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28 Days Later (2002)
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This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris try to avoid getting infected by the Rage Virus and discuss 2002's 28 Days Later as the third entry in the series, 28 Years Later, opens in theaters.
Cillian Murphy stars as Jim, a bike courier who awakens from a coma to find the world gone to hell. An experimental virus, dubbed the Rage Virus, has escaped a UK lab and has spread across the entire country, almost instantly turning anyone infected into a violent monster. Jim finds a few fellow survivors, played by Brendan Gleeson, Naomie Harris, and Megan Burns, and the group flees London to find a supposed safe haven being broadcast over the radio. Zach and Chris discuss how it's never a good idea to try to free experimental lab animals in movies, the surprisingly upbeat middle portion of the movie, the horror of how quickly the Rage Virus turns people, Cillian Murphy's transformation into a killing machine during the movie's climax, and more.
You can rent 28 Days Later on Amazon, AppleTV, and Fandango At Home. Next week, we reunite with a modern horror icon, M3GAN, as M3GAN 2.0 is opening in theaters.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast podcast week of June 16th, 2025. I'm your host, Zach. I'm your co-host, Chris.
Influence of '28 Days Later' on Zombie Genre
00:00:26
Speaker
And this week we're trying trying to not get infected by the rage virus, talking about 28 days later, because ah the third entry in the franchise is finally here, 28 years later.
00:00:37
Speaker
it's been almost 20 years since the last entry in the franchise. But we are going all the way back to the beginning. ah a movie that kind of reconfigured or revitalized the zombie genre, even though a lot of people don't really like consider it zombies, but it's definitely i i think it's definitely in the zombie jar what do you think chris yeah uh you can't come back from this this is and then it's like you're brain dead technically or like something's not right with your brain so it's like you are a zombie to this like virus yeah because you're not dead you're like you're infected and you're just like a
00:01:16
Speaker
yeah ah ah crazy rage monster that will just rip people to shreds.
Fast Zombies and Casting Choices
00:01:22
Speaker
But they're not flesh eaters. It's like the same category, I think, as the Last of Us fungal monsters.
00:01:29
Speaker
yeah like You're not the typical zombie, but we we classified it as it from a panel we threw a year ago.
00:01:40
Speaker
Too many games. And they're, ah yeah, they're like, so this is just like the idea of like fast zombies, because we, you know, up until this point, we've had, it was mostly Romero style, slow, lurching, undead.
00:01:54
Speaker
And then this one has ah like, you know, Olympic level sprinters for chasing you, trying to like rip you apart.
00:02:02
Speaker
so think yeah I think I read that Danny Boyle cast like all like athletes as the you rage the rage zombies because he wanted to but make sure they could like run it and be believable. He's chasing people down. Zach. Hold on. um Janice lost her phone.
00:02:23
Speaker
Alright, we gotta go upstairs. Hold on.
00:02:33
Speaker
Alright, so let's ah let's jump into it. And gotta kick things off with the crazy opening sequence, which is...
Opening Sequence and Lab Animal Trope
00:02:42
Speaker
i feel like there's there's like a lot of other openings like this, but and people in movies never learn. Don't try to free ah lab monkeys from like weird labs.
00:02:53
Speaker
Because it it like it never it never goes well for anyone who does to do that. like all These animal activists try to free animals from the lab, and it's always like, either... a virus gets out, or they unleash some sort of crazy genetic monster.
00:03:07
Speaker
Yeah. But I mean, this is based on real like activists who do break into testing facilities and then do this, but you figure, like, maybe pick something less.
00:03:19
Speaker
Like, Whatever lab they broke into, for what virus this was experimenting in, you figure there'd way more security. It's as if they broke into like a food testing lab or something.
00:03:33
Speaker
Yeah. It's like it's like completely abandoned. There's only one scientist there. Yeah, one scientist. like No lights. No fail-safes.
00:03:45
Speaker
Also, what I've never understood but like what the point of basically clockwork oranging that one chimp is.
Rage Virus Explanation
00:03:53
Speaker
Like just like showing it horrible images. that supposed to increase the rage virus?
00:03:59
Speaker
ah Based on the comic of this, it's supposed to be that they're experimenting, like, how much, like, influence the, like, aggression levels can, like, make the, like, other rage, like, increase. Like, if they keep seeing, like, the violence, do you, like, become way more violent? Which is, again, another, like, allegory, because this is, like...
00:04:26
Speaker
ah already kind of like an example of like the conformation of violent horror things and it's like will you also be enraged by seeing something like this like images so it's meta but it's also bizarre because you feel like don't create more of the problem like you're you're just asking for it, like, more. Like, you know what they should be doing? They should be doing, like, very friendly stuff to the monkey.
00:04:57
Speaker
You know, like, a totally opposite aggression thing. Yeah. Well, I think the comic also explains that the they use, like, Ebola as a base, and then they were trying to suppress rage, but then it actually, like, amplified rage, so they're like, oh, let's do that then.
00:05:14
Speaker
Yeah, I think we talked about it at a panel we've done, where ah originally I think it was memory loss. And they they thought like Ebola could help um like deliver that virus the way Ebola attacks the brain.
00:05:32
Speaker
um Then it's like, okay, well, what if instead of like like your behavior, it does something different?
00:05:41
Speaker
And of course, like it mutates. It definitely... like ah It doesn't follow, like, the typical, i guess, kind of strains. Like, it's only transferable through liquids.
00:05:56
Speaker
I think it's specifically blood, because they it's, like, in the blood, they say. yeah.
Transmission and Effects of Rage Virus
00:06:00
Speaker
I just feel like if another virus like this, it'd be more, like, moisture-carrying. So, like, the monkey pee, the monkey spit, like, it would just be, like, way more deadly.
