Latching on to the premise that what if the USA were to be attacked by a Middle Eastern country that uses atomic bombs, the film Aftermath has come to Blu-ray/DVD. The story begins with a realistic premise and then turns the result into survival mode when a Texas town faces the unbelievable event. If you like action films that tell a morbid future, then this film should fit right into your home library.
There have been multiple atomic bomb explosions throughout the United States and we see one Texas town take a hit dropped from foreign military jet aircraft. Driving their pick-up truck Jennifer (Jessie Rusu) with her son Satchel (Kennon Kepper) pull over on a deserted highway as Hunter (C.J. Thomason), a doctor in residence at a local hospital, approaches their vehicle. He urges them to get out of the truck just as another bomb explodes in the distance. Satchel turns and gets blinded by the extreme flash. Now in fear the three people start to look for shelter. The get food and medical supplies from a deserted truck stop. Off a side road they see a farm house and decide to take refuge there.
Jonathan (Ross Britz) comes to the door and after some resistance decides to let the people into his house. Gathered in the cellar are his neighbors Brad (Edward Furlong) and wife Angie (Christine Kelly), two friends Elizabeth (Monica Keena), Roy (William Baldwin) and Jonathan’s diabetic Uncle Wendell (Tody Bernard). The three join them as they ask questions about what’s happening outside their makeshift bunker. When things start to get dicey with the bad reports on the radio from around the world, the group begins to react to it with fear and paranoia.
Director Peter Engert (executive producer of Argo) takes the reins of the disaster film and does a nice job in bringing it to the screen. He moves his characters around the small cellar each showing their personality and reactions to the nuclear attack. After we get to know each of the players he starts to incite problems within the group over leadership, abilities, and liabilities. Angie is pregnant and therefore a liability, Wendell has a disease that needs constant attention and Satchel has been blinded by the blast’s flash of light. Being a doctor Engert has Hunter assume command.
Engert continues to escalate the problems of the inhabitants of the farmhouse, but now adds another element more dangerous and lethal. After a couple of weeks the group starts getting attacks by survivors of the nuclear attack, most of which have been disfigured by radiation. The make-up and special effects department works some very good miracles to get the right decay and emaciation of the attackers. The make them look like zombies showing their desperation to get a bite out of the people in the cellar.
The video quality on the DVD is above average for home viewing. The cinematography saves the home viewing experience with good lighting, especially during the night scenes and when the group has to turn to battery power for their cellar lighting. The only downsides are the lack of CGI for the mushroom clouds from the bombs and there’s no shock wave special effect that comes with a nuclear explosion.
Aftermath has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains violence, gore and language. The film does a good job of keeping the story realistic and sometimes horrifying, keeping the film reasonably accurate as to what would happen following a nuclear attack.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: William Baldwin, Edward Furlong, Andre Royo, C.J. Thomason, Monica Keena, Christine Kelly
Director: Peter Engert
MPAA Rating: Unrated, contains violence, language
Genre: Action, Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr 32 min
Video Release Date: August 26, 2014
Original Film Release Date: August 22, 2014
Language: English
Format: Blu-ray/DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen HD 16×9 TV’s, Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Subtitles: None
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: RLJ Entertainment
