Daybreakers (2009)
Average Rating: 6.1/10
Reviews Counted: 139
Fresh: 93 | Rotten: 46
Though it arrives during an unfortunate glut of vampire movies, Daybreakers offers enough dark sci-fi thrills -- and enough of a unique twist on the genre -- to satisfy filmgoers.
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 15
Though it arrives during an unfortunate glut of vampire movies, Daybreakers offers enough dark sci-fi thrills -- and enough of a unique twist on the genre -- to satisfy filmgoers.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 200,280
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Movie Info
Fresh off the success of their inventive take on the zombie genre, Undead masterminds Michael and Peter Spierig direct Ethan Hawke in an ambitious tale of a futuristic Earth populated entirely by vampires, and the efforts made by the creatures to ensure that their food supply doesn't run out as humankind is faced with extinction. The year is 2017, and a vampire plague has turned most of the planet's human population into bloodsucking ghouls. As the population of mortals fast begins to dwindle, a
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Cast
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Ethan Hawke
Edward Dalton -
Willem Dafoe
Lionel 'Elvis' Cormac -
Claudia Karvan
Audrey Bennett -
Michael Dorman
Frankie Dalton -
Vince Colosimo
Christopher Caruso -
Isabel Lucas
Alison Bromley -
Sam Neill
Charles Bromley -
Paul Sonkkila
General Williams -
Jay Laga'aia
Senator Turner -
Damien Garvey
Senator Westlake -
Wayne Smith
Inmate 4075B -
Emma Randall
Ellie Landon -
Carl Rush
Al Walker -
Harriet Minto-Day
Lisa Barrett -
Charlotte Wilson
Joy Watkins -
Mungo McKay
Colin Briggs -
Todd Levi
Commissioner Turnbull -
Jane Wallace
Bromley's Assistant -
Robyn Moore
Forensic Investigator S... -
Troy MacKinder
Officer Hobbs -
John Gibson
Detective Cosgrove -
Christopher Kirby
Jarvis Bayom -
Michelle Atkinson
Mother -
Sahaj Dumpleton
Homeless Vampire -
Mark Finden
Young Vampire Cadet -
Victoria Williams
Vampire School Kid -
Zoe White
Vampire School Kid -
Aolani Roy
Vampire School Kid -
Jarrad Pon
Vampire School Kid -
Callum Mclean
Vampire School Kid -
Joel Spreadborough
Vampire Subject -
Konrad Whitten
Weathered Human -
Glen Martin
Coffee Buyer -
Peter Welman
Police Officer -
Ben Siemer
Police Officer -
Rohan Smith
Police Officer in Car -
Tiffany Lamb
News Reader -
Kellie Vella
Soldier in Garage -
Kevin Zwierzchaczewski
Lab Technician -
Berni Chin
Lab Technician -
Amanda Buchanan
Nurse -
Lisa Cunningham
Nurse -
Jason Chin
Medic -
Todd Allan Brissette
Businessman -
Des Coroy
Businessman -
Gabriella di Labio
Businesswoman -
Jack Bradford
Security Guard #1 -
Scot McQade
Security Desk Officer -
Bryan Probets
Subsider in Kitchen -
Chris Brown
Subway Commuter -
Kirsten Cameron
Subway Commuter -
Renai Caruso
Coffee Shop Attendant -
David Vallon
Janitor -
Candice Storey
Onlooker -
Anne Bennetts
Onlooker -
Simon Burvill-Holmes
Onlooker
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Daybreakers Trailer & Photos
All Critics (139) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (95) | Rotten (48) | DVD (7)
Daybreakers is the pinnacle of fun, modern sci-fi horror actioners.
Top CriticHawke gives his all here -- or maybe just half his all -- and it isn't quite enough: He's trying to be soulful, but he really just looks a little tired. The real delight is Willem Dafoe.
For the lowbrow, the thrill is a level of fleshy explosiveness reminiscent of David Cronenberg's Scanners. No one dies quietly; he must either detonate like Hiroshima or burst into juicy red chunks of viscera.
Daybreakers is more fun than foreboding; it's fright-lite, yet that's par for the bloody course in these busy apocalyptic days.
