Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic story with everything you'd want
Review: THIS MOVIE IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! I've watched a LOT of movies, but this one has to be the most beautiful location I have ever seen. Loved the cinematography and special effects and costumes too. This one keeps you guessing as to exactly what genre it is, but who cares? It's a visual feast!
Rating: 
Summary: I loved this movie!
Review: In the late 18th century, a remote French village is being laid siege to by a beast. Nobody knows what it is, some think a wolf, others something demonic, but the beast has killed over and over for years and repeated attempts to find and destroy it have been futile. The King of France has finally gotten word of this and dispatches two men, Gregoire de Fronsac (a naturalist/biologist) and his enigmatic friend, Mani (an American Indian) to find and destroy the creature.The two arrive in the village and begin their search but find impediments of all types being thrown by the villagers. Most of the resistance is thrown in the face of Mani, the "barbarian", who exhibits both amazing spiritual, medical, and physical prowess to stave off complaints. After a slaughter of the wolf pack inhabiting the woods everyone feels safe, only to have more children attacked by the creature. Fronsac and Mani track the beast to its lair only to discover a terrible secret and tragedy ensues. Then the movie really heats up! Normally I am not a fan of foreign films but this one blew me away. I don't think I have ever seen a movie that could only be described as an action/martial-arts/romance/horror/suspense movie before and I doubt I will ever seen one again but this was well worth the wait. The storyline was well plotted and the cinematography beautiful. The fight scenes were incredibly choreographed and this was not a surprise having seen Mark Dacascos (Mani) before. Samuel Le Bihan plays Fronsac and he delivers the performance of a scientist with a secret to the hilt. I highly advise this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, here's a new one . . .
Review: So I've watched this movie twice. And both times, I couldn't really figure out if this movie was really neat or if it was really lame. To stay nice and non-committal, I'll give it a 3 star rating. Brotherhood of the Wolf is about a taxodermist, an Iroquois, a [prostitute], a bunch of royals, the church, and a beastie. The story throws those random people together, uses a blender to shake things up, and then lets 'er rip. Sounds whacked, right? It is. Here's a quick rundown of the madness that is BotW: there's this beast thing that's eating people around the country. Everybody thinks it's a big bad wolf. The king sends out the royal taxodermist to investigate (after all, who knows more about animals than somebody who stuffs dead ones for a living, right?) Anyway, the taxodermist arrives with his Iroquois blood brother to help him. Together, the two men work to uncover the mystery of the man-eating beast. Hysteria ensues, people die, the blond guy kicks butt, and the finally, the antagonist is revealed. The good: The visuals (it's truly a beautiful movie to watch), the action sequences, the soundtrack, and MOST of the plot. The bad: Every other scene is in slow motion for dramatic effect & it becomes annoying, the CG is lame, the bad guy is pretty easy to pinpoint, and the movie ends about 47 times - just as you think it's over, it starts up again. TOO LONG. Yes, it sounds like I disliked this movie, I know . . . but for some reason I DIDN'T. I'll probably watch it again. There's a lot to like, and a lot to dislike. If you're looking for a horror movie or even an action movie, I would say stay away from this . . . the pacing is too slow for that. It's almost more like a drama that has elements of both horror and action. Very strange. Good luck with this . . . maybe your opinion can be better communicated than mine. Happy viewing!
Rating:
Summary: Great start, disappointing finish
Review: This movie starts incredibly good, and holds the promise of the start till to the showdown - but the showdown is a total disaster. The 1st two martial arts scenes are pure delight to watch, with slow downs alternating real-time sequences emphasizing the action. ***Spoiler---->***
When suddenly Mani dies, it's like a completly different film starts: boring and stupid.
Also, it seems the guys responsible for camera where exchanged -nothing like the magic of the first half of the film is seen anymore.
***----->Spoiler**** The film should have ended something like this: 1. Mani stalks the wounded beast, finds gypsy castle
2. Mani wastes the gypsy opposition, until only the beast and the masked gypsy sorcerer is left. The camera guys responsible for the first half of the film of course are taken back from their holiday for this scene.
3. Mani wastes the beast, while the sorcerer is watching. But when he starts fighting it out with the sorcerer, it turns out the sorcerer is a little bit much for him!!
4. So for the kill of the gypsy sorcerer, Fronsac steps in. Together, of course they make it out.
5. Dying, the sorcerer reveals that he has conjured up a deadly beast made of leather, steal and hate, in order to strike terror to the hearts of the people. This thing is no living creature, that's why it can't be killed.
6. In the background, while the sorcerer talks, the beast slowly arises, in order to kill Mani + Fronsac.
7. Mani feels this and before the beast can do *anything*, kills the sorcerer with a lighting quick stab of his tomahawk.
8. The sorcerer dies and the beasts crumbles into a heap of components.
9. They take the mask off the dead sorcerer, and it's - Monica Belluci!!!
10. Mani takes the wounded gypsy women (from the start of the film) into his arms; Fronsac, after having returned to the castle, the french lady he lusted after for the whole of the film (what's her name...? - well, not so important). 11. THE END So, this movie must be seen as two "patches": the first one is incredibly good. The second one is, well, not incredibly bad, but barely average.
It would be really interesting to know what happened: - Christophe Gans has lost his interest in the film in the middle of the road?
- The camera guys lost their interest in the film in the middle of the road?
- during the making of the movie, it was decided that Fronsac must be the hero of the film, and it was not possibly to change the already filmed parts of the movie, so there are now two "patches"? I don't know. And I don't care. In total, this makes for a very strange, barely above average film.
Rating:
Summary: Texture and Titillation!
