4/4  4 out of 4
I completely agree with jen1302 This movie had Great CG and the plot actually made since. Which isn't common on most zombie films. Milla Jovovich was an excellent choice to use for the man character for this movie. Resident evil was suspen... (read full)

4/4  Resident Evil
Has Plenty of Gore and Action with great FX and brilliant cast and great plot

It Slow for the first mins but builds up to all action to the end

Brilliant film with plenty of Gore Action.

Good cast and Brilliant FX and Music score ... (read full)

2.5/4  Resident Evil Quick Review
One of the better video game adaptations. Fairly good film.

3/4  Resident Evil Quick Review
A lot better than what I was expecting - as most video game adaptations tend to let me down big time. Maybe it was my low expectations, but the action, acting and plot seemed to gel into something more than mindless fun.

3/5 this is not the game
  by A. Reinwand
7.1 THE FILM ITSELF
8.2 VISUALS
8.0 SOUND
7.5 PACKAGING
9.0 EXTRAS

When I first heard that there was going to be a Resident Evil film I was extremely excited. I've played all the games (like most reviewers on here probably) and I love the franchise for what it is and how it has suddenly seemed to actually grow and get better. But before the smash hit of the gamecube / PS2 / Wii game Resident Evil 4, there was the original of the film franchise: Resident Evil starring Milla Jovovich. And after numerous viewings, all I can say is that the film is decent, but nothing spectacular.

The bad part is that Resident Evil doesn't do one single thing exceptionally well. To be blunt, it tries to do very little in terms of what the games do. That's fine with me. I'm glad they didn't make a scene by scene rehash of the game, because what would be the point? So instead the creators made a more "action-focused" film. The problem is, the film lacks any good action sequences. There's dozens of better action movies out there.

The characters and the zombies are the other two major flaws. You don't really feel connected to any of the characters (except maybe Alice until she remembers who exactly she is) and the zombies are not frightening at all - because they just walk. So claustrophobic settings are needed. But it doesn't help all that much.

The general "mystery" of the film is good and the ending obviously leaves room for a sequel (Apocalypse), but it's the little things in between that make it a frustrating viewing. Loud pounding music one minute, bland dialogue from extraction team the next. I could easily see fans of the game franchise hating everything about this film. And if I had to choose between "love and hate" for the film, I'd personally choose hate.

8.2 VISUALS
This is not an impressive blu-ray by any means. Sure there are bright clean images, but it's nothing you'll stare in amazement at. It also doesn't help that we pretty much have 3 different set pieces for the entire film and most of the 94 minutes is spent in a white laboratory.

8.0 SOUND
I generally hate the soundtrack (score) of Resident Evil. At some points it's loud and blistering and at other times there is an eerie calm around the characters. At times it works, at tims it feels smothering. But even though I hate most of the soundtrack, it does fit well with the film for the most part.

7.5 PACKAGING
Packaging is good and nothing else. A decent menu screen - but gives away alot of the "jump scares" in the film. The cover is good as well, but as the film is, it prepares you for more of an action flick than a zombie horror movie, which I guess is good so no one gets confused about what they're watching.

9.0 EXTRAS
There are a plethora of extras here. From behind the scene segments to an alternate ending to a Slipknot music video (oh yeah! *sarcasm*), if you love the movie, you'll love the special features - most of them. But even if you were unhappy with the film it's hard not to be impressed with what the studio has thrown together here.

There are two commentaries, and let me be the first to say that the commentary with Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriquez is one of the worst I have ever heard. It's shocking to see how girly these two non-girly acting girls are when the camera isn't rolling (visually). The talk constantly and never let director Paul Anderson talk. It's annoying, mildly amusing, but overall you barely learn anything about the film. The second commentary is more detail oriented since it's Anderson and the main special effects guy talking. It's more concentrated, but extremely detailed, which will bore some people.

"Playing Dead" is the next feature where different people talk about the classic status of the videogame series and how it has changed videogames. If you know the history of the game series, you'll know everything here.

"The Making of Resident Evil" is exactly what most 'making ofs' are, a look at some behind the scenes and talking to the cast and crew. Nothing memorable or exciting, but a fun look at the production of the film.

"Scoring Resident Evil" contains quite the shock about who helped make the score for the film. It's these nice discoveries that make extra features worthwhile.