00:06:13
Speaker
Well, it makes everyone, like, everyone's probably, like, they just, like, you know, vomit up tons of blood. So I guess that's, like, the main, the way the the virus wants to spread itself, along with, like, I guess, biting or getting droplets of people's eyes.
00:06:27
Speaker
I do, and I do appreciate how, like, one of the scariest parts about the rage virus is, like, just how fast it, like, like turns you. Like, within, like, seconds, you're dead. Like, you're just a rage monster. But sometimes it varies where it enters in you.
00:06:41
Speaker
Sometimes it's just, like, they bite you, and then it's, like, I don't know, like a beat, and then you turn into like a rage monster, or it enters like through your eyeball, and then you have enough time for like a passionate speech. One one drop, one single drop of blood gets your eye, and then you're a rage monster.
00:07:03
Speaker
ah think it's how much of the virus is in that. So even just a little, it takes a little bit enough for Brian Gleason, or Brandon Gleason to give a ah speech.
00:07:14
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, if but if someone is on top of you and vomits blood on your face, you're basically instant rage zombie.
00:07:23
Speaker
And then we get then after that whole craziness, we get the iconic 28 Days Later, just lowercase. They don't even make a big deal about like it's the title of the movie, just like, 28 Days Later. yeah you go.
Film Style and Cinematic Influences
00:07:35
Speaker
A lot about this movie, if this is your first time seeing like a UK film, it just feels very budget. um but Oh, yeah. What's still to me a lot this time watching it again is that it feels like a TV show.
00:07:50
Speaker
Like, I felt like if you watch, like, Spaced or something like that, like, it has that same kind of like, visual style. Which is a lot. Like, that was just the camera work in the UK. It's funny because, like, I was watching my version on Pluto, and I know they don't have, like, the best quality stream.
00:08:06
Speaker
Yeah. But I thought something was wrong with the stream.
00:08:12
Speaker
It's like, ah no, this is... Yeah, it's just it's it was 23 years ago.
00:08:18
Speaker
So... ah Yeah, the the opening, the like montage of society collapsing, just showing you stock footage of riots. Which, that's pre-rage virus. That's like just like, this is what's happening before virus gets out.
00:08:35
Speaker
Yeah, that's just social disorder. This is... um
00:08:41
Speaker
2003? came out around 2003? Like, Bennifer? Well, 2002. So yeah, like, this is around like Geely. yeah That's what that's a threw to a rage.
00:08:54
Speaker
They were gonna last forever!
00:09:00
Speaker
And then, um,
00:09:03
Speaker
I did also forget that like, like Killian Murphy, like when you first see him, he's just like fully naked in that bed, which is, which I trying is that like standard procedure at like a British hospital?
Character Introductions and Influences
00:09:14
Speaker
Like, like patients are just like naked in bed.
00:09:18
Speaker
Like that seems like a weird, that seems like a weird like policy. If it's even more bizarre because Jim's in a coma. Yeah. So he is hooked up as if he just got out of an experiment.
00:09:32
Speaker
And it' some like in all the cast, is like someone decided, like I'm going to steal this coma guy's hospital gown and wear that.
00:09:42
Speaker
Or just use it for something. he's like He doesn't need it.
00:09:47
Speaker
But that hospital is pretty secure. one got in. you know The machines are running for a while for Jim to have life support. um Do you think The Walking Dead also like ripped this completely off? Totally.
00:10:01
Speaker
like it's gonna mean it's It's the exact same premise. like Rick goes in the coma and I think it's i think it's also like a month later he wakes up and then he's like walking around, everything's gone like everyone's gone.
00:10:14
Speaker
I think he wakes week after they run out of town. Like a week or two. I don't know how long human can live without nutrients and stuff. Or maybe like whatever IV they're feeding him ran out and then his body woke up, but...
00:10:29
Speaker
It's also this. like I think they even said like it's 28 days. You don't see Jim get hit by the car or anything, right? No, yeah. It happened like before the Rage Riders started breaking out.
00:10:44
Speaker
So, thats that's why I'm like, I always forgot that you don't see his accident. I thought you did. i thought you... It's a part of the stock footage. It's like an insert of Livian Murphy like riding a bike and then getting hit by a car. And then just like back to riot footage.
00:11:03
Speaker
And then all those great shots of him just like wandering around with no one around.
Filming Challenges in London
00:11:07
Speaker
Which is very difficult to film in the UK. Yeah. You have wait a specific hour to do that. Yeah, super early early in the morning.
00:11:15
Speaker
um Or they just like blocked off an area for like, we or we get can block this off for like 10 minutes. Like, go.
00:11:24
Speaker
And then it's just Cillian Murphy's going, hello. Hello. Stocking up on soda. which it is it is fun It is fun to see like you know but like all the British snack food. There's like stock up on like mars it's like there's like a Mars machine. They're eating like but like Maltesers.
00:11:44
Speaker
It's funny because I just thought that was like fake product. You know like you never saww you didnt yeah just think it's made-up movie tie-in product?
00:11:56
Speaker
but I saw this movie theaters. The movie theater I went to just did not care about age restrictions. They're like, whatever, come on in. You want to see this foreign movie?
00:12:07
Speaker
Yes! This indie foreign movie?
00:12:14
Speaker
Although I think it was Danny Boyle's fifth movie. it was like The one he did right before this was The Island with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Danny Boyle's Directorial Style
00:12:20
Speaker
Or no, The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio. Which, that camera work is way more like modern looking.
00:12:27
Speaker
So, interesting that he went for more of a, like, BBC presents look.
