10 best moments from the Resident Evil movies

Between 2002 and 2016, Milla Jovovich took to the big screen to star in six live-action Resident Evil movies. The films – based on the video game series of the same name – followed the story of Alice (as played by Jovovich) and her encounters with the shadowy Umbrella Corporation, before, during, and after an extinction level apocalypse.

The first entry in the series was 2002’s Resident Evil, which saw Alice enter the mysterious facility known as ‘The Hive’. This was a secret, underground facility, where the Umbrella Corporation had manufactured a deadly bio-weapon known as the T-virus.

For those unfamiliar with Resident Evil, the T-virus was then accidentally leaked, causing the facility to shut down in order to contain the outbreak. However, as depicted toward the end of the movie, the virus did eventually leak into the atmosphere, causing uncontrollable death, destruction and a zombie apocalypse in its wake.

Due to the box-office success of Resident Evil, the movie was then followed by Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), Resident Evil: Retribution (2012), and the appropriately titled concluding entry, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016). All of these sequels dealt with the events following the outbreak of the T-virus, and the impact it had on the human race.

Across the course of the movie series, all six films served up plenty of action, a fair bit of sci-fi, and lots of horror. Each film also offered audiences one or two memorable moments, that really stood out from the crowd.

Below I am taking a look at these memorable moments with a run-through of the best ten. These are the scenes which made the Resident Evil series what it was, and are genuine highlights from this successful and profitable franchise.  

__

Die-section – Resident Evil (2002)

First up, let’s start with a truly iconic moment from Resident Evil. In fact, this scene is so iconic it was repeated and referenced multiple times across the course of the movie series.

For those who have already guessed, yes, it is the scene with the lasers. As for those who are unfamiliar with the scene, here’s what happened:

In Resident Evil, after a security team enter The Hive, to check on the impact of the leaked T-virus, the team find themselves in an area of the facility with a locked door. As one of the operatives works on decoding the lock, the majority of the team stand in a corridor outside the door, waiting to gain access.

However, while they wait, a security defence system is triggered, which locks them inside the corridor. This same defence system then activates a targeting laser which moves from one side of the corridor to another, killing anything in its way.

Although the operatives do their best to evade the laser, they all fail and everyone is killed. That is, with the exception of team leader James Shade (Colin Salmon), who manages to escape the beam.

However, Shade’s success is short-lived, once the security system adapts to Shade’s skills. And as Shade stands ready to jump out of the way of the beam, the laser expands into a grid pattern which he simply cannot avoid.

With nowhere to run to, Shade accepts his fate as the beams reach him. He is then dissected, with his body being turned into chunks.  

—

Kick-ass – Resident Evil (2002)

Up next is anothermoment from Resident Evil, this time involving lead hero, Alice and a zombie Doberman. As with lasers, Zombie dogs are also a mainstay of the series, but this is the first (and best) use of the killer canines.

With Alice deep in The Hive and finding herself surrounded by zombie humans (the result of the T-virus), she makes her way into a laboratory, only to be confronted by a zombie Doberman. No problem she thinks, she can simply run into the next room, close the door behind her, and trap the dog inside.

Thing is, while this might have been a great idea, this simple little tactic doesn’t deter the dog. The mangy mutt simply smashes through a window to reach her, leaving her with the same problem as before.

Exiting the room, Alice closes the door behind her, leaving the door back in the lab. But as Alice looks ahead, hoping to run away, she sees she is now surrounded by yet more zombie dogs.

With one gun and limited ammo, Alice shoots all of the dogs in front of her, neutralising the threat. That is, until the first dog jumps back through the broken window to attack Alice once more.

Turning to run, Alice heads to a nearby wall, jumps, spins around and high-kicks the dog in mid-air. This pushes the dog back into the lab (again), but this time it is killed in the process.

—

Alice Returns – Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

Onto Resident Evil: Apocalypse now, and after being largely absent from the first 25 minutes of the film, it looked as if Alice was set to only appear in a cameo role in this sequel. Newcomer Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) – a resident of the newly infected, Raccoon City – had been introduced as a key player for this second chapter, and it looked as if she was taking over the reins of the franchise.

That is until Jill, along with a few of her newly acquired teammates, find themselves in a spot of trouble inside a church. Jill and Co. are surrounded by a trio of mutated zombie creatures, who are going in for the kill, and with no way out it appears as if the end is nigh.

But just as the situation looks truly dire, Alice makes a big entrance, riding a motorcycle into the church… through a stained-glass window! Alice then immediately takes control of the situation, eliminates the creatures, and makes it clear to the audience she isn’t going anywhere!

—

You’re Fired – Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

Sticking with Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and one of the main plot points of the film is the rescue of a young girl, called Angela Ashford (Sophie Vavasseur). The girl is located inside of a school in the zombie-ridden Raccoon City, with Jill Valentine taking charge to ensure her rescue.

But in a moment reminiscent of a scene from Jurassic Park (1993), Jill and Angela find themselves trapped inside the school kitchen, where they are surrounded by zombie dogs. Keen to destroy the animals, in order to make their escape, Jill switches on the all the gas stoves in the kitchen, before heading toward the exit with Angela.

