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DVD Van Helsing (Widescreen Edition)
Like a roller coaster ready to fly off its rails, Van Helsing rockets to maximum velocity and never slows down. Having earned blockbuster clout with The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, writer-director Stephen Sommers once again plunders Universal's monster vault and pulls out all the stops for this mammoth $148-million action-adventure-horror-comedy, which opens (sans credits) with a terrific black-and-white prologue that pays homage to the Universal horror classics that inspired it. The plot pits legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) against Dracula (the deliciously campy Richard Roxburgh), his deadly blood-sucking brides, and the Wolfman (Will Kemp) in a two-hour parade of outstanding special effects (980 in all) that turn Sommers' juvenile plot into a triple-overtime bonus for CGI animators. In alliance with a Transylvanian princess (Kate Beckinsale) and the Frankenstein monster (Shuler Hensley), Van Helsing must prevent Dracula from hatching his bat-winged progeny, and there's so much good-humored action that you're guaranteed to be thrilled and exhausted by the time the 10-minute end-credits roll. It's loud, obnoxious, filled with revisionist horror folklore, and aimed at addicted gamers and eight-year-olds, but this colossal monster mash (including Mr. Hyde, just for kicks) will never, ever bore you. A sequel is virtually guaranteed. --Jeff Shannon
I am not even going to go into the trouble of writing a long review about why this movie was so bad. If you watch it once and honestly like it, then that is your perogotive and you are entitled to that...but, this movie really sucked. Terrible acting, AWFUL computer animation, and a shockingly pathetic plot made this movie a BIG let-down. I guess the plot is the main downfall of the movie-Dracula (who was very poorly cast in my opinion.) and his brides need some sort of energy lifeforce from powerful beings to bring there gargoyle-looking mutant babies to life. Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale have to save the day. As if the plot wasn't bad enough, the film makers had to create some of the WORST computer animation EVER to grace the big screen. The animation makes it look like cartoon characters rule the movie. NOTHING looks even remotely real and almost every NON-COMPUTER GENERATED scene is so obviously a movie set that it is hard to endure the countless scenes of lame character dialouge and predictable action sequences. Anyways, I thought this movie was a huge bummer. I saw it with a group of people and we all just laughed and couldn't believe how we had wasted 2 hours of our lives watching such a bad movie. Save your time and pass this one up.
Just An Exciting and Incredibly FUN Monster Flick!
The year is 1887, and the villagers are storming Frankenstein castle with torches and pitchforks in a scene that lets you know exactly what sort of movie you're watching. "Van Helsing" is a popcorn movie, pure and simple, inspired particularly by the classic horror films of Universal Studios, with a Hammer Studios style (especially "Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter"), and a little James Bond and "Vampire Hunter D" thrown in. The villagers in question are Transylvanians, their anger ignited by the evil experiment taking place in the castle at the hands of Dr. Frankenstein himself, and under the watchful eye of his evil benefactor, Count Vladislaus Dracula. For reasons yet unknown to the viewer, Count Dracula has been sponsoring Dr. Frankenstein's efforts to harness the life-giving power of electricity in the form of a monster constructed from the bodies of 7 dead men. However, once the experiment is a success, the two-faced count lets his true nature show. Frankenstein's reluctance to allow his creation to be used for evil forces Dracula to put the bite on him (ouch, sorry). This disturbs the now living Frankenstein creature, who knocks Dracula into the fireplace with a piece of laboratory equipment and storms out of the castle with his father in his arms.
Van Helsing Rule Number One: Fire doesn't work on Dracula.
The villagers pursue the Frankenstein monster to an old windmill (classic), and, as he looms over them from the top screaming a very operatic "Whyyyyyy???!!!," the windmill is set ablaze. Just then, the crowd is frightened away by four horrific figures emerging from the clouds. They proceed to land before the burning mill and weep at the loss of their dream. They are Dracula and his three brides. Very cool black and white opening, though campy at times and thoroughly hammy. Richard Roxburgh's Dracula takes some getting used to, but with repeat viewings he can really grow on you. Two of Dracula's three brides, Josie Maran and Elena Anaya, can suck me dry anytime. Silvia Colloca is a bit too mature and downright scary for my tastes.
Fast forward one year, to a world that is still dark, but now in color, where we witness a wanted man named Abraham Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) trailing another man known by two names: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The setting is Paris, nighttime, and the trail leads to the belfry of the Notre Dame cathedral. Here, we learn the nature of Van Helsing's work. He is a monster hunter, and he brings `em back dead or a live, which often results in him being mistaken for a murderer. In the big fight scene that follows between Van Helsing and the hulking Mr. Hyde, we learn that Abraham is an easy-going character, much more likeable than the usual tough guy hero personas. He's also a religious man, though he has issues (including a loss of memory reminiscent of another famous Hugh Jackman hero), and most importantly, he's the best at what he does. Clad in a dark leather coat and wide-brimmed hat, armed with spinning tojo blades and a sharp wit, Van Helsing makes short work of Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll, and the cathedral's famous Rose Window.
