Resident Evil
A secret experiment. A deadly virus. A fatal mistake.
Resident Evil (2002)
Production
Budget
$33 000 000
Revenue
$102 984 862
Director
Scenario
Composer
Producer
Actors
Milla Jovovich
Alice
Eric Mabius
Matt
James Purefoy
Spence
Martin Crewes
Kaplan
Colin Salmon
One
Pasquale Aleardi
J.D.
Heike Makatsch
Lisa
Short description
A virus escapes from a hidden underground research complex run by a powerful corporation, killing or transforming the staff and leaving the facility sealed off by its own security system. A military unit, accompanied by Alice, a woman with no memory of how she got there, and a police officer named Matt, is sent into the complex with a limited window to contain the contamination before it reaches the surface. What begins as an extraction and containment mission becomes a fight for survival against what the virus has created inside.
Resident Evil was released in 2002 and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, who also wrote the screenplay and produced alongside Jeremy Bolt and Bernd Eichinger. It is the fifth of fourteen films he has directed, following Soldier and preceding AVP: Alien vs. Predator. Milla Jovovich plays Alice, with Michelle Rodriguez as Rain, Eric Mabius as Matt, James Purefoy as Spence, Martin Crewes as Kaplan and Colin Salmon as One. The production, mounted across Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and France, cost around 33 million dollars and returned roughly 103 million worldwide.
On IMDb the film holds 6.6 out of 10 from about 309,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.7 out of 10 from more than 7,000 votes. A critics' rating of 4.7 out of 10 from 131 reviews places it well below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was originally going to be titled “Resident Evil: Ground Zero,” but after the events of September 11, 2001, the film was renamed “Resident Evil.”
- One of the headlines in the newspaper is “The Dead Walk!” This is a reference to “Day of the Dead” (1985), where at the very beginning of the film, you can notice a newspaper with the exact same headline.
- In style, the wedding photograph of Alice and Spencer is very similar to the photographs from the video games “Resident Evil” (1996) and “Resident Evil 2” (1998): a close-up shot, a clear predominance of black and white tones, and noticeable photomontage of the background and foreground.
- The close-up of Alice's eye towards the end of the film is a reference to the video game "Resident Evil" (1996).
- At the end of the film, an article about the S.T.A.R.S. special forces unit can be seen in one of the newspapers, which is a reference to the video game "Resident Evil."
- Link to the video game "Gun Survivor: Resident Evil" (2000): some characters experience brief memory loss.
- The crows that Alice sees at the beginning of the film are not real, but computer-generated.
- The presidents of "Capcom Japan and America" can be spotted in the film playing the roles of zombies. "Capcom" is the creator of the "Resident Evil" franchise.
- In the first draft of the script, everyone addressed Kaplan as "The Twelfth." His full name is Isiab Tagawa Mercurio.
- After the characters return to the laser room, it is easy to notice that the bodies of the deceased have disappeared. This is a reference to the "Resident Evil" video game series, where corpses would also vanish: you only had to leave the room and re-enter it.
- The actors who played the main roles in the film were required to play the video game “Resident Evil” before filming began, and even to complete it. Some of them were not confident that they could complete the task, so they had to watch videos of a full playthrough of the game.
- During filming, Milla Jovovich injured the director and three members of the crew.
- Milla and Paul became engaged after filming wrapped.
- The scenes at the underground station were filmed at the Reichstag station of the Berlin subway, which was under construction at the time.
- Matt accidentally encounters his sister, who has turned into a zombie, and is forced to watch her 'die'. This episode is very similar to a scene from the video game 'Resident Evil Code: Veronica' (2000), in which Steve Burnside is forced to kill his own zombified father and watch his death throes.
- In the scene where Matt's mutation occurs, almost no computer special effects were used (only at the very end of the scene).
- The final scenes (of Alice's arrival in Raccoon City) were filmed in Toronto.
- When the case with the test tubes is closed at the 3-minute mark of the film, it can be noticed that the rotating elements of the mechanism use capsules with liquid from a bubble level.
- The film contains many allusions and references to 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. For example: 1) The main character's name is Alice. 2) The computer's name is 'Red Queen'. 3) The 'Alice in Wonderland' paperweight. 4) T-Virus tests are conducted on a white rabbit. 5) To enter the 'Hive', the squad passes through a mirror.
- At the 3-minute mark of the film, a scientist in a hazmat suit uses a manipulator to place a test tube with the virus into a slot in the protective case, leaving one empty space to the right of the test tube. In the next frame, when the container is closed, that space is already occupied by another test tube.
- At the 4-minute mark of the film, a stranger bumps into a laboratory employee, causing him to spill coffee on the left side of his jacket – on the sleeve, shoulder, and arm. When the employee approaches the girl in line in front of the elevator, the stain on his shoulder becomes larger, while the stain on the jacket disappears completely. In the next frame, the stain changes its appearance again.
- At the 4-minute mark of the film, a security camera is visible, equipped with a mechanism for manual adjustment of its fixed position. However, in the next scene, when viewed from the security camera, it automatically changes its position to examine different details in the laboratory.
- At the 6-minute mark of the film, the security camera recognizes the identity of the laboratory employee screaming at the camera. The right side of the frame displays the real name of the actress, Anna Bolt, rather than the name of her character, Dr. Green.
- At the 6-minute mark of the film, one of the employees states that the flooding laboratory room is airtight. However, in that case, the virus would not have been able to leave the laboratory and infect people throughout the building.
- When the elevator begins to fall at the 7-minute mark of the film, the floor counter shows that the elevator is on the 7th floor. In the next frame, the counter shows 9, and then 6 a second later.