00:12:36
Speaker
That's the thing for budget. I think they really want to keep this movie under a tight budget. Where I think the beach was, like, high budget and Hollywood-esque. i think it I think it was, and then it was, like, a big flop. So, there's, like, oh, alright.
00:12:49
Speaker
so Go do that again. Yeah, I mean, this is...
00:12:54
Speaker
This was like, what, Alex Garden's first big movie? Well, he wrote The Beach. That's how he got hooked up with Danny Boyle. Oh. Wow. I thought he wrote some other horror movie first, because The Beach is completely different from this.
00:13:08
Speaker
Well, Alex Garden wrote the novel The Beach, and then they then he then they had adapt like then they adapted his his book into the movie, and he's like, oh, I'll right i'll write the movie too, I guess.
00:13:22
Speaker
And then, you know, up up to where we are now, where he's like, you know, big director.
00:13:28
Speaker
and back And back to write 28 years later, and Danny Bowles back to direct. Yeah, don't bring up a winning formula. It makes sense to keep it a very good vision.
00:13:40
Speaker
So that's what's good about this movie, too. its like It's not just about the zombies. It's like the this movie you see through, like...
Themes of Survival and Societal Collapse
00:13:48
Speaker
The evils of men, the like collapse of society, the like hope of a future.
00:13:56
Speaker
you You don't see that in the beginning, which is really good, because it's not like it's laid out, where Jim immediately meets a plucky kid or something. It's very mythological.
00:14:07
Speaker
Also, this movie is like almost like two and a half hours long. No, I think it's two hours. It feels longer. it feels longer
00:14:20
Speaker
Just because they're all like, yeah, like silent shots. The intro is like, goes on longer than you remember it to being, or think it's going to be. Yeah, just silly reference, like wandering around London.
00:14:33
Speaker
And then he then he runs into two survivors.
00:14:39
Speaker
One played Naomi Harrison, I think her like, There's a of people who are in it, like, is, like, their first big role. Like, Clay Murphy was just in, like, indie movies or, like, plays before this. Then this is, like, his first, like, huge big movie. And think, know, we're just, like, same thing. like Like, the two biggest stars this movie are, like, Christopher Eccleston and Brendan Gleeson.
00:14:57
Speaker
Yeah. They're, like, more famous, like, film actors at this point. i I think Christopher Eccleston was doing Doctor Who around this time. Was that happening yet? I know i mean, he was in... um like He was the bad guy in Gone in 60 Seconds that came out like two years before this.
00:15:16
Speaker
ah You know what? I think he might have done this right after.
00:15:21
Speaker
Right after in 60 Seconds? No, no, no. After this. Oh, like he became Doctor Who after this movie? Yeah. um Probably, yeah. I don't remember when the... 2005.
00:15:37
Speaker
thousand five So, yeah, a couple years after.
00:15:41
Speaker
And then he was, yeah, he was hit he was locked in that for, what was it, like, one season or two seasons? One season. But in the 13 episodes is like two seasons. Yeah.
00:15:52
Speaker
But yeah, it's defined as one season. Series, Chris, series. Okay.
00:16:01
Speaker
I i do love that, like, the other guy, like, Mark, the other guy with Naomi Harris, like, Selina, just, like, gets, like, killed immediately. Yeah, Mark is set up to be, like, oh, though might this might be a good, like, group and all that.
00:16:14
Speaker
Or, like, a love triangle, like, they're easily, like, gonna compete with Jim. It's tragic, because you see Mark, like, he's more of a veteran of this now. He's hard. He's, like, very used to survival in this living condition. He he can fight.
00:16:28
Speaker
Mm-hmm. But he's immediately, like, killed off. I mean, not immediately, but, like, right after the big, like... Well, okay. They go to Jim's parents' house.
00:16:40
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. yeah yeah But this part always destroys me. Like, it's just, it's super goddamn sad. ah Yes!
Tragic Choices and Family Impact
00:16:50
Speaker
What, it's like, the parents, what they have to, like, go through, and they just know, like, it's, like, life is not gonna be the same, and their son is comatose, so they pick, like, the only option they feel, like, is only available for them.
00:17:03
Speaker
Well, it's even, it's even more tragic when you realize that, like, it's only the UK, right?
00:17:11
Speaker
i don't think it's spreads I don't think it spreads until the end of 28 weeks later. Yeah, it doesn't leave... um No, no, it's only it's only stuck in London.
00:17:22
Speaker
yeah well yeah Yeah, England. That's what I'm saying. because then At the end 28 weeks later, it spreads to mainland Europe because they ended up in like Paris. and then i got the I guess 28 years later, now it's like you know actual like apocalypse.
00:17:37
Speaker
The world world's like they overrun with rage zombies.
00:17:42
Speaker
But they just keep making them. Which is interesting because um they don't explain that the zombies are also like susceptible to like hunger and the elements.
00:17:56
Speaker
I mean, but i mean all all kind of, like, any sort of, ah anything that would kill a normal human would kill that kills them, because they're not, you know, on supernatural undead monsters. They're just crazy infected humans. Because, you cause like, later on, they're just, like, shooting them, like, anywhere. It's not like you have to kill their brain or anything. It's like, just shoot them bunch of times, they're dead.
00:18:16
Speaker
Yeah, enough trauma can kill them. Or, like, a baseball bat or something. So, like, yeah. And also, like, you need to use enough force. They're not, like, one of those zombies where if you, like, i don't know, like, gently shove them against the wall, they don't, like, break apart.
00:18:34
Speaker
Like, they need enough force based on their mass, I guess. Yeah. i was I was thinking about, like, what weapon would work well, too, because Mark merrk and Selina have, like, machetes and, it's like, blood sprays everywhere. And, like, would you... and don't think you'd want that if a single drop of blood could infect you.
