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Underworld (Full Screen Edition)

Underworld (Full Screen Edition)

List Price: $19.94
Your Price: $17.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AMAZING
Review: I don't understand the many poor reviews I've been reading about
this movie. It is the best horror flick I've seen come along in
a long time. Like a mob war between two rival families, the
vampires and werewolves are at each others throats. Twists,
betrayals, and double dealings, lay around every corner.
Alliances are forged, alliances are broken. Pity and revulsion
intertwine with each other for these two sects as new revelations
come to pass. I thought the special effects were outstanding, and
the sound quality excellent. I had to turn the subwoofers down
to avoid blowing out the windows during the opening storm
sequence.(o.k., maybe I exaggerate just a little there, I think
the windows would probably have held, but I really did have to
turn the subs down.) I'm going to keep this review very general,
unlike so many other reviewers, I see no point in giving away
the entire adventure. I'll let you discover all the surprises
for yourself. Just let me say that London or Paris would not
survive these werewolves, and the vampires here are in no mood
to give an interview! This is an action packed, fun movie, and
I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and yes, it does have a good plot.
Thanks,
Tom

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Movie this year! A+++++
Review: Kate Beckinsale stars as the Lycan hunting vampire Seline. When Seline notices a gang of Lycan's hunting a lone human, she becomes intrigued, little realizing that the group is part of a centuries old conspiracy, thus inevitably drawing her into a world of mystery, murder, and betrayal.

What can I say? I LOVED underworld. I loved the costuming, the plot, and the fantastic cinematography. The vampires looked exceptionally cool with their white skin, cerulean eyes and black gothic clothing. I appreciated the fact that the lead character was female, and no 'wilting flower waiting for the hero to rescue her,' in fact, it was quite the reverse! The love story was cute, and filled with romantic tension.

I thought the vampires were well portrayed, and the motivation complex. If you are a fan of vampire/werewolf movies you'll like Underworld. My only complaint, was I thought the werewolves were a bit TOO easy for the vampires to overpower, and looked a bit 'stumpy.' Also I saw no real advantage to have them running along the walls. Otherwise, Excellent! Excellent! I really hope for a sequel!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Ugh
Review: This is one of those movies that could have been great. I mean really, really, really, cult movie to the max. great... Only they missed.

The story line is wonderful, but for the first thirty min. you are left wondering what is going on. You have no idea past history until over half way through the movie. I have seen this tactic done before in other flicks, and this one just didnt get it right. I was left wondering for far to long who was who and what was what.

Although the concepts between the two waring factions in the film were wonderfully contrived, the fight scenes - scenes important to all battle movies, were horrible! I kid you not, my husband and I could do better play acting than this when drunk.

So what do I recommend? See it if you are bored. If for no other reason than the laughs at the "sliced head" scene.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very entertaining flick
Review: There are reasons this movie was never nominated for an Academy Award. But absolutely none of those reasons stopped the movie from being immersive and entertaining.

Will it end up being shown on TCM? Most likely not.

Was it a fun 2 hours? You betcha.

I hesitate to give examples, as that would ruin some of the experience. Suffice it to say that by the time I was far enough in the movie for the plot to begin it's twisting, I was so immersed in the feel of the flick that I never saw any of them coming.

Any movie that can do that impresses me.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Could be better, but not unenjoyable.
Review: As an introductory film to hopefully a larger, more epic and expansive series, Underworld fulfills its requirements adequately. There's enough action, blood, and tight latex outfits to satisfy a genre fan's thirst and the execution is decent enough that I look forward to the sequels, but there's the unmistakable sense of promise left unfulfilled.

Set in an unnamed city, the gorgeous Kate Beckinsale stars as Selene, a "Death Dealer," a vampire whose job is to hunt down the remaining Lycans, aka Werewolves. According to vampire history, most of the werewolves should have been wiped out in past wars, but a subway venture reveals there is still a formidable-sized population of werewolves. Against the wishes of her master, Kraven (Shane Brolly), Selene investigates further and discovers that the werewolves are particularly interested in a human named Michael (Scott Speedman).

After an encounter with head werewolf Lucian (Michael Sheen), Michael is bitten but saved by Selene, who grows infatuated with this human. Why, is never made clear, other than the fact that he prevents her from drowning. As Selene pries deeper into the mystery surrounding Michael, she uncovers a conspiracy involving both vampires and werewolves that could tip the balance of the war.

As most people have already said, by far the movie's most memorable image is the sight of Kate Beckinsale in tight latex. For those who find her a hot babe (like me), Underworld might just be worth watching for her alone. Hell, if she'd shown some nudity, I would have even bumped my rating up 1/2. Alas, she's still great eye-candy.

The picture itself is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, there's lots of shootouts and fight scenes that are well-staged and filmed and reasonably exciting. The werewolf effects are excellent and the transformation scenes are some of the slickest, most convincing I've seen on-screen, certainly better than anything seen in The Howling or An American Werewolf in London. Beckinsale, in addition to being a delectable hottie, makes for a kick-ass, first-rate female action hero.

But on the other hand, Underworld is a grim, joyless picture, accentuated by its deadly serious performances and occasionally laughably earnest dialogue. Much like the Blade films, a lot of what the characters have to say is hard to take seriously, the mythology hampered by the fact that it's being juxtaposed with CGI-infested action scenes (though, admittedly, any five minutes of Blade has a much worse problem with this than all of Underworld).

Underworld is neither scary nor suspenseful. Selene never really gets herself into any combative situation she can't get herself out of, usually because most of the opponents she fights aren't nearly as skilled as her. Though there are plentiful werewolf effects, I think I would have preferred more scenes of Lycans skulking around in their hulking bodies rather than watching them in human form.