Jill’s plan is to set the kitchen alight – something she attempts to do with a book of matches. But unfortunately, the match she uses burns out before it can ignite the gas, and it appears as if her plan has fallen flat.

However, all is not lost. Coming to Jill’s aid in the nick of time, Alice appears, tosses a lit cigarette into the kitchen, and creates an explosion which takes care of the dogs in one quick succession.

—

A Murder of Crows – Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

Moving onto Resident Evil: Extinction now, and by the third entry in the Resident Evil series, the world had well and truly gone to Hell. The T-virus had moved out of The Hive, and beyond Raccoon City, and had spread across the world, leaving humanity fighting for survival.

One group of survivors – led by Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) – travelled across the Mojave desert in makeshift trucks, trying their best to evade hordes of zombies. But unfortunately, while zombies are indeed a persistent problem, Redfield and Co. soon found they had a new evil to contend with.

Upon waking up one morning, the group discover they are surrounded by crows. However, these aren’t just any crows – these birds have been feeding on infected flesh, and are now plague-carrying killers.

With the crows aware of the group’s presence, they swarm the trucks, seeking fresh meat. However, they don’t expect to encounter a super-powered Alice, who manages to destroy all of the birds without breaking a sweat.

—

Hostile Takeover – Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

Onto Resident Evil: Afterlife, and with few survivors left in the world, Alice decides to turn the fight (and her anger) back toward the Umbrella Corporation, beginning with a hit on their Japanese facility, which is located in Tokyo. But rather than just attempt to take down a heavily guarded facility all by herself, Alice leads an army of her clones as part of the hostile takeover.

Triggers are pulled, bullets fly, and soon Umbrella Corporation Chairman, Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts), is forced to abandon the underground operation, detonating it in the process. It’s a small victory for Alice, but it is a significant blow for Wesker, who loses an important work station.

—

The Dream Life – Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)

Moving onto movie number five, Resident Evil: Retribution, and after a quick recap, to showcase story highlights from the previous movies, Resident Evil: Retribution kick-starts its story with an alternate life for Alice. This life – which is later revealed to be a simulation – shows one of Alice’s clones living an idyllic existence, free from death and destruction.

Here she is married, has a daughter, and has not got a care in the world. That is until zombies suddenly appear in her home, attack her husband, and turn everything she knows upside down.

What follows is a tense fight for survival, as the Alice clone does her best to protect her daughter from harm. However, once she leaves the confines of her home she sees zombies everywhere, escalating the severity of her situation.

This simulation acts as a reminder to the audience of just how far Alice (and the human race) is away from normality. The world is now a horrid place, and will never return to the comfort of what it once was.

—

It’s The End of the World as We Know It – Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)

With each entry of the Resident Evil movie series, it becomes clear the world is in a dire state. Apocalypse, Extinction, and Afterlife all demonstrated the Hellish landscape that now existed, with Retribution taking things a little further.

But it isn’t until the final seconds of Resident Evil: Retribution that audiences are shown how truly awful things are. As the film draws to a close, Alice and a band of survivors look over swarm of zombies and creatures, which appear to be never-ending, demonstrating that humanity is entering its final days.

—

Wipe Out – Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)

As 2016’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter marked the end of the movie series, before the ongoing story could conclude, the film had to tie up a few loose ends. But before it did all that, there was still time for a couple of important revelations.

While the series had always been clear the zombie apocalypse was caused by the T-virus escaping into the atmosphere, the truth was a little darker. Yes, the T-virus did cause the apocalypse, and yes it was accidentally released, but the Umbrella Corporation always had plans to wipe out the human race.

With various ecological and man-made disasters on the horizon, the Corporation knew humanity’s days were limited, so took the decision to speed things up. The plan was to release the virus around the world, relocate personnel to underground facilities, and let the apocalypse destroy almost all human life on the planet.

Then, in a decade’s time, the Umbrella Corporation would release an anti-virus that would take care of the zombies, and remove the threat above ground. Key players at the Corporation would then return to the surface, and take control of the planet, essentially rebooting the human race, under their leadership.

Madness? Absolutely. But the Corporation came very close to achieving its goal, if not for Alice. However, the key thing here is the fact the Umbrella Corporation had plans to orchestrate a mass extinction – something which only seemed accidental in the earlier movies.

—

Knowing Me, Knowing You – Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)

And finally, the last ‘best moment’ on this list goes to yet another big revelation delivered in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. This one revolves around Alice, and the Umbrella Corporation’s interests in cloning her (as depicted in previous movies).

With movies one to five, the audience had followed Alice’s story, as she dealt with zombies, monsters, and clones, but little did anyone know (Alice included) that she was a clone herself. The Alice that audiences had followed throughout movies was in reality a clone of Alicia Marcus – the daughter of Dr. James Marcus, creator of the T-virus and co-owner of the Umbrella Corporation.

However, unlike all the other clones who struggled to survive, or who became test subjects for the Corporation, this version of Alice rose above it all to become a champion. She defeated the Umbrella Corporation and saved the human race, and proved she was more than just another clone.

—

Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about the best moments from the Resident Evil movie series. For more posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.