Weapon Limitations and Survival Challenges
00:18:50
Speaker
No, you want like a pitchfork. Or a spear, something. Especially when like you're not going for like the head. It's really hard to hit the head with a lot of weapons.
00:19:05
Speaker
I get having machete because that's up close. But also, this is the UK. They just don't have a lot of weaponry. Improvised weapons around.
00:19:17
Speaker
They would basically have to like rip off fences. And then... Make like a fence post launcher.
00:19:24
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's hard to get guns. um Even knives are hard. e
00:19:32
Speaker
I wonder how like... I think you have they get like a license for a knife. Probably, yeah. Yeah, I think i think they have... a like then I think they there is quite a bit of like knife violence.
00:19:45
Speaker
Over there. like Or maybe not a country i'm thinking of. But like, there there's some country where it's like they don't have a lot gun violence, but there's like everyone has knives, or people use knives, so it's just like just like a crazy amount of like knife violence. Well, if you have a knife on you and it's concealed, like it's like a stupid, crazy fine for it, so like that's why they don't bother, because beer bottles everywhere. It's like thing.
00:20:08
Speaker
Glass is everywhere, so like that's a problem. I wonder how you see it being a crossbow or something, because that seems like like the perfect weapon for this kind of like infection. Same thing with archery.
00:20:19
Speaker
yeah I feel like archery isn't illegal in the UK. It's like part their culture. It's like, oh no, we can have archery. like You just can't like really shoot it in the town. like You have to go use it at your home or a designated archery.
00:20:36
Speaker
You feel like, alright, well, if you easily can't get a knife, you can't get gun, archery. arch
00:20:44
Speaker
Yeah, just like, but yeah, break it to like a, like a sporting goods store, or like a local archery club, just like stock up. It sounds really weird, but you figure like fencing and archery would be like, because that's like more popular in the UK than it is America.
00:20:59
Speaker
So that would be like everyone's go-to. I feel like you should like invest, like, well, Brendan Gleeson is the right idea when they when ready run into him. it Like, he has like the full like riot gear, with like the splash mask and stuff. Like, That's what you need for this.
00:21:12
Speaker
like if If one drop blood can like turn you into rage zombie, like get a biohazard suit, get yeah get like a shield, get like a face shield. I'd be wearing goggles all the goddamn time.
00:21:25
Speaker
I would wear like a helmet only because like my mouth's open a lot when you talk and whatever. You just feel like if you know it's in blood, ye wear protection. Wear like a poncho, wear gloves, wear like
00:21:40
Speaker
Headgear?
00:21:42
Speaker
Imagine if the movie turns out different if basically Brian Gleeson shared his ride gear with everyone. Like he got more of it.
00:21:52
Speaker
Yeah, or if you like used it for anything else other than the first thing we see him in. Like he just like abandons it. Like, well, don't need this anymore.
00:22:02
Speaker
ah got two other people that go to go travel to the sanctuary with me.
Tonal Shift in Mid-Movie
00:22:11
Speaker
Which, the middle the middle part, I totally forget, like the middle part of this movie is such a weird tonal shift because it's like so like upbeat. Yeah, but they need that for this movie to make you kind of forget your troubles of what happened in the first act.
00:22:26
Speaker
Yeah, because the opening is super bleak, the end is super bleak, but in the middle, it almost feels like you could be playing like Walking on Sunshine or something. where like like they're going crazy They have to like go crazy in the supermarket and get whatever they want, and they're like youll having picnics and seeing horses running around wild.
00:22:44
Speaker
just seems like a very pleasant road trip.
00:22:48
Speaker
Yeah. I feel like it's definitely jarring, but you definitely need something, because it can't be all like so
00:23:00
Speaker
And I guess i mean it does it does a great job of like you know making you super attached to Brendan Gleeson, because he's just like ah like a giant teddy bear. And then when they like kill him off, in the most brutal fashion possible.
00:23:13
Speaker
So, yeah, the Frank and Hannah, when they're introduced, you think Frank's very, like, he's going to be some stoic... stoic Like survivalist? Survivalist, yeah. And then you find out that he's very, like, a loving father, and he cares, and he's very, like, patient with, like, Jim and Naomi Harris.
00:23:34
Speaker
just like, come yeah, come in, come on, I got rooms for you. day Like, stay, come to our apartment, hang out
00:23:43
Speaker
out. So, like, yeah, that chapter is very uplifting, but, like, it also shows that this is, like, the, the like, fun part of their adventure. because then you will never see this again well there's always that weird element in you know like zombie land or like last man on earth or something like that where you know it's it's it's apocalyptic but then also you could you can pretty much do whatever you want so i mean yeah you can just break in stores and steal take whatever you want and you know like blow stuff up if you want or like crash cars or steal like drive a sports car or whatever you want to yeah but this is like you don't get affected
00:24:22
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. but So, it's crazy to think that this is only 28 days after the UK, like, London or England was quarantined.
Quarantine Logistics and Geography
00:24:30
Speaker
Yeah. But it feels like it's longer, right? yes. It feels like it's more run down.
00:24:35
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:24:38
Speaker
I mean, London london is empty.
00:24:41
Speaker
There's, like, there's like all it's, like, only, like, It's like, there's four people left. it's it's It was Selina and Mark, and then it was Frank and Hannah. That was it. And then Jim somehow knocking, you know like, beating to death in the the hospital.
00:25:01
Speaker
So, yeah, and then, yeah, it's just it just like, drive the country, there's just like, yeah, like, rage virus people. Like, I guess everyone fled to, like, the country maybe or something? I think they try to get the borders.
