Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Note: This covers all details of the original Special Edition and the new Deluxe Edition of the DVD’s.

This was my very first Epinions review which I wrote after seeing Resident Evil in the theatre. I’ve been meaning to update it with the DVD info. With Apocalypse right around the corner and a new version of the DVD released I thought there would be no better time to do so. If you’re wondering about the differences between the DVD versions you’ve come to the right review.

I know what you're thinking, "Oh no, not another video game movie attempt." But, though Tomb Raider was pretty good, Resident Evil is easily the best video game adaptation yet. I’ve been surprised at how many game fans hate this movie. It would be one thing if I was an outsider wondering why they hate it, but I’m a game fan, too. I bought a Playstation specifically so I could play the original RE and have spent far more hours than I should have with a controller in my hand. I got the director’s cut even though I had the original to see all the added stuff (not as much as advertised, by the way). I even hooked the Playstation up to the PC to copy the theme songs so I could listen to them whenever I want. I have since played and beaten in every possible scenario of each of the Playstation games (except Tofu, still trying to beat it). This, of course, made me excited about the movie, but also resulted in one of my cons (dealing with the story, more on that in a minute). So why do I hold such a different view of the movie from so many other game fans? If you figure it out, let me know.

For a monster action movie it’s really good; a guilty pleasure of sorts for me since I have become mostly bored with uberviolent movies. I can’t remember the last time I actually enjoyed watching a movie with Jason, Freddy, Chuckie, Mike Meyers, etc. in it. This isn’t exactly the same thing, but it does have a computer killing people in exaggeratedly gruesome ways, dead people trying to eat the hero, and bloodthirsty monsters stalking the halls. Situations are created to slice and dice and rip apart a great many people simply for the sake of creating gross effects, not a movie for the queasy. I loved gore when I was 14, now I want plot and story development (or dazzling Martial Arts). Thankfully RE delivers enough plot along with some familiar game elements to keep my attention. I think mood is important. With RE there are, of course, plenty of cheap jump-out-and-scare-you gags, but I found the overall feel pleasantly suspenseful unlike the typical slasher flicks I’ve seen.

The end is a little too wide-open which will hopefully play well into the sequel, but could be disappointing for a lot of viewers that like everything neatly tied up at the end. I thought the directing was quite good (pacing, shot framing, etc. though I would have enjoyed something closer to Tim Burton’s style of grimness or Alfred Hitchcock’s show less, imagine more kind of approach rather than the blood and gore) and the acting is way above average for a horror gore-fest type movie.

Before I go any further I’d better tell you about the plot. You didn’t expect much plot did you? Maybe that’s why I was impressed with it since I wasn’t expecting any. Umbrella has a secret, underground lab the entrance to which is disguised and guarded by a mansion. Experiments include work on the T Virus which reanimates dead organisms. It doesn’t revive them or restore them, just reanimates their rotting husks as long as there is some capacity for brain activity. That doesn’t mean that the living aren’t affected. It essentially mutates or kills (depending on certain circumstances) the host within a few hours then quickly reanimates them as well. Someone has released the virus into the ventilation system which causes the sophisticated computer defense systems to contain it resulting in the deaths of any potentially infected employees (as in all of them). A strike force, thinking the computer systems have malfunctioned, infiltrates the lab to shut down the defenses and evaluate the situation. Upon entering the mansion they encounter Alice. She has awakened naked in the tub without any memory of who she is, in other words utterly defenseless and disoriented. Her husband Spencer is missing. Another man, Matt, whose background and purpose is in question, is taken prisoner after breaking into the mansion (talk about bad timing!). It’s man against machine, then it gets weirder and it’s man against zombie, then it gets weirder again and it’s man against monster. During the fiasco Alice begins remembering who she is, and Matt begins unraveling the mystery of his connection to Umbrella. The result connects them in ways they would never have imagined.

