Lionsgate Limited released Daybreakers on 4K UHD last month which means it’s here just in time for Halloween. This was a clever take on vampires. What if vampires drank so much blood they ran out of humans? They would have to find other ways to feed, and so Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is researching synthetic blood when he meets some humans who may be onto a cure for vampirism.
The Spierig brothers shoot the vampire city in noir style which is great for 4K shadows. Ed opens the door in silhouette and enters buildings at night. Even the hall of his secret meeting is a high dynamic void. The tower of his company rises into the night sky. There is a black line down the middle of the street of Bromley Marks Estates where Ed lives. The corners of all the meeting rooms or medical labs are pure shadow. Then the blood and viscera splatters all over them.
When Ed meets the humans, Willem Dafoe stands silhouetted in a pipe. There are lots of talks at night but the daylight scenes are lush and vibrant by comparison. And those are out in the farmland versus the big city of vampires.
Surround sound offers a lot of immersion too with rain, sparking electric towers, growling vampires, armored car gunfire and crossbow bolts crossfire.
The Spierig brothers give new interviews for new bonus features. They discuss world building including some ideas we didn’t get to see. And they still have more for a sequel. They speak more on the actors’ contributons, particularly Hawke throwing his weight around with financiers.
Newly released lighting and makeup tests show the filmmakers exploring different looks. Mainly they’re testing the Genesis digital cameras which are no longer in use. Still it looks better than a lot of recent digital cinematography.
Standard definition footage in the makeup shop and stunt warehouses include the ceiling fight and homeless vampire takedown plus other action scenes. 44 minutes of behind the scenes means they were on set for many of the scenes and go through several departments for each one. After the two hour doc from 2009 I couldn’t imagine a more thorough exploration of Daybreakers.