00:25:11
Speaker
The borders and They found out that, I guess, all the every other country like found out about it and quarantined the UK, so you can't you can't leave the island. Yeah. I don't know the geography of England.
00:25:26
Speaker
I don't know if there's a major bridge. I feel like there's not. There's no bridge between England and the mainland. They got the channel. It goes under the you know the under the ocean there.
00:25:40
Speaker
by English Channel. But yeah, you gotta go in that, or you gotta fly.
00:25:50
Speaker
ah the Cliffs of Dover part of England? I believe so, yeah.
00:25:57
Speaker
feel like that's sort of like one good area you only need to worry about, like the front. You know? yeah find I mean, there's tons of castles. Just find like a ah medieval castle and just all up there.
00:26:14
Speaker
I guess. I don't know. It's like you need... Okay, so... One of the reasons why you bring up the whole, like, how long and stuff is that I think, like, the human body shuts down after, feel like, 20 days of not eating.
00:26:31
Speaker
How long can the human body, like, survive without food? Well, how long, how long it like, without water, Because I don't think the rage zombies are, like, drinking. and Yeah. They're just running around, like, be like trying to so kill people, like, rip you to pieces.
Biological Survival and Virus Persistence
00:26:46
Speaker
And they're not they're not flesh eaters. They're not like trying to eat people that they killed. there's like They just beat them to death and then move on. I mean, so like they have to be eating something. I'm just doing a quick internet search and it's like three days without water.
00:27:02
Speaker
Your organs will shut down after three days with no water. Unless there's some unless there's some like magical thing with the virus where it just that they keeps the keeps the body going.
00:27:13
Speaker
Maybe, because it's like really it's just for your organs to continue like your brain would just like your organs might be fine but your brain will be just like out and i think after that now you're just running on like store fats but that's like sort of energy still need other things for your circular systems three weeks is like 21 days so after like three weeks yeah you your body will collapse like your organs will start eating each other
00:27:45
Speaker
but yeah I'm just thinking of logistics. It's weird because like that means at some point the rage zombies will eat something. They're eating probably eating each other. They're just going to go into some barbaric motion, eat someone, and then alright, back on the hunt.
00:28:01
Speaker
Well, I mean, i mean that's like it's like we jump if you jump ahead to like part part of the ending, is like you kind of see a lot of them are just like lying there, like, starved to death. so like it It kind of makes it seem like, oh, it burned itself out, but then you know we got 28 months later and 28 years later, it's still happening. so Something's keeping them going. I think even though the body might die, the virus is still alive in the body.
00:28:25
Speaker
yeah That's kind of important too. so ah yeah The third act comes in. It's like a big tonal shift.
00:28:36
Speaker
Brian Gleason's death comes out of left field because he looks at a bird.
Emotional Impact of Infection
00:28:41
Speaker
like he looks like ah He looks at a Resident Evil bird. Which i don't think the bird I don't think the bird's infected. I think he just is like annoyed at it because they they they're following a radio signal that tells them there's going be like a sanctuary at this like checkpoint.
00:28:53
Speaker
And then they get there there's no one there. then he's all... He's extremely frustrated by that. And then kind of wanders off. And then there's this crow is eating the like the body above him. And he's like hitting he's like hitting like the structure and then like one drop of infected blood falls in his eye. And he becomes a ah rage monster.
00:29:14
Speaker
But he has enough time to tell his daughter he loves her and kind of back away.
00:29:22
Speaker
And I remember seeing this in theater. Like, oh, God. This how the movie ends with them killing this figure and then they have to move on with their lives. But then it's like, no, no, there's still like another half an hour movie.
00:29:35
Speaker
Because then the army shows up.
00:29:39
Speaker
And they gun down Brendan Gleeson with like dozens dozens of shots and then they take the the surviv like rest of the gang to ah like this country estate that they've set up in Christopher Eccleston
00:29:57
Speaker
and it yeah seems it seems fine because they're like hey you're safe now you're with us we have guns we're bringing like the front lawn country manor to be a minefield
00:30:14
Speaker
But then you kind of slowly realize that they're kind of like... the month, they kind of devolved monsters themselves. And they want use... They need women to procreate. And they're like, we to repopulate the Earth. We're going to use you regrow humanity. Yeah, they go mad.
00:30:37
Speaker
It's weird, because you figure maybe a year would go by? It's only 28 days. so like... yeah What...
00:30:47
Speaker
these These guys are already kind of like on the edge and then this was just like the final thing. Like I, were they like a terrible unit? And like, and like, you yeah, like the entire like UK army collapsed.
00:30:57
Speaker
And then this is just like the remnants, like just like the the crazy remnants that was like surviving with no orders. They're just like rogue now.
00:31:07
Speaker
Because Christopher Eccleston is just making up like command. He's not getting any new
Army Unit's Moral Collapse
00:31:12
Speaker
information. He's just sort of like, oh, we need to hold this position. Because. This is where we're going to rebuild the earth.
00:31:21
Speaker
and i think I think most of them, except for the one guy that gets dragged off with Jim, like theyre they' like they're all like, well, the whole world's infected. The whole world's gone.
00:31:32
Speaker
There's nothing left. This is like all that's left of humanity now. It's like, I can't get my BBC, so whatever. Whatever was on the BBC in 2001. Or where yeah whatever this movie was like was shot.
00:31:49
Speaker
But then the the one guy's like, well, I saw a plane. And then it's like, but shut up. You didn't see a plane.
00:31:56
Speaker
Which, well, I know ah Jim definitely sees a plane later on, but like the one, the other guy that like gets dragged off with him was like, yeah, I saw like a plane the other day. that's, so the rest the world's like just going out without us. Like we like this, leaving us like rot basically.
