Ultraviolet

Rating:
Summary: A sensitive look at the balance between man and - VAMPIRES!!
Review: Okay, this series had meaning to me. And I'm about to reveal what a poor sap I am, but when my wife and I were in the hospital having our baby, this show was on. That fact, combined with the alluring X-Files similarities, made me buy it, even though I really knew nothing about it. Let me tell you, I am GLAD I did. I won't waste time summing up the entire storyline -- you can read that elsewhere. But what I will tell you is that the things that stood out to me are two-fold. One, this is the first vampire story I've seen where the vampires don't spend the whole show trying to kick people's butts. No offense, Buffy, but it's nice to see vampires in something other than leather jackets... The "leeches" are crafty, manipulative, and even political in nature. Just like real people. The second great thing about this is that the special effects don't try to hit you over the head. The first thing I noticed was that the effects are just perfect. When a vampire gets staked or carbon-bullet riddled, he doesn't have some ridiculous fake-looking transformation. They pulled off what they could with the budget they had and didn't try to overdo it. The result is a smart, sophisticated series aimed at almost every viewer. Another thing that hooked me is the great lines. "Our free range days are over..." I love that line. Everything above, combined with a new look at traditionally-accepted vampire mythos, makes Ultraviolet an entrancing option. Too bad it's only six episodes. But then, maybe that's a hint X-Files should have taken . . .

Rating:
Summary: Scary, Clever, Excellent
Review: One of the most fun viewing experiences I've had in recent days is watching one episode of this series each night over the period of a week. The idea of likening vampires to multiple minorities is brilliant - the gay, the HIV+, the ill, the deaf, the disabled - because it keeps the protagonists morally ambiguous. Is what they're doing right? That's for you to decide. The whole thing is terribly scary, more so because it's rationalised by science. My biggest complaint is that the bloody thing ends just as it's getting more interesting than ever before!

The characters are mostly well-drawn, headed by Jack Davenport ("Coupling," "Pirates of the Caribbean") although I found the female characters rather lacking. Susannah Harker's character is every bitchy, cold scientist with a past that I've ever seen (and I've seen a fair few). I think it's quite a mistake to have put her on the front cover as a sort of Scully to Jack Davenport's Mulder; they're barely seen together in the show! My personal favorite character was Philip Quast's fallen, tortured priest, the leader of the team. I ultimately wanted to know a lot more about him than the others.

Of course, "Ultraviolet" isn't perfect - a few plot revelations are completely telegraphed, and the show changes its stance on some of the finer details of the vampire legend more than once - but it's still very good. In fact, I don't understand at all why they could only make six episodes out of it. Unlike most miniseries, there's easily enough unanswered questions to make a full British season of 13 episodes, or maybe even two.

The DVD's quite good quality - the video looks quite crisp to me and the occasional bright colors (especially the blue of the labs) are very clear. I was also quite pleased by the 5.1 mix (which I believe the R2 release does not have?) - not usually the sort of thing I notice, but for a British series, the music is astonishingly full and pleasant. In fact, it sometimes overpowers the dialogue, especially in episodes one and two - and made me distinctly wish for a subtitle track. The text extras are a bit lacking (and hard to find - they're accessed via the "V" chapter selection of each episode, and then the "Code V Area" button), but the two-part audio interview with writer/director Joe Ahearne is very good. Quite a nice little set of an astonishingly good show.

Rating:
Summary: Very Very Cool
Review: SPOILERS
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This is a really intelligent treatment of the vampire myth -- very philosophical (well, in the background -- NOT BORING!)

I find the most fascinating question it asks is: if the Code Vs (code fives) only "convert" people who are willing (and don't kill when they feed), what does that do to the whole ethical dilemma of wiping them out?

(OK, the less fascinating question that isn't addressed is: Fine, they don't reflect in mirrors or on video or photographs --but why don't their clothes? But forget that for the purposes of making it a really neat crime show.)

This is very well written; well acted; exciting and a thought-provoking premise -- and it doesn't surprise me at all that Fox-TV couldn't replicate it (I speak as a Firefly fan.)






Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Very Cool, Very Stylish, Very British............
Review: The best take ever on a vampire theme! Creepy and realistic, dreary yet compelling. A great blend of Sci-Fi and Horror. Cool cinematography, great plot, good casting and good acting, a gem. I'll spare you the windbag plot synopsis' given by other reviewers here. Suffice to say, you will not be dissappointed.
BUY IT!

