Biohazard (1996) (VG)

Directors:

Misumisa Hosoko
Shinji Mikami

Release Date:

29 March 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror

Tagline:

Evil is Only a Word. The Reality is Much Worse.

Plot:

Something bizarre is happening in Raccoon City. People are being eaten with no clue why. S.T.A.R.S....

Plot Keywords:

Mansion | Forest | Severed Face | Gunshot Wound | Resident Evil

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Inezh	...	Jill Valentine
Charlie	...	Chris Redfield
Barry Gjerde	...	Barry Burton (as Grégory)
Eric	...	Albert Wesker
Jason	...	Joseph Frost
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Clay Alarcon	...	(voice)
Dean Harrington	...	(voice)
Lynn Harris	...	Rebecca Chambers (voice: English version)
Una Kavanagh	...	Jill Valentine
Linda	...	Rebecca Chambers
Ward E. Sexton	...	Narrator (voice)
Reiko Takagi	...	Rebecca Chambers (voice: Japanese version)

Also Known As:

Resident Evil (USA)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Argentina:M | Norway:18 | UK:15 | UK:18 (PC version) (uncut) | USA:M

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Capcom Company

Trivia:

Bravo Team's pilot, Dewey, was originally conceived as a thin African-American member of STARS who would've also served as the game's comic relief. He and another character named Gelzer (a giant man with cybernetic implants) were planned to appear in the game, but were discarded from the final version. The Edward Dewey in Biohazard 0 is a tall Caucasian and is a departure from the character's initial concept.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the first hunter runs through the central courtyard, the first metal door it runs through is missing, and so is a wall around that first metal door.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Chris Redfield: [voiceover] Alpha Team is flying around the forest zone situated in North-west Raccoon City, where we are searching for the helicopter of our compatriots, Bravo Team, who disappeared during the middle of our mission. Bizarre murder cases have recently occurred in Raccoon City. There are outlandish reports of families being attacked by a group of about ten people. Victims... were apparently eaten. Bravo Team went to the hideout of the group, and disappeared.
Jill: [voiceover] Look Chris!
Chris Redfield: [voiceover] It was Bravo Team's helicopter. Nobody was in it, but strangely most of the equipment was still there. However, we soon discovered why.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Screenwipe: (#3.2)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Moonlight Sonata

This was the sole reason I bought PS console

I remember fondly I was at a friend's house looking at a rental copy of Resident Evil one hot summer day in 1996. I wasn't familiar with Playstation, as I was ignorant of the next-generation consoles (partly because I couldn't afford $300+ price tag). Resident Evil, along with Initial D and Battle Arena Toshinden, were the first PSX games I played. Actually, I observed a friend or two play these games since I was new to the world of Playstation, and I was still a loyal Super Nintendo fan at the time.

After playing Initial D, which I wasn't impressed with despite its cool computer-generated cinematic moments, I watched a friend pop in a copy and play Resident Evil. I thought that game looked strange as I've never seen it before - a 3-D environment with a playable character facing the first zombie using only a knife and there were bursts of blood. I was very impressed and wanted to play it after a friend's character dies from zombie bite attack.

The first time I started, I watched a very entertaining yet cheesy introduction sequence in live FMV. I figured this looks like a seriously fun game. After the chatter with Albert Wesker in the beginning, I encountered a zombie eating Kenneth. When the first zombie walks towards the character to grab him to bite I was seriously scared. I've never been this scared playing a video game before, and it was an incredible accomplishment - the groundbreaking gaming moment of 1996. I knew Resident Evil was this great.

Resident Evil is an incredible game in polygon 3-D environment and convincing pre-rendered backgrounds. In fact the bright, illuminated hallways and rooms gave it a very tense atmosphere reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. That made me nervous playing the game looking around the corner to avoid zombies popping out of the corners.

The story is very well-plotted with memorable characters, monsters and twists, albeit with awful dialogues. But that's what made it feel like a campy horror movie as a video game.

Quite frankly, Resident Evil is one of the best video game moments I've ever had in my life because of the wonderful feelings I had the first time I played. I finally bought a PlayStation console and a pre-owned copy of Resident Evil on my 18th birthday later that year. Resident Evil completely changed the way I perceive how video games can accomplish - immerse yourself into the video game world - something that The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy series achieved to a certain extent but not yet whole.

I'm now one of the devoted Resident Evil fans and I look back to the introduction of the first game with a nostalgic sense of wonder.