Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Summary	Plot	Production	Marketing	Distribution	Reception	Credits	Gallery	Further notes

Filming

A number of cameos were made in this film. One of the Undead was played by Ben Moody, former lead guitarist of Evanescence. The film's director, Alexander Witt, appeared as the sniper Alice kills on the Raccoon City Hall rooftop. The S.T.A.R.S. team in the Westwood Theatre is said to have been played by Witt's family. That scene was also filmed inside the real Westwood Theatre in Canada.

When Alice escapes from the Nemesis in the RPD, she reconnects a broken finger. Milla was convinced it would be cut out due to the plastic look of the fake finger.

Thomas Kretschmann insisted on wearing his jacket for the film.

Anderson jokes in the DVD commentaries that when Alexander Witt was made director, he knew after Black Hawk Down he'd have to deal with helicopters. A large amount of the film's budget was spent on obtaining helicopters. They were taken from various places.

Certain choices were made in regards to the Nemesis. The awakening of Matt/Nemesis was purposely identical to the awakening of Alice in order to establish some sort of link. The Nemesis costume was altered heavily with make-up and CGI to limit the rubbery look. Anderson felt the idea of the Nemesis firing consecutive rockets at people would lose its appeal, so added in a chaingun.

The electronic maps used by Ashford were added into the film in response to problems in the first film's development. Maps were added late into that film's development because test audiences were confused by the lab's layout. The maps are derived from the Resident Evil games, where players can check a map to work out where they are.

The entire church was a movie set since they couldn't gain permission to drive a motorcycle through the window.

The decision to add a Licker into the first movie was made very late in production. R&D began early in Apocalypse to make up for flaws in the quality in the first. Unlike the first film, the Lickers in Apocalypse are entirely CGI.

References

As is customary with Anderson's scripts, many plot elements in Apocalypse are shout-outs to films from the 1970s and '80s, or are references to particular filmmakers like James Camerson and John Carpenter.

Much was taken from James Cameron's repertoire. Alice's relationship with Angela was intended to reference the Ripley-Newt relationship from Aliens. Anderson compares the decision to keep Alice away from the film until the Church to Linda Hamilton's absence in the first half of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Alice's tight-lipped and gunslinger characterisation are references to Clint Eastwood characters.

Escape from New York and Omega Man were cited by Anderson as two other inspirations for the film. The idea of telephones ringing and Alice ignoring them was inspired by Charleton Heston's character in Omega Man, who imagines ringing telephones.

The infested Junior School was featured as a psychological tactic to make audiences uncomfortable with the prospect of dead children. When Terri is killed by children, Anderson references Village of the Damned, a film that starts with children killing the adult population of a town. Unlike in that film, however Morales is deliberately not shown being ripped apart so it is up to the audience's imagination.

Towards the end of the film, Alice escapes from the San Francisco facility through the use of her psychic powers. At one point she causes brain damage to a guard. Milla Jovovich twitched her nose while looking at the camera as a shoutout to the 1960s television series Bewitched, which features a witch who casts spells in this manner.

Midway through the film, Alice is running from the Nemesis inside the deserted Raccoon Police Station. It was decided it should have a run-down look as a reference to John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13.

The "Sniper" character played by Frank Chiesurin, who takes shots at Undead from the roof of a building, was intended as a reference to the original Night of the Living Dead, in which redneck militias take out the Ghouls at the end.

There are also numerous references to the Resident Evil games laid out in the film. A street battle between the Raccoon Police Department and U.B.C.S. early in the film is similar to the opening cutscene for Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. As it was already decided to reference the third game, Carlos Olivera was added in as a counterpart to Jill Valentine. The team struggled to find a reason for why Jill Valentine would wear a tube-top, at one point suggesting she did undercover policing. Eventually it was decided to intentionally not have it be explained. The scene with Alice being pursued by a helicopter through Raccoon City Hall, dropping and then firing her handgun at Umbrella guards was taken from the opening cutscene to Resident Evil CODE:Veronica. Dr. Charles Ashford and his daughter are references to the Ashford family, who are prominent in CODE:Veronica. When Jill blows up the school cafeteria, she uses a Grady's Inn-branded cigarette.

The music to Apocalypse was inspired by the music in some of John Carpenter's films.

Script changes and edits

At the beginning of the film when Umbrella agents start evacuating Umbrella employees, the woman escorted out before Dr. Ashford's introduction has the Regenerate commercial playing on her TV. The ad was intended to appear directly in the film, but while it was heavily downloaded online it was ultimately cut from the film. The reason given by Anderson was that too many people would have already seen it.

The scene where the Umbrella guards force the refugees away from Raven's Gate Bridge was altered in post-production. It originally had the soldiers shoot civilians. This was changed to have them scare the people away by firing into the air, with it being viewed as unnecessarily brutal.

Early in the film, Alice is collecting weapons from a gun shop and collapses in pain, relating to her T-virus infection. Originally, an Undead was to walk past her and ignore her, but it was judged to give away too much as to her condition. Instead, the flashback sequence was created, which would appear at later points in the film.

The character of Lloyd Jefferson Wayne was originally cast to the rapper Snoop Dogg. To match with the rapper's persona, the character was written to be over-the-top. When Snoop Dogg dropped out of the film and comedian Mike Epps moved in, the character was re-written to be more down-to-earth. Due to his comedian background, many of Epps' lines are ad-libbed. Like with Nicholai actor Zack Ward, many were ultimately cut.

Shots of the Nemesis were 'squeezed' to make him look taller. While the actor was very tall, audiences complained he wasn't tall enough in comparison to the game version. In squeezed shots, cars can be seen to be slightly out-of-scale. An example of this edit can be seen when the Nemesis walks away after blowing up the Theater.

In the scene scene where Alice explains Umbrella's plan to blow up the city, it was originally set in a store. It was moved to a streetcar, coincidentally referencing Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

Angela Ashford's relationship with the Red Queen computer was supposed to be explained outright in the original film, but was dropped out sometime after Anderson's first draft. The link was to be made in Apocalypse as well, but was ultimately dropped again.

In filming, Apocalypse was to cut from the destruction of Raccoon City straight to the crashed helicopter in the morning. Quick cuts of outtakes were later edited together to create the scene where the helicopter malfunctions. The remains of Raccoon City were also added into the skyline of the forest to make it clear to the audience that they didn't go far. This was for the benefit of people not familiar with the Arklay Mountains.

An alternate version of Alice killing the Umbrella guard was envisioned where she would cause his head to explode. This was to be a shout-out to a famous scene in David Cronenberg's Scanners. Though research was made in how to make an exploding head prop, it was decided the effect would look over-the-top and was dropped.

Two alternate versions of the final scene were envisioned as Anderson was worried test audiences wouldn't like the bleak ending to Apocalypse that was used theaters. The first version was to have Alice burn the facility to the ground with her new powers as the car drives away. A second was to have Cain be revealed to have escaped Raccoon City offscreen and be tracking Alice's movement through his laptop. He would realise too late that she was outside his limousine and shoot him in the head as it drives off. The idea would later be used in Extinction where Dr. Isaacs' team is ambushed by Alice.

Other notes

• The word "zombie" is never mentioned, following the example of the first movie. It was considered for the Undead to be able to run as in 28 Days Later, but was rejected because the game's Zombies didn't normally run. It was decided they should keep to their "classic" Romero look for now. Bolt suggests adding in Ganado-style smart enemies for the third movie in anticipation of Resident Evil 4's release.
• It should be noted that if Major Cain had spared the life of Angela's father, he would have had the single bullet to kill him self. He shot Mr. Ashford once, and into the crowd of Zombies seven times, with the magazine containing only 8 rounds.
• At the beginning of the film, there is a continuity error. As Jill Valentine is being introduced, she enters the police station not wearing her black shoulder holster. After a couple of brief scenes without it where she kills a number of zombies, the next shot shows her wearing the holster. Also, while speaking to the police chief, she puts a magazine in her gun, followed by a cut, when it cuts back to her, she puts a second magazine into her gun.
• Anderson met Shinji Mikami before the first movie was green lit; Anderson was able to get ideas from him. Because of the first movie's success in Japan and its promotion of game sales, Capcom allowed Anderson to take more liberties. Because Anderson loves RE3, he hopes people will want to buy that game because of Apocalypse.
• Anderson wanted to use a recap due to its use in other movie sequels like Blade II and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Jeremy Bolt notes the Nineteen Eighty-Four theme of the recap, which was intended to portray Umbrella as an all-knowing evil organization in the manner of a 1970s movie villain. This also confirms Umbrella as the antagonist of the series.
• Anderson relates that the theme of "corrupt [evil] corporation propped up by a corrupt government".
• Umbrella logos were placed all over Raccoon City to show just how big the corporation is.
• Anderson insists that movies can't run the same as a game because they don't look so good as a 90-minute movie. Some plot elements should also be changed to avoid boring the fans of the game it is based on - after all, they'd know the ending. After Mortal Kombat, he reminds the viewer that he does in fact play the games.
• Iain Glenn's character "Dr. Isaacs" is intended to be the same character briefly played by Jason Isaacs in the first film.

Commentary notes

Commentary 1 notes

Alexander Witt - director; Jeremy Bolt - Producer; Robert Kulzer - Producer

• The prologue was conceived of to satisfy people who had not seen the first.
• Paul spent a year playing Resident Evil, saying "we should make a movie of this" to Bolt. Constantin was considering making a movie, so Anderson sent in a script.
• The scene featuring Carlos jumping from the helicopter was almost abandoned after several failed shoots. The pilots were complaining about wind which, for the producers on the ground, didn't seem to exist. Alexander Witt didn't like the idea of doing it in CG, so they made another attempt.
• Milla Jovovich went through intense training to do her own stunts, learning taekwondo, Philippine stick fighting and Capoeira - a Brazilian martial art. Witt says she was very passionate about the film and was one of the few actors he's worked with who'd turn up on time.
• Alexander Wiit estimated 600 extras for the Ravens Gate Bridge scene. Prince Edward Viaduct was closed for two nights to complete shooting. Witt thinks that the SARS epidemic helped get the film made due to other film projects abandoning Toronto.
• Alexander Witt toyed with sequences of Undead shambling, such as changing the frame rate and the camera lens aperture.
• Alexander Witt says the Undead actors went to a Zombie training school under a choreographer. Kulzer jokes the rules were the size of a phone book.
• Alexander Witt had known his cinematographer, Christian Sebaldt for some 20 years.
• Shinji Mikami voiced objections to using Jill Valentine in the film, foreseeing fan descent should any actress' acting not live up to fan expectations. Sienna Guillory's studying of RE3 helped alleviate these concerns.
• Berndt Eichinger was instrumental in securing Constantin's ownership of the film rights, as Eichinger's film The Neverending Story was very popular in Japan.
• The Church set included pews from a real Church which was ready for demolition. A third of the roof was built. Production designer Paul D. Austerberry was formerly an architect and knew how to design a convincing church. Being from Toronto he could show the producers around for inspiration.
• Many of the Undead extras were local dancers, with some going through extended training if they were to be re-used in other scenes.
• Alexander Witt had some recorded playthroughs of the games which he used as inspiration for directing. The zoom-in on the helmet was taken from RE3.
• The cemetery scene was filmed in a real cemetery, with a few prop graves added. One of the extras really was buried alive so he could appear climbing out of his own grave.
• Jeremy and Witt had to talk Jovovich out of doing some stunts because she did not have sufficient experience.
• The scene where Carlos explores Raccoon City Hospital was filmed in a real hospital.
• Alexander Witt held Milla's fake finger in the RPD waste disposal scene. It was the first or second day of filming.
• Alexander Witt didn't like the idea of relying on a totally CGI Nemesis model, so Paul Jones was tasked with doing a costume.
• According to Bolt, Don Carmody also had a lot of influence in Toronto for their film project due to him being famous there.
• To show how intimidating Nemesis is in the film, Matthew G. Taylor was tasked with doing a long walk to the cinema, being 'shot' along the way. Taylor lost some 20 lb during the film production due to the sheer weight of the costume he was having to walk around in. His minigun is from an Australian fighter jet that fires 5000 rounds per minute. The mockup was also heavy, weighing 60 lb.
• Jill Valentine's role was brought down to a short list of 6-7 actresses. They were brought to Toronto for tests, with Sienna ultimately being chosen as the right actress. They had recently seen her in the Helen of Troy miniseries.
• Milla Jovovich's costume was inspired by Mad Max/Road Warrior, to capture their theme of the world falling apart. As a successful model, Jovovich had a lot of influence in how she looked, so the costume was designed all or in part by herself and subject to her approval.
• In the scene where Alice escapes Nemesis down a shaft in the police station, Alexander Witt's hand was used in place of Jovovich's so it would appear she had a broken finger. This scene was shot in a school basement, and was particularly hot due to the boilers. It was the first day of shooting.
• Because of an ongoing SARS outbreak in Toronto at the time, crew members had to read warning letters. While filming in a hospital they were asked if they displayed symptoms.
• Mike Epps loved the golden guns and wanted them to be sent to him when production ended.
• Eddie Hamilton was an upandcomer editor in the industry, but Kulzer and Bolt chose him over the Constantin editor they had in the last film after seeing a demo reel of his.
• One of the dogs had been in the first film; the dog was reluctant to wear the make-up this time.
• The trainers had problems getting the dogs to jump through sugar glass for this film.
• The final battle site was originally a train station, but Alexander Witt didn't think they could get it closed so insisted on Toronto City Hall instead.
• Due to rigidity of the costume, the Nemesis face was moved around by assistants to simulate facial expressions.
• The glass walkway in the CODE:Veronica chase was built for the film.
• It wasn't known if Toronto City Hall's roof could support the weight of a helicopter, prompting the hiring of engineers to assess the building.
• A 40 ft tall miniature of Toronto City Hall was destroyed to simulate the destruction of Raccoon City.
• Jovovich had problems shooting in the water tank due to the equipment stopping her from breathing when the water was being drained.
• Valerie van Gelder, head of marketing at Screen Gems, liked the idea of the "Regenerate" skin cream product being mentioned in the film, and hired a crew to shoot a mock commercial for the product as a trailer. The script was based on a scene in the film script.
• As the final scene in the lab was finished first in post-production, it was heavily used in marketing, leading to "My name is Alice and I remember everything" becoming an unintended motto.
• The scene where Alice causes the security guard's nose and eyes to bleed was originally cut out of the film.
• The idea of the Umbrella logo appearing in Alice's eyes was only envisioned in post-production.
• The facility at the end was mirrored in post-production to appear as though they are driving through the courtyard of a larger complex.

Commentary 2 notes

DVD commentary with Milla Jovocich, Oded Fehr and Sienna Guillory.

• Sienna Guillory loved the script as its modern setting gave the sense that its events could almost happen, and loved the science fiction element with the body regeneration.
• While she was aware of the games as a cult indie hit, she only got round to playing Resident Evil 3: Nemesis to get inspiration for Jill. Unable to beat the game, she had a friend record a playthrough for her.
• Sophie Vavasseur had just seen that third Austin Powers movie when shooting RE, so - being a Beyonce fan - would constantly drop Beyonce lines from the film between takes.
• A 'stunt child' was used for the car crash.
• At the time of the film's release, Apocalypse's official website had an interactive map of Raccoon City where buildings.
• Fehr jumped ~45 ft over a parking lot to get the close-up footage of Carlos jumping off the helicopter. He hated the entire experience. Jovovich's building walking was 60 ft.
• Growling noises were in the script to make sure actors knew to do so, and included different variations.
• Sony put heavy product placement for their Vaio in the film.
• As the film was set mostly at night, actors would work from 4pm-6am. A combination of undernutrition and sleep deprivation left the actors looking pale.
• The Priest's actor was the dad of the director's assistant McGregor.
• Naturally no church in Toronto wanted them to film there.
• The church set used special prop candles which led to actors coughing up soot after shoots.
• Zack Ward got talking with Ben Moody during his cameo appearance, and got an offer to direct a project for his.
• This was the first time a helicopter's chin gun was carried in a film. The force of the gun caused problems for shooting as the camera would shake too much.
• Jovovich had brought her two dogs Monster and Bubbles to Toronto with her. She was advised to take them away on the day the stunt dogs were arriving.
• It was hot in the school cafeteria so the fans had to be used to keep the dogs calm.
• Zack Ward ad-libbed the "Stay" when killing one of the dogs.
• The cafeteria explosion used both Sophie and a dummy.
• Cain being pushed out of the helicopter required a stunt guy to really jump out.
• The helicopter ride at the end was a studio set.
• The ending scene was Oded's last.

