Resident Evil
| release date | March 15 2002 |
| studio | Sony Screen Gems |
| director | Paul W.S. Anderson |
| writer | Paul W.S. Anderson, George Romero |
| starring | Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius and James Purefoy |
| rating | R |
| tagline | A secret experiment. A deadly virus. A fatal mistake. |
| site | resident-evil-the-movie.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
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While Resident Evil does not have the scares the games do, it is a good action-horror, and leaves you on the edge of your seat and eager to see the next movie.
A very decent action-horror movie, with a powerful character, lot of zombies and a great ending.
great.
What do you expect from Paul W.S Anderson but trashy, laughable movies. I hate him but really enjoyed this film. It’s a good popcorn film, or as my father used to say “Bubble Gum for the eyes”.
It doesn’t really follow the game at all (And I’m a geeky fan of the games). But I enjoyed it because it looked like a computer game anyway.
Fun to watch
AMAZING!
The best part of “Resident Evil” is its ending, which is far better than the film preceding it deserves. Paul W.S. Anderson is a director I look out for, and not because I’m “seeking” his films out but rather because I’m avoiding them. If there is one thing he can do, however, it is make a visually interesting film.
I find the error of his ways to be due to his bad choices in casting and writing. “Resident Evil” falls flat mainly due to its weak and thread-thin plot, which Anderson almost attempts to make complex and more self-important than it is with a “plot twist”. Some of the parts of the film are laughable, and Anderson is so bent on drawing in the teenage male demographic that he even resulting to using “Matrix” stylized wire-fu. Sadly, I’m guessing this worked because we know have a handful of sequels of even lesser quality.
I do believe that “Resident Evil” is among the better video-game adaptations existing currently, though it is obvious that video game adaptations haven’t received the kind of serious treatment that comic book films have undergone as of lately when this is among the best we have to speak about.
See it, but keep your expectations in check and your brain at the door. Hell, just through it out a goddamn window.
this movie wasnt scary to me, but the story line was good.zombies, infections, bio-weapons, mutant dogs, what more could you ask for in a movie! it was a good movie, and the actors were good. milla kicked ass!
milla was kickass i give all the movies 10. the first one was kinda scary but the rest cool, so are the games.
I LOVE all of the Resident Evil movies LOVE they r the best 10 10 10
First off, I am the biggest fan of the games there is. I own and beat all the new ones (GameCube to present), and played the older ones. I would kill a man to get a copy of RE5 before March of next year. The game are so amazing because they’re scarier than any movie I’ve ever seen. The atmosphere, the camera angles . . . the games reek of terror, thus they’re amazing.
This movie was not an adaption of any of the RE games. It didn’t even come close to matching their terror. There were a few RE elements: the opening with Alice waking up and putting on the dress, and the ending. Those two things were exactly like the games, and deserve a perfect 10 . . .
. . . except the other 3/4ths of the movie lagged, hardcore. Some of the lines were absolutely terrible. Some of the zombies scenes weren’t that great, and didn’t echo the intensity the game has. Add some boring stretches, some lame environments, lame characters (minus Alice), and all that unused potential the games had for movie form.
All that said, I liked this better than a lot of lame zombie movies I’ve seen—including Romero. Why? Because pretty much every zombie movie is stale and boring after you’ve played zombie games like Dead Rising, Resident Evil 4, and the upcoming Bikini Zombie Slayers. Movies just can’t mirror the intensity of having 100 zombies come after you. They just use boring talking scenes, have a few zombie attacks every now and then, and call it a movie. Whereas zombie games you are CONSTANTLY doing something, constantly killing zombies or being killed by them.
That’s why most every zombie movie I have seen sucked. They can’t match the game intensity. Not even close. Though 30 Days of Night was a vampire movie, I think that is closer to game-level intensity than any zombie movie out there.
This movie doesn’t quite match the games in that intensity or scariness, but it’s a step forward with it.
Though it’s not as well-made as some of the other zombie movies I’ve seen, I find it superior because it has that true zombie-terror feel. I’d take this over Night of the Living Dead any day of my life.
I really liked it!
