Audience Rated by buyers R (Restricted)
Type of bind: Video On Demand
Release Date: October 01, 2008
Running Time: 122 minutes
Sale Popularity Level: 3423
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: September 18, 2003
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
Synthesize elements from famous film franchises like "The Crow," "The Matrix," and "Blade" to forge a bullet-riddled, revisionist vampires-vs.-werewolves urban war epic, and you'll have a pretty good idea what to expect from the exciting, new, fantasy chiller "Underworld" (*** out of *****) starring "Pearl Harbor" beauty Kate Beckinsale. This supercharged but synthetic British horror thriller with R-rated heaps of blood & gore and a touch of Shakespeare plays fast and loose with vampire lore. Not only do the vamps refrain from shape shifting into bats, but also these pale-faced bloodsuckers can stare at their reflections in the mirror! Were that not enough these fangsters don't have to shack up for the day in their caskets. On the other hand, rookie director Len Wiseman and stuntman-turned-scenarist Danny McBride adhere to the lycanthrope legend with no radical departures.
Action-packed from the outset, this darkly-lensed, tragic melodrama laid in a rain swept contemporary setting provides enough different things along the way with a couple of major plot revelations to boost "Underworld" above its formulaic origins. For example, the vampires load their automatic weapons with silver nitrate slugs, while the werewolves pack cartridges filled with ultra-violet light to literally let daylight through their sworn enemies. The special effects sequences that depict the transformation from man into werewolf look super cool, and the sight of these scary creatures hauling butt on the walls in pursuit of their prey make for vivid, memorable images. One especially clever scene shows a werewolf as he uses his bodily powers to pop the bullets out of his wounds!
Although it runs a little over two hours, "Underworld" maintains enough momentum in its melodramatic narrative and features strong enough villains that it entertains you without giving you nightmares. Surprisingly, though it looks like it should have descended from a graphic novel, "Underworld" boasts no previous source material aside from an original story penned by grey stuntman-turned-actor Kevin Grevioux, former "Stargate" art director Wiseman, and McBride himself. When the bullets aren't thudding noisily in your ears, "Underworld" features a deafening, industrial-strength, orchestral soundtrack written by ex-Tangerine Dreamer Paul Haslinger with songs written by David Bowie and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciate. Get ready to rock out!
Kate Beckinsale plays a super-sexy leather-clad vampire warrior named Selene who cannot kill enough werewolves to satisfy her thirst for vengeance. Vampires and werewolves have been fighting a no-holds-barred civil war for centuries, and the vampires finally appear to have gotten the upper hand over the Lycans. According to Selene, these hideous Lycans wiped out her entire family and would have killed her too had it not been for vampire elder Viktor (Bill Nighy of "Hitler's S.S.: Portrait in Evil") who saved her life and turned her into a vampire. Meanwhile, as Viktor rests in his tomb, his hand-picked protégé Craven (Shane Brolly of "Impostor") appears to have turned traitor to his own kind. Secretly, Kraven has been negotiating a truce behind the scenes with the Lycans who are trying to develop a serum which will enable Lycans and vampires to mate.
Naturally, when Selene awakens Viktor and reveals Kraven's insidious plot, all hell breaks loose. Furthermore, it doesn't help matters that the apparently whipped Lycans are far from whipped as Selene learns in an opening shoot-out in a subway tunnel. No, human society doesn't know about the millennium war happening right under their noses, because the vampires and werewolves conceal themselves so well. In fact, the vampires maintain their own blood bank, so they don't have to bleed humans dry. Once a rebellious Selene resurrects Viktor to punish the treacherous Kraven, the action really slams into high gear.
Despite Kraven's assurances to the contrary that the werewolves have been eliminated as a threat, Selene sets out to convince Viktor that the werewolves are staging a comeback. Nothing can stop our hardnosed heroine from proving her point, even if she must turn against her own breed. Apparently, the Lycans have found a human, Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman of "Duets") who can assimilate both vampire and werewolf DNA so as to reproduce. Complications arise when Michael saves Selene's life, and she finds herself attracted to him. In "Underworld,"
Director Len Wiseman, who served as art director not only on the theatrical "Stargate" but also "Independence Day," makes the most of his threadbare $20-million production so that "Underworld" can compete with the films that inspired it. Set amid gloomy, Gothic castles where the elitist vampires huddle in their fight against evil, "Underworld" stresses adrenaline-laced action with just enough time out for the exposition to keep audiences on ... Read More
Rated by buyers -
Underworld (Unrated) [Blu-ray] This is definitely on of the best movies combining Vampires and Werewolves. The special effects are excellent and Kate Beckingsale is excellent as the lead. I enjoyed and own both movies on Blu-Ray. And yes, the action is great and so is the mood of both films. I am waiting for a third in the series..
Rated by buyers -
fairly tired subject matter gets a nice boost in this movie. Rather than go point to point over the movie, I have only to add that the plot is great and never drags, the settings and scenery look fantastic, and the best part: they did not over use wires and impossible body contortions in the special effects to make it entirely unbelievable.
Great show and great special effects. Kate in BluRay? a must have!
Rated by buyers 
-
The item was received earlier than estimated and in the condition that it was promised.
Rated by buyers -
UNDERWORLD, a faced-paced, in your face, kick-a** monster movie, tries to answer that age old question. Vampires and Lycans (werewolves) have been at war for untold centuries. Very few even remember how the blood feud started. But the crossing of a Vamp with a Lycan has always been forbidden. Or has it?
UNDERWORLD is action-packed from the get go; you jump right in and it never lets up. Epic battles, high-speed chases, gun fights, impossible stunts, blood and gore (although less than you would think), and fantastic transformations keep you on the edge of your seat. The directing/cinematography/editing are excellent, cutting away from anything truly disgusting before you really see it; leaving the rest to your vivid imagination. The acting is impressive, with Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, and Michael Sheen all giving scene-stealing performances. The rest of the cast, including Bill Nighy, are equally good in there respective roles. And let me just say, the costuming for UNDERWORLD is marvelous: gorgeous dresses, fabulous leathers, skin-tight cat suits. I'd like to go shopping were the Vamps do!
UNDERWORLD includes all the universal Vampire and Werewolf lore - sunlight kills Vamps, silver kills Lycans, you become a Vampire or a Werewolf from a bite. Not too many surprises in this area (although these precepts are taken to new heights), making it easier to keep up with the plot. But added to the standard lore is the theory that there is a line of humans who carry a gene that enables them to survive a bite from BOTH a Vampire and a Lycanthrope. And this is what the Lycans are looking for.
Even if you aren't a fan of monster flicks, you will enjoy UNDERWORLD. It makes for a great popcorn evening at home. It is clearly too intense for the youngest members of the family, but tweens and up should be just fine.
So, what DO you get, when you cross a Vampire with a Lycanthrope? Apparently, something the Lycans want and the Vampires don't. And something bigger and badder than both...
Find other books like this one:
