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FILM DETAILS

Certificate 15

Cast Dwayne Johnson Karl Urban Wesley Strick Rosamund Pike Richard Brake Dexter Fletcher Ben Daniels.

Directors Andrzej Bartkowiak.

Screenwriters Dave Callaham.

Running Time 105 minutes

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Doom
The legendary game gets the big screen treatment.

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Plot
2046. Scientists on Mars unleash an ancient force that transforms a percentage of people in the vicinity into super-strong, very dangerous monsters. A team of heavily armed, kick-ass soldiers and a female “forensic archaeologist” venture into tunnels to fight the monsters, trying to stamp out the infection before it gets to Earth.

Review

The only thing you really need to know about Doom is that it’s based on the computer game. There are two reasons why this is usually bad news. Firstly, computer games are, almost by definition, mindlessly derivative of earlier films (if you had to worry about an original story, you’d never get around to the fun business of shooting things to bits), so movies based on them tend to feel like rip-offs of rip-offs, as if the filmmakers were intent on homaging Saturn 3 or Leviathan rather than Alien or The Terminator. Secondly, there’s nothing duller than watching somebody else play a game — so what might have made for exciting action scenes tend to become mechanical exercises in first-person-shooter monster-blasting.

The one point in Doom’s favour is that it isn’t directed by Paul W. S. Anderson (Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil) or Uwe Boll (House Of The Dead, Alone In The Dark). Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds) isn’t quite the Compleat Hack, and at least works on a mystifying first act to establish some suspense before the big (fuckin’) guns get unslung. But Doom is undone by a script which suggests the writers have given up taking it seriously and tried to slip as many laugh-out-loud silly lines (“I’m a forensic archaeologist, John, I go where the work is”) past the producers as possible. The cast are the sort of talents who’ve yet to capitalise on their initial breaks with suitable follow-ups — Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (The Scorpion King) is the unstable Sarge, Karl Urban (The Lord Of The Rings) the more sensitive soldier and Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day) the glamorous scientist who gasps explanations between shoot-’em-up stuff.

There’s one single clever twist and the film scores added points for transforming teleportation-maimed Dexter Fletcher (“His ass went to another galaxy”) into a half-wheelchair, half-demon swine creature. Otherwise, it’s a familiar plod around lookalike corridors on Mars and, via a blobby wormhole effect, Earth, with off-the-peg roaring, toothy monsters and supporting actors who take their tickets and wait to get killed off and out of the way before a disappointingly unspectacular fight finish.

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Your Reviews

Average user rating for Doom

RE: Just plain terrible

Doom (2005) We all know the game and how iconic it is, this film adaptation is less than iconic. Not that its a bad film though, surprisingly it keeps to the original source material and is actually made for adults only, one of its better qualities. The plot flies close to the actual game story within the manual with certain aspects like the Mars location, teleportation experiments and the 'UAC' corporation. From there on the film goes off on its own tangent which encompasses all man... More

Posted by Phubbs at 08:13, 31 July 2012 | Report This Post

Just plain terrible

Doom is pretty much like a tenth-rate Aliens where all the characters are extremely cardboard-flat characteures, but instead follows a plot too similar to the first Resident Evil flick. It doesn't help that they angered all Doom fans by replacing the concpet of Demons from hell with mutants. Oh yeah, not to mention the abysmal dialogue throughout. The first-person sequence was probably its only saving grace, but that' saying very little. ... More

Posted by alsybroth at 15:19, 09 March 2008 | Report This Post

Extended version reveiw

The extended version is vast improvemnt, there is more action, the plot is unfolded better and gives a better explanation as to why The Rock went crazy, yes it is the 3dr best video game movie in my opinion. ... More

Posted by dgribble at 19:41, 20 February 2008 | Report This Post

Buy the extended version

I know the director was trying to generate some scares, that can be the only expalnation for the marines going down dark corners, when really all he had to do was just have guns firirng a lot in it, although he does get it right at the first-person sequnce, but the extended version now that was great, in my opinion the extended version is the third best video game movie there is, so buy it and forget about this laughble effort. ... More

Posted by dgribble at 19:40, 20 February 2008 | Report This Post

Good game to film transformation

Overall, the film is a good transformation from video game to movie, however there seems to be no relation to the game at times, the most impressive part of the film being the ending which has a strong relevance to the game, down to the fact of it showing the film through the eyes of the game. Room for improvement, make it more like how the game was/is and would make it much better ... More

Posted by Andyyy at 13:34, 15 February 2008 | Report This Post

Doom fires a big, noisy blank. ... More

Posted by moviemaniac2 at 17:29, 10 March 2007 | Report This Post

Only the "Doom"-esque 1st person shooter scene saved this one. The rest, utter utter rubbish. ... More

Posted by i007_Bond_007i at 08:35, 04 October 2006 | Report This Post

Doom-ed?