This Is My Favorite RE..All The Actors Did A Good Job…Great Movie
(Please Note: This is a review of the September 2007 DVD re-release of “Resident Evil/Resident Evil:Apocalypse-Resurrection Edition” DVD Box Set. The rating is based on the whole DVD content presentation.)
For those who haven’t seen probably the most successful adaptation of a video game to live-action film franchise, you might get a kick out of Resident Evil. Starring Milla Jovovich as Alice, a chief security officer for Raccoon City’s Umbrella Corporation. Within Umbrella’s secret lab called The Hive, a deadly T-Virus accidently gets released, turning most living things into blood-thirsty zombies. Alice, with strange implanted memories haunting her as well, must find a way to stop the virus with a group of various similarly heroic characters, ending up with one last battle with a very large super mutant in end’s way.
Sound like a video game? Well both the first and second chapter here at times plays out like one, even though minus a few established characters, the storyline here veers off the original plot laid out by Capcom’s original playable ones. But to the moderate, and even the more dedicated ones like myself, Resident Evil is a decent addition into Zombiedom. Of course it’s not going to surpass original works like 80′s Italian fare or George Romero’s original trilogy (even though he was rumored to direct/write the first installment, only to be turned away), but there has been worse Zombie films and Jovovich does do a good job playing the lead.
As for this new re-release combo of the first two films, I was expecting the cheap way out with maybe the original ’02 release one discer of the first movie packaged with the Disc One of the sequel. But surprisingly that’s not the case. The discs in this set are a brand new piece, with Disc One having BOTH movies on the same DVD-9 single sided, dual layer disc. This was very cool, with a brand new menu with one movie per layer, with only two audio tracks (5.1 English/French). You’d expect that the bitrate would be very low for these movies, but since this was re-encoded in 2007, both movie’s rate seem very high, and picture looking superb for SD. As for the second disc, it’s a mixed bag. If you were expecting all the bonus features from the 2 Disc individual releases, forget it. Since this release was made just to promote the theatrical release of the third film, ’07′s somewhat disapointing Extinction, they mostly deal with sneak peeks of it. However, there are a few extras outside of Number Three, but they all deal with Apocalypse, so no behind-the-scenes of the original, not to mention the films themselves are missing their commentaries from those as well. There is a neat trivia game on Disc Two with some pretty hardcore questions on Apocalypse, but they could have easily given us more than what they did.
Overall, this is a great way to get the first two films at a good price if all you’re really looking for is the movies and a morsel of extras. As I write this, it’s been a year since this was released and I doubt it will be in print for much longer due to Extinction now old news on DVD. But if you don’t own the first two films and have interest in modern-day Zombies I’d suggest picking it up cheap, then if you really, really like the films, spend the extra buck and buy the extensive 2 Disc versions and with Extinction, or wait for a possible complete boxset in the future.
(RedSabbath Rating:8.0/10)
why is george romero listed as a writer to this film? this is news to me, if this is true this should have been a better movie than it was overhyped to be
great zombie action
I loved it. I remember when this first came out I was so excited that they were going to make a movie about the awesome game franchise. Great movie followed by an even better sequel.
I really dig this movie and think it deserves some of the credit for bringing the zombie film back.
Bad. Just Bad. Don’t follow the games.
i loved this movie, but a little tiny problem i had was that it did not live up to the hype like other zombie films do…
I really didnt expect much from this movie just b/c it was based on a video game but i was wrong. I loved it. It was actually a good action horror flick and it sure beat the hell out of doomsday for me. after doomsday i told myself i wouldn’t watch another movie like it and i felt weird about renting this but i am sure glad i did. too bad the sequels werent as good.
Good movie.
HUGE fan of the games this was ok for a stand alone not resident evil….but it was alright i guess?
Poor Video Game Adaption. Horrible Absoulty Horrible. Only reason it scores a 2 is because i somewhat enjoyed the look of the monster on the train
I truly believe that a movie that is based 100% on the Resident Evil games (with the exception of 0) would be the scariest horror films ever. When I heard they were doing a movie I was stoked. Then you get none of the core characters. You get the “licker” at the end, and the beginning of the Nemesis. It’s just total bull crap, and a slap in the face to all Resident Evil die-hards.
