Resident Evil - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Resident Evil



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Starting off the batch of 4K releases for the Resident Evil franchise we go back to 2002, when this reviewer was in his sophomore year of college and the PS2 Resident Evil games were still a hot thing. Yes, I fully admit that as a fan of the game the movies just aren’t in the same league. The games were great horror puzzle games, and this movie seemed set to cash in on that popularity despite having little to do with the actual game’s plot. All that we got was Alice in a semblance of her video game outfit, and a typical horror/action premise that has been done before. Still, it seems to work rather well as Paul W.S. Anderson made 5 more sequels AND had his wife (Milla) starring in all of them. I rather enjoyed the movie despite it’s differences from the game, and have slowly come to accept that these movies are made in the same universe, but never really trying to clone the games and should be seen as their own entity.

Like all long running franchises, the first is always the best (only by a smidgen though, because Extinction is a rather good sequel that almost bests this one at times) and there’s nothing wrong with that. We meet an amnesiac Alice (Milla Jovovich) who has just woken up naked in a shower with no memories of what has gone on. She’s soon abducted by a militaristic security force working for the Umbrella corporation who informs her that she is a member of Umbrella and that there has been an accident in an underground facility known as the “Hive”. Going underground the paramilitary group (and Alice) have to bypass the facility’s AI system known as the Red Queen, as well as anything else that they might encounter.

It looks like they encounter a bit more than just a biochemical accident like they thought. The humans that were sealed in the facility after a toxin was sensed have reanimated into the walking dead, and now it’s up to Alice and the mercs to fight their way through the computer system who wants them sealed in with it, past the hordes of scientists turned zombies, and get back up to surface, all the while battling betrayal, secrets, and a truth that Alice doesn’t want to confront.

Resident Evil could have been a massive hit movie (it had all the earmarks of being one), or it could have dive bombed as badly as Dungeons & Dragons did 2 years prior. Luckily it’s more in the middle of the road, dodging the bomb status, but never really achieving massive hit status either. It may not be unscathed from it’s fatal flaws (a generic plot, cheap action at times, and some cheesy dialog), but it’s utterly entertaining and one of my favorite guilty pleasures. The CGI is a bit dated, but the slow mo action and zombie goriness makes it a blast with some popcorn and an open mind. Had I had higher expectations I would have had some more issues to nit pick over, but as a “leave your brain at the door” action/horror flick it works rather well. Still the best of the franchise, and still a blast to watch.




Rating:

Rated R for strong sci-fi/horror violence, language and sexuality/nudity




4K Video: Video:

The old Blu-ray release from Sony has always been a solid looking disc, especially since the 2002 film was less glossy and shiny than later sequels. It’s got tons of cool blues underground, accented by cool colors and a steel gray appearance of the Hive. The new 4K UHD disc blows the old one straight out of the water though, adding depth and punchiness that I didn’t think was possible. The film is rather grainy and noisy underground in the Blu-ray, but substantially cleaned up in the 4K disc. DNR isn’t present though, it’s just that the extra space and bandwidth of the 4K UHD mastering process allows for the grain to be tightened, and the noise in dark shots to be mitigated. This isn’t a splashy or ostentatious UHD release, but rather a natural and very progressive one. Fine details are excellent all around, and you can see so much more facial details than before. The semi smooth look of the Blu-ray is mostly gone, and the little nuances, such as folds and creases on clothing is shockingly clear. The HDR color enhancements really bring the film to life, adding more depth and punch to the cool shades of blue, red and orange, all the while never really being overly hot or colorful. The aging Blu-ray release looks flat and dull by comparison when played side by side, and the blacks are just so much more inky and deep. Able to show off so much more shadow detail (such as when the mercs get ambushed by zombies while Alice and the rest are away). Some CGI looks a bit hinky and you can see some of the seams of real life vs. Green screen, but all in all this is a MASSIVE upgrade over the 1080p Blu-ray.






Audio:

Another big upgrade is from the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track. The mix was already excellent, but like the video, the new Atmos track is well worth the price of admission. Right off the bat we’re greeted with doors slamming, alarms blaring, and the thudding of a heavy facility being locked down that just reverberates through the surrounds and overheads alike. The bass is just absolutely devastating, giving us chest crunching mids, deeeeeeeeeeeep lows and is just such a powerhouse from beginning to end. The dialog is still crystal clear, but the surrounds and overheads are given a lot of leeway being that the underground environment of the Hive really allows the directionality of the mix to come out and play. Creaking groans from the sides, scrapes of a pick axe from the rear, and every directional change you can think of. Yeah, this is pure ear candy and is a massive treat to listen to.







Extras:

• Theatrical Trailer
• Cast and Filmmakers Commentary
• Visual Effects Commentary
• Playing Dead: Resident Evil From Game to Screen
• The Making of Resident Evil
• Scoring Resident Evil
• Storyboarding Resident Evil
• Costumes
• Set Design
• The Creature
• The Elevator
• The Laser
• The Train
• Zombie Dogs
• Zombies
• Alternate Ending
• Music Video
• Previews

Final Score: ​

I hate to say it, but out of a sea of video game movies being made, Resident Evil was one of the better adaptations out there. Sure, it doesn’t stick to the games story line, but it captures the looks and feel of the universe and is a very polished film at the end of the day. It’s got fun actors and actresses (Milla would nearly define herself as Alice), and the action is just right. It’s got some dated CGI and action sequences in comparison to modern films, but it’s still great fun as a “check your brain at the door” flick. The new 4K UHD disc adds a new extra (just a theatrical trailer) and brings us an AMAZING remaster on the video front and a great Atmos track to boot. I make no bones that the audio and video upgrades for this disc make it a no brainer grab for those of us with the Blu-ray release.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, James Purefoy, Ryan McCluskey, Colin Salmon
Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Written by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DTS-HD MA 5.1, German, French, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin), Tamil, Turkish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
Studio: Sony
Rated: R
Runtime: 101 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: November 17th, 2020

Recommendation: Fun Watch