The pieces of the mysteries are slowly revealed and not completely predictable (though I’m sure some viewers figured it out). The ending is not what I had predicted, and some characters I thought would surely live don’t. I thought it was a twistedly fitting end/segue to the sequel, not at all typical while still being satisfying.

One of the cons for me is that the story has little to do with the original game story line. From one point of view it’s for the best. I figure they are adding to rather than retelling the existing game story. Too much overlap would create more inconsistencies. As it is at the starting point of the game the puzzles and whatnot in the mansion can be mostly chalked up to automated defenses kicking in and more creatures having time to roam around. The involvement of other Umbrella officials could also explain it since the game tells about the STARS members being test subjects. I like the new story enough that the movie isn't ruined because of it, but I would at least like to have some familiar names like Chris, Jill, Leon, or Claire. There are no STARS members at all though that will be rectified by the sequel. Also, the only monsters from the game are the zombies (duh! It wouldn't be RE without them), the dogs, and a Licker. There is no Tyrant like the one in the game, no hunters, killer plants, or giant spiders. I’m glad the mansion is featured but would like more of it and/or some shots of exactly replicated rooms from the game. It does keep the spirit of RE and that’s what saves it from being a flop in my eyes even if more familiar elements would have been better.

I loved the first appearance of the Licker! It gave me chills unlike any movie monster in recent memory and harkened back to a memorable scene in game 2. Later appearances suffer from poor animation. They aren’t all bad all the time, but the realism is spoiled in a couple of scenes due to the appearance of the creature.

So let’s recap: story – better written than most gore movies, mood – not necessarily scary but suspenseful, acting – considerably better than what I expected, animation/creatures – weak with the exception of the first showing of the Licker, zombie makeup/gore – better than the creatures, action/fighting – too unbelievable at times but mostly decent, game references – enough to be interesting every once in a while but not like you stepped into the game.

Content:
I’ve already described the violence a bit, it’s gruesome and non-stop. The language is pretty bad. There are 2 flashes of nudity when we first see Alice and near the very end plus some partial nudity, a few quick flashes of a sex scene, and some sexual dialogue. Any way you look at it this is not a movie fit for the young.

The DVD
There are 3 versions out that I know of: the first Special Edition, the newer Deluxe Edition, and the Superbit (enhanced picture). I haven’t seen the Superbit myself, but from what I’ve read it doesn’t have the extras that the other releases do. Basically you’re trading extra features for the enhanced picture.

Special Edition:
The packaging is good: plastic case and all that. The cover art is terrific. The audio is a great sounding 5.1 and the picture anamorphic widescreen (1:85). The menus have some great animation and fitting music. They are easy and even fun to navigate. They feature a motif of the 3D diagram of the Hive floor plan – different menus are in different sections with different members of the team.

Now to the extras. The commentary is well worth hearing. It features director Paul, stars Milla and Michelle, and others. It’s fun hearing them give each other a hard time and tell stories. It’s as unsuitable for children as the movie itself full of sexual dialogue and bad language. What’s particularly interesting is hearing Milla’s views on why zombie violence is better than real violence.

Slipknot’s video for My Plague is included. I’m not a fan of the band and not particularly impressed by the song or the video.

There are 5 behind the scenes clips covering the movie in general, the score, costumes, set design, and zombie make up tests. The zombie tests section is short and pretty gruesome, but they’re all interesting and edited well. There’s not much else exciting: a trailer, filmographies for 5 people, and 5 preview trailers.

Deluxe Edition:
I’m more than a little annoyed that they have re-released Resident Evil, not because I don’t want the features it offers but I think they should do it right the first time. It’s a petty problem to complain about in the big scheme of things, but I have a hard enough time getting all the movies I want once. Yet I’m too obsessed with my DVD collection to not have the most comprehensive version available. If it weren’t for the RE2 movie ticket I wouldn’t have gotten the Deluxe Edition and still almost passed on it. I finally decided that since I was going to pay $7 to see RE2 anyway so the extra features on the new release were worth $7.

