Release Date:
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Skinny: An über-trendy "mystery virus" wipes out nearly all of Scotland, forcing the British government to wall it up and call it a day. Several years later, they send in an operative (Rhona Mitra) in the vague hopes that a cure lies somewhere in the freakish wasteland.
Reminded Us Of… Escape From New York, 28 Days Later, Mad Max, and Escape From New York. That's not a misprint, it just reminded us of Escape way too much.
The Good: OK, so we were a little less kind to this movie when it hit theaters, but Doomsday's ridiculous B-movie vibe actually plays better on DVD, because it actually feels like one of those so-bad-it's-good cable movies you used to stumble on at 3 A.M. But thanks to Blu-ray, it looks a hell of a lot nicer than those Jeff Fahey vehicles of old. And it is actually nice to see Mitra getting some attention—she's an underrated action hottie.
The Bad: The movie really is nothing more than a greatest hits album. Call it Now That's What I Call Early '80s Sci-Fi Action Vol. 1. Director Neil Marshall doesn't so much pay homage to classic movies, he rips them off wholesale. No need to remake Mad Max or Escape From New York, 'cause he's done it already.
Best Extra: The "U-Control" function on the Blu-ray discs allows you to preset which special features you want readily available during the movie, and lets you access bonus material as the movie plays. Now that one format rules them all, more studios will be playing around with functionality in this way.
CHECK OUT AN EXCLUSIVE CLIP FROM DOOMSDAY.
Reminded Us Of… Escape From New York, 28 Days Later, Mad Max, and Escape From New York. That's not a misprint, it just reminded us of Escape way too much.
The Good: OK, so we were a little less kind to this movie when it hit theaters, but Doomsday's ridiculous B-movie vibe actually plays better on DVD, because it actually feels like one of those so-bad-it's-good cable movies you used to stumble on at 3 A.M. But thanks to Blu-ray, it looks a hell of a lot nicer than those Jeff Fahey vehicles of old. And it is actually nice to see Mitra getting some attention—she's an underrated action hottie.
The Bad: The movie really is nothing more than a greatest hits album. Call it Now That's What I Call Early '80s Sci-Fi Action Vol. 1. Director Neil Marshall doesn't so much pay homage to classic movies, he rips them off wholesale. No need to remake Mad Max or Escape From New York, 'cause he's done it already.
Best Extra: The "U-Control" function on the Blu-ray discs allows you to preset which special features you want readily available during the movie, and lets you access bonus material as the movie plays. Now that one format rules them all, more studios will be playing around with functionality in this way.
CHECK OUT AN EXCLUSIVE CLIP FROM DOOMSDAY.