Doomsday (2008)
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A team of soldiers must venture into a quarantined, wasteland Scotland to find a cure for a deadly virus.
The story
In 2008, the Reaper Virus ravages Scotland, leading the UK government to erect a 30-foot wall to isolate the country. By 2035, the virus appears in London, prompting Prime Minister John Hatcher to order a team to investigate Scotland for a possible cure. Led by Major Eden Sinclair, the team enters the quarantined zone to find famed medical researcher Dr. Kane. Upon crossing the wall into Glasgow, the team is ambushed by marauders, leading to heavy casualties and the capture of Sinclair and her colleagues by a gang of brutal cannibals.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 2008, the Reaper Virus ravages Scotland, leading the UK government to erect a 30-foot wall isolating the country. By 2035, the virus appears in London, prompting Prime Minister John Hatcher to order a team to investigate Scotland for a possible cure. Led by Major Eden Sinclair, the team enters the quarantined zone to find famed medical researcher Dr. Kane. Upon crossing the wall into Glasgow, the team is ambushed by marauders, leading to heavy casualties and the capture of Sinclair and her colleagues by a gang of brutal cannibals led by Sol. Sinclair eventually escapes and reunites with some of her team, fleeing on a train. They are later captured by soldiers in archaic armor and imprisoned by Kane, who reveals there is no cure, only immunity. After Sinclair wins a duel against Kane's executioner, the group finds an underground facility but loses Sergeant Norton. Sinclair eventually bargains with the Machiavellian advisor Michael Canaris to transport her team to London to manufacture a vaccine using the blood of Kane's daughter, Cally. Sinclair secretly records Canaris' admission of his plan for social cleansing. After discovering her mother died during the quarantine, Sinclair exposes Canaris on television and assumes leadership over Sol's marauders.
- First release year
- 2008
- Runtime (minutes)
- 105
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States; Germany; South Africa
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Neil Marshall
- Writers
- Neil Marshall · writer
- Cast and characters
- Rhona Mitra · Eden Sinclair; Bob Hoskins · Bill Nelson; David O'Hara · Michael Canaris; Malcolm McDowell · Marcus Kane; Alexander Siddig · John Hatcher; Adrian Lester · Sergeant Norton; Craig Conway · Sol; Lee-Anne Liebenberg · Viper
- Genres
- science fiction; action
- Themes
- survival; social cleansing; feudalism; science vs. nature
- Tone and mood
- gritty; violent; over-the-top
- Premise and plot tags
- post-apocalyptic; viral outbreak; military action; cannibalism
- Content notes
- gore
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the casting, pacing, narrative, and homage to previous films, but criticized the plot holes, character development, confusing editing, and excessive gore. It was considered a box office bomb.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 50% · review count: 74; Metacritic · score: 51 · scale: 100 · review count: 14
- Production trivia
- The film was used as inspiration in building a haunted house for Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando.; The director drew inspiration from movies including Mad Max, Escape from New York, and 28 Days Later.; The film was the first Blu-ray title released by Universal Pictures after the studio's initial support of the now-folded HD DVD format.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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