Underworld Reviews Here ;)

[Catch 21]

WOW!! i just did the screening of this and I must admit that I totally underestimated this movie. Hmmm cant say too much , cause I dont want to the spoil the film. I did love the sound effects in the last scene, it felt as if I was there.. I usually hate vampire flicks, but this film is one of my exceptions. It had more fighting than the usual prancing see my fangs trash.

The best way I can describe this movie is Queen of the damned meets Equilbrium
The color of the film or how it was shot was excellent. I didnt feel like I wasn't present time but in movies time. Anyways, Well worth paying full price admission.

[mdc3000]

Originally posted by Catch 21

The best way I can describe this movie is Queen of the damned meets Equilbrium


Uh oh... I was excited by what you had to say...until I read this... both of those movies SUCKED IMO... I hated both of them with a passion... hoping this flick will be better than those two tankers...

MATT

[Catch 21]

Queen of the damn did suck and equilbrium was ok , but thats best way i can describe the story.

[funkyryno]

That's one way to not get me excited about this movie. Compare it to two turds.

[immortal_zeus]

Originally posted by Catch 21
Queen of the damn did suck and equilbrium was ok , but thats best way i can describe the story.

Why spoiler this in the initial post if you're not going to spoiler it later? :rolleyes:

I took the liberty of spoiling it in my quote for people who don't want to know.

http://www.ameritech.net/users/dvdtalk/rome.gif

[Catch 21]

whoops , fixed

[Krug]

I found it positively underwhelming, with a plot that makes Freddy vs Jason look intelligent. The acting is horrible, with Kate Becks and Speedman having as much chemistry as oil and water. The R&J storyline is unconvincing, and the cool scenes are already in the trailer. so save ur $.

[FuzzyBallz]

Originally posted by Catch 21
The best way I can describe this movie is Queen of the damned meets Equilbrium

The latter mentioned movie is way way over rated. IMO, it's nothing more than two crazy heads selling dope on the corner, trying to earn enough money to get out of the hole. And to make that even more exciting, the director had the freaking camera man zoom in and out all movie long, to simulate what the crack heads see when they get high Wow, talking about a cinematography break through. You want to see real crackheads? Come to SF and visit the tenderloin. The only saving grace of said movie was having Jennifer Connelly in it, showing her boobs, to prevent it from getting a Razzie.

But that's just IMO.

[das Monkey]

<BLOCKQUOTE> • Quoth Catch 21 •<HR SIZE=1>The best way I can describe this movie is Queen of the damned meets Equilbrium <HR SIZE=1></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE> • Quoth FuzzyBallz •<HR SIZE=1>The latter mentioned movie is way way over rated. IMO, it's nothing more than two crazy heads selling dope on the corner, trying to earn enough money to get out of the hole. And to make that even more exciting, the director had the freaking camera man zoom in and out all movie long, to simulate what the crack heads see when they get high Wow, talking about a cinematography break through. You want to see real crackheads? Come to SF and visit the tenderloin. The only saving grace of said movie was having Jennifer Connelly in it, showing her boobs, to prevent it from getting a Razzie.

But that's just IMO. <HR SIZE=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

:lol: I think my favorite part of that film is where not a single one of those things happened.

das

[cinemaman]

I can't believe the negative reviews here... this is one of the most exciting films I have ever seen in a long time.. more stylish than the Matrix, great fight scenes, great action, great special effects, an interesting plot (at least in my opinion), pretty good acting... and some of the best werewolves on screen.. none of this 5 minute prolonged-let-us-see-why- the-special-effects-person-is-so-highly-paid transformation scene, but a 15 second "let's transform and get on with the show" transformation that I really appreciated..

I wasn't bored for one minute... loved it... it may very well become one of my all time favorite films.

but - to each their own, as they say..

[buckee1]

Looking forward to it and <b>FuzzyBallz</b> funny post!

[Face/Off]

FuzzyBallz, you're mistaking Requiem for a Dream for Equilibrium, because there's no way in hell anyone could ever mistake Emily Watson for Jennifer Connelly.

[GeoffK]

Saw Underworld Last Night.

While I can see how someone might enjoy it I was dissapointed.

The film was VERY derrivative including serveral scenes that looked stolen right out of The Matrix/ Blade II & Resident Evil. Ok I can put that aside as so many movies out there are derrivative

But the film completely misses the point of Vampires and Warewolves. There's no sexyness to the Vampires, no pack aspect of the Warewolves (they're just the quasi monsters of this qasi monster movie).

