Alternate Versions for
28 Days Later... (2002)
Here are all the details pertaining to the alternate endings on the Region 2 DVD. The Region 2 DVD is the non U.S.A. release. The Region 1 (USA) DVD, of course, has not been released yet.
Also, I understand that beginning on July 25, 2003 American theaters will begin showing the alternate ending. It will run after the credits. Might be worth going back to see the alternate ending.
* On the R2 DVD (released 19th May 2003) there are the following deleted scenes:
* A scene of the protagonists attempting to leave London and being faced with a road blocked with abandonded vehicles.
* An extended conversation in the taxi up the M6 (where Jim and Selena take turns driving)
* More footage of Jim in a deserted London at the start.
* An alternate take of Jones's death with the infected overruning the mansion and killing him. This scene also had Col. West shooting the floppy-hatted soldier (with great remorse) plus Farrel and Selena looking down into a basement swarming with the infected. Final shot is West bolting a door to prevent the infected getting to him and an infected woman trying to bite through the glass to reach him.
* Jim hiding under the floorboards to avoid Mailer and the floppy-hatted soldier as they rampage through the house.
* 2 alternate endings. One of Jim dying in hospital with Selena and Hannah trying to save him, intercut with Jim's dream of the crash that put him in a coma. The other is the same as the normal one but with only Selena and Hannah hailing the aircraft, leading us to assume that Jim died.
* There are several scenes missing from the released version in addition to alternate endings. All of these are available on the DVD. Additional Scenes Cut From The Final Release:
- As Jim, Selena and Mark are walking along the Docklands Railway, they find a 'hospital train' which they investigate. Jim finds a mobile phone but there is no signal. The scene is supposed to demonstrate a retrospective look at the events leading up to mass infection as the government must have used hospital trains to cope with the mass overflow in hospitals.
- There is a scene where Jim, Selena, Hannah and her father are trying to get out of London (which would have appeared before the tunnel scene). The shot pans up to a flyover with smashed vehicles everywhere, some hanging over the edge and the city in the background. This scene appears untreated on the DVD as the film makers never added CGI since the scene was not used ie. you can still see moving traffic etc.
- On the drive up to Manchester, you see Jim, Selena and Hannah all taking turns driving and acting out the character of a taxi driver. The scene was cut as it was felt the characters had bonded enough and the shot didn't really work anyway as it was a little cringeworthy.
- There is a fantastic and very nervy scene in the mansion where the infected are running round the house chasing Jim and he has to hide under the floorboards while they pass.
- Another scene in the house is after Jim rescues Selena and Hannah and prior to them getting outside into the taxi, you see them all peer over a bannister and see hoards of the infected in the house.
- In line with the alternate ending, there is a scene where Selena and Hannah are in a hospital trying to save Jim's life afetr he is shot. A flash of this scene where you see Selena sucking medicine into a syringe using her teeth does appear briefly right after he has been shot but in this cut scene Jim actually dies and it shows how much the girls fight to save him. The scene was cut because all the test viewers expected Jim to wake up and couldn't reconcile the fact he dies.
- Alternate Ending:
- Based on the previous cut scene detailed where Jim dies after being shot, the ending remains virtually the same with the obvious difference that Jim is not there when the plane flies over and spots Selena and Hannah. You see just prior to that Selena talking about breeding and the need to procreate and as the camera pulls back you discover she is talking to a chicken.
* On the R2 DVD there is an alternate take of Jones' death where he is killed by the infected who overrun the minefield to enter the house. We then see Major West shoot the floppy-hatted infected soldier (with great remorse) before locking the door on a corridor full of infected, one of which tries to bite through the glass to get to him. Finally we see Mitchell and Selena stumble upon a basement full of infected before the scene where Jim kills Mitchell.
* On the R2 DVD an alternate ending is shown where Jim dies after being shot by Major West as Hannah and Selena try in vain to save him. This is intercut with a dream Jim is having of the accident that put him in a coma. We then see Selena and Hannah hailing the Norwegian fighter plane but with a chicken instead of Jim.
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