Avoiding capture by the French police, Van Helsing makes his way to his home-base of sorts, the Vatican City, Rome. Through a secret door in a confessional booth, after some chastising and grumbling back and forth with Cardinal Jinette (guilt and remorse take their toll on Abraham), Van Helsing takes us into the secret lair of a holy order made up of all the religions of the world on a mission to eradicate the monsters that plague our planet. At this point, Cardinal Jinette explains Van Helsing's newest mission to him, simultaneously divulging the details of the plot to us, the audience. It seems that the last two members of a line of Transylvanian nobles, Gypsy Princess Anna Valerious and her brother, Velkan, are in dire need of help to destroy Count Vladislaus Dracula. The fate of the souls of their entire bloodline rests on accomplishing this task, and now they are down to two. Then, in a sequence right out of a 007 film, a quirky young friar named Carl (David Wenham) introduces Van Helsing to his new "ahead of their time" array of gadgets and weaponry. Before the scene is over, Van Helsing has wrangled Carl into the mission as well.
Cut to Transylvania, where the aforementioned gypsy prince and princess are about to spring an elaborate trap to catch a werewolf. A CGI werewolf, but possibly the second coolest looking werewolf ever depicted on film(the first being in this movie also)! Naturally, despite some very cool action and werewolf footage, things don't go as planned. The werewolf does get nailed with a silver bullet, but not before taking Velkan over a cliff with him and down to the icy waters below. Her heart sinking, the lovely Princess Anna looks on and prays for help. Luckily, Van Helsing is on his way, sidekick Carl in tow. Their arrival is not a welcome one, however. The Transylvanian villagers, the same ones we saw storming a castle one year earlier, are wary of strangers. They prepare to kill Abraham and Carl on the spot, with Princess Anna giving the orders, but are interrupted by the vampire brides on a mission to kill the final Valerious. In the process, we finally get a good look at how hot the brides are. Unfortunately, the price is the loss of Josie Maran far too soon in the movie (and with one of the worst CGI effects I've seen in a while). Killing Josie, or Marishka, as she is called in the film, earns V.H. some respect, though he is still not accepted with open arms. It is expected now, that the vampires will be more violent than ever.
The two remaining brides return home to Dracula's secret castle, where we are reintroduced to the count, in color this time. He mourns the loss of his bride for about two seconds, walks around on the ceiling, does some ranting, gently reprimands the hideous Igor(played by the always fun and creepy Kevin J. O'Connor) who is torturing a werewolf behind a curtain, and then we're back to Anna and Van Helsing. In Anna's castle, Van Helsing and the princess toss their tactics at each other while flaunting sexual tension. Unfortunately, they don't come to an agreement, resulting in Van Helsing spraying Anna with some wicked cool knockout Binaca in the hopes that she'll have no choice but to use his plan of waiting till morning to hunt. I guess it wares off too soon though, because Anna wakes up and gets to work. Van Helsing catches up with her just in time to chase off her brother, the new werewolf, before he could do any harm during a failed attempt at warning her of Dracula's plans. Van Helsing goes after the beast, but instead has a brief run in with Top Hat, the creepiest guy in town. While Abraham attempts to kill Velkan the werewolf, Anna catches up with him, and the two have it out about people shooting at her brother... After some bonding, the monster hunters soon find themselves heading in the direction of Frankenstein castle to help Velkan and put an end to the Count. While snooping around within the castle walls, they uncover Dracula's secret plan. He has been trying to use Frankenstein's machine to bring his children to life; hundreds of hideous, gargoyle-like babies, born dead and hanging from the ceiling of the castle in slimy pods! Using mortal humans as power conductors has been fruitless, so Dracula begins to experiment on Anna's werewolf brother, Velkan. The creatures are suddenly brought to life, and Dracula sends them out to feed with his brides teaching them. As Van Helsing goes after Dracula and Anna goes after her brother, the little Dracula babies swoop down and attack the village below. Van Helsing attempts to stake Dracula, but instead of celebrating, the two heroes find themselves fleeing Frankenstein castle, outnumbered by vampires, werewolf Velkan, and the creepy Dwergi, Dracula's goblin-like henchmen.
Van Helsing Rule Number Two: Silver stakes don't work on Dracula.
Van Helsing Rule Number Three: Crosses don't work on Dracula, but they do burn.
Well, after that fun little adventure, Van Helsing and Anna stop for some wooing over a bottle of absinthe, both having learned something from their recent experience. Van Helsing has learned a bit more about his mysterious past, Anna has learned that the best thing for her brother is a quick death, and all the vampire babies exploded from an insufficient electricity supply, so no major characters are worse off for the visit. In fact, Carl even gets a little action from a villager girl whose life he saved! Typical friar... Anyway, while reflecting on the events of the previous night, Carl makes a significant discovery in the Valerious home. The young friar accidentally finds a hidden clue: a magical painting depicting two knights in battle, one transforming into a werewolf, the other into a bat-creature. Simultaneously, Anna and Van Helsing make a discovery of their own. While discussing the mystery of how to kill dracula and swigging back green liquor in the ruins of the old, burned down windmill, Anna and Van fell through a weak spot and landed in the middle of the Frankenstein monster's secret hangout! Yes, that guy is still alive! Now that morning has come and the two have regained consciousness, they find themselves face to face with the man-made man. He is in no mood for polite conversation, so Van Helsing knocks him out with a blow dart. V.H. seems to love knocking people out. Before the creature passes out, however, he manages to reveal to them the secret of his existence. He is the key to life for Dracula's children, and there are thousands more waiting to be given life in Dracula's own hidden castle. Suddenly, Van Helsing's mission is not only to destroy Dracula, but to hide and protect Frankenstein's monster from the vampire's evil clutches, or else the whole world will suffer under the frenzy of Dracula's thousands of hungry offspring!
