Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2232 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-02-18
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 276 minutes

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Resident Evil

Given that Resident Evil is a Paul Anderson movie based on a computer game which was itself highly derivative (especially of George A Romero and James Cameron films), it's probably unfair to complain that it hasn't got an original idea or moment in its entire running time. In the early 1980s, Italian schlock films such as Zombie Flesh Eaters and Zombie Creeping Flesh tried to cram in as many moments restaged from American originals as possible, strung together by silly characters wandering between monster attacks. This is a much-improved, edited, photographed and directed version of the same gambit.

As amnesiac Milla Jovovich remembers amazing kung fu skills and anti-globalist Eric Mabius mutters about evil corporations, a gang of clichéd soldiers with nary a distinguishing feature between them (except for Michelle Rodriguez as a secondary tough chick) are trapped in an underground scientific compound at the mercy of a tyrannical computer--which manifests as a smug little-girl-o-gram--fending off flesh-eating zombies (though gore fans will be disappointed by the film's need to stay within the limits of the 15 certificate) and CGI mutants, not to mention the ever-popular zombie dogs. It's tolerably action-packed, but zips past its borrowings (Aliens, Cube, Deep Blue Sea) without adding anything that future schlock pictures will want to imitate.

Resident Evil 2 - Apocalypse

2002's popular video-game-derived hit Resident Evil didn't inspire confidence in a sequel, but Resident Evil: Apocalypse defies odds and surpasses expectations. It's a bigger, better, action-packed zombie thriller, and this time Milla Jovovich (as the first film's no-nonsense heroine) is joined by more characters from the popular Capcom video games, including Jill Valentine (played by British hottie Sienna Guillory) and Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr, from 1999's The Mummy). They're armed and ready for a high-calibre encounter with devil dogs, mutant "Lickers," lurching zombies, and the leather-clad monster known only as Nemesis, unleashed by the nefarious Umbrella Corporation responsible for creating the cannibalistic undead horde. Having gained valuable experience as a respected second-unit director on high-profile films like Gladiator and The Bourne Identity, director Alexander Witt elevates this junky material to the level of slick, schlocky entertainment. --Jeff Shannon

Resident Evil 3 - Extinction

Movies based on computer games generally aren't well respected, but just because they aren't high art doesn't mean they can't be highly enjoyable. The only catch is that you need to be a fan of computer games to appreciate them. Resident Evil: Extinction is the third movie in the massively popular Resident Evil franchise, and it's probably the best one yet.

Between Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Extinction, the zombie-creating T-virus has spread far beyond the doomed Raccoon City; now the human race is almost extinct (hence the title). When a convoy of survivors meets up with the genetically-altered Alice, the shadowy Umbrella Corporation does everything in its power to take them down and reclaim her; but Alice isn't giving up without a fight...

Resident Evil: Extinction is part zombie movie, and part post-apocalyptic survival yarn. The big set pieces use CGI that doesn't look anything like reality, but does look very much like a computer game, which is possibly intentional--since this is a sequel to an adaptation, Resident Evil: Extinction does tend to assume a built-in audience which is already familiar with the various quirks of the franchise. If you're a fan of the games, you'll enjoy the various references to game characters and events; if not, you might feel a bit left out. It's not the best entry point to the franchise if you're a complete newcomer, but if you've seen the other films, it's a hell of a lot of fun. -- Sarah Dobbs

Synopsis
Alice (Milla Jovovich) battles against virus infected zombies in the thrilling, action-packed Resident Evil trilogy.
In Resident Evil, a research laboratory is invaded by a bio-engineered virus and Alice and Rain must put a stop to the spread of the deadly bug.
In Resident Evil 2 - Apocalypse, the sinister Umbrella Corporation sends a team of investigators into their destroyed underground lab and unwittingly unleash the still-staggering zombies and monsters out into the population of Raccoon City. Soon Umbrella has evacuated all of their own key employees and has shut everyone else inside to be devoured.
After being held captive and being experimented on, Resident Evil - Extinction sees a biologically altered Alice reunite with fellow survivors in order to save the world from further catastrophe.

