Rating: 
Summary: French sophistication?
Review: This movie gets one star for artistic cinematography, a few neat looking actors and some great scenery. But alas, the myths about the French being more sophisticated, better-educated and generally superior to us American yokels are forever shot down. This movie requires a heroic suspension of logic, as well as the complete renuncation of all history lessons.
Where can one begin, on the mind-numbing stupidity of this movie? The modernistic Parisianne brothel, where all girls are thin, heavily made-up, dressed like Madonna look-alikes and gifted with hair gel? The kung-fu Hawiian (who absolutely does NOT look like a real Iriquois, as those of us in America who have met the real thing, know)? How about the innacurate make-up, hair styles and behaviours of the rest of the characters?
Then there's our history lessons. We have the obligatory mockery of Catholics, in which all priests are fat, weak and evil, and all devout members are idiots, while our heroes go around sniffing magic dust and playing with wolves (they're supposed to be enlightened, no doubt). And the pope at the time is supposed to be sending out kung-fu fighting prostitutes in a sort of papal KGB/CIA/FBI of the eighteenth century? What, movie land's old cliche of evil Jesuits is just not good enough anymore?
Best of all are the fight scenes and weapons, which all look like they came straight out of video games like "Soul Blade".
This is a movie that could have been really great, so it is heartbreaking to see so much potential wasted.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite as good as I thought it would be
Review: After seeing the previews of this movie in the theatres and on television, I really wanted to see it. But I unfortunately was never able to catch it in the theatre. I recently found it on sale at a local store and snatched it up. Although it was one of the more entertaining movies I've seen recently, it also wasn't quite as good as I had hoped it would be. The previews had been very misleading about the story line. I, like another reviewer was disappointed when I finally saw "the beast". After so much mysterious, mystical ambiance going on, I thought "the beast" was just too obvious. The dubbing - The version I bought was dubbed in English which I think I prefer to subtitles because I just miss too much of a movie reading them. It was a little disconcerting that you could see lips moving that were speaking english and yet hearing another voice that sounded like it was clearly not theirs. Why did they dub the voices of the actors that were already speaking english?? I think Mark Dacascos' dubbing in particular was really bad. Alright, it IS a martial arts/horror type movie, which are usually cheesy and don't seem as though they would go well together, but they surprisingly do in this movie. I don't usually like "fight" scenes but these were so well choreographed and graceful that I actually played them over several times before going on to the next scene. I saw the version that I think has the most cut out of it. More should really have been left in because at times I caught myself wondering why someone was doing something. After reading about all the alternate versions I found out what the missing scenes were and then everything made total sense. But all in all, this is a movie that will keep your attention and you will want to watch again soon.
Rating: 
Summary: The only redeeming thing to come out of France
Review: This movie is the only redeeming thing to come out of France in the last few hundred years, I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A Collection of Effects without much of a story
Review: Disappointed after watching the movie last night my wife and I checked the reviews on Amazon to see whether a visit here could have prevented the time we wasted watching the movie. Not so! Why do so many people like this movie? Just as we sometimes can enjoy a song without paying attention to the words I guess some people can enjoy a movie without paying attention to the script or to the plot (I kept looking at my wife during the movie and saying to her: "Let's write a movie tonight!"). Reviewers liked the cinematography... The color coding of the love triangle... The way the woman's breasts morphed into snow covered mountains.... The way the American Indian charater used martial arts (Is this a subtle juxtaposition or just sloppiness). I pretend to be the filmaker: Let's slow down the fights like in the matrix and Crouching Tiger... Let's visit a whorehouse! Let's dress like Mad Max even though we are in the 1700's! I only wish they'd all been on roller skates and then maybe I could have given it 2 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Film; ROCK ON, FRONSAC!!
Review: There is nothing negative to say about this film. Watch it in French with the subtitles--the English dubbing isn't nearly as good. The action is mind-blowing for a period piece, and the acting is strong. Quite a bit of nudity and blood/gore, but it doesn't drive the story--it's part of it. The CGI beast is poorly done at times, but the close-ups of it are great. Martial arts by a Mohawk Indian in France? You bet. And it's freakin' cool! Buy this DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Question for People Who Have This DVD
Review: I have a version of this DVD that is dubbed in English and I absolutely hate it because the voices are ridiculous and don't match the characters at all. Does anyone know if one of these DVDs is in the original format with English subtitles and not dubbed over? Thanks in advance...
Rating:
Summary: Revenge of the naughty Lion dressed in heavy metal spikes?
Review: As strange ( yes, it is the same word in English and French ) as this movie is, it had me at the edge of my seat anxiously awaiting even more stranger episodes of the story. Why? Each twist and turn was unexpected. A naturalist, scientist, taxidermist, day time soap hunk of a Frenchman (Samuel Le Bihan)enters the province of "the Beast." His mission from King Louis the 15th was to assist the capture or destruction of this beast, preserve it and bring it back to the King's palace. Mark Dascascos of "the Raven" fame in America plays Mani, a Native American who has somehow learned martial arts. Mark actually steals scene after scene after scene with astounding fights. This was one of the driving forces of the movie, along with the audience awaiting to find out how hideous, how vicious and how evil the beast is. This is the type of refreshing foreign movie to get you out of the Hollywood monotony of the same types of movies and plots to the point of predictability. This is a long movie and does not read like a comic book (why it may have lost box office returns in the U.S.). You not only have to think, the movie challenges you to think at every turn. The soundtrack has a wide range, from classical, alternative new age, ancient and wild Brittany Celtic bagpipes, and gypsy dancing to tabla and dumbek. There is excellent bouzouki, lute and or guitar(?)music. I would strongly urge more movies lined up in the future for Mark and his martial arts. He has not lost a step since the Raven and needs much more exposure. Ultimately, I have to appreciate an ancient French folk tale brought to international recognition.
Rating:
Summary: Not What You Expect
Review: You should rent this film before you buy. It is more about martial arts / romance and less about wolves / horror. Plus the beast in the film is computer generated and not even a wolf. It's easy to see why this film isn't even slightly scary. The fight scenes don't make sense and distract from the plot. On one hand you have a film that tries to seriously depict a true version of an anicent myth. On the other hand you have knights who practice Kung Fu on a computer generated Lion that wears a mask. The whole idea just doesn't work for me.
Rating:
Summary: An American B-movie mentality in a French werewolf movie
Review: One magazine described this as "simply the best French kung-fu werewolf movie ever," and to this I have no objections. Although they tend to look down on American cinema, this movie is proof that the French film industry is hasn't been immune to the influence of movies like The Matrix. Traditional of French films, The Brotherhood of the Wolf is a gloomy, gritty atmospheric feature with plenty of standard horror devices, although never cliche. The werewolf itself is an impressive beast even if it looks like something out of a PS2 game.
Highly recommended for those who like their thrillers to be rather dark and subdued, as well as a bit overwraught.
Rating:
Summary: This Movie Rocks
Review: This is an English-dubbed version of the film, and I was initially disappointed to discover this. However, they did a kick-[booty] job of dubbing, and the dialog is not dumbed down in order to fit the speaker. This movie is a smorgasboard of styles, from martial arts to horror to period piece. It co-stars American martial artist and actor Mark Dacascos, who does a fine job (I'm a big fan). I enjoyed the other actors as well. If you haven't seen this film, you're really missing out.
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