The narrative may flag, but the doomsday atmosphere and George Liddleâ(TM)s production design remain vivid until the final, blood-splattered reel.
Writer-directors Michael and Peter Spierig equip this unpretentious, low-budget, high-functioning shocker with some sharp satirical teeth, and Dafoe has a ball behind his Manson goatee.
Around here Daybreakers' clever streak runs out and the previously witty, refreshing film becomes a predictable action romp that's big on over-the-top gore but lacking in everything else.
That Daybreakers biggest problem is that there isn't enough of it should tell you enough: watching it provides short-term entertainment, but like those voracious bloodsuckers, it'll just leave you wanting more.
It's pretty clear that directors The Spierig Brothers are ready to make their mark as a couple of high-end horror genre auteurs.
While America continues to produce interminable undead dross ... Australia can now proudly announce itself as being home to two of the best genre auteurs working today.
The is no denying that the production values of Daybreakers are superb; the sophomore directing duo fill every inch of their frame with some startling effects work and detailed production design.
A hybrid of future dystopian sci-fi and classic vampire conventions, Daybreakers is a horror movie which boasts as many ideas as it does bloodshed.
Pointed social commentary using the vampire as a metaphor for an increasingly predatory bourgeois society.
"Smartly constructed and lively all around, the gloom and doom submitted by filmmaking duo The Spierig Brothers is wildly entertaining and appropriately gushy with gore. Against all odds, Daybreakers is a blast."
Daybreakers inhabits such a richly drawn world that it's somewhere you'd like to spend more time. Unfortunately, the story isn't quite as strong as the world building.
Squandered potential at its most obvious.
Once the world is set up, the follow-through comes up short.
Somewhat enlivened by perfunctory professional performances by Ethan Hawke (as a guilt-ridden vampire looking for a cure for blood dependency) and Willem Dafoe (as Elvis, a crossbow-toting member of the human remnant).
The premise deserves a better movie, but this sleek vampire noir has an inspired twist...
... film of glistening surfaces...all lit in the subdued hues that "heaven to gaudy day denies."
When it comes to extras, there's a casket-full. There is a commentary, plus what is the most in-depth, layered and detailed Making-of documentary I've seen in ages.
Audience Reviews for Daybreakers
Super Reviewer
Confused, unfocused but rather intriguing. Daybreakers is the perfect example of a high concept action thriler that suffers because of it's budget restrains but benefits due to a capable cast and startling visual imagery. The gore used in the film is almost completely computer generated, I think if it was taken in the physical handmade direction it would have been a lot cooler and a huge deal more striking. Etiher way the dazzling and gorgeous cinematography and moments of interesting direction make up for it's overly convoluted story. Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill manage to bring more to their highly typical characters than necessary with light character development and charisma. Not only is the action in the film decent for it's budget but I think within it's ambitious premise is an underlying political subtext concerning the need for clean energy in the modern world. The low budget however does have it's downsides. Most action sequences in the film aren't as thrilling as they should be and feel like they should be more climactic and realistic. But Daybreakers captures the dystopian future feel absolutely flawlessly and manages to build enough moments of tension for a pedestrian but satisfying action horror flick. There have been a lot of vampire movies churned off the shlock production line recenty but the combination of campness and seriousness with the addition of depth in Daybreakers deems it something that much more intelligent and unique. The construction flaws in it are various but it manages to escape the bloatedness of it's sub plots with exciting, unadulterated, action packed madness.
Super Reviewer
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- Lionel 'Elvis' Cormac: We're the guys with the crossbows.
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- Charles Bromley: No, don't do that. That will poison you.
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- Alison Bromley: Is this what you wanted?
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- Audrey Bennett: We're looking for vampires we can trust.
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- Christopher Caruso: I'm sorry Ed, but there is no cure.
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- Audrey Bennett: When was the last time you drank human blood?
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Latest News on Daybreakers
January 7, 2010:
Ethan Hawke Talks DaybreakersEthan Hawke returns to theaters this weekend with "Daybreakers" -- and now you can read his thoughts...
January 7, 2010:
Critics Consensus: Daybreakers Has BiteThis week at the movies, we've got a vampire virus (Daybreakers, starring Ethan Hawke and Willem...
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