28 Years Later - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

28 Years Later



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later shocked audiences in 2022, and kick-started the new wave of zombies that have sort of defined the 21st century. Well, kinda, as fans of the series have rabidly defended the theory that the monsters are less “zombies” and more “rage monsters”, but that is neither here nor there. The original film was a rough and tumble little thing, shot on a shoestring budget and given a very, VERY grungy looking veneer that made its leap to HD a rather minuscule upgrade due to the intentional filming style of Byle. Fast forward 5 years, and 28 Weeks Later turned out to be a worthy successor to the original. And for years, fans of the series have begged Boyle to get back into the director’s chair and direct a continuation. It may have taken 18 years for him to do so, but Boyle is back, and once more, he nudges the zombie subgenre in a new and unique manner.

As the title suggests, we’re 28 years past the events of 28 Days Later, and the world has sort of learned to live in a new homeostasis. The virus was mainly contained in the U.K., leaving the rest of the world in peace, while they have quarantined the U.K. and kept the virus locked in that little hellhole. Which means that while the rest of the world gets to move on, the survivors inside the soggy little island have to figure out a way to survive and make do without any outside aid. And it is here we meet a young boy coming into the world in the form of Spike (Alfie Williams). Living on the isolated island of Lindisfarne, the young lad lives with his alcoholic father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and terminally ill mother Isla (Jodie Comer), only to get inundated with the rest of “his” world at the age of 12 years old.

As is the tradition of his island, young Spike is sent out into the world with his father in order to cross the bridge from child to manhood and learn to defend his family and clan against the hordes of rage monsters that live out there in the rest of the UK. However, Spike’s little adventure to manhood is cut short when he learns that his father is having an affair with a local schoolteacher, while his mother lies in bed, drifting further and further towards death. Disenchanted with the world that he now finds himself in, young Spike learns of a mad doctor in Britain who might have a cure for her. Taking his ailing mother on a trip that may well end them both, Spike sets out to find a cure for her, and discovers what it takes to REALLY be a man, devoid of the killing and way of life that they have carved out on their little island.

The long and the short of the film is very simply that this is a coming-of-age story of Spike. And it also serves as an expansion for the world that we were introduced to in 2002. What’s fascinating is not so much the reintroduction to the world of the rage virus, but how everyone has adapted to living in this world. It’s been over a quarter of a century, and the remaining survivors of the virus have learned to separate themselves into clans and tribes, basically creating their own cultures in an isolated world, with the rest of society continuing on around them. But to make things even MORE interesting is the adaptation of the monsters themselves. Boyle opens up their existence in much the same way Romero did in subsequent films, showing us different sub-species of the rage monsters. We have the crawlers that scrounge for grubs, the racers that run after us, and the “alphas” that have learned to control and lead the rage monsters in hunting packs. It’s a fascinating expansion into the world that was abandoned 28 years ago.

The first half of the film is a bit of a slow burn, introducing us to Spike and his familial growth, but things don’t really start picking up until we meet Ralph Fiennes' Dr. Kelson. NOW things get crazy as the mad doctor feels like a stand-in for Marlon Brando’s Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now. In fact, you can see the influence of Apocalypse Now on the entire second half of the film, complete with subversion of themes and an intense take on PTSD in this new world. Fiennes himself turns in an absolutely stunning performance, taking the lead role away from Spike in many ways, and pulling the audience into his world of bloody madness. But still, at the end of the day, this is Spike’s film and despite Fiennes scene scene-stealing everything, the young lad manages to still steer the ship till its inevitable end.




Rating:

Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, graphic nudity, language, and brief sexuality.





Video:

28 Days Later was notoriously grungy to the point of showing VERY little upgrade to Blu-ray from DVD, while 28 Weeks Later was filmed a bit differently. 28 Years Later continues on the path of looking different than the film before it, showcasing the benefits of High Definition video, while still using very unique filming styles. This time, Boyle used the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro to film the vast majority of the film, giving it various filters and tweaks from scene to scene. A large portion of the film looks stunning, with razor-sharp clarity and a rich color spectrum that is amazing to behold. The film can change between natural-looking and garishly over-saturated at a moment's notice, while also changing clarity levels from scene to scene. As mentioned, some scenes look clean and clear, while longer shots have Boyle changing the focus so characters seem a tad blurry. Colors really pop all the way around, with bright orange tones for Ralph Fiennes, while the forest can alternate between garish green and dulled browns. Skin tones look generally great, and the lack of digital artifacting is amazing. I didn’t notice any major issues with crush, banding, or anything else nefarious in the encode. The filming style is definitely unique, though, and a treat to behold in 1080p.









Audio:

While the video encode is NEAR perfect, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA is pretty much perfect. While it’s not the Atmos track found on the 4K disc (Sony still relegates the Blu-ray to 5.1 land), the 5.1 track is nothing short of jaw-dropping. Creatures scream and shriek from every angle, while the scrabbling (and sometimes frantic) sounds of humans running from the rage monsters fill the entire surround stage. Rustling leaves and crunching sticks snap and crackle during moments of extreme silence, and the sound of arrows whistling through the air only to impact rotten flesh stands out with incredible accuracy. The bass response is beyond stupid, as it shifts from a mild support role to a full-blown “punch you in the face” at a moment’s notice. Overall, the dialogue is great, though my aging ears had a little bit of difficulty with the Scottish accents used. But overall, this is the perfect example of just how great a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track can sound in a world that is used to Atmos.









Extras:

• Days to Years
• Capturing the Chaos
• The Survivors
• Becoming The Infected
• Behind The Cameras

Final Score:

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Is 28 Years Later the best of the franchise? I think not. But in my humble opinion, it is the second-best film in the series. The movie feels like it is at complete odds with the trailer (the trailer made it seem like there was a larger scope), but I liked being surprised by what we say. Boyle makes this an intimate coming-of-age story, just with zombies (err….rage monsters), and he still proves that he hasn’t lost his touch. While I wasn’t able to see the 4K disc, this Blu-ray is quite a stunner, with great video, amazing audio, and a moderate array of extras. Well worth checking out in my opinion.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, Alfie Williams
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Alex Garland
Aspect Ratio: 2.75:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Spanish, Thai DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Sony Pictures
Rated: R
Runtime: 115 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: September 16th, 2025

Recommendation: Fun Watch

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