"Storyboarding Resident Evil" is the standard watching of scenes while we see what the storyboards show and the slight (or major) difference between the final product and first idea.

The next 8 features are detailed looks at a specific item or area from the film. Most are between 2-4 minutes. Some are worthwile ("The Laser") while some are cmpletely useless (" The Elevator").
1. Costumes
2. Set Design
3. The Creature
4. The Elevator
5. The Laser
6. The Train
7. Zombie Dogs
8. Zombies

The Alternate Ending comes with an introduction by Paul Anderson. It's a terrible ending to be honest, so I'm glad they kept with the "doom and gloom" ending otherwise this ending would've made the film probably worse than I already thought it was. But still fun to see what it may have been.

The last feature is the music video by Slipknot. The video is footage of Slipknot live in concert intertwined with scenes from the film. The sound is not from the live performance however. If you like Slipknot, you'll love this. If you don't like metal, you'll have no urge to watch this.

IN CLOSING
The film was disappointing for me personally not because it changed from the game series, but because it never seems to do any one thing great and it fails to make you feel scared or panicked. Luckily the special features make the blu-ray set worthwhile for collectors and for extra features fans alike. It's not a terrible film by any means, but for what it tries to be, dozens of other films do better.

7.4/10 "DECENT"

3/5 Blu ray movie looks good.
  by S. Fung (usa)
I enjoyed the series of Resident Evil. I bought the DVD before and decided to buy the Blu ray to see the difference. A 61 inches DLP did tell the difference between the picture quality of DVD and Blu Ray. It is fun to watch and the special effect still look good.

5/5 2002 FILM ON DVD.
  by Dr. Feelgood (USA)
The first film of the three, was the best. A zombie film, that was influenced by Night of the Living Dead, but elaborated upon, by adding action, combined with sci-fi. Plus, some of the visual effects are also quite good.

5/5 watch, rent...repeat.
  by The Mandrew (The Dub-V)
Better the second time around. While it doesnt hold a candle to the 2nd film, it is only loosely based on the series, whereas Apocalypse will be the winner of the two to big fans of the videogame. The dialogue has its numbing moments, and yes, it could have been a lot more, but it still had a more cohesive feel than any of the videogame inspired crap from Uwe Boll. I wouldnt OWN it, but I would (and did) rent it in succession with the other two Resident Evil movies, and taken as the sum of the parts, it ain't bad.

5/5 The Dead Walk on Blu-ray
  by Ender84 (USA)
The Umbrella Corporation-a global leader in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and medical hardware, yet they somehow find the time to dabble in genetic engineering and bio-weaponry. Their latest invention, the T-Virus, promises to reanimate dead bodies. When a vile of this virus is released within Umbrella's underground laboratory known as the Hive, they find out just how potent that concoction is.

The radiant Milla Jovovich takes on the role of Alice, a woman who wakes up on a shower floor, completely unaware how she got there. We follow Alice as she attempts to piece together what is going on. Of course, she has to splatter some undead brains all over the place in search of the truth.

The atmosphere in this movie is spot on. Narrow corridors and flickering florescent bulbs creates an eerie environment reminiscent of the video game series. They also borrowed the extreme high and low angle camera angles from the games. This makes for a tense experience as our heroes move through the halls of the Hive, unsure of what might be around the corner-and have little time or space to react when they find out.

The picture and audio quality is superb. The transfer is leaps and bounds better than the DVD and audio begs for a nice surround sound system. This Blu is easily the best version of the film to date.

The special features are the standard fare of behind the scenes featurettes and commentaries. The commentaries where all the meat of the special features is at. You get two full length commentaries-one with the cast and one with the filmmakers. The cast commentary is entertaining, but not very informative. Milla does the bulk of the talking which some people will love while other will turn it off early on. The filmmakers commentary is very insightful, and the track that I believe most people will prefer. You also get an alternate ending and a Slipknot music video. They are about as interesting as they sound which will be good or bad depending on who you are.

If you are a Zombie fan, you will love this movie. Even more so if you are fan of the video games. However, Resident Evil will not change the minds of those who are turned off by the living dead. The Blu-ray version is definitely worth the upgrade if you are sitting on the fend, DVD in hand.

Tech Specs
Video: 1080p, 1.85:1
Audio: English, Italian Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French, Spanish, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian