Daybreakers [DVD]

"Daybreakers" is based on an interesting premise that mixes the original fantasy elements of the classic vampire stories with a futuristic sci-fi setting and a curious "What if?..." basic story idea.

It's neatly executed, and beautifully shot and lit. As you might expect from a modern vampire story there's plenty of blood and guts, but generally there are only a few excessively over-the-top moments, and at times it borders on being comic- especially the way in which vampires explode so melodramatically if stabbed through the heart.

After a strong start, the story deteriorates slightly into a predictable hunter-and-chased movie in the middle, but it wraps up nicely (no spoilers). Not destined to be a classic, but a very accomplished and worth-watching movie for sure.

The Blu-ray has all the usual features you'd expect- full director commentary, behind-the-scenes making ofs, trailers, all the usual BD interactive standards that you'd expect, meaning it's well stocked for extras without adding anything too unusual.

My level of expectations before watching most vampire films that come out of Hollywood are rock bottom. Too many angsty teens, or brainless action films, for my liking. Therefore, I was not planning to enjoy `Daybreakers', but in fact I liked it - a lot. Set in an alternative near future, `Daybreakers' surrounds society that is now dominated by Vampires. The few remaining humans are either on the run, or being farmed in industrial complexes. However, with such an imbalance between Vampire and Humans the undead are about to starve, can Dr Edward Dalton, the vampire scientist, find a substitute food source, or will this be the chance for the human resistance to fight back?

`Daybreakers' is a rarity in modern mainstream genre film in that it is both intelligent and action packed. The concept of a Vampire society is portrayed brilliantly in the film, just like our own day to day monotony, but night to night. The Vampires go to the office then come home, not much has changed in society expect that people need blood to survive. With a well realised world directors Michael and Peter Spierig have a great playground to set a story in. However, despite being able to initially create a vivid environment the Spierigs are not quite able to create a storyline as good. Instead you are left with a solid action story that does not quite reach the levels of intelligence it should.

The film looks fantastic on BluRay as the format is able to highlight the darkness of city life and the pale skin of the people. The action scenes also benefit from being in HD as they come across as bloody and high powered. With a well developed world the action sequences are elevated in quality - the Spierigs remain true to the rules created. This means during the day the vampires hunt wearing protective gear and their cars let no light in. By remaining true to the film's core values the entire experience is elevated. This is a good thing when Willem Dafoe and Ethan Hawke come across a little hammy at times.

A great slice of genre goodness for fans of science fiction action.

Having been used to reading about vampires that are nothing like the original nature of vampires, it is refreshing to go back to what the vampire legends state that vampires are really like. This film shows our world in 2019 where Vampires are the ruling race and humans are farmed for their blood to feed them. The only problem is the Vampires have hunted humans to near extinction and blood supplies are dangerously low as a result.

In comes Edward Dalton, who works for the company that is farming the humans and trying to find a substitute to human blood. However, Edward is not like other vampires. Which I am sure you have heard before....and he follows the same qualities of a non normal vampire like our dear Mr.Cullen from Twilight (Very cleverly done giving him the same name as Mr.Cullen to create parallels). Edward does not like being a vampire, he never choose it and desperately wants to be human.

After causing a crash, he meets some humans which are on the run and he goes against his vampire nature and helps them. They reward him later with help in his fight to save the human race. I won't say how but for a while it seems they have found a solution that the Vampires haven't but things are not so simple.

The only negative thing I would say was that I did think that there were so many violent scenes that were unnecessary to the story and were just put in for gimmick value and that is why I gave it four stars instead of five.

I really enjoyed this film as it was what I feel would be, an accurate representation of what it would be like if Vampires were the ruling race in our society today. As much as I love my vampire fiction, this film presents the harsh reality that humans would be sadly used for their blood and not be loved and cherished by them.

Cassandra220689