don’t want to be skimming through trivia and text while watching the film for the first time, this is a fun way to check out all the content as it relates to specific areas in the film.
There’s also a ‘U-Control’ menu to access the various info and featurettes from the track directly without sitting through the film if patience isn’t one of your virtues.
To sum up, Universal knocks this Blu-ray release out of the park with faultless video/audio and a ‘U-Control’ special feature track that will give high-def owners their money’s worth.
On the film itself, if you try to overanalyze, you might be missing the point. Marshall was aiming for a gore-filled, action-packed, eighties-type thrill ride and on that account; I believe he delivers the goods.
Doomsday [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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