Maybe I'm biased as I've read tons of Vampire/Warewolf books (including the complete works of Laurel K Hamilton, The Southern Vampire Series, Bitten, all of Anne Rice's first 3 Vampire books.... need I go on?) but there are just certain elements I associate with the Vampire/Warewolf myth that were really lacking in Underworld.

But I do have to say that Kate Beckensale looked fantastic. She's absolutely smoking and there are some neat scenes with her. But as a whole the movie was pretty lacking and unsatisfying not to mention long (the 2 hours felt more like 2 1/2).

[Ninja Gaiden]

I've heard nothing but bad things. People hate this thing.

[immortal_zeus]

Originally posted by Ninja Gaiden
I've heard nothing but bad things. People hate this thing.

It's no wonder; it didn't even look that good from the trailer. The premise is really good and it looks like the kind of movie I would want to like, but it doesn't look that good.

http://www.ameritech.net/users/dvdtalk/rome.gif

[FiveO]

Thanks for the tip Goeff...


Even if I don't enjoy it...sounds like I'll get my moneys worth just looking at Kate :D

[mmconhea]

Originally posted by Krug
I found it positively underwhelming, with a plot that makes Freddy vs Jason look intelligent. The acting is horrible, with Kate Becks and Speedman having as much chemistry as oil and water. The R&J storyline is unconvincing, and the cool scenes are already in the trailer. so save ur $.

I saw it last night. I couldn't agree with you more. This movie was so lame people in the audience were laughing at the terrible dialog and an unusual amount of them left the theater before the end.

[Krug]

This review (http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/reviews.php?id=323) sums it up. The only reason the movie will sell is b/c of its awesome trailer. If the Academy gave an award for trailer cutting, Underworld would be nominated.

And what's worse? Creature-Corner says there's going to be a sequel. *BARF*

[mmconhea]

I agree with that review. Especially about the lame action scenes. The gun fights were so stupid and uninspired, it looks as though they hired Stephen Hawking to coreograph. There were really no good Vamp-Werewolf battles, just gun-fights -what a waste of a good premise.

[DRG]

So if this thing gets trashed by critics, will White Wolf change their tune and say "No, wait, our stuff is NOTHING like this movie! Our bad."

[clemente]

Damn, dissapointing that the reviews aren't coming in so well.

But then I saw some reviews of Once Upon A Time In Mexico that were out of this world good....so I guess I'll judge this one with my own peepers.

[Geofferson]

Ebert's 2-star review here (http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-underworld19f.html).

[Corvin]

Just got back from seeing it.

I thought it was alright. Nothing magnificent, but it wasn't really that bad.

I'd say two out of four stars is a just rating.

[Patman]

The one big deficiency in this film is the lack of good characterization of the main players in the film. The viewer is alway kept one step removed from getting to know any of the main characters, so anything of consequence that happens to them doesn't really resonate (with me).

Other than that, the production values where good, though the blue tint throughout the film got old really fast. There might have been 10 minutes that could have been trimmed or better used to flesh out the characters. There is some serious sound effects in this film, so it's going to be fun to check it out on DVD later.

Oh, Kate Beckinsale looked smashing in that leather outfit of hers.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.

[Sierra Disc]

Ah FuzzyBallz, you made me reminisce fondly about the time in Star Wars where the shark ate Richard Dreyfuss. Good times....

[Frank TJ Mackey]

nothing special here.

not bad but definitely not good.

the lovely Kate Beckinsale is horribly miscast

some decent action but too many guns; these are
vampires and werewolves here...

[Jackskeleton]

Was it me or did the whole vampire/warewolf gimmick just not work? I mean really. these are vampires yet they show none of the typical actions of a vampire. only Micheal pulled off that whole moving fast trick at the end. the other vampires seemed to like to walk slowly.

oh and the ending with the delayed slice reaction.... it just didn't work for me. It seemed like they wanted to run with the idea and had some basic concepts about what the two creatures were like but didn't nail it right.

Kate looked ackward in the outfit also.

Not awful, but not good. I think I said this before when I saw it's making of back in the day and stated how it didn't have that feel. guess I was right. ;)

[Cosmic Bus]

Aside from the first and last ten minutes, I honestly thought the movie was pretty boring.