As I said in the beginning, Van Helsing is a "popcorn flick." Much like "The Mummy Returns," "Van Helsing" is a thrill-ride of a movie. It's a special effects laden action-adventure based on the icons of Universal Studios horror. The point of a film like Van Helsing is to have a good time while watching it, and on those grounds, it's a huge success. Now, I'm not one to praise computer animated characters in live-action films. I confess, a great many of my favorite recent films rely heavily on computer generated characters, but I would almost always prefer audio-animatronics and other real-life effects over CGI, especially with werewolves and other horror related subjects. Why? Well, because I very rarely encounter CGI effects that aren't obvious, and how can you get a chill from something you KNOW isn't there? CGI effects are best when used simply to enhance real elements, and it's always better when the real outweighs the CGI. "Van Helsing" is different though. Yes, there are computer effects in this film that bother me, the death of Marishka, the mouths of the vampires (I prefer the old-fashioned kind), etc...., but these were a few points in a movie heavily laden with CGI. In a film with so many computer effects, it almost becomes more like watching a painting, making the CGI characters seem much less out of place than they appear in a film like "An American Werewolf In Paris." With Van Helsing, so much of the backgrounds and effects are CGI that the pure CGI characters seem to blend in so much better than something that is merely pasted over a world completely real in every other aspect. Thanks to Stephen Sommers' obsession with "Sommersizing" every aspect of his films, the CGI creatures are far less distracting and far more believable. And, one has to admit, you just can't get great werewolf moves like that with costumes or animatronics. These things are fast and fierce, and the coolest looking werewolves I've ever seen. Their transformations usually involved ripping the human flesh off their bodies, which was actually cooler than I ever thought it would be (probably because it wasn't done in a gory way). And, though I don't love this new breed of werewolves that climb walls and columns like a panther or something, at least that was kept to a minimum here.
Effects issues aside (since you either can take CGI characters or you can't), this film is top notch for what it aims to be. The cast is perfect. Who doesn't love Hugh Jackman? I've already raved about my two favorite vampire ladies, and Shuler Hensley was such a noble monster (I'd love to see his performance as Jud in "Oklahoma" sometime). Everyone in the cast was a perfect compliment to Hugh Jackman. I've never been big on Kate Beckinsale, but this is one of those films where you can't help but be charmed. And, oh, the music! Alan Silvestri is just awesome! Definitely, a movie for the collection. Not high art, but a perfect choice for a carefree evening of fun and adventure! I sincerely hope a sequel has not been ruled out!
Van Helsing is available on a great DVD (fullscreen and widescreen versions, be careful which you buy) with two commentaries (no, neither feature Hugh or Kate), a tour of Dracula's castle, outtakes, other behind the scenes treats, and a nice little look into the character of Van Helsing, the rival of Dracula since the two personalities were first cooked up by Bram Stoker in the 19th century. You can also buy Van Helsing on VHS, or get an Ultimate Edition DVD that includes the original Universal classics "Dracula," "Frankenstein," and "The Wolf Man," along with a couple of extra bonus features. There's even an animated DVD prequel to Van Helsing out entitled: "Van Helsing - The London Assignment." I believe it deals with the story of Van Helsing going after Mr. Hyde. I definitely need to pick that one up someday!
Amazing! Great Stuff and a fullscale entertainer!
Wow! What a movie! From the first to the last reel it is a roller coaster ride scorching the screen with awesome actions, rarely seen. The storyline is cohesive, the performances' amazing and is millions of time better than what is supposedly pseudo-intellectual stuff like "Aviator" and which absurdly wins Oscars for shoddy and loud performances' by the so called mainstream actors. This is just a VERY GOOD VIEW! A must see indeed. I shan't be surprised that years later this movie achieves a cult fame and may even be, regarded as a classic! WOW
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Bigger isn't always better, but for anyone who enjoyed Pitch Black, a nominal sequel like The Chronicles of Riddick should prove adequately entertaining. Writer-director David Twohy returns with expansive sets, detailed costumes, an army of CGI effects artists, and the star he helped launch--Vin Diesel--bearing his franchise burden quite nicely as he reprises his title role. The Furian renegade Riddick has another bounty on his head, but when he escapes from his mercenary captors, he's plunged into an epic-scale war waged by the Necromongers. A fascist master race led by Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), they're determined to conquer all enemies in their quest for the Underverse, the appeal of which is largely unexplained (since Twohy is presumably reserving details for subsequent... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Vin Diesel - Colm Feore - Judi Dench Director(s): David Twohy DVD Release Date: Released the 16 November 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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