Review: If this movie was an American film and not a French film it would have been a total failure. If you really look at the film it's totally crazy and preposterous. But because of Hollywood did not touch it I must give it high praise. It is truly a unique and interesting movie. It has so many things in it that should make it ridiculous, yet it isn't. This is praise to the director for skillfully weaving so many isolated elements into a seductive and caressing whole. Everything in this film is oozing with sex and seduction, every actor and scene is good to look at and the story, though not making great demands on your intellect, does not insult you. It is a primal film capturing the raw essence of the throb of life and death. I thoroughly enjoyed it and do recommend it. Just the look of the film itself is worth the watch. It is like a painting come to life. And if you like fight scenes this film definitely pays off there as well. The DVD transfer is perfect, beautiful to behold and hear as a film like this deserves.
Rating:
Summary: A Breathtaking Classic!
Review: Brotherhood Of The Wolf will be sure to go down as an instant classic! Not to mention one of the best foreign films ever!
The movie is in French but you can hear it dubbed in English on the DVD. Brotherhood Of The Wolf seems to me to be a rough adaption of the classic Sherlock Holmes mystery, The Hound Of The Baskervilles.
It certainly seemed to be at least partial inspiration for this film. Compare the two:
The Hound Of The Baskervilles is set in an area in Europe.
Brotherhood Of The Wolf is set in an area of Europe, precisely, France. The Hound Of The Baskervilles begins when Sherlock Holmes and his british sidekick are called in to investigate killings made by a mysterious, savage beast, or hound. Brotherhood Of The Wolf begins when a scientist and his indian sidekick are called in to investigate killings made by a mysterious, savage beast, or wolf. In The Hound Of The Baskervilles the plot thickens as there are some people not fond of Sherlock Holmes investigating the case. In The Brotherhood Of The Wolf the plot thickens as there are some people who aren't fond of the scientist and indian investigating the "incidents", that is the savage killings of women and children made by the beast, or wolf.
In The Hound Of The Baskervilles we learn that this beast or hound may have a human training it to kill.
In Brotherhood Of The Wolf we learn that this beast or wolf may have a human training it to kill.
One thing that separates the two is the fact that Brotherhood Of The Wolf incorporates a lot of martial arts fighting into it, ala
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
If my opinion may be shared, I was more fond of this French film than that Taiwaniese film. But for a fact, Brotherhood Of The Wolf
should not be a film treasured only by the French.
Rating: 
Summary: Has a market, but not for sensible people
Review: I left the theatre before the movie finished--it was too painfully insipid and dull to watch. The characters are shallow, trite and one dimentional--everyone is a stereotype. The special effects are a joke. Fight scenes are unnecessary, long, gruesome for no good reason, and they interupt the "action" quite inelegantly. The "storyline," based on a legend I've never heard of (and I study french history), doesn't follow anything historical--not even the costumes are accurate, though sometimes pretty. The "noble savage" causes offence, he's romanticized and an inaccurate representation of any native american. Who cares about the suspence? I can't imagine actually caring about knowing what happens to the charactures--they should all have been ripped to shreads in the first hour so the stupid movie could not waste so much film reel, not to mention people's time. I couldn't even stay to enjoy listening to the french, which was fairly easy to understand--it was SO BAD! ... Honestly, I'd rather sit in the dentist's chair and have my teeth drilled than have to watch this movie again.
Rating: 
Summary: wake me up when it's over!
Review: So sorry to burst all the francophile bubbles out there, but this move stunk like a Parisian sewer. The action scenes were somewhat cliche and the storyline begged for something interesting. The movie tried to mix a bit of every culture and historical event into it. The Mohican was the cliche "mystic native" who could fight like Bruce Lee and was sensitive to nature and had a little ESP to boot. The main character was shallow and bland,and at time downright ridiculous. He went from taxidermist to steven segal. The villians henchman had a Batman TV show henchman quality, were the all were armed with clawlike knives, and not a one of them could touch the heros. The just got kicked around like kids. The beast was disappointing in the way of looked like a Jurassic park reject. The overall message was a classic French anti-church message that came from no were and seemed to be just an ad in for kicks. Sorry for the tough critic stuff, but I felt like I was robbed of 2 hours in my life.
Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining
Review: This reminded me a lot of "The 13th Warrior" and "Beowolf". I really liked this french version of an unearthly "beast" that no mortal could seem to slay.
The martial arts and action is very impressive. I would recomend it to anyone who enjoys kick [butt] movies.
This is not just a "Guy" action thriller.
Rating:
Summary: It's Just One Of Those Films That Everyone will like.
Review: 'Brotherhood Of The Wolf' is a french film about a french legend that has it's base in historical fact. Taking place in a period before the french revolution, the movie focuses on some of the politics going on in the time period. This adds a layer of authenticity to the whole picture. Many monster or horror/adventure films forget to create good and meaningful backgrounds for all the characters, this film does not. The French county side takes on it's own terrifying persona, as does the fabled beast that hunts down women and children and fears men, and guns. The story also leaves nothing out, love, action, betrayal, death, sadness, mystery, intrigue. Also all Genre's of film are utilized in the making of the film, which is shot on a grand scale, which reminds you of the way hollywood used to make epic cinema. Martial Arts, Comedy, drama, action, adventure. Everything is in this movie. Including actors who most North American audiences will not be familiar with creating believability. You don't see the characters as being played by actors you see them as people. Strangers who have let us glimps there lives. Beautiful scenery and cinematography make you watch in utter awe as the story unravels before you... Last off I do recomend the subtitled version, that way you don't loose the tone of the film. To me voice overs often come off as comical and or make the dialog apear lacking. You will enjoy this movie! Men and Women alike.
| 