00:32:12
Speaker
People still are going to vacation to France. Yes. Yes.
00:32:19
Speaker
It's oh, the yeah, the UK? I've never heard of it.
00:32:27
Speaker
you seeney world there But you think, like what doesn't like when like the UK have like a representative at the UN or something? you'd be like, hey, like we need like military aid for this like infection that's destroying our entire country?
00:32:41
Speaker
i guess i mean, they want they want to understand everything, so the UK pretty much has to cough up what they've been doing, I guess. I guess it happens 28 months later because nato they said there's like ah it's like a NATO task force that comes in.
00:32:56
Speaker
You mean 28 weeks later? 28 months later. oh Or is it weeks? thought weeks.
00:33:09
Speaker
Oh yeah, did they skip months? Yep. That's weird. You figure the next third movie would be months and then this is years. Oh, guess they were they were talking about... like guess I guess like it like years ago, Danny Bowes was and like, oh yeah, the third one would be 28 months later.
00:33:27
Speaker
but now But now they made it 28, because it took so long to make. Now it's years.
00:33:33
Speaker
There might be a prequel. I mean, the popularity, they'll squeeze in months at some point.
00:33:39
Speaker
Yeah, like jamming in the middle, like Saw X. Yep.
00:33:45
Speaker
But yeah, with this... um It's crazy, because again, 28 days plus a few, I don't know week or two of how long it took for Jim's road trip.
00:33:58
Speaker
And then... um Yeah, like, then once the evil army reveals their plan of just, like, procreating and hanging out this mansion, and that's all they want.
00:34:11
Speaker
Like, that's... They want... they The group doesn't want to care about safety. They're just like, hey, it's sex night. and there was like yeah they they They were just... Their transmission was basically just to lure people in. and i guess I guess they were just like, they would just see who comes in.
00:34:27
Speaker
They'd be like, oh, there's women. Good. The last star was all dudes. Yeah, that we that we murdered. Yeah.
00:34:38
Speaker
I guess that's also implied that they've been doing this for a while. Just luring in people, shooting them in the woods. Oh yeah, because there's entire, like, they have their, like, body dump that they, like, dragged Jim and the other guy to.
00:34:52
Speaker
so I think they've just been doing it for the whole 28 days. Like, they day one of They're just waiting for their chance. Like, oh, now's our chance. Let's take advantage of this, like, crazy infection.
00:35:09
Speaker
I think it's implied that, like, they've just been crazy. Mm-hmm. the this whole thing has like affected their brains in a bad way.
Jim's Transformation and Heroics
00:35:19
Speaker
And that's when like Jim snaps and just becomes a zombie whisperer.
00:35:27
Speaker
Yeah, the the whole third act of this movie, like I totally forgot that Jim becomes... like it's It's such a crazy shift where he because he basically becomes the Predator, like Batman or something, where he's just like he can stealth, he can like attack people, like he has combat skills all of a sudden.
00:35:45
Speaker
He can plan. like He has tactical planning? yeah It's crazy. I thought... okay It sounds weird, but it makes sense if he gets a bicycle or something. Some courier thing about him.
00:35:58
Speaker
Maybe there's an album with him that explains like why he's good at this. like Something at his home. Like, oh, you know, Jim, you were like in the army once and then you dropped out. Whatever. it's like And then his training comes back and his instincts...
00:36:13
Speaker
are put into full senses, and it makes sense why he's good at this, but he's, like, really good for, like, one hour he does this. But it's also, it's crazy, too, because he's been in a hospital bed for a month. He has he has no muscle mass. he He's barely eating any food. Like, he has no food. He barely eats any food except junk food.
00:36:33
Speaker
he But then he comes, like, this commando. So I think this is to say that the junk food is not actually junk food. It's all like conspiracy. you eat enough it, off of it gives you training.
00:36:45
Speaker
Drinking off Pepsi. or what's so what's the one he wants? Tango? I think it's like an orange drink or something maybe? Yeah,
00:36:57
Speaker
yeah but the stealth ninja is pretty wild because he plans everything he does like perfectly works out for most of it like what happens.
00:37:07
Speaker
Yeah, he he he makes up with the barbed wire fence. He manages to like take out... like Because he runs to one of the barriers and starts doing the siren to lure them away. And then he takes out that one guy, which I still can't understand like how he... cause he kind of like It looks like he like whips him with something.
00:37:29
Speaker
but then Yeah, he finds like a rock on a rope. Maybe. And then he has time to like prop him up in like the truck for like Crystal to the divide.
00:37:41
Speaker
And then he manages to get that guy's gun. and then he commands his way back to manor house. And then he frees the... There there was an infected member of their group that they've been like leaving chained up to... Crystal X has to study it. i guess It seems more of just like, this is our weird pet.
00:38:00
Speaker
like ah we This is part of our sadistic... The we're doing is we're going to leave this guy infected in the backyard.
00:38:08
Speaker
But frees him and he starts running rampant through everyone and killing everybody and like turning to everybody.
00:38:16
Speaker
But yeah, it's just like, yeah jim Jim's like, he appears and disappears, like he's on the roof, he like jumps through the ceiling. He also knows about a secret passage door in the house. Yeah.
00:38:28
Speaker
he did he musted He must have done a lot of it just exploring by himself, so like, I'm going to check out this house and memorize where everything is. Just in case, just in case I snap and go into kill mode. Yeah, I need to unleash my inner ninja.
00:38:42
Speaker
inner like killer ninja.
