When DD Video released the first season of Survivors on DVD, it used the tagline "28 years later..." It was an appropriate reference since both Terry Nation's 1970s series and 28 Days Later see a plague outbreak decimating the population.

Survivors isn't the only sci-fi classic that 28 Days Later borrows from. The opening scenes as bike messenger Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up in a hospital are similar to the opening of The Day of the Triffids, while zombie movies and the plantation scene in Apocalypse Now Redux are also mentioned as sources of inspiration on the commentary track.

The plague, which is described as "pure rage", is unleashed when animal rights activists attack a research lab, and infected monkeys escape. As with Survivors, the infection spreads rapidly so that by the time Jim wakes up after 28 days in coma, the infected outnumber the rest.

Leaving the hospital, Jim finds London deserted, but soon has a run in with a group of infected. Fortunately, two survivors, Selena and Mark, help him escape and are able to bring him up to speed regarding the infection.

Another element that the film borrows from The Day of the Triffids is the "light in the night", which introduces Frank and his teenage daughter Hannah, before a recorded message promising the "answer to infection" leads the party to drive to Manchester.

It turns out that the answer to infection isn't there at all. Instead the group find a small group of army soldiers lead by Christopher Eccleston. To say what happens after this would be to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't seen it.

For a single disc release, 28 Days Later comes with an impressive amount of extras. In fact, it probably would have been better spread over two discs, with the film on one and the extras on the other as the film itself doesn't look that great. Some of this is deliberate, and due to the Digital Video cameras used, but it also suffers from compression problems, which suggests at least some of it is down to the transfer to DVD.

Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland provide a very good commentary track. As well as discussing how scenes were shot, the pair also explain how the film changed as it was being made and explain some concepts that aren't 100% clear on screen.

The pair's commentary is also available on an option on the deleted scenes, explaining why the scenes were cut (for example, the one on the underground train would have contradicted the scene on top of the tower block that appears in the finished film). These are mostly timecoded and in 4:3, and for some reason the out of sync dialogue on one was left uncorrected. There's no "play all" option, which is a bit annoying as the viewer has to manually select each of the eight clips in order to watch them.

The deleted scenes also explain the absence of one of the main characters in the alternate ending. However, there's also a more radical ending that is shown in story board fashion with Boyle reading the dialogue and Garland the directions. The main path makes this option a little hard to find, which is a shame and it's a very interesting look at how the final third of the film could have worked out. Towards the end Boyle explains a problem that they were unable to resolve, and the remainder of the film is sketched out in less detailed fashion. However, it's still a fascinating look at how the film could have ended.

Another highly interesting extra is the photo gallery, again with commentary by commentary from Danny Boyle. Using a stills photographer on a film set appears to be a dying art, which is why we get such poor and uninteresting photos used to promote them. However, 28 Days Later was lucky enough to have its own stills photographer Peter Mountain, which makes this a highly enjoyable 18 minute extra. There's also a smaller gallery of Polaroids, used for continuity purposes.

Pure Rage is subtitled "the making of 28 Days Later", but although it does feature some behind-the-scenes footage and some of the cast and crew, it spends just as much time looking at the possibility of a pandemic as the making of the film.

There are the obligatory trailers, including one that originally appeared on the film's UK website, while the Jacknife Lee music video condenses the film into around six minutes.

Clocking in at around 110 minutes, 28 Days Later struggles to maintain its early momentum through to its blood soaked finale. But however flawed the film is, this DVD includes an impressive level of extras that adds a lot to the film itself. It's just a shame that Fox didn't opt for a two disc approach. back to the top

28 DAYS LATER

Written by ALEX GARLAND

Directed by DANNY BOYLE

Starring CILLIAN MURPHY,
NAOMIE HARRIS,
CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON,
MEGAN BURNS, BRENDAN GLEESON


20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT

REGION 2 DVD (CERTIFICATE 18)


RATING: 8/10