10 Years Anniversary Of Doomsday

The Apocalyopse!

This is of course known as the end of days, when everything goes straight to shit. Many people have different opinions on when the end of days is here, but if you ask Jim Bakker then he would say those days are here. He said it years ago, and he still says the end of days is here, and so far the only sign i have seen that this is happening is the release of another TV series from director Colin Nutley. For those of you who don´t know who this man is, be happy you don´t know anything. You see, you don´t need to know he made the horrible trilogy Änglagård, but now you know. Let us never mention this again, ok ? Many Movies that have portrayed the apocalypse One of my personal favourite movies that did this really well, is the 1981 movie known as Mad Max - The Road Warrior. Directed by legendary director George Miller, this sequel is actually much better than the first Mad Max film with Mel Gibson. One of the biggest reason why The Road Warrior is such a great action film is the highway scenes. They look really good, and the action scenes are really well made for the low budget. Since this was early in Mel Gibsons career, he was a really good choice as the character Mad Max, and in The Road Warrior he really found the best way to do this by using less dialogue and more violence. another classic film that shows the apocalypse is coming, is a very underrated horror action movie End Of Days with Arnold Schwarzenegger. This was a very different kind of film for Schwarzenegger, but he did a good job portraying an alcoholic cop. One of the things i enjoy about End Of Days is the feeling that you get to see an ordinary human become possessed by Satan himself, portrayed by legendary actor Gabriel Byrne. We have to mention that this film is also directed by Peter Hyams who have directed the classic Jean-Claude Van Damme movies Timecop and Sudden Death. Let´s be clear though, that the End of Days don´t show the apocalypse from the beginning but gives you the vision of how it could turn out unless Satan is stopped. If you have not seen none of these film, i think you should. Especially get The Road Warrior on Blu Ray, because this is a film that deserves to be seen with a great picture quality and really good sound. In the year of 2005, English film director Neil Marshal brought us the really well made horror film The Descent. The story of a group of women who are attacked deep down inside a cave system by savage creatures. A must see if you are a horror fan. 3 years later director Neil Marshal released his next film called Doomsday. A film that failed at the box office unfortunately, but have over the years become more respected and appreciated. I have not seen the film since the film came out, so decided it was time to have a look again, 10 years later to see if it still holds up in 2018. Is this still a good science fiction movie, or has the quality level changed over these 10 years ?

In 2008, a killer virus, known as the "Reaper Virus " has infected the country of Scotland. Unable to contain the outbreak or cure the infected. To solve this problem the British government build a massive 30-foot wall that isolated Scotland from the rest of Great Britain. The quarantine is seen as successful, but because of the extreme method employed government destroys diplomatic and economic relations between the UK and the rest of the world, causing the UK to collapse into a dystopia. 27 years later, after the quarantine, a group of armed police officers discover people infected in London by the Reaper Virus. The Prime Minister John Hatcher ( Alexander Siddig ) shares satellite footage with domestic security chief Captain Bill Nelson ( Bob Hoskins )  of survivors in Scotland. Prime Minister order Captain Nelson to send in a team inside of Scotland, because they believe a cure might be found there. Major Eden Sinclair ( Rhone Mitra ) is chosen to lead the team who will track the cure. But inside the streets of Glasgow, everything that used to be humanity have turned into a complete different world.

I usually don´t do 10 Years Anniversary of movies, but in the case of Doomsday i feel that this film did not get the respect it deserved when it was released in 2008. In my view, Doomsday is a well made sience fiction movie that stands out from most releases since it looks like a mixture of Mad Max and Escape From New York. And this is something i feel this film did well, give us a different look on the apocalypse and on a virus outbreak. One thing we have to mention about Doomsday is the strong female characters that this film have. Especially lead actress Rhona Mitra ( who most of you probably remember from the solid horror movie Highwaymen, released in 2004 ) as Major Eden Sinclair, exactly the right character to kick ass on screen. Another really strong female character is portrayed by actress Lee-Anne Liebenberg as the insane Viper. We have to mention the performance from actor Craig Conway as Sol, leader of the marauders. The scene where Sol dances to the classic 80´s song Good Thing by the band Fine Young Cannibals is both insane but also fun. That they actually choosed this song for that scene shows you that they knew that the audience would have a good time. The settings where the marauders rule is also really cool. I especially like the scene where you get to see them taken over the city of Glasgow, attacking Major Eden Sicklair´s team. This movie is clearly inspired by John Carpenter´s cult classic Escape From New York, and there are a number of scenes where you recognize the same concept as that film. I don´t see a problem with that, since it works well for Doomsday without ripping too much off John Carpenter. I also like the idea of the city of Glasgow being closed for the outside world through a wall ( reminds me what Donald Trump is trying to do with Mexico, something i don´t support ). Because it works with the story of the infected of the Reaper Virus, and you can understand why this wall was made for that reason. Is it very humane ? Not at all, but of course a reason for survival of the human race. The action scenes do deliver as well, and i can tell that director Neil Marshal ( who directed the cult classic werewolf film Dog Soldiers ) have tried to bring back some classic concepts from classic action movies of the past ). I would not say this is one of the best films from director Neil Marshal, but he clearly made this movie with a passion for apocalyptic story telling. If you love Mad Max or Escape From New York, you have to give Doomsday a chance on Blu Ray. This is a fun tribute to both science fiction and action movies of the 70´s and 80´s, especially if you had enough of romantic comedies with Jennifer Aniston.

Rating: DDD