Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Director:
Len Wiseman
Cast:
Kate Beckinsale……….Selene
Scott Speedman……….Michael Corvin
Michael Sheen……….Lucian
Shane Brolly……….Kraven
Bill Nighy……….Viktor
Erwin Leder……….Singe
Sophia Myles……….Erika
Robbie Gee……….Kahn
Wentworth Miller……….Dr. Adam Lockwood
Kevin Grevioux……….Raze
Zita Görög……….Amelia
Dennis J. Kozeluh……….Dignitary
Scott McElroy……….Soren
Todd Schneider……….Trix
Sándor Bolla……….Rigel
It wasn’t too long ago that the original DVD release of Underworld came out. With a sequel in theatres January 20th, it’d be easy for a studio to just put out another edition of the film with a newer title and one or two additional extras beyond the first edition of the DVD to try and capitalize on it; this DVD release of Underworld shares a lot in common with this, as everything included on the first is here. This DVD, though, has been given an entire new disc full of extras to go with the top-notch extras from the first release.
The Movie
Action is such a malleable plot mechanism that it can be applied to all sorts of movies genres successfully. When meshed with science fiction (the genre with the best ratio of action hybrids) one gets The Matrix, Serenity, Minority Report, I, Robot and Total Recall amongst others. Put cool gadgets and complex scenarios together with gunfire is a pretty easy task, as science fiction can be very fun with a machine gun or two.
One category that works wonders in an action-style film are super heroes and comic books and you have a number of great action films in that setting, as Spider-Man, Batman, Daredevil and the X-Men have been put to great use in an action-oriented film. You can even add action machinations in a period piece with Heath Ledger and you get A Knight’s Tale. Heck, mesh it with the styling of 60s style westerns and you get a pair of moderately enjoyable films in Tombstone and Young Guns. One genre that lacked a true action film within its selection was horror; this was rectified with 2003’s wonderful action-horror film Underworld.
Underworld stars Kate Beckinsale as Selene, a vampire caught up in the middle of an epic war between her kind and werewolves (called “lycans”). Selene is a death-dealer, hunting down the werewolves that killed her family so many years ago. Under the command of Kraven (Shane Brolly), the vampires fight the werewolves, who are guided by Lucian (Michael Sheen). What follows is a two hours smorgasbord of stylized action meshed with some top notch horror imagery and coupled with a quick-moving plot nestled over a love story.
With all of this going on, it would be a mistake to think that the film uses horror as a motif. Part of Underworld yearns to be a horror film. It is filled with the sorts of scenes, costumes and has some moderate bloody images, but Len Wiseman uses a lot of the same scene shots and chase sequences that are normally found in any number of horror films. There’s a sense that the horror isn’t just for show; this isn’t a film of disembowelments and graphic beheadings, obviously, but there aren’t any kid gloves handling this either.
Underworld is also a tightly wound action film as well; Wiseman has a pace that he tries to stick to and keep up for the film’s two hours. In the theatrical version, as well as this new re-cut version, there are still certain points where the film is slow; a truly great action film doesn’t give you time to think about the insanity going on. Underworld has several notable lulls that take away a lot of the great things going on in it.
Score : 8.5 / 10
The Video
Presented in a widescreen format with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, Underworld looks as good as it did in the first release; it’s a great transfer with vivid colors amidst the darkness of the genre.
The Audio
Presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 format, Underworld still sounds as good as it did in the first release.
The Extras
Disc One:
“Fang vs. Fiction”, new to this release, is a 45-minute documentary examining the history of vampires and werewolves. Originally a broadcast on AMC, it’s an incredibly fascinating documentary focusing on a couple things. The first is the history of the mythos of vampires and werewolves, focusing on the phenomenon that’s nearly universal. Also looking into the science that could explain the creatures, as well as interviews with the usual sorts of crazies that actually think they’re vampires or werewolves, it’s a fascinating feature for both the actual history and the “unique” people profiled.
Commentary by Len Wiseman, Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman is a brand-new commentary track for this release of the film.
Additional and Replacement footage is included in this release of the film as Wiseman has opted to solve some of the film’s pacing problems as well insert a sub-plotline into this new extended version of Underworld. The 11 minutes of re-cut footage are meant to try and give the film a crisper pace, which is one of its few flaws, as he reworks a number of scenes and sequences. There are also 12 more minutes added back in and they deal with a subplot involving Erika (Sophia Myles), back stories about Michael and the Lycans as well as another battle sequence towards the film’s conclusion.
Two TV Spots are included.
Disc Two
“The Making of Underworld” featurette is the same featurette from the first film, and it focuses on how the film was made. Running around 13 minutes, it’s interesting to see how they stayed away from digital effects and instead opted to use animatronics and makeup to create much of their effect work. While it has a lot of fluff and EPK (electronic press kit) moments inside it, there are some interesting tidbits and side-notes included.
Creature effects featurette is the same 12 minute feature from the first release, as this focuses on how they were able to design the looks of the characters. It’s interesting how they were able to use wires and costuming, as opposed to CGI, as the focus on the set was on the practical aspects of designed a horrible creature from films like Alien and Predator. It’s impressive to see the sort of attention to detail from the makeup effects, as there makeup artists definitely show a passion for their work.
Stunts featurette is another featurette ripped directly from the first, as this 15 minute feature focuses on the stunt work of the film. One of the focuses is on the film’s stars in Kate Beckinsale and how they were able to take a serious actor and turn her into a credible action star, as they speak briefly about how they were able to take her (and her co-stars) and get them up to speed with both the fights and the weapons.
Sights and sound featurette is, once again, ripped from the first film. This feature is a collection of behind the scenes footage as we get to see the movie being filmed.
Storyboard comparison is the last of the featurettes from the original DVD release of Underworld, this one focusing on how the film actually looked as opposed to how it was designed to look form the storyboards.
Designing Underworld is a brand new featurette that focuses on how the designers of the set and the costuming designed the film. It’s very interesting how they speak of the Lycans as more of a blue-collar group whereas the vampires were more of an aristocratic group and how this affected the way they costumed each side’s characters. Taking time to create a world and weaponry that is more appropriate to the sort of horror-fantasy, it’s a 10 minute look at the film’s rather unique design.
The Visual Effects of Underworld is new to this DVD release as well, focusing on the digital effects they couldn’t recreate with makeup and set pieces. Running around 10 minutes, it’s an absorbing look at how and why they crafted the film. Certain moments and scenes in which effects were used are shown and walked through by the principles involved in creating them as they talk about what they were looking for in each piece.
The Look of Underworld is another new featurette, this one focusing on the look of the film. Wiseman describes it as his vision of being a living, breathing graphic novel and the featurette focuses on how Wiseman’s creative instincts and talent for drawing helped to initially sell the film as well as create the living, breathing action-horror film.
Outtake reel is also new to this edition, as it’s the usual collection of outtakes and flubbed lines.
Collectible production sketch notebook is a small notebook with sketches of various scenes and how they wound up looking, side by side with stills from the film.
48-page mini comic book is a comic book that was created off the film itself, as it is a print companion piece to the film. Following the events of the film, it’s very well done and a nice piece.
Finch music video: “Worms of the Earth” is included from the original version of the DVD as well.
Score :10 / 10