Customer Reviews

my name is Alice and I remember everything
This is a 4 disc box set, comprising all three films in the series (so far) and an extra disc with more specials on.

I have to admit that I had never seen the Resident Evil films, games, books, although I had heard of Resident Evil I had no idea what it was.

These films are called zombie movies - but please don't let that put you off. They are great action films, the zombies are just a side story.

RESIDENT EVIL (2002)

Inside a laboratory a vial is broken causing a lockdown and hysteria in the staff that are trapped.

In Raccoon City a young woman called Alice (Milla Jovovich) wakes, naked in the shower, with no memory of who she is. Suddenly a group of paramilitary commandos storm the building. They open a secret door and enter the even more secret world of the Umbrella Corporation and its genetic and viral experiments. The facility they enter was experimenting on something called the T-virus.

The team of highly trained soldiers, including Alice, Rain (Michelle Rodriguez, SWAT) and Matt (Eric Mabius) who is a survivor that they meet on the way), penetrate the Corporations experimental centre called The Hive, which is run by a centralised security computer called the Red Queen.

Unfortunately the T-virus has the effect of turning those exposed to it into a type of zombie. Anyone bitten by these creatures becomes infected. The team must fight to survive and to escape from the Hive, because one hour after the blast doors were opened the entire facility would be sealed forever. As the team travels through the maze of the Hive Alice starts to remember about her life and her connections with the Umbrella Corporation.

RESIDENT EVIL 2 - APOLCALYPSE (2004)

The Umbrella organisation has lost control and the T-virus has escaped the Hive and infected Raccoon City.

Alice (Jovovich) finds herself allied with disgraced cop Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory, strangely looking like she's auditioning for Lara Croft) and elite STAR member Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr, previously seen in the Mummy and the Mummy Returns).

They make a deal with a Dr Ashford Jared Harris (son of movie great Richard Harris) - in order to escape from Raccoon City before it is nuked they must find his missing daughter Angie (Peyton Wells) and get to the last evacuation point before the final helicopter leaves.

RESIDENT EVIL 3 - EXTINCTION (2007)

The plan to wipe out the T-virus in the nuking of Raccoon City failed and it spread across the world.

Realising that she was a liability to the others Alice (Jovovich) set out on her own, and she is right. Dr Issacs (Iain Glen) and the Umbrella Corporation are still looking for her.

Olivera (Fehr) has joined up with a convoy of survivors who are lead by a woman called Claire (Ali Larter), and they are under attack when Alice makes her reappearance to save her friend. They decide to head for a save zone where there is said to be no infection but need to refuel before they set out. So they head to Las Vegas where they come under attack from a waiting group of super zombies sent by Issacs to kill the survivors and capture Alice.

My main problem with this film is the lack of explanation regarding Angie and Jill Valentine, especially since Angie was supposed to be so important in the second film. Also when a bitten person is given the antivirus in the second film, why then would he become a zombie in the second - the antivirus should have stopped that from happening. Finally, if Alice knew when someone was infected why didn't she know when a member of the convoy was infected and on the turn.

DISC 4

The content is a short documentary about the actors and their characters, and that is it. I'd hoped for more. Fortunately there are a number of extras on the discs 1, 2 and 3, which is far more than we in region 2 usually get.

On disc 3 there is a sneak peek at Resident Evil - Degeneration, which, I personally hope, means that there will be a 4th film. There is also a hint that there will be a 4th film in the interviews on disc 4 from Ms Jovovich herself.

Mixed bag that overall proves entertaining enough

Resident Evil (2002)

A deadly viral outbreak occurs inside the hive, a vast underground research facility run by the umbrella corporation, responding to the threat the Red queen, the AI computer system controlling the hive, seals the entire facility to contain the leak, killing all the trapped employees, an elite commando team is sent in to found out what went wrong, they come across two amnesic survivors Alice & Spenser. delving deeper into the hive they discover the employees are now zombies, the team struggle to contain the infection and escape the facility before they are sealed down there for good

The start of the franchise which was loosely based upon the first resident evil game proves to be entertaining enough. the resident evil films exist more as a separate entity rather than an accompaniment to the games if your a fan who the games who fails to realise this you'll get little if any entertainment from it which is where this series has received the majority of its criticism.

