Plot: What’s it about?
Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a beautiful woman, one often clad in black leather and armed with two custom handguns. She needs the firepower too, as she is involved in a war with a clan of Lycans, also known as werewolves. She is a Death Dealer, a hunter who guns down his enemies without a hint of remorse. That seems like a dangerous profession, but she is able to stay intact, thanks to her vampiric traits. The rift between vampires and werewolves is deep, one that has been entrenched since anyone can remember. The vampires are sleek, refined beings, while the Lycans are often brutal, common thugs. The battle has raged for centuries, but now a new threat looms that could end the vampiric race. Selene has learned of a Lycan plot, one which targets a human and has the potential to be lethal for her people. She follows the human, a man named Michael (Scott Speedman), to find out more about the Lycans’ plan and why this human is such an important part of the crucial situation. As she tracks him, she finds herself attracted to him more and more, even when he is infected with the lupine virus. Just when it seems as though one side is certain to be erased, a new threat emerges that could doom both sects. Can Selene somehow neutralize this threat, or will both races be eliminated forever?
This movie has vampires, werewolves, and tight leather outfits, not to mention ultra hottie Kate Beckinsale. In other words, Underworld has a lot of potential right from the start, but does it live up to that potential? I knew it wouldn’t be the case, but I had hoped for more of a horror slant in this flick, given the nature of the premise. But Underworld is more of an action movie with romance elements, as the horror side is just the background. In other words, don’t expect graphic violence or bloodshed, as neither is present. That aside, Underworld is a solid picture and a blast to watch, even if the story is thin at best. The premise allows just enough development to be credible, but this movie is all about style, no doubt about it. The visuals shine here, with dark landscapes that teem with shadows, the perfect backdrop for this kind of material. As far as action, you can tell some cues were taken from other films, but that’s not unusual. The action is frequent and well executed, though more of it would have been welcome, to be sure. The real power behind Underworld is Kate Beckinsale, who seems to be an odd choice at first, but she more than proves herself. In the end, I found Underworld to be a more than solid movie, one that should please most interested viewers. This new two disc extended cut offers thirteen additional minutes of footage in the movie itself, as well as some cool new bonus materials. If you’re just a casual fan, an upgrade might not be needed, but if you’re a diehard, this new version is worth a purchase.
As I said before, she seems like an unlikely choice to be a cold blooded, ass kicking femme fatale, but Kate Beckinsale is awesome here. She handles guns like she’s a charter member of the National Rifle Association, even though she’d never fired one before this production. She must have had a great teacher or been a real natural, as she wields her weapons with skill and ease, which adds a lot to her role. All too often, actors seem awkward when handling guns and that lessens the realism, but Beckinsale has no such problems. So she pulls off the action scenes without flaw, but does her beauty still shine through. Of course and more than ever before, to be honest, as she is on her top game in Underworld. Even when she’s in the heat of battle, she looks incredible and it should be obvious, but tight black leather is always a plus. So while her casting was a surprise, she proves that a versatile performer can deliver in almost any role. I hope to see her in more roles of this kind, as well as more bold roles in general. Other films with Beckinsale include Serendipity, Van Helsing, The Last Days of Disco, Haunted, and Brokedown Palace. The cast also includes Scott Speedman (Dark Blue, Tv’s Felicity), Michael Sheen (The Four Feathers, Timeline), and Sophia Myles (From Hell, Mansfield Park).
Video: How does it look?
“Underworld” has gone through several incarnations on standard DVD and now it makes its Blu-ray debut. Thankfully we get the extended (unrated) cut and for those who were impressed with the visual accuracy on the standard DVD(s), that same crystal clear clarity has been transferred over to this high definition disc. The 2.35:1 VC-1 HD transfer is one of the more stunning I’ve ever seen. Yes, there are times when the transfer could have faltered, but we get a very nice-looking overall transfer here. The movie is obviously very dark in nature which leaves it wide open to all sorts of errors but I was hard-pressed to find anything that compromised this picture. Short of any sort of animation on Blu-ray, this is probably one of the best-looking transfers I’ve seen on Blu-ray.
Audio: How does it sound?
Not to be outdone by the video transfer, Sony offers us up their standard fare of extras. We find a PCM uncompressed track which is the one I chose to listen to and, quite simply, it rocks. I broke out my old two disc set of this movie and played it on my other player, going back and forth to compare some of the more robust audio scenes. The Blu-ray disc has a depth that’s literally not present in the standard DVD set. Dialogue is full and rich with surrounds kicking in at the right times and adding the needed emphasis to those key scenes. On the whole, you could do a bit better on the audio front, but not much.
Supplements: What are the extras?
All of the same supplements from the two-disc set are intact and have made the, pardon the pun, transfer to Blu-ray. We start off with the two audio commentary tracks from the original release were dropped, but a new session with director Len Wiseman and stars Kate Beckinsale & Scott Speedman has been included. The track covers the extended cut of the movie, but the focus is more on humor here, as the three barb each other and joke around. I don’t mind some humor, but some insight would have been nice, though little is provided here. Fang vs. Fiction runs about fifty minutes and looks at the lore behind vampires and werewolves. As a fan of such topics, I was pleased with the piece and on the whole, it makes a terrific addition to this release. The same featurettes from the original release return, as well as some new ones. The new pieces cover the visuals of Underworld, for a total of about forty minutes worth of coverage. You can also find a reel of outtakes, television spots, a music video for Finch’s Worms of the Earth, and the film’s theatrical trailer.
