Resident Evil: Extinction isn’t all that good to be honest, but I do appreciate the change in scenery from the cold and dark Umbrella Corporation facilities or the decaying cityscapes, and instead taking place in the desert with Jovovich once again playing her role well enough.
Resident Evil: Extinction
(2007)
Genre(s): Horror, Thriller, Science Fiction
Sony | R – 94 min. | November 17, 2020
Date Published: 11/22/2020 | Author: The Movieman
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Sony Pictures provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
Note: The screen captures were taken from the Blu-ray disc and do not represent the 4K Ultra HD transfer.
THE MOVIE — 2½/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Captured by the Umbrella Corp., Alice (MILLA JOVOVICH) receives genetic alterations that leave her with superhuman abilities. Hiding out in the Nevada desert, she joins forces with former cohorts Carlos (ODED FEHR) and L.J. (MIKE EPPS) as well as new survivors Claire (ALI LARTER), K-Mart (SPENCER LOCKE) and Nurse Betty (ASHANTI) to eradicate the virus that threatens to turn every human on Earth into a zombie.
Quick Hit Review: Resident Evil: Extinction, while not great or even that good, does at least give us a different vibe compared with the first two films. There is definitely a familiarity of the deserted, apocalyptic, landscape that has been seen many times before, but I still liked it, from the beginning, with Alice riding alone (exposition would explain why she departed from the group as seen at the end of Apocalypse – which as a side this movie should have been titled) and coming across a distress signal that surprisingly Alice falls for, but manages to get out and pile up the body count early on. This entry finds the departure of Paul W.S. Anderson who still wrote and produced as he was busy on other projects, with Russell Mulcahy takes over the reins well enough with experience having previously directed the two Highlander movies and The Shadow. Can’t quite say he gave the series a breath of fresh air, but there is some minor visual flair and this one, even with the zombies and sci-fi aspects, did feel a bit more grounded compared with Apocalypse.
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SPECIAL FEATURES – 3/5 |
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Released as part of the Resident Evil: Limited Edition Collection, the 4K UHD and Blu-ray discs are housed in a digipak packaging with cardboard on the front and back and plastic hubs inside. DISC ONE (4K ULTRA HD): Trailers (4:17):
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY): Audio Commentary – Director Russell Mulcahy, Writer/Producer Paul W.S. Anderson and Producer Jeremy Bolt Beyond Raccoon City: Unearthing Resident Evil: Extinction (31:07) is a set of four featurettes (“Alice Vision/Pre-Production”, “The Big Bang/Shoot RE:E”, “Bigger, Faster, Stronger/The Undead Evolve”, “Vegas Visual/Minatures”) taking viewers behind the scenes on the production. 11 Deleted Scenes (8:26) |
VIDEO – 4½/5 |
| Sony Pictures releases Resident Evil: Extinction onto 4K Ultra HD, presented here with a 2.38 widescreen aspect ratio (as best I could measure, though back of set says it is 2.39), but in any case, as I noted in the movie review, being this is a welcomed change-up for the series, a fair portion of the movie takes place in the desert so there is plenty of light showcased here. As such, while the color scheme is geared more toward natural undertones (as seen even in Jovovich’s outfit), skin tones appear to be well balanced, and toward the end when the scenes are inside/underground, the black levels are equally stabilized, stark but not crushed. |
AUDIO – 4¾/5 |
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The included Dolby Atmos track, which is an upgrade over the Blu-ray’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 track (available on this disc as well) offers up a well rounded, aural experience. The desert landscape is also on display here, the swirling winds to the ravaging zombies idling by on the isolated roads or the zombie crows cawing as they attack our ensemble case, make use of every available channel. |
OVERALL – 3¾/5 |
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Resident Evil: Extinction isn’t all that good to be honest, but I do appreciate the change in scenery from the cold and dark Umbrella Corporation facilities or the decaying cityscapes, and instead taking place in the desert with Jovovich once again playing her role well enough. The 4K Ultra HD comes with great video and audio transfers and a good selection of bonus features. |
The screen captures came from the Blu-ray copy and are here to add visuals to the review and do not represent the 4K video.