[Lurker1999]

Too loud. I dislike it when movies try to substitute a loud and intrusive soundtrack for real action on the screen.

Does it always have to rain at the beginning of this type of movie? Also the overexposed lighting to make the vampires look paler doesn't work all that well when the rest of the scenery pales as well.

I guess I'm not as well read as some others here but did it seem like the vampires were rather pathetic compared to the werewolves? I mean how did they survive before automatic handguns? Each time the vampire lost his weapon in this movie the wolf won.

Seeing Kate Beckinsale in a leather corset and skin tight outfit was worth $6 I suppose but that doesn't excuse the rest of the movie.

[Jackskeleton]

other things..

Vampires can't see themselves in mirrors..

Bullets need to connect to something. if you shoot five machine guns in a small space something has to connection.

a hand gun shouldn't shoot 100 rounds before a reload

[iggystar]

I totally agree with Patman. The movie paid little attention to the characters and as mentioned, the chemistry between Beckinsale and Speedman was almost non-existent. Probably because they didn't make good use of the time they had together and have them actually connect. When they were together it was run, run, shoot, jump, pass out, run.

But although by no means perfect I found it entertaining and I really liked the Underworld vamp/werewolf mythology/story. Action could have been better, especially the gun battles and I would have liked more hand-to-hand fighting. But still an entertaining evening and I'd buy the dvd.

Jack, come on you know that each vampire movie sets its own vampire rules. In this one they could see themselves in the mirror.

[Dabaomb]

I'm in the minority here, but I liked this movie.

We got to the theater before 7 to buy tickets and they were sold out until 9:40 PM (they had a showing every 40 minutes or so). Then when we got there around 9 to lineup they were soldout until 11:40 or so. We were seated in a 500+ theater with tickets at $10 a pop so that's 5 G's from that screenin' alone.

Neways, I thought that movie was pretty exciting...great action. Beckinsale looked good of course.

I mean how much could you expect from a sci-fi movie released in September....these movies aren't supposed to win academy awards.

[RocShemp]

I really enjoyed this movie. The vampires having reflections didn't really bother me since this movie was more sci-fi than fantasy. Though both elements were certainly present, the film leaned more towards sci-fi with all the talk about genetics.

There were only a few things that bothered me (which I assume will be adressed in the sequel):

After going through all the trouble to kill Amelia and get her blood, Michael was never pumped with the blood of an elder vampire. All we got was Selene biting him after Lucian bit him. (BTW when Lucian was talking to Michael before the final flashback, did Lucian inject Michael with his blood or was he taking blood out of Michael? If so, why? I though the Corvinus trait had to be hereditary.)

I assume Amelia's blood will be used in the sequel by either Michael or the resurected elder who is also a Corvinus decendant. Which leads me to my other question. Why do we see that vampire's eyes change just like Michael's when only a human decendant of Corvinus can take on the traits of both species? I can buy the vampire being resurected by a werewolf's blood (both species are related according to this movie, after all) but not the change into the new hybrid that Michael became. Unless the sequel decides to keep the transformation unstable and use Amelia's blood as a sort of mcguffin.

Towards the end, Kraven disappeared altogether from the movie which was kind of annoying since I was hoping to see Selene kill him and I was mighty pissed when he managed to kill Lucian.

Though I liked the choice to keep the focus on Selene even after Michael finally becomes this superior creature, I was let down when she finished off Viktor. It made Michael seem pointless if she of all people could destroy so powerful an elder vampire. I mean, he was in a weakened state and Kraven was still powerless to stop him and Lucian feared him. It simply betrays the logic of the film to allow Selene to deliver such a devastating blow to Viktor.

The plot was fairly predictable but better than most horror films deserve and I actually enjoyed the acting. Scott Speedman was completely outclassed by all his co-stars but I felt he handled himself well regardless (perhaps because I have never seen Felicity I don't hate him as many seem to).

Overall I really felt I got my money's worth, am looking forward to seeing it again, can't wait for the DVD (I hope it's loaded), and hope the sequel has a more polished script (not so many last minute revelations remenicent of Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2) and the production values stay the same if not better.

BTW, did anyone stay 'til the end credits? There was no additional footage but the end credits revealed a few interesting things (like some key participants in Batman: Dead End also worked on Underworld). The most interesting to me was that this movie was shot on video rather than film (I mean the whole film not just during post-production). The focus looked better than that of Episode II and Once Upon A Time In Mexico which were both a touