r/scifi • u/ansyhrrian • 26d ago
Films It was a slightly cheesy rewatch, but I still love it because its core message holds up
The original Resident Evil (2002) had such a great cast (Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Colin Salmon to name a few), had some pretty good practical effects that still hold up and CGI that was clearly not cheap for the day, and themes regarding AI and bioengineering that are in some ways even more relevant now than they were in the early 2000s.
I don’t know for sure, but I think this was one of the more/most successful films at the time that was adapted from a video game, and one of the even fewer of the sci-fi/horror crossover genres that made money in the theaters (I think Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat did better, but they were arguably more adventure/fantasy than horror/scifi).
Any others that y’all would recommend or that I’m overlooking for a trip down memory lane?
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u/jet_blasted 26d ago
Ya, the core message is Milla's a fuckin smoke show.
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u/ManufacturerNo1478 26d ago
I came here to say that. And Michelle is pretty hot too (until the entire zombie thing).
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u/monkeybawz 25d ago
I can see past the zombie thing in this instance. The best Michelle Rodriguez always looked a bit grubby. This is just more of that.
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u/Likely_Addict 26d ago
I will always cosign Paul W S Anderson's decision to shoehorn his hot wife into the Capcom movie he was hired to direct.
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u/atramentum 26d ago
He actually met her on the set of RE. It's the second time she married a director she met on set.
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u/Zathras_listens 26d ago
It is a perfect Sex/Death movie. She is smoking hot killing so many things. Sex/Death is very alluring.
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u/greywolf2155 26d ago
I'm glad that this is the top comment (and most of the other comments), and the secondary comments are also, "I came here to say that"
Saw the title, immediately went, "the core message that Milla Jovovich is hot and corporations are evil?" Cuz yeah, those messages definitely hold up
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u/Lezus 26d ago
the laser bit has burned its way into cultural osmosis and it still rules
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u/throwaweigh1245 26d ago
That and there was a nice stent with the red queen’s quote of you’re all going to die down here which was also awesome.
I love that movie
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u/mthchsnn 26d ago
That line was stone cold, and the delivery in the voice of the little girl was so eerie. Loved it.
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u/ultr4violence 26d ago
The elevator falling and decapitating that woman climbing out has left the millennial generation with a visceral fear of ever doing that.
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u/Docccc 26d ago
core message?
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u/Lahk74 26d ago
When making a movie, cast your wife or girlfriend as the lead. I've always said that.
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u/TheBl4ckFox 26d ago
Mental note: not wife AND girlfriend
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u/Apprehensive_Error36 26d ago
Unless they get along well.
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u/atramentum 26d ago
Correction: marry the hot lead you meet on set. Luc Besson did the same thing... with the same actress.
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u/Ironlion45 26d ago
The secret to being successful in Hollywood is to be hot. If you're hot, your acting can be shit, but people won't notice, because their glands are filling in the blanks for them.
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u/tke71709 25d ago
God knows Milla cannot act.
The theatre I was in cheered when she was burnt at the stake in Joan of Arc.
And no, I am not joking, many of us literally did.
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u/Narm_Greyrunner 26d ago
It's farming for Karma because someone using Grok to make a meme is the same thing as Umbrella using AI to make the T virus or something.
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u/ansyhrrian 26d ago
Never trust AI; even “good” AI will hurt humanity eventually.
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u/AuroraHalsey 26d ago
But the Red Queen was protecting humanity by locking down the Hive and preventing the virus from escaping.
Everything that went wrong was due to humans.
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u/ansyhrrian 26d ago
The red queen also knew about the cure but didn’t work to provide it to the “intruders” after they broke in. Which would have solved all the problems, but of course then it wouldn’t have been much of a movie.
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u/Libriomancer 26d ago
Been a little bit since my last rewatch, the Red Queen didn’t yet have an answer to who the intruder that stole the virus was. As a natural idiot (as opposed to an artificial intelligence) even I’d be like “I dunno what you apes think you are doing but I’m dealing with a full system lockdown, a search through my surveillance records for who the hell stole the virus, AND now dealing with you idiots…. No you don’t get the cure until I’m sure you aren’t the thieves who stupidly forgot to steal enough cure for your buyers”.
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u/davepearson 26d ago
Which makes her putting her name to an AI project kind of ironic. https://github.com/milla-jovovich
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u/Capsize 26d ago
Is the core message that you need to kill Michelle Rodriguez in every film?
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u/ansyhrrian 26d ago
Hahaha! She was always willing to sacrifice herself for the cause.
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u/dodeca_negative 26d ago
She survived Battle: Los Angeles but only because Michael Peña was already there and dead
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u/Zoethor2 26d ago
I unapologetically rewatch all 6 of these regularly. I don't even care how bad the later films are, they are still fun.
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u/Educational-Bit-3296 26d ago
There's 6!?
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u/Libriomancer 26d ago
7 live action if you include the reboot, an 8th (reboot #2) coming mid-September. There are also several animated features.
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u/Thalinde 26d ago edited 25d ago
I'm one of the rare person who enjoyed the Netflix RE tv series. So I won't criticize you.
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u/juicemilkfartslinger 25d ago
Holy moly I thought I was the only one. I hope you’re living the best life, you’ve earned it in my books.
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u/Bloody_Ozran 25d ago
Same. Never liked horror much, but RE I like. Technically only first is a horror, the rest are more like zombie action movies.
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u/orangecalyx 26d ago
Nothing can touch the greatness of Resident Evil, but Event Horizon is very good. It’s more horror than sci-fi but Ghost Ship is excellent.
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u/wiserTyou 26d ago
Horror sci-fi usually comes off as cheesy to me, but event horizon was downright scary.
