From its opening moments 20 years ago, the Resident Evil franchise has always been more than a little cheesy.
That doesn't mean Resident Evil isn't plenty of other things as well. Scary, action-packed and intense are all words that accurately describe Capcom's now-iconic horror game franchise. However, there is still no changing the fact that more than a few fans based their first impressions of the franchise on the original game's hilariously-bad full-motion video opening sequence.
There are two versions of the video, the uncensored, blood-filled version released in Japan and the black and white censored version that appeared in U.S. copies of the original game. Both are cheesy, but we'll break down the differences.
In the uncensored version, the S.T.A.R.S. team sent to investigate a crashed helicopter finds a grisly scene. One character picks up a handgun off the ground, only to find a severed hand attached. From there, it's all running and screaming as zombie dogs chase the squad. Blood sprays everywhere as one team member is eaten, eyes pop out of the heads of the fake-looking dogs as they're shot and some truly awful acting rounds out the package.
The video ends by introducing each member of the team, complete with a ridiculous narrator and fiery character transitions. For extra laughs, pay attention to Albert Wesker's completely bored attitude at the end.
The censored version is much the same, though presented in black and white and missing most of the blood and gore seen in the Japanese version. Chris Redfield's character introduction is also edited to omit the portion of the video where character lights a cigarette. It could be argued that the censored version is actually better, as it adds more context to the game's story via the newspaper headlines, while also making the video's poor quality less noticeable in black and white. You can watch both the censored and uncensored videos below.
Either way, the videos would go on to define Resident Evil for many a gamer. No matter how serious the franchise would become, the bad acting, cheesy dialogue and over-the-top nature of the first game's FMV sequence would go on to set the tone for the franchise for years to come.