Undoubtedly, Scott Speedman must be one of the worst examples of a romantic leading man I've seen. He and Beckinsale have no chemistry, and considering it's her affection for him that spurs her to "betray" her own kind, this is a pretty damning flaw. It's also during her scenes with Speedman that Beckinsale is at her least convincing; she won me over as a kick-ass vampiress, but I had a hard time believing she was in love with this bland nobody named Michael.

Directed by first-timer Len Wiseman (who apparently stole Beckinsale's heart on-set, enough that she left Michael Sheen for him), Underworld is slickly-crafted and boasts a strong, pervasive atmosphere. Maybe with more passionate performances, more well-orchestrated thrills, and some bare skin from Kate, the sequel will be an unqualified success.
** 1/2 out of *****

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredible Movie!
Review: I had been looking forward to the release of this movie all summer long, and it was a great movie! I anxiously await the release of this DVD.

The movie, as most of you probably know, is about a war that has been going on between werewolves and vampires. And it is THIS that is the primary focus of the plot (as opposed to the vampire and werewolf lore itself). The werewolves have been researching their bloodlines and discovered a human who shares a common ancestor with both the werewolves and the vampires. The werewolves seek out this human, and this is noted by Selene (Kate Beckinsale), who decides to make it her mission to discover the importance of this particular human.

Unfortunately, the writers decided not to delve too deeply into vampire and werewolf lore. I was pretty disappointed by the fact that the supernatural abilities of these supernatural beings were not really emphasized. Instead, the writers chose to merely stick guns in the hands of the vampires and werewolves. In addition, the mythology was slightly different from what I've read and seen before in previous vampire and werewolf books and movies. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, but if you are going to change things from what people are used to, then it should be explained in slightly more detail.

This aside, the movie was still pretty incredible. The plot was exceptional, which is not necessarily always the case with most action movies, and the action kept me entertained throughout the movie's entirety. The effects were great, and the creepy lighting added to the atmosphere of the film. The make-up and costumes were also outstanding, as was the acting. I anxiously await the sequel (and based on how the movie ended, there WILL be a sequel)!

The extras on this DVD look awesome! I am really interested in checking out the stunts, make-up, and effects featurettes. I am also intrigued to listen to the writer's commentary. Over all, I highly recommend this DVD to anyone interested in vampires, werewolves, and pretty much anything occult or gothic. I know I plan on pre-ordering this DVD!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Very Dissapointed
Review: I had high expectations for this movie, I mean come on, the eternal war between werewolves and vampires with a hot chick starring in it. However I found the movie to be unoriginal, poorly constucted and written, with some of the worst special effects this side of 1990. The filmmakers were too ambitious in my opinion, if they had worked with about $20 million more in the budget it might have been worth seeing. The only good thing about this movie was the cinematography, which was very cool, including some very nice use of filters creating a dark but polished look---think matrix. Otherwise the use of stop-motion was ugly and uninspired, and I found the dialogue to, rather than generate compassion or hatred for the characters, leave me unsimpathetic and uninterested. DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best of the best
Review: This is the BEST(action)movie made of vampires & werewolf, a lot of action & battles, if you like action movies, vampire movies, this is for you, IS NOT that much of A HORROR movie. My favorite character is Lucian, the actors are excelent and the story too. I don't know how are people that doesn't like it, I think they're crazy! SEE IT NOW!!!!YOU WILL LOVE IT!, dont forget about the full edition and the extended uncut edition (I cant wait to see it) I hope they make a second part of this movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WOW, but unfair
Review: I just have to say, that i absolutely loved the movie underworld. I loved it so much that as soon as it came out on dvd, i purchased it the very same day. What I didn't like was the fact that now in May, 4 months after the dvd release, the release an extended version. I think it's unfair. because had i known i would have bought the extended version, but i bought the normal version. I think it's unfair to all the loyal fans who went out on the same release day to purchase the film, to know have a better film and an almost equal price. I want to buy the extended version, but i also dobn't want to get stuck with 2 dvd's of the same movie. IT SUCKS, and is UNFAIR!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dark Vampire Gothic realms
Review: UNDERWORLD, watch this interesting battle between (not humans as one would think) but Vampires versus Lycans (werewolves)

Selene (Kate Beckinsale of Pearl Harbor fame) is a Beautiful Vampire Soldier (Death Dealer) whose purpose is to hunt down and kill any Werewolves she comes across, until one day (or night it is always dark it seems) she comes across a human Micheal who the Lycans are trying to capture. Well of course she falls for this guy and the plot gets more intense as it moves along between betrayal, power struggles and internal conflict which brings the film to an interesting (and bloody of course) end. (No doubt there will be a sequel)

The setting is very dark and "gothic". It seems like it is always raining and cold looking (which adds to the feeling of this film). Costumes are also the type seen in the usual Gothic Vamp circles. Action scenes are pretty good as well (enter the Matrix).

It was a sleeper hit last October and it continues to draw crowds of viewers. I saw the normal DVD (rented) and liked it so much I picked up the Extended version (2 DVD set unrated) it adds about 20 min more to the film and comes with some interesting extras. I particularly liked the documentary called Fangs or Fiction which touches on the history of Vampire, Werewolf Myths and Legends and even has an interview with a "real" Werewolf as well as two "real" Vampires.

If you like Vampire movies (or Vampire stuff in general)or are into the Goth scene, this film will satisfy both (or are both the same? hmm...)

I give it 5 stars, and look for a sequel or even a prequel in the next year or so.


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