Commentary 3 notes

Paul W.S. Anderson (writer/producer) and Jeremy Bolt (producer).

• Anderson wanted to use a recap due to its use in other movie sequels like Blade II and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Jeremy Bolt notes the Nineteen Eighty-Four theme of the recap, which was intended to portray Umbrella as an all-knowing evil organization in the manner of a 1970s movie villain. This also confirms Umbrella as the antagonist of the series.
• Anderson brings up the SARS outbreak that took place in Toronto during the film's development.
• Anderson relates that the theme of "corrupt [evil] corporation propped up by a corrupt government".
• The Regenerate commercial plays on a woman's TV when the Umbrella agents pick her up at the beginning of the film. It was planned to appear in the movie, but there were so may downloads it was cut out so as not to annoy the movie goers who were expected to have already seen it.
• Umbrella logos were placed all over Raccoon City to show just how big the corporation is.
• Anderson says that Apocalypse was not intended to be just a rehash of the first film. Taking a note from James Cameron's Aliens, Apocalypse was to be bigger in every way from its predecessor. This led to the inclusion of Mike Epps, to allow some humour as Aliens had done.
• Escape from New York and Omega Man were inspirations for the film, as well as Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
• Anderson and Bolt bring up the music, which was inspired by John Carpenter's music. They note that there are themes in the film, which were common in 1970s films but not as common in the 21st century.
• Carlos was included into the film in response to Anderson's decision to use RE3 as inspiration.
• The team struggled to find a reason for why Jill Valentine would wear a tube-top, at one point suggesting she did undercover policing. Eventually it was decided to intentionally not have it be explained.
• The scene where the Umbrella guards force the refugees away from Raven's Gate Bridge was altered in post-production. It originally had the soldiers shoot civilians. This was changed to have them scare the people away by firing into the air, with it being viewed as unnecessarily brutal.
• Anderson jokes that when Alexander Witt was made director, he knew after Black Hawk Down he'd have to deal with helicopters.
• The electronic maps used by Ashford were added into the film in response to problems in the first film's development. Maps were added late into that film's development because test audiences were confused by the lab's layout. The maps are derived from the Resident Evil games, where players can check a map to work out where they are.
• When Alice discovers she is infected with the T-virus inside the gun shop, it was originally decided to have Undead walk past her and not attack. It was judged this would give away too much, so a flashback sequence was used instead.
• The entire church was a movie set since they couldn't gain permission to drive a motorcycle through the window.
• The decision to add a Licker into the first movie was made very late in production. R&D began early in Apocalypse to make up for flaws in the quality in the first. Unlike the first film, the Lickers in Apocalypse are entirely CGI.
• Anderson compares the decision to keep Alice away from the film until the Church to Linda Hamilton's absence in the first half of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
• Alice's tight-lipped and gunslinger characterisation are references to Clint Eastwood characters.
• It was considered for the Undead to be able to run as in 28 Days Later, but was rejected because the game's Zombies didn't normally run. It was decided they should keep to their "classic" Romero look for now.
• A line that was cut from the film had Terri Morales point out they are in a graveyard. This is a shoutout to the prevalence of graveyards in horror films, including Night of the Living Dead and Return of the Living Dead.
• The awakening of Matt/Nemesis was purposely identical to the awakening of Alice in order to establish some sort of link.
• The Nemesis costume was altered heavily with make-up and CGI to limit the rubbery look.
• Anderson felt the idea of the Nemesis firing consecutive rockets at people would lose its appeal, so added in a chaingun.
• The Sniper character is an homage to the rednecks at the end of the original Night of the Living Dead.
• Mike Epps' character L.J. Wayne was originally envisioned as a Snoop Dogg role. When he dropped out of the film, the character was replaced from a more over-the-top character to a more down-to-earth one.
• Shots of the Nemesis were 'squeezed' to make him look taller. While the actor was very tall, audiences complained he wasn't tall enough in comparison to the game version. In squeezed shots, cars can be seen to be slightly out-of-scale.
• The idea of telephones ringing and Alice ignoring them was inspired by Charleton Heston's character in Omega Man, who imagines ringing telephones.
• The scene where Alice explains Umbrella's plan to blow up the city to the gang, it was originally in a store. It was moved to a streetcar, referencing RE3.
• The run-down RPD Alice runs into is inspired by the closed-down police station in Assault on Precinct 13.
• When Alice escapes from the Nemesis in the RPD, she reconnects a broken finger. Milla was convinced it would be cut out due to the plastic look of the fake finger.
• Anderson was worried test audiences wouldn't like the bleak ending to Apocalypse. He insists that being Resident Evil kept it from needing a rewrite.
• The infested Junior School was featured as a psychological tactic to make audiences uncomfortable with the prospect of dead children. When Terri is killed by children, Anderson relates it to Village of the Damned, a film that starts with children killing the adult population of a town. Morales is deliberately not shown being ripped apart so it is up to the audience's imagination. Bolt wonders if the first or second film is more gory.
• Zack Ward and Mike Epps did a lot of ad-lib performances, many of which were cut. Jack's "Stay!" line where Nicholai kills a dog was ad-libbed. Anderson jokes that a "Mike Epps cut" of Apocalypse would be 5 hours long.
• Apocalypse was always intended to be a Hard-R rated film.
• When Jill blows up the school cafeteria, she uses a Grady's Inn-branded cigarette.
• It was to be hinted at in the first film that the Red Queen was based on Angela Ashford, but it was dropped. Apocalypse was to confirm this relationship, but was also dropped.
• The Angela Ashford character's relationship with Alice is based on Newt and Ripley in Aliens.
• Anderson met Shinji Mikami before the first movie was green lit; Anderson was able to get ideas from him. Because of the first movie's success in Japan and its promotion of game sales, Capcom allowed Anderson to take more liberties. Because Anderson loves RE3, he hopes people will want to buy that game because of Apocalypse.
• Bolt suggests adding in Ganado-style smart enemies for the third movie in anticipation of Resident Evil 4's release.
• Anderson insists that movies can't run the same as a game because they don't look so good as a 90-minute movie. Some plot elements should also be changed to avoid boring the fans of the game it is based on - after all, they'd know the ending. After Mortal Kombat, he reminds the viewer that he does in fact play the games.
• Anderson thinks some fast-cut scenes are acceptable in movie adaptations when it is clear gamer fans would understand what is going on clearly.
• A large amount of the film's budget was spent on obtaining helicopters. They were taken from various places.
• Thomas Kretschmann insisted on wearing his jacket for the film.
• Iain Glenn's character "Dr. Isaacs" is intended to be the same character briefly played by Jason Isaacs in the first film.
• Milla Jovovich twitches her nose when using her psychic powers to kill the Umbrella guard in a reference to Bewitched. It was originally intended for the man's head to explode in reference to David Cronenberg's Scanners, but it was deemed to be over-the-top after research was made into making a prop.
• The ending was just to have Alice escape the facility after recovering and reunite with her friends, destroying the facility with her mind abilities. The scene was altered to Alice being revealed to be under Umbrella's control, which would keep the audience on their seats. Another scripted ending was to have Cain somehow escape Raccoon City through its sewers and bump into her. He was to access her eye camera via his laptop from a limousine, realising too late Alice was about to enter it. The limousine would drive away and Cain's blood would spray on the window.