It's official! Computer game conversions to the big screen suck the hairy scrotum of Satan's plums. Yep, it's a dire genre of film, filled with an abundance of poorly conceived computer generated monstrosities, shockingly designed plots that bare little resemblance to the original computer games intent, acting of the "can't find my way out of a paper-bag" variety and shoddy direction from an MTV generation of movie-makers suffering from severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Still, it... More

Posted by clownfoot at 16:45, 22 August 2006 | Report This Post

Average

Not terrible but not particularly great either. Some great monsters and CGI can't disguise a thin plot and lack of homage to the game (where's all the hell stuff?). ... More

Posted by Caster at 21:28, 21 August 2006 | Report This Post

RE: Doom

I liked Doom. Ok so it's not the most intelligent movie ever but i didn't expect it to be. I expected a big, dumb action film. I got what i expected, so therefore, i am pleased. Doom has some great moments. The bit where Pinky is about to buy it (''There's something behind me, isn't there?''), when Sarge gets a hold of the BFG (''Big....Fuckin...Gun!''), when we see what the BFG can do, and of course, the first person shooter sequence, which works better than i thought it would. So, do... More

Posted by PedroSanchez at 08:48, 03 August 2006 | Report This Post

RE: Doom

I quite enjoyed it - a throwaway action movie that entertains a bit but will probably not bear repeat viewings. Worth a rental ... More

Posted by Fluke Skywalker at 21:39, 30 July 2006 | Report This Post

RE: Doom

Well done, you made an action movie boring, and added a stupid plot to avoid religious backlash (although no-one told the cast, who keep saying "hell" and demons"). Even the FPS sequence was a let down. How hard is it to make 90 minutes of killing and violence? Rubbish. Go watch Predator. ... More

Posted by rich at 12:09, 29 July 2006 | Report This Post

RE: Doom

Within 5 minutes you realise this is not going to be very good. It looked and felt like it had a budget and script from Stargate Atlantis.  The game is steeped in atmosphere and excellent frights.  This movie?  A truly terrifying experience, but for all the wrong reasons. How many times can you walk down a dark corridor with a torch and machine gun, reacting to amature scares before your brain just dissolves with boredom? Oh it's another science messing ... More

Posted by Ryan_D_Bell at 11:09, 29 July 2006 | Report This Post

Boring rubbish

This is utter crap. There is one sequence of any note in the entire film, but not even that can rescue it from one star oblivion. A waste of time, money and effort. ... More

Posted by qualidad at 11:33, 27 April 2006 | Report This Post

Proper Good rubbish

The thing is just an excuse for lots of action, which is great. It has standard shocks and action and even a potentially decent story but in the end just enjoy the havoc whilst it happens. The fps section is awesome, too. ... More

Posted by cluesy at 17:58, 12 April 2006 | Report This Post

Whats the matter with all of you?

Fair enough Doom might not be an acting masterclass but what did you expect from this videogame adaptation. Doom has some great action pieces and cool creatures, so stop moaning, switch your brain off and enjoy the gory goodness! ... More

Posted by marxeffect at 16:24, 10 April 2006 | Report This Post

Whats the matter with all of you?

Fair enough Doom might not be an acting masterclass but what did you expect from this videogame adaptation. Doom has some great action pieces and cool creatures, so stop moaning, switch your brain off and enjoy the gory goodness! ... More

Posted by marxeffect at 16:21, 10 April 2006 | Report This Post

Not very good...

This film had so much potential. With a movie adaptation of a cult video game like Doom, and what's going to be an impressive fanbase, a leading man with the presence of The Rock and obviously a decent budget, nothing could possibly go wrong, right? And that would be true, but there is one major flaw with this movie, it's just not fun. With a film that is obviously not relying on acting ability, cinematography and screen writing, it's obviously got to go for the over blown, 'Arnie-style' action... More

Posted by coolrex16 at 23:22, 09 April 2006 | Report This Post

doomed mybe

cool fps scenes a few good bits seen worse though aeon flux for example ... More

Posted by bondy76 at 00:11, 14 January 2006 | Report This Post

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