Unfortunately for anyone not able to see both versions neither one has all the extras available on the other. If you’re going to release the movie again, at least give us back everything that was on the original! Still, there are only a couple not included. The music video is gone. I’ve heard rumors of it being included as an Easter Egg, but I can’t find it. That may be for a different region. I don’t miss the video much anyway. What I do miss is the Making Of behind the scenes feature (the one that covers the movie in general). That’s the one big thing you’re giving up.

Here are the specifics on what you do get. Plastic case again. Sound and video is the same (1.85 Anamorphic Widescreen, 5.1 surround sound). I didn’t notice any major differences in quality of either one compared to the Special Edition. DE adds Spanish and Portuguese audio tracks and subtitles to the already included English (of course) and French.

The cover art is different. SE has Milla on the cover with the movie title across the middle. DE is more of a Matrix Revolutions kind of cover with 4 panes having different images. It has a dark tint and is glossy. As much as I like the zombie dog image, it’s just not as good-looking as the Milla cover. The insert has a small image of the same dog, but other than that it’s just ads for other DVD’s. There’s not even a stupid chapter list. How hard is it to reprint the chapters from the first release? The chapters themselves are exactly the same right down to the names on the menu.

The interface is not as good either. I kept thinking this was supposed to be an improved release, except for some features I have yet to see any improvements. The animation is reduced to next to nothing, and there’s no creative theme (like the Hive tour in the SE). They are decent enough menus just not an improvement over the old ones. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

As I said most of the extras carry over although the zombie make-up tests are hidden. Go to the Previews menu and highlight the dog’s eyes. Paul suggests that there might be another hidden feature with Milla doing test shots in the Hive, but I’ve been through the DVD backwards and forwards and scoured the internet looking for the Egg access. If it’s there I can’t find it.

We get a second commentary dealing with the visual effects. It’s not nearly as entertaining as the cast commentary, but it is interesting. If there aren’t any effects on screen Paul gets Richard to talk about other movies he’s done like Blade Runner. It’s better than listening to dead air.

The alternate ending is not as great as I had hoped. There’s only a minute or two of actual footage and not all that much to it. Paul hosts it which makes it a little better, but it’s definitely not worth making a purchase decision over.

The behind the scenes features are where you get most of the info. There’s a Play All option for them which is always nice to have. 3 are from the original release and 8 are new. The Game to Movie is lengthy and arguably the best of all the BTS features from both releases. It talks about video games in general, RE, and adapting RE. It has several shots of game graphics which is just about my favorite part. I would love to have had more comparison material.
The Laser is another long one and one of the next best. How did they make Colin fall apart like they did? Here’s a graphic look. This is one topic I had been most disappointed at not having on the SE.
You also get features on the zombies and the dogs showing their make up and stunts. The train and elevator give good looks at miniatures. The creature shows the mutated Licker puppets. And the storyboards talk about then show the art compared to the movie.

The fimographies are back although they have a different look to them. The trailer is back.

A scene from RE2 is included although it doesn’t give an accurate idea of what the bulk of the movie is about. Trust me on that one, I saw the sequel before I even saw this clip. You might want to be aware that it does contain nudity though it's not sexual.

The trailers are different. The most notable of them is the RE2 which combines footage from RE1 with an Umbrella commercial shot specifically for the trailer. Nothing in the trailer is in the movie, but it’s a neat trailer.

And last on the list is the DVD-ROM. It’s just a self-contained DVD player and web links.

My final recommendation is to rent it if you like zombie/horror/gore movies. It’s a good purchase if you collect horrors or Resident Evil related things, but the light extras don’t demand a lot of time making a rental enough time to enjoy everything. It does not get 4* for a few reasons: the monsters could have looked better, the game references could have been more numerous or more precise, they could have released 1 double-disc DVD with all the features instead of separate releases, and the 2nd release could have been more of an improvement (or at least remained as good). If you plan to see RE2 and plan to get RE1 anyway, there is no better opportunity than right now while you can get a free ticket. When I give it 3* understand that most gore movies will do good to get a 2* from me.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age