- At the 7-minute mark of the film, one of the suffocating employees in the complex leans against a reinforced and airtight glass panel on the left side of the frame, and it begins to buckle under his weight. This is an error, as in such a case, the employees would have been able to escape the room with the active fire suppression system.
- At the 8th minute of the film, when a laboratory employee leans out of the slightly open elevator doors, the upper part of the door frame above her head is smooth. When the elevator suddenly starts moving upwards at the 9th minute, that same part of the frame is already made of ribbed metal.
- At the 14th minute of the film, when the special forces commander speaks with Alice, a member of the film crew is reflected in the lens of his gas mask, in addition to Alice.
- At the 15th minute of the film, Rain removes his gas mask and takes it in his left hand. In the next shot, his left hand is free, and Rain places it on Matt’s shoulder.
- At the 25th minute of the film, while the commander is giving instructions, Spence silently asks in the background, “What happened here?”. After a cut, he asks the same question again, but this time his line is voiced.
- At the 33rd minute, when Kaplan tries to save the squad and types something on the keyboard, you can notice that he is simply typing blindly and often misses the keys.
- At the 33rd minute of the film, a laser cuts off the medic's head, and it continues to stand motionless for several seconds. This is an error, as without nerve impulses from the brain, the human body should go limp and fall.
- At the 37th minute of the film, Kaplan cuts off the power to the Hive, and all containers begin to display a 'Unstable' status. At the 44th minute, the status of one of the containers changes to 'Stable', but it still explodes.
- At the 39th minute of the film, Matt is sitting with his legs spread. After a change of shot, he is sitting with his legs crossed, and soon his legs are spread again.
- At the 45th minute of the film, a special forces soldier shoots a zombie running towards him, and it begins to fall belatedly as the soldier already turns his back.
- At the 45th minute of the film, Kaplan names the door code without using a computer. This makes the scene of code cracking pointless: either Kaplan knew the code beforehand and, for some reason, couldn't enter it after multiple attempts, or he learned it during the shootout while holding a pistol.
- At the 50th minute of the film, Alice runs away from a dog and closes the door. When a Doberman jumps on the door in the next shot, you can notice bloodstains that were already there before the jump.
- At the 51st minute of the film, as Alice runs up the wall and turns in mid-air, a safety harness can be seen around her collarbone.
- At the 63rd minute of the film, zombies grab at Spence with their hands, while Rain is pressed against a grate with her back; however, the mesh is too fine to fit a hand through. In one of the following shots, it can be noticed that large openings have been made in the grate for hands.
- When zombies surround Rain at the 63rd minute of the film, one of them bites her on the arm, causing Rain to drop her gun. As she picks up the gun and stands to her full height, it can be noticed that the crowd of zombies has stepped back several paces around her.
- At the 73rd minute of the film, Alice’s memories return. Spence is writing a note that Alice found at the 11th minute of the film. However, the handwriting Spence uses for the note does not match the handwriting shown at the beginning of the film.
- At the 74th minute of the film, Spence, exiting the corridor on the right side of the frame, pushes an employee, who subsequently spills coffee. However, at the 3rd minute, Spence approaches the employee from the elevator on the left.
- At the 79th minute of the film, the LG company logo can be seen on the monitor. During this scene, the monitor reappears, but the logo is covered up.
- The film is based on the series of computer games “Resident Evil” (1996 – present, Capcom).
- Legendary George Romero wrote his own version of the script and was ready to direct the film, but left the project in 1999 due to creative differences. In his script, the main character was Jill Valentine. According to Romero, the script was liked by absolutely everyone except Bernd Eichinger (the film's producer). After Romero left, the project sat on the shelf for about a year until Paul Anderson agreed to write the script and direct the film.
- The access code to the “Red Queen’s” room is 12177.
- Just like in the video games, after something is turned on/off, another action occurs somewhere else. For example, when the “Red Queen” is deactivated for the first time, absolutely all doors in the entire complex open.
- Following "Mortal Kombat" (1995), "Resident Evil" became the second video game adaptation in Paul Anderson's filmography.
- In the film, Alice's husband's name is Spencer. This is a reference to the video game "Resident Evil" (1996), which takes place at the "Spencer Estate".
- The voiceover at the beginning of the film is by Jason Isaacs.
- Jeremy Bolt (the film's producer) played one of the many zombies.
- James Butler, the stunt coordinator, played the zombie that attacks Alice immediately after the first zombie dog appears.
- The word "zombie" is never uttered throughout the entire film. This is a nod to "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), which also does not mention the word.
- The password for the door to the dining room "B," the one Kaplan forgot, is 04031965. Paul Anderson was born on March 4, 1965.
- Milla Jovovich performed all the stunts in the film herself, with the exception of the jump into the sewer.
- Despite the fact that the other characters in the film refer to Colin Salmon's character as "One," his real name is James Shade.
- The actors who played the commandos, as well as Milla Jovovich and Eric Mabius, underwent a special week-long training course (rock climbing, combat training, weapons handling, etc.) under the supervision of former Navy SEAL James Butler.
- At the 20th minute of the film "Red Queen", a special forces unit is seen through a security camera. A map is visible in the lower left corner of the frame, indicating the location of the people in the shot with yellow dots. During the scene, the special forces continue to move, but their markers on the map remain in their original positions.
- At the 35th minute of the film, in the laser corridor, Kaplan picks up an intact bag from the floor, even though in the previous scene "Red Queen" used a laser grid in the corridor that should have definitely cut the bag.
- At the 59th minute of the film "Red Queen" states that the human body remains active even after death, and the T-virus increases this activity: hair and nails continue to grow, new cells are produced, and small electrical currents remain in the brain. This is impossible, as a dead body does not produce new cells, and the brain dies within minutes of oxygen deprivation.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