Yaaaaaawn. Ugly and an insult to the video game. OMG! It’s Michelle Rodriguez playing a bad ass I’m not going to take any of your shit chick! Surprise surprise!
this movie was great, the fact that they even thought of making a movie from the video game is amazing. although it doesnt have many elenents from the video games, its very good, it doesnt have to have all the elements. apart from that i enjoyed this movie. but the games are much better.
Great movie and from a huge fan of the games I say this… They didn’t follow the game, but brought a great story to it anyways… I truely enjoyed this movie each time I’ve seen it and recommend it for any fan of horror… Hate can only be made because of the differences from the game to the movie, but its a new identity.
surprisingly mediocre. I saw this in the theater and was expecting crap… and it was actually two clicks north of garbage!
where to begin, ohh here we go. This movie wasn’t gold, no it was a disk in a plastic case the secret is watching the movie that is where the gold comes in at. Although the movie did not follow the games I love how Capcom tried an all new direction so I give major props. This movie had everything from laser grid walls to the infamous Lickers. This movie seemed to have multiple climax’s leaving the audience with endless pleasure, sounds like every girlfriend I’ve ever had. Also there was a proven study saying anyone who didn’t like the resident evil movies was too busy in a foursome with two homeless guys? PimpNasty out!
i enjoyed it
its good i enjoyed it
Zombies, acion, horror, good script, awesome performances… I really like it. I know that it isn’t a good adaptation, but it’s simply visual and intense and the movie works.
I haven’t words to say what I felt in the laser scene…
WOW, is how I describe this Movie that seemed to bring back the Zombie Format and making it something superb! I went into this movie initially with little expectation and was quickly Blown Away immediately following the ‘Elevator” Scene, and from there it was a Roller Coaster of Fun, Fright and Fears! Milla Jovovich’s Alice is a great Heroine, ranked right up there with Ripley, Laurie, and dare I say Buffy! She kicks Ass and looks great doing it! The affects in the Movie were spectacular especially the “you slicem and dicem” security/blue rays…As a Fan of the Zombie Movie, this one ranks High on my list and I highly Recommend it to anyone who just wants to have a good time watching something with intelligence, nerve and sophistication, and who says Horror can’t have these elements and still be taken seriously! The War in Raccoon City rages On!!
One of the greatest films of all time
One of the best game adaptions
brilliant loved the flick, i think this is my favourite video game adaptation and milla Jovovich is awesome in it and gorgeous
A okay movie, not a big zombie movie fan but I love the resident evil games and this did not disapoint
This movie is so boring. Its all run and shoot and theres no small talk between. I had no motivation to like any of the characters.
Initially watching this movie when it came out I was very disapointed. But re-visiting the film twice, I realize the reason I didn’t like it was because it was attached to the Resident Evil name and did not follow the original story.
Now that i’m able to look past that. This is a very fun zombie flick and it spawned what I would say is a decent trilogy. Resident Evil 2 (Apocalypse) is the weakest link imo
If for whatever reason you havent seen this, pick it up, its worth it.
The most frequent point of critique heart about this movie is its divergence from the original game. But then you have to keep in mind what plot the game offers – I just say: Giant snake in the chimney! In my opinion it was a wise choice to reduce the story line to its basic elements. However, this also means to replace/modify the original characters. Original characters running around in a new plot would even increase the impression of breaking with the game story.
The best to do is not to think of this movie as a RE 1 adaption, but as a general Best Of. Is it a Best Of, though? I dare say yes. It is quickly paced without looking rushed, it delivers sufficient blood and some rather cool (and unanticipated) kills. Sure, not everybody will love this movie, but no one will waste their time by watching it.
I love this movie! It’s so friggin entertaining! Seriously, get yourselves some nacho’s, some West Coast Cooler and you’re sorted!
Of all the RE films, this one in the best. Milla is fantastic and of course gorgeous and there’s a good blend of horror and action. I just wish there would have been more zombie carnage but other then that, I love it.
Great film, one of the most action packed zombie flicks ever.But it still seemed to be missing something.Milla is kick ass though!
