World War Z (film)
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U.S. theatrical release poster.
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| Directed by | Marc Forster |
| Produced by | Brad Pitt Dede Gardner Jeremy Kleiner Ian Bryce |
| Screenplay by | Matthew Michael Carnahan Drew Goddard Damon Lindelof |
| Story by | Matthew Michael Carnahan J. Michael Straczynski |
| Based on | World War Z by Max Brooks |
| Starring | Brad Pitt Mireille Enos James Badge Dale Matthew Fox |
| Music by | Marco Beltrami |
| Cinematography | Ben Seresin |
| Editing by | Roger Barton Matt Chesse |
| Studio | Skydance Productions Hemisphere Media Capital GK Films Plan B Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 116 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $190 million[2][3] |
| Box office | $536,835,676[4] |
PLOT
Former UN employee Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt), his wife Karin (Mireille Enos) and their two daughters, Rachel and Constance, sit in heavy Philadelphiatraffic when the city is attacked by hordes of zombies. As the chaos spreads, the Lanes escape the city in a stolen RV and arrive at Newark, New Jersey. After stocking up on asthma medicine for Rachel at a chaotic supermarket pharmacy, they take refuge in an apartment unit, home to another couple with a young boy named Tommy. Deputy Secretary-General Thierry Umutoni (Fana Mokoena)—an old friend of Gerry’s—calls and tells the family that he is sending a helicopter to rescue them.
The helicopter extracts the Lanes and Tommy (who followed them after he escaped his infected parents) from the building to a fleet of U.S. Navy vessels off the coast of New York City, where scientists and military personnel analyze the scope of the worldwide outbreaks. A virologist, Dr. Andrew Fassbach (Elyes Gabel), argues that the plague is a virus, whose origin must be found in order for a vaccine to be developed. Because of his expertise as a former UN investigator, Gerry is tasked with helping Fassbach find the outbreak’s source. After being given the ultimatum of either assisting the investigation or having him and his family removed from the vessel, Gerry reluctantly agrees to help and is sent to Camp Humphreys, a military base in South Korea.
Moments after arriving at the base, Gerry’s team is attacked by zombies. An armed Fassbach panics and accidentally shoots himself dead. After being rescued by the base’s surviving personnel led by Captain Speke (James Badge Dale), Gerry learns that the zombies are attracted to noise and the only way to stop them is to shoot them in their heads. A former CIA operative (David Morse) is a surviving prisoner at the base, tells Gerry to go to Jerusalem, where the Israeli Mossad have established a safe zone just before the outbreak was officially acknowledged, implying Israel might have had prior knowledge of what was to come. As Gerry and his team bike stealthily to the plane, Karin calls him through his satellite phone, activating a loud ringtone that attracts the zombies. The zombies attack and kill several of the soldiers, including Captain Speke, who commits suicide to prevent himself from turning, while they cover Gerry and his pilot during the escape.
In Jerusalem, Gerry meets Director of Mossad Jurgen Warmbrunn (Ludi Boeken), who explains that the Mossad had months earlier intercepted communications from an army general in India, who stated that Indian troops were fighting the “rakshasa,” or “dead spirits.” With this knowledge, the city quarantined itself. Jurgen then takes Gerry to the gates of the walls that were built by the Israelis after quarantining the city. The Israelis are allowing any survivors in to seek refuge inside the city. However, after hearing the loud singing and celebrations of the refugees within, the thousands of zombies outside begin forming massive piles like army ants, running and climbing over one another in an attempt to climb over the wall. Eventually, the zombies succeed in breaching the wall, and panic erupts everywhere as the infection spreads, with the military soon being overwhelmed. Jurgen orders Gerry’s escorts to accompany him to his airplane. During their escape, Gerry notices that an old man and an emaciated boy were ignored by the zombies. While fighting the horde, Gerry’s escort, an Israeli soldier who identifies herself only as “Segen” (Daniella Kertesz), is bitten by a zombie. Gerry quickly amputates her hand to stop the spread of the infection. Gerry and Segen are eventually forced to escape Israel on an airliner when Gerry’s pilot panics and flies away as the city population was left for dead.
Plain and simple this is a bad ass zombie flick. It has blockbuster elements and over the top effects, and outside of a few places where the acting could have actually been acted, it was awesome. 4 stars and highly recommended for fans of zombies, and action adventure movies in general. – MR