00:38:48
Speaker
And then, yeah, that the the one the one guy he kills by, like, gouging his eyes out, it's just, like, that's, like, even, like, next level crazy than what he was doing before. yeah I mean, it's just rage and, and like, adrenaline kicking in where he's able to just, like, brutally... It's like there's no finesse in his combat. it just, like, smashes a guy around the room, and then his finishing move is the, like, gouging his eyes.
00:39:15
Speaker
Yep.
00:39:18
Speaker
but But it's yeah, it's like he's he's so brutal and so crazy that like Naomi Harris thinks he's a rage virus zombie and almost kills him.
Chaos and Valium-Induced Confusion
00:39:29
Speaker
But he they makes that like, he makes a quip. He's like, it switches back to like hey, it's just me. i'm um It's me by Courier Jim. I'm cool. Well, it's funny because like, what was his plan to say like, hey, it's me. I'm okay. Like he just wants to walk up and just run to her.
00:39:47
Speaker
Yeah, we're like a maniac. It's like, oh, I'm okay! I'm okay! I'm okay!
00:39:57
Speaker
i do I do like that Hannah smashes him over the head with her face, because she thinks he's infected. Yeah. But she's also like high on Valium. Or like, where did she get that?
00:40:10
Speaker
Did just find it in the house? Well, Selene has like that whole... Selene has like that like a stock of Valium, because she's like... When they're like camping out that one night, and like everyone takes it. Oh. They can't sleep. She's like she like read like a drugstore or something. She has to sell like a bag full of Valium.
00:40:26
Speaker
kind of forgot that. But forgot it's like the same Valium again.
00:40:35
Speaker
But then it's funny, like Jim like jim loses, like he like kind of like instantly loses like his combat skills because like Christopher Eccleston is to like sneak up him and shoot him. Well, he doesn't really sneak up. He he just opens a door and then he gets shot.
00:40:49
Speaker
Yeah. But you can't combat your way through that. But then, like, Hannah gets to show off, like, her, like, Fast and Furious, like, driving skills. Because she makes, like, while while High, like, gets in the taxi like, is he able like, you slam his wrestling back into, like, the house? Yeah, but, like, what happened? Like, I couldn't figure out what her plan was. like Like, that seemed like a complete accident.
00:41:13
Speaker
It didn't seem like she knew she was driving backwards. It also did not know that she knew and zombie was in the house. they like luckily yeah Yeah, luckily that rage zombie was right right there to grab out the window.
00:41:30
Speaker
wonder if she just planned it. It was like, I'm just going ram him and kill him. But then and he ended up in like basically smashing this window. But then luckily that rage zombie was there to drag him out. Yeah, that's... It's just like an accident, you know?
00:41:43
Speaker
Because no one... It's like not enough in the movie to like, oh, did she mean to do that? Or that was completely just like...
Final Rescue Efforts and Ambiguous Fate
00:41:49
Speaker
What crazy timing. Well, there's there's the one scene where they're to get gas. They're getting like gas out of that tanker truck. And then she does like ah like a super fast, like, going ram this truck.
00:42:01
Speaker
Just kidding. break and do like a skid to show how good a driver driver I am. Because I guess but i guess Frank has taught her how to drive the taxi. Yeah.
00:42:10
Speaker
so like It's like once he kind of like sitting up like, oh, she's a pretty good driver. Yeah, but the zombie popping up is still kind of like... Yeah. It has nothing to do with her driving skills. It's just like lucky.
00:42:22
Speaker
Yep.
00:42:25
Speaker
But we'll take it because like like there was just not enough like... The the the movie's running out of steam to be like, alright, anyway, get to the next part. Yeah, we got we yeah get we gotta get rid of all these soldiers and like get to the end of this thing.
00:42:39
Speaker
Yep.
00:42:42
Speaker
and they And they end up in like ah like a cottage like way like north like in the northern part of England. And ah they manage to like make a sign that a plane... They find out there are planes, and then up like up a jet... Which don't know if the jet's doing it. It's just flying through canyons, just doing crazy like Top Gun maneuvers.
00:43:04
Speaker
I guess maybe searching for survivors, hopefully. Not just doing like a bombing run or like trying to like fly for the hell of it.
00:43:14
Speaker
But it's kind of in the biggest if it's possible. I would have to assume considering how low that guy was and how big their sign was, I'd have to assume that guy would have to be blind not to see their sign. And people like waving at them.
00:43:27
Speaker
Yeah, just to I guess confirm signs of life.
00:43:35
Speaker
But i don't think none of none of none of them have come back yet. um I think so um Kelly Murphy is going to be in the 28 years later, so like, the second one part, or the second, like, the sequel that they filmed back-to-back, like, the Bone Yard, whatever, like, Bone Graveyard.
00:43:53
Speaker
But I don't i don't think he's he's not in the, like, the one this week, 28 years later, he's in the January next year is the next one.
00:44:02
Speaker
Yeah, that, I'm interested to see how they're gonna tie it in, because, like, it's 20-something years for Jim, so, like, he never gets off that island. Like, he's just been living in that cottage. Yeah, he's just been, like, hiding in the like the northern part of the the England, just, like, hanging out.
Alternate Endings Discussion
00:44:24
Speaker
was funny, because, like, a lot of people thought, like, because in that trailer there's, like, that zombie that kind of looks like Killian Murphy, and people are like, oh, did he turn into a zombie? And they're like, no, that's like that's not Jim. Like, Jim's to actually show up in, like, the second movie that we're doing. and And they're like, oh, that's just another guy who looks like Cillian Murphy.
00:44:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:43
Speaker
That's a common look.
00:44:51
Speaker
But yeah. did you Did you hear about, like, did you ever see the different alternate endings? I don't think so. So there's an ending where, like, Hannah gets bit. And they rush to give her Jim's blood.