This in’t a Romero classic but it is still pretty good. Milla was solid as Alice. The only thing that I don’t like is that it has close to nothing to the games. That is what stopped this Zombie Action Blockbuster from being perfect. Pretty Awesome
Big fan of the game I really enjoyed this film.
`Resident Evil’ is a typical Video game adaptations made into Movie which I thought was pretty well made (as I have never played the game I’ve seen one of my mates play & it looks really good game), the film has alright visual effects but nothing special, while the make-up was terrific, also the movie dose star out slow but it all pieces itself at the end & is an ok Zombie movie to watch & enjoy.
The genre of the film Action, Horror, Thriller & Sci-Fi were, while the theme, style, texture & elements, Paul W.S. Anderson did a great storyline/plot & really good directs for the movie and the acting was really decent for character wise by Milla Jovovich (which she had some cool moves in the movie), Michelle Rodriguez (she always an action women in film & as always she’s brilliant in the roles of action ladies), Eric Mabius, James Purefoy & the rest of the cast & unknown cast were well acted, soo all in all of that the actors did pretty well and brilliant taste in the music & tune of the film.
This is meant to be a Zombie movie, while it was a great Zombie movie but it did have as much scare or thrills then I thought it would, but did give me some jumps and you could tell at the end of the film there were going to be sequels, while the ending was great to (as you could see everything of Milla Jovovich and I mean everything).
I’m not a gamer, therefore I don’t know to what extent this is comparable with the video games – but what I know is that this is a quite mediocre action/horror/zombie-film. Milla Jovovich is (and looks) brilliant, the rest of the cast is quite lame. Some great fast-paced and action-packed scenes, but sadly hardly any atmosphere or tension and undoubtedly some of the lamest zombies I’ve ever seen.
Of the series of movies this on is the best and will most likely stay the best.
They keep ruining the games with each p.o.s movie they put out.
It makes me sad as I am a fan of the games.
Ohh i hated this one, bad acting, some good kills like the laser one, kool zombies, an alright story line so ill give this a 7, cause it was kinda good for me:)
This is definitely the best entry in the series. It was simple Alice and the crew battle the undead, none of that other bullshit the sequels have managed to add to the story. I like that they stayed true to the games, but I wish they would have made Jill Valentine the main character, but other than that, great movie.
I really liked this movie,it was good and it had a good action and really beautiful zombies on it.
I remember when I first heard about a “Resident Evil” movie being made years ago. I was so excited and couldn’t imagine what it was going to be like.
When I heard that Romero himself was originally hired on to write and direct the film I knew it was going to be an instant classic. Then the news came… CAPCOM’s rejection of his script and someone new was hired on board to direct… I was devastated. After that, only a few rumors surfaced about the film focusing on a single female lead role. Of course I could only think that it had to be the one and only “Jill Valentine” but then the full story was released and I realized it was about a girl that had never appeared in the series. (Of course I’m referring to Alice)
I knew it wasn’t going to follow the same story as the first game in the series and I had mixed feelings about the whole thing. I eventually saw the film and was surprised at how good it actually was. It wasn’t the “Resident Evil” that I had pictured it to be but it still had the same feelings and elements that the game had.
Even to this day this movie still gets a bad rap but it actually works. It’s not a bad film at all. It has a clever storyline that hold lots of hidden foreshadowing, the acting is believable, the effects are not over the top nor cheesy, and the film moves at a very comfortable pace.
Even though a small part of me still wanted to see a film that had the STARS team trapped inside the Spencer Estate, I’m perfectly happy with this film as being the first adaptation of the Resident Evil series.
Easily the best in the series, but that isn’t saying much.
Resident Evil…
When this was announced I had to sit down and take a breath one of my all time favorite games was getting a movie and the trailer looked awesome.
Then I saw it… and it was ok. Nothing to great and I forgot all about it until I saw the trailer for 2.