This film combines a fairly claustrophobic feel with some engaging action scenes and some gory death sequences mostly noticeably the laser hallway sequence, its an entertaining enough way to spend and hour and a half but shouldn't be taken to seriously. casual horror viewers will probably get the most out of this. Rating- 6.5/10


Resident Evil Apocalypse (2004)

After narrowly escaping the horrors of the underground hive facility, Alice is quickly thrust back into the war waging above ground between the living and the undead. As the city is locked down under quarantine Alice joins a small group of survivors as they face off against hordes of bloodthirsty zombies, stealthy lickers, mutant canines and the umbrella killing machine Nemesis as the city is targeted for sanitation.

Oh dear the worst of the three by a considerable distance though ironically its probably the closest to games. the action sequences though plentiful lack bite and aren't exciting.

The inclusion of games favourite Jill & Carlos doesn't help as they are saddled with some ridiculous lines of dialogue. Also stupid character logic ( lets walk through a grave-yard in the middle of an outbreak that s brings the dead back to life hmm what s the worst that could happen?) as well as the inclusion of Nemesis the should be bad-ass of the franchise who by the end of the film is reduced to being as scary as a puppy and what you get is a bad b-movie something more akin to a straight to TV movie rather than the action/horror blockbuster its supposed to be and ends up being a boring unengaging mess. Rating 3/10


Resident Evil Extinction (2007)

A few years have passed since the events of RE:A and the world has become a wasteland overrun with the undead, a small group of remaining survivors stick together in conveys trying to stay alive traversing the desert, meanwhile the few umbrella scientists still alive attempt to produce a serum to reverse the affects of the virus but to do so they require the blood of Alice, a genetic experiment who currently survives off the grid trying to help whoever she can, when the convoy is attacked she intervenes and pops into Umbrella's view to again.

I wasn't expecting much from this after the abysmal RE: Apocalypse so I was pleasantly surprised walking out that I had just seen one of the best game to film adaptations yet, not because it remains faithful to its source material (because it doesn't) but because its an adrenaline fuelled Rolla-coaster of a movie that's highly entertaining.

The film does 'borrow' a fair bit from cult favourites Mad Max & Day of the Dead, but when the actions sequences kick into gear coming thick and fast (helmed by the director of `Highlander') you will become lost in the excitement. The stand out scene without a shadow of a doubt takes place on the Vegas strip when super zombies attack the survivors, it's an assault on the senses and easily rivals any zombie action sequences from that of the action heavy dawn of the dead remake or any zombie movie for that matter and a big step up from the action scenes in apocalypse

Due to the films fairly short running time the plot zips along as fast pace. Resi fans will be pleased to see the addition of Claire Redfield played by Ali Larter, (TV's Heroes, Final Destination) and that of infamous Tyrant.

It may be dumb and loud but its handled so slickly that you wont care the perfect popcorn movie easily the best of the three but don't expect the trilogy's loose ends to be tied up as the ending leaves it open for the fourth which is currently slated for a 2010 release. Rating 7.5/10

more scifi than zombie?
first off, have to say i've never played the games,so i can't compare but having seen these movies and having just got a Wii, maybe i'll give em a go. As a box set, this is very good value for money (check out how much you'd spend to buy each separately!, and any of the extra's you may be missing out on, do you really want them?).
As to the films themselves, the first one is the best, but the other two take the story in different directions, and so are not the more of the same that you often get in sequals. The zombie aspect is far more sci fi, than horror,(serenity?) 28 days later is much more disturbing, and shaun of the dead is funnier. For this kind of action film, the acting is fine, the films are well shot and directed, Milla Jovovich has a fantastic presence in all three (not just how she looks) her 1000 yard stare could maybe take on jet li?
all in all? very enjoyable, bring on number 4