Rating:
Summary: Ultra-stylish
Review: The other reviews pretty much say enough about this great British series. The only unfortunate thing is the fact that 6 episodes leaves you still hungry for more. This series is different from most vampire flicks because it relies on the characters and the plot heavily. The viewer gradually learns about each character and their pasts. The story starts "open" and ends "open", and you feel like you were fed only a fraction of the story's potential: that's what makes it so REAL. Despite the lack of heavy special effects, the acting is great (particularly the main 4 crusaders) and the story is gripping, interesting and solid, each story with its own twist and its own controversy. I couldn't stop watching. Do not, however, expect too much (a few isolated moments) of the usual "fangs and blood" combo. This is closer to a british "X-Files", with style, wit and lots of character. As a matter of fact, I don't even recall hearing the word "vampire" mentioned by any of the main characters. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Simply the Best Vampire Fiction on TV
Review: This British show does what nothing else seems to have accomplished: it built a supernatural thriller/melodrama that honors both its horror and intrigue elements and origins. The writing is top-notch, the performances first-rate and the cinematography is very, very solid. Though only six episodes, this show left me breathless the first time I saw it, and I've yet to get a bad review when screening it for horror-loving friends. This is highly, HIGHLY recommended for fans of horror, intrigue, melodrama and anyone who thinks that horror shows are unavoidably lame.

Rating:
Summary: Simply the Best Vampire Fiction on TV
Review: This British show does what nothing else seems to have accomplished: it built a supernatural thriller/melodrama that honors both its horror and intrigue elements and origins. The writing is top-notch, the performances first-rate and the cinematography is very, very solid. Though only six episodes, this show left me breathless the first time I saw it, and I've yet to get a bad review when screening it for horror-loving friends. This is highly, HIGHLY recommended for fans of horror, intrigue, melodrama and anyone who thinks that horror shows are unavoidably lame.

Rating:
Summary: amazon chose well
Review: this DVD was recommended to me by amazon.com itself, and i must congratulate the system that brought this to my attention. any viewer will be quietly devastated that there are only 6 episodes of this series about a building war against vampires and humans. the concept itself has no shock value - we've seen the vampire myth done to death (so to speak) - but what will nab you is the brilliance of the characters, the actors, and the storyline. this is not comic book X-files fodder, with its glitzy special effects. this is drama, and literate drama at that. the interweaving of the characters tales and fates is remarkable for TV. but don't panic if you're the kind who shies away from drama. this isn't heavy. there's chills and spills aplenty for those who like their suspense and a few layers of depth for those who like more meat to their vampire stories. at its core, it is a drama about war, built up around the concept of vampires, and because it uses this myth as its backbone and not it's front cover, it's hard to imagine anyone (even those who don't like vampire stories) won't become involved.
other reviews have said this is strictly for sci-fi/horror fans and i disagree. the four characters - scientist, warrior, cleric and cop - beautifully represent humanity and its struggle to be human. who can't identify with that?

Rating:
Summary: Grown up vampire hunters for the new millenium
Review: This excellent British mini-series has brought the vampire myth bang up to date. We all know from the old movies we've seen that vampires don't cast a reflection in a mirror.... nowadays it's a little more complicated. They can't use the phone without a voice synthesiser, and how do you track them running through a busy subway station when they don't show up on CCTV cameras? Although they are called "Leeches" rather than vampires, we all know what we're talking about. Leeches can be detected with ultraviolet light (hence the title), and modern weapons have been developed to fight them, including machine guns with ultraviolet sights firing carbon bullets and garlic gas grenades. Policeman Michael Coleman is recruited into the secretive organisation formed to combat the leeches, but he's very much an outsider, and those around him all have their own hidden agendas. He is about to be best man at his friends wedding when the friend disappears, and the next time Coleman sees him, he's been through a few changes..... I'm a big Buffy fan, but this series tackles the whole vampire-hunting scenario in a more adult and thoughtful way, and puts forward some interesting ideas about how vampires might have adapted to the modern world, and how we might combat them. The individual episodes are self-contained while still moving the arc of the whole story forward, and are guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat.....this is some of the most gripping tv I have seen in a long time. British viewers will recognise Jack Davenport (Coleman) from the BBC2 series "This Life", and Susannah Harker (Angela Marsh) from the excellent BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Predjudice"

Rating:
Summary: Too bad there are only 6 episodes
Review: This is a beautiful series for a wide variety of reasons. It takes all the old vampire myths and applies them to modern technology. It is so cool! This is not a blood and gore type of horror, but more the psychological thriller type of horror that works deeply inside you to chew at you long after you turn the TV off.

The charcter development in this series is exceptional and it seems to place much more vlaue on solid storyline and believable characters that special effects and cheap dazzles.

This series will appeal to you whether you are a vampire fan or not. It offers characters that you can care about and a story that will make you become involved.

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