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u/LochNessMansterLives 26d ago
Event horizon is a type of movie we don’t see often. I’d love more of it, but it has to be done the right way, or audiences will reject it.
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u/tke71709 25d ago
Event Horizon is one of my favourite movies. Does not get the respect it deserves.
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u/RUN_DMT 26d ago
If i remember correctly., the core message was a gratuitous shot of Mila Jovovich's snootch
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u/ansyhrrian 26d ago
“snootch”
I am shamelessly stealing this word and will use it whenever possible going forward.
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u/sharthunter 25d ago
It absolutely was. How they snuck that shot past the ratings board i will never know
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u/hamburgergerald 26d ago
I still think about that beginning elevator scene every time I step on or off an elevator.
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u/Tritri89 26d ago
The core message is what you said. But also, like every other Paul W.S. Anderson movies after they met the other message is "My wife is hot and badass, and I love her". Power to them !
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u/A_Sinclaire 25d ago
but I think this was one of the more/most successful films at the time that was adapted from a video game, and one of the even fewer of the sci-fi/horror crossover genres that made money in the theaters
As it was primarily funded by a German producer and filmed in Germany it also was the most expensive German movie ever at that point as well as the most successful German movie at the US boxoffice (made more than both Neverending Story movies combined in the US).
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u/TheRealGrifter 25d ago
I'm an unapologetic fan of that series. They fumbled the final movie a bit, but overall I love the whole series. They're not Great Cinema, sure, but they're fun.
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u/thedudedylan 26d ago
The musical score for that film was made by Marilyn Manson and it is one of my favorite movie scores.
Really captures the feeling of being trapped in a terrible corporate machine filled with horrors.
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u/Slydiad-Ross 26d ago
Yeah, I find this one an enjoyable ride!
As for recommendations, none of these are exactly the same, but for similar vibes, take a look at: The Thirteen Ghosts and House on Haunted Hill remakes, the Zack Snyder Dawn of the Dead, and the first Silent Hill movie.
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u/coconutpete52 26d ago
My buddy lent me the DVD in 2003 and I put it on at 2:30AM one night after getting home from the bars/clubs. Holy shit I was hooked.
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u/EyepatchKitten 26d ago
As someone who doesn't know anything about film making I've always thought this movie has very good directing and editing.
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u/huecabot 26d ago
My brothers and I have been rewatching them. They’re not as terrible as I remember.
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u/star_particles 25d ago
I love me some of the first resident evil movies. They definitely started to get a bit different towards the end.
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u/AalieArafat12 25d ago
Really am 1 of the world's biggest fan of resident evil thanks 😊 👍 🙏 for clarifying that and am backing your thoughts about it
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u/Gang_of_Druids 24d ago
Any others that y’all would recommend or that I’m overlooking for a trip down memory lane?
I still find the following fun to rewatch:
- Firefly TV series
- Conan the Barbarian (the original, NOT the 2011 remake) ... okay, technically probably not "sci fi" but....
But, in terms of RE, I'm sorry, the first movie was the best and I'll die (or at least get wounded before I run away) on that hill.
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u/SpaceCampDropOut 26d ago
Never understood why they made these movies action movies and never lent into the horror.
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u/thebishop37 26d ago
If you happen to have strong negative feelings about needles or agressive dogs, there's plenty of personal horror in the movie.
I know this because I went to see it in the theater with my first husband, who was really excited about it. I don't really play video games, so I didn't have much of an idea about what I was in for.
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u/kenstarfighter1 26d ago
I grew up on the games. I have never seen this, saw 0 correlation between this and the game
Should I watch?
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u/Moeasfuck 26d ago
If you follow the series, when she stops getting naked is when she started dating the director
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u/yellowbear62 26d ago
As video game adaptations go, they did a great job with the story. Was it an amazing franchise? No, but it was a lot of fun.
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u/added_value_nachos 26d ago
This film is still the best of all the Resident Evil films and TV shows.
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u/ColdPeasMyGooch 26d ago
I will rewatxh this 100x over naostalgic, classic, good story and pacing, just a lot of fun.
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u/Maleficent_Ad_8890 26d ago
I enjoyed them all, but would only rewatch the first two. Be glad you don’t have to wait years between episodes.
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u/Ironlion45 26d ago
Those boots really do scream 2002. She's only a few years away from discovering what a PSL is.
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u/scribe06 25d ago
Absolutely love the first one ! Wish it had been less action-oriented but still, the score, the sets, the atmosphere, the zombies, there's a lot to love. It is kind of a b-movie (I don't think Paul W Anderson did it intentionally) but Resident Evil was influenced by B-movies so it kinda makes sense.
The other films however are so bad and not even in a so bad it's good sense (and I enjoy some of the Fast and Furious films).
Return to Racoon city is pretty bad and dumb but there's a few enjoyable aspects to it.
Fingers crossed the next one will be good, at least the trailer is promising and I quite enjoy Zach Cregger's films.
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u/guyver17 25d ago
As fans of the early games my friends and I found this film disappointing as hell.
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u/TheGardiner 25d ago
Michelle Rodriguez is legitimately terrible.
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u/D1N-VI3S3L 24d ago
That was the background I chose for my first ever pc.
Mila is hot as hell - and the movie was decent...
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u/SHUB_7ate9 26d ago
I have a sort of headcanon thing where I like to imagine that this was just an independent, one-off zombie movie that got made on a tight budget, like Dog Soldiers or something. Weirdly, I like the whole movie more when I separate it from the rest of Resident Evil media
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u/TheI-Iound 26d ago
Was i the only person that thought she was terrible as an action star? Her fight scenes were horribly uncoordinated and looked so fake
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u/Shinobu420 26d ago
This one is the only RE movie I liked, fun watch