Doomsday

jq · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 1124

It is sort of amazing to me, how much of the same ideas are used movie after movie when it comes to end-times scenarios. With 28 days later, then children of men, then I am Legend, and now Doomsday, it is amazing just how much these movies have in common.

For example, in all of these movies, there is some sort of disease outbreak and the government responds by quarantining everybody. In all of these movies, citizens break off into the huge factions that resemble zombies. In 3/4 of these movies, the people ARE zombies. And in 3/4 of these movies, the setting is in the UK.

I had to think about for a minute why it is that the UK is the most popular place for zombie take overs, government quarantines, and massive conspiracies. The only conclusion I can come to is that the UK resembles the USA in culture, but the size of the island is much smaller. Thus making it easier for a hack/writer to make his story work.

See, it is a hard sell to talk about the US qurantining off a huge chunk of our country because lets face it-- we really are a pretty big piece of land, with immediate neighbors north and south of us. The UK though, being a small island with no land neighbors, makes for easy story telling.

That's really just a guess though.

Nothing separates Doomsday from other movies of its type, save for the extreme amount of violence and the better-than-usual action sequences.

For the record, the action really is cool. Very well done. Though the movie is as cliche all hell, and brings no new ideas to the concept of an epidemnic that causes huge government conspiracies, etc, the movie seems entertaining the whole way through.

Even though, if you really think about it, man is this story dumb. It would never work as a book. Who knows, maybe it is a book, but if so, it would have to be one shitty thing to read. If you take away the cool action scenes, you have a movie which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I could spell out why, but I don't think it is necessary. Just imagine 28 days later, and make it sillier, (crappier,) more violent, and less original. Then you'll get the idea.

2/4*

Hiedi · Joined: 31 Jan 2008 Posts: 97

Kizzume · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:30 pm Post subject:

I Am Legend was actually quite good.

There's a movie that I wish I could remember the name of where a nuclear bomb is going to land in the U.S. and this guy finds out about it through a strange call at a payphone and tries to find a way to get to another part of the world and as everyone starts to find out, everything gets chaotic--I just wish I could remember the name.... damnit--well, anyway, that was probably one of my favorite end-of-world kinds of movies.

Hackfest · Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 413

I believe you are thinking of Miracle Mile, which came out in 1989.

jq · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 1124

Hiedi · Joined: 31 Jan 2008 Posts: 97

I am getting ready to watch I am Legend. Hopefully, it won't be too scary.

jq · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 1124

Hiedi · Joined: 31 Jan 2008 Posts: 97

jq · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 1124

This is the problem with the idea that if there is a global disease, the result will be zombies; no matter how realistic you make the zombies (they were actually human actors in 28 days later ) the idea that people who are super malnutritioned and and diseased all of a sudden being able to jump as high as spiderman and instantly kick through doors is ridiculous. Yet, almost every movie about a government quarantine has super-strong zombies in the script.