It would have been all well and good if it was just about a new set of characters all together but they did try to tie in some homages to the games, basically I feel like Paul W.S. Anderson maybe read a few pages of a walkthrough online and said yeah thats good lets do this. It at no point felt like the games to me, and that was the biggest let down of all. Also why does Alice have to kick so much ass in the movies? (I mean literally not like she is awesome or anything)
Umbrella seemed to be mildley retarded in this film why don’t they know whats going on? Why dont they have control over it? and why if it’s a biohazard team for recovery and such is HUNK not featured?
Overall it was ok. and thats the best thing I can say about it.
This is a fun and entertaining film.
I am a Milla Jovovich freak. This movie is great. With all the Zombie movies that’s been put out I’ve grown tired of zombies however, This series of movies never get old to me.
Awesome movie i own all the Resident Evil’s On DVD.
Has a sci/horror action movie its a enjoyable, stylish if forgettable popcorn flick, but has a adaption its pretty fucking awful. Oh well
I’ve loved Milla Jovovich since seeing her adorable performance in The Fifth Element so when I heard she’d be staring in a movie adaptation in one of my favourite video games, I was more than excited.
Resident Evil can be described with one word: average. It’s not particularly scary, the jumps are incredibly predictable (and are even hinted at seconds before they actually happen) and it’s nothing like the game (much like Silent Hill).
Milla’s character, Alice, is kick-ass and definitely serves well as a heroine. The two lead male characters are also fun to watch especially with the ‘twist’ at the end. I really disliked Michelle Rodriguez’s character; the whole tough-chick thing is so boring and her face through the entire film was like she’d been chewing on a wasp.(I know their situation was pretty dire but STILL).
The zombie effects were awesome although there wasn’t much gore considering. The final monster-hybrid thingy was pretty cool and provided a decent enough confrontation at the end of the film.
Overall, even though the film is cliched, Resident Evil is definitely one for my DVD collection and not just cause Milla shows skin more than once ;D
Milla Jovovich nom nom.
I have to admit, this was possibly the biggest disappointment of my entire movie-going experiences. I expected resident evil, but I instead found a movie director who hijacked a well known popular series in order to flaunt his wife in near soft-porn. The movie, and indeed the entire series… makes no sense at all. Skip this unless you are writing a dissertation on the mistakes of movie-making.
Honestly, I just like this movie. It piques interest from the beginning–the main character is thrown into the movie with the same knowledge a viewer would be: absolutely none. I don’t judge this game based on the video game; hell, I never placed it. But it’s quiet atmosphere, it’s great cast, and the stellar story make it worth more than one watch. If the movie is full of cliches (and I don’t think it is), then maybe it’s because cliches are cliche for a reason–they’re good.
Instead of the suspensefull zombie action we know from the games, the movie gives us a predictable story that barely mentions zombies and turns the movie into an Action Movie early on, and trough this action destroys any hope to get scared for the rest of the movie. For what it is-a dumb action flick-it’s decent, but as a fan of the video games I have to voice my dissapointment which says: “This movie isn’t good!”
For a movie inspired by video games, Resident Evil doesn’t even come close in scare factor. What it did do,(for better or for worse)was re-imagine the series with a more “action” approach. There are still plenty of enjoyable things about this movie. The cast, the setting, the score, and plenty of good visuals. I will always wonder, what could have been, if they’d followed suit to the PlayStation script.
really, it’s the only good one of the series. It’s the scariest by far, and it’s kickass.
It’s a pretty good movie but it is absolutley nothing at all like the games. Don’t watch it expecting Resident Evil: The Movie.
Awful movie. The fact that seem to keep churning these out every year just shows how lame they are. I have only seen parts 1, 2 and 3 but I wish I hadn’t. I’ve been a lifelong fan of the amazing Resident Evil games (RE6 comes out this year!!) but these movies are such a disgrace to the Resident Evil name– they don’t resemble anything from any of the games. (Except the Nemesis character being in the second film, and the Umbrella corporation.) Fuck these movies. They aren’t even horror movies; they are cheesy over the top action movies with insane stunts every five minutes (i.e. Jill running down the side of a skyscraper…. ugh) Stay away from these horrible movies if you are a Resident Evil fan, or even a fan of good films.
I love this movie; it’s a good action-horror movie that is very entertaining.