Ultraviolet

Rating:
Summary: Slick, stylish, dark
Review: A British masterpiece, modern, stylish and dark.

Rating:
Summary: A very cool update of many of the legends.
Review: A great production, somewhat in keeping with the era of The X-Files. Interesting concepts drawn from legend, with a plot that keeps you wondering.

Rating:
Summary: Cut too short
Review: A nice enough little series, but ultimately uncompelling. It seems to be intended to be a much longer series, but had to be abruptly cut short, taking all the mystery out of what could have been an interesting story arc. As such, it's ultimately unsatisfying.

Rating:
Summary: Truly Wonderful
Review: After reading all the reviews, I'm sure you have an excellent idea of what this DVD is about, so I won't bore you.

Suffice it to say it is an wonderful piece of work. The central idea, of people having to do things they find appalling in order to save the world is not often explored these days. These people are wounded or worse, cut off from humanity, and yet they press on. Excellently written and acted, it doesn't get bogged down in how wonderful vampires are (thank you Ms. Rice), but rather deals with the real human issues of fighting a *possibly* inhuman enemy.

Oh, and the carbon bullets? 'Way cool!

Rating:
Summary: Current day twist on the ancient vampire myth...
Review: An elite group in the police department are pursuing modern day vampires. But they aren't running around killing vampires with wooden stakes. This British "miniseries" (6 episodes) gives an updated twist to the old Vampire myths. For example, if a vampire can't be seen in a mirror, it stands to reason that he can't be seen on videotape. Hmmmm.... Provides a surveillance challenge!! Very inventive twists make Ultraviolet fascinating to watch!

However, it's not just the unique updating of the myth that makes this series a good watch. The story development is excellent, and the characters are very well played. Probably most familiar to US audiences will be Susannah Harker in a very different role from her portrayal of Jane in the BBC/A&E production of "Pride and Prejudice". She is excellent as the doctor in the group, focusing on the medical aspects of the vampire challenge.

Very different in style from the US shows "Kindred: The Embraced" (available on DVD) and "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer", Ultraviolet is more focused on the psychological than blood and guts. "Kindred" and "Buffy" are action fare, "Ultraviolet" is psychological fare. If you enjoy a psychological thriller with a little action thrown in and are intrigued by the Vampire myth, you will enjoy Ultraviolet.

Rating:
Summary: Current day twist on the ancient vampire myth...
Review: An elite group in the police department are pursuing modern day vampires. But they aren't running around killing vampires with wooden stakes. This British "miniseries" (6 episodes) gives an updated twist to the old Vampire myths. For example, if a vampire can't be seen in a mirror, it stands to reason that he can't be seen on videotape. Hmmmm.... Provides a surveillance challenge!! Very inventive twists make Ultraviolet fascinating to watch!

However, it's not just the unique updating of the myth that makes this series a good watch. The story development is excellent, and the characters are very well played. Probably most familiar to US audiences will be Susannah Harker in a very different role from her portrayal of Jane in the BBC/A&E production of "Pride and Prejudice". She is excellent as the doctor in the group, focusing on the medical aspects of the vampire challenge.

Very different in style from the US shows "Kindred: The Embraced" (available on DVD) and "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer", Ultraviolet is more focused on the psychological than blood and guts. "Kindred" and "Buffy" are action fare, "Ultraviolet" is psychological fare. If you enjoy a psychological thriller with a little action thrown in and are intrigued by the Vampire myth, you will enjoy Ultraviolet.

Rating:
Summary: Leaves you wanting more episodes!
Review: An excellent evening's entertainment. Acting and production values are superb.

Ultraviolet let's you see how good TV can be.

Rating:
Summary: They came, they saw, they mumbled.
Review: Episode one:

I thought they only took those who wanted to cross the line, so why is Jack Davenport so reluctant to get his neck bitten? He is miscast and mumbles all the way through this episode making a convoluted story even harder to follow, let alone swallow.

Episode two:

Eerie bit at the end ruined by a silly gas explosion. The music is great and sticks to you like glue. The ghost of Robert Vaughn stalks this 'government department' to risible effect. What, no Illya?

Episode three:

Couldn't follow the financial plot of the last one? Here Jack is joined by a whole bunch of mumbling people. The director is at fault here. Naturalism is just style if we can't hear the dialogue. Very plodding episode. A tree catches fire in a brief but doomed attempt to liven things up.

Episode Four:

Director Ahearne didn't want to do the usual cops and robbers, so why is the series so like 'Prime Suspect'? Taking the element of dread away from Vampires is counter-productive. Child abuse is tastlessly exploited yet again. More sci-fi mumbo jumbo. I've got a thing for Kirsty, though. How could the vampires resist her the whole series?

Episode Five:

This is what gets the three stars. A bona fide TV classic. The coffins. The old ticking bomb routine. The way the music builds up. Cracking performance from the guy who plays Vaughn (he stole the series from under Davenport). Great ending with cracked mirror. Corny stuff, but it works. But a long time coming. Why didn't the Guard disarm Vaughn when he clobbered him? If Vaughn had a gun, why was he worried? Anyway, he could have flipped the coffins on their back, or put one on top of the other, then he would have had only two to kill. A subtle 'love' scene with Harker (hired for her surname?) Is another highlight.

Episode six:

The juggling of naturalism with sci-fi tosh always threatened to collapse the series like a pack of cards and in the end it does. When the head honcho starts rambling on about nuclear winter and world domination you expect that Sgt Major from Monty Python to show up saying: "Now, stop. This was a nice little show about vampires but now it's getting very silly." Ahearne realises this with the line: "What's this, visiting hours?" The bit where a vamp tells Kirsty to get a life and jumps into the Thames could be directed at us for watching this twaddle. It was fun but I'm too old. Young people may love it and the money is probably worth it. Committed performances keep it afloat but ultimately series like this aren't green-lighted often because they are so hard to pull off.

Rating:
Summary: Very cool, very styled series
Review: First caught part of this on Scifi Channel; later got OK copies of the series from friend in the UK. Finally I can get complete, high quality copy of the whole six episode series. And it is one terrific series-- dark and moody, suspenseful and intelligent, driven by character and a sharp updating of the vampire mythos. If you like British styled drama (Touching Evil, for example) or X-files, you will love this series. I only wish more episodes had been done.

Rating:
Summary: Moody and Classy
Review: For fellow Yanks who haven't been enamored of British imports because they're strange or cheaply produced--try this one. Pound Sterling was spent on this production, and it shows. The concept employs a clinical, realistic approach to vampires (so, goth-fans might be disappointed). It's moody in tone, with strong characterizations, and is visually pleasing. This was a real surprise for me, and I have a Britisher named James (who mostly enjoys American dramas) to thank for directing me to it.