Remastered and Restored retro-review of “DAYBREAKERS;” the bizarrely forgotten scifi/horror/vampire/dystopia/action movie starring Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke and Sam Neill set in a future where a viral plague has turned EVERYONE into a vampire and blood is – literally – money.
#halloween #dystopian #horror
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I found this pretty underwhelming.
I saw this some time ago but I did not like. It's not bad, but I didn't think it was that great either. Part of it could be that I'm just not into vampires no matter what (with a possible exception being made for Blade, but only because it's a Marvel property), but I think also because, IIRC, there was some weird religious allegory to the way that vampires get cured. That really rubbed me the wrong way. 😐
This movie came to mind when i was in a friend's car and their rear view mirror was a screen relaying the rear camera data instead of a mirror and we had a discussion on how you could probably (unwisely) replace the windows with screens. Going to watch this one again for sure.
How did I have no awareness WHATSOEVER of this movie??? With Ethan Hawke and Sam Goddamn Niell??? Willem Fucking Dafoe?!?!? Well here's hoping it's easy to find streaming
I loved DayBreakers, I remember seeing it on the movie Channel. I thought, something to put on in the background. After watching it I instantly cleared my day and waited for it on the west coast movie Channel.
Ahh! This movie was so much fun, I hope some people see this retro-review and go watch the film. Always enjoy hearing you talk about films Bob.
Sure, the classic vampire movies are still good, but I watch this one far more often than any other vampire movie (Hotel Transylvania 1-3 tie for second, but they are still a decent ways behind Daybreakers).
Saw it in theaters and own the Blu Ray. Very underrated. Love it.
I would only add as a quote from TFS Hellsing Abridged:
“Getting angry at books for teenage girls was ridiculous then, and it’s ridiculous now.”
I don't give a shit about vampires and I still loved this movie. My wife brings this one up at least twice a year.
I honestly don't think I ever finished it. In bob we trust! Now I have something to find and watch tonight.
The what I called the "reverse zombie hoard" scene was amazing.
I gotta admit, despite initial piqued interest, I put off of this one because of some harsh reviews when it came out. Sounds like I should give it a chance.
I've never forgotten this one. It was excellent, and I loved it.
yeah okay this sounds amazing! might have to look this one up.
Gonna have to see this
This movie had a bunch of my friends and acting mentors and peers in the scenes because it was filmed in Queensland, Australia. 🙂 A really fun movie.
I think I rented this back when it first his DVD (pretty sure I still had a local rental store in 2009), but found it pretty dull. Not horrible, just "meh" at best. Maybe I'll rewatch it if it's on a streaming service I have, but I don't think it's that lucky.
Daybreakers and Stakeland, two movies that take the tired old Vamp tropes and mix them the fuck up.
Funny how only Vampires and Zombies get to cause apocalypses; where is our Werewolf apocalypse (actually read a book about this once), or a Dystopian Mummy ruled future?
Saw it on public TV here in NZ and loved it
Weirdly I saw this at the cinema when it came out because I loved Undead which was also directed by the Spierig Brothers, but I found Daybreakers… meh. It just did nothing for me.
That said, I'm a big believer in, if a film fails to land with you it's worth checking out again five or more years later. Sometimes you were in the wrong headspace, sometimes you simply missed the point, or advertising/expectations set you up for a fall, so I guess I'll give this another look.
Man this movie ruled. Definitely saw it at the time because of this review.
Movie isn't retro yet it's only 14 years old
Probally because no one added more to the lore. Is unique but needed a sequel or prequel to add to the world lore
The intro bitching about twilight really hits different after we all sort of acknowledged that while the media was bad that most the backlash was kind of mysoginistic especially against young women.
I hold Daybreakers up with Surrogates and In Time as this wonderful trifecta of genre movies that use their What If The World But X concepts to tell stories about societal ills. I just got out of The Creator today and it reminds me of these kind of movies. I miss mid-budget genre movies.
the twilight jokes certainly date the video lol