00:45:06
Speaker
So that Jim dies, gets Hannah's blood. And then... Like, Hannah is normal. So, like, a blood transfusion, like, fixes the the rage virus? Oh, no, no. Jim dies.
00:45:20
Speaker
But, like, the but like like if if you get infected, like, if someone, like, does, like, a blood transfusion to sacrifice themselves, then that fixes you? Apparently. Apparently you're supposed to, like cycle the blood through, like, another person.
00:45:32
Speaker
And then the original person is, like, fine, but then... whoever they're taking their blood giving it back dies. I think that's why they cut it. It like it didn't make sense. Yeah, because that seems like the way we've we've seen the the rage virus work, like how fast it is, that seems like ah way too long a process to try. It's like a cure for like the rage virus.
00:45:53
Speaker
Yeah. Um, but yeah, if you, it's like a, I think the original ending. It's like, by the you, like, find an IV, find, like, a needle, find, like, tubing, you know, get all your stuff you need for, this, like, blood transfusion. Like, the first time you return to a zombie.
00:46:12
Speaker
And then, there's another ending where Jim doesn't make it. Like, he dies from the gunshot. Mm-hmm.
00:46:22
Speaker
Um...
00:46:25
Speaker
And then we get the, you know, the happy ending where Jim is totally fine. Yes. He just he just was he stay stayed in the bed for another 28 days and he was good.
00:46:36
Speaker
Actually, there's like four endings. I just took a quick look. But it's like, yeah, there's another ending where Frank actually was alive for a while. um And then he still gets infected. And then in order to cure it, they give Jim's blood.
00:46:50
Speaker
And then Jim just dies from like the blood loss.
00:46:59
Speaker
so like It's just like they didn't know what to do. wanted i don't know how bleak of an ending. They wanted a bleak ending. like They wanted to just be very...
00:47:11
Speaker
Radically different. It's not like Jim gets bit at the end. It seems like they were like, or do we want to go like full bleak? It's a pretty bleak movie. Already.
00:47:23
Speaker
I guess they decided, let's give a sliffer of hope.
00:47:28
Speaker
at the end that maybe they'll get out of this. But I guess we'll have to wait until January to actually find out what actually happened.
00:47:43
Speaker
And i'm I'm excited for 28 years later. like The trailers all looked pretty great. like Neither of us have seen it yet, but um mean the trailers all look pretty awesome.
Anticipation for '28 Years Later'
00:47:53
Speaker
yeah umm I like how it's no longer just a regular people running from zombies in and a closed area. It's like a whole ecosystem of zombie humans. Yeah, it's a full-on apocalypse. like Society has rebuilt itself into like a more, i don't feudal or like medieval kind of looks like.
00:48:11
Speaker
it like And then... um Yeah, like weird like cult stuff. I'm super curious to see like what what Ray Fides is up to because like it seems like he's... I Colonel Kurtz or just like a cult leader. Like he just looks like he's like nutso in that movie.
00:48:33
Speaker
So yeah, so definitely excited for that. um And definitely like if you if you want to, definitely like both 28 days and 20 months are both, or weeks are both worth checking out again if you have if want to like refresh yourself for this new one.
00:48:54
Speaker
so i gotta I still have to watch um I'm definitely going to rewatch 28 weeks ah again before I see years. Makes sense. It's definitely a good rewatch. um I think it moves faster except I think the third act stalls just because I always yell at the TV for that last part.
00:49:14
Speaker
Such interesting dumb decisions they make at the end.
00:49:22
Speaker
And think I think and then that one definitely got like... i Because I think the first one was a pretty big hit. So then they're like, oh yeah here's the actual budget now.
00:49:31
Speaker
For the sequel. and you know And definitely huge influence on like the zombie genre.
Impact on Zombie Genre and Fast Zombies
00:49:40
Speaker
I was Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead ah remake. Definitely took a lot of from 20 Days Later. Yeah, the introduction of a fast zombie...
00:49:51
Speaker
is different just because again it doesn't follow the undead rule but it is nice to see a humanized monster that it's not just magic it's just like science gone wrong but you know i like i like this version i don't mind a rage monster zombie i also think that um it if they took it in the different direction this movie could be more UK-like, where, like, you know, it's like, it was food based on their diet that turned them into this.
00:50:30
Speaker
Or it's, like, the weather there turned them into this, so it's, like, very unique, but... ta there'st tainted There's Tainted Guinness. Yeah. Just really make it a UK thing, because feel like the American versions of zombie movies, the the idea of, like, chemicals and then, like,
00:50:50
Speaker
I don't know, like curse land that turns into zombie or maybe
00:50:58
Speaker
like a bug that comes from America ecosystem that turns you. I always forget that Dead Alive, the Peter Jackson zombie, the monster came from Skull Island.
00:51:12
Speaker
So like it's a little different.
00:51:16
Speaker
Once you're a zombie, that's just you're a zombie.
Podcast Wrap-up and Online Presence
00:51:25
Speaker
But yeah, so I think that'll do it for week's episode. Come back next week. We're going be diving into ah Megan because obviously would Megan 2.0 is going to be out. So got to revisit all the insanity of the first one before we check out the second one.
00:51:39
Speaker
And head over the site. We all of our stuff. got news, reviews, trailers, all kinds stuff over at everythingaction.com. head over to check all this stuff out. And I guess for Chris, I'm Zach, and we will see you next week. For more Forever Everything head to www.everythingaction.com.
00:51:55
Speaker
also find us on Facebook at facebook.com slash everything.action and follow us on X at Evie Action. We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action.
00:52:07
Speaker
Find more episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your at podcast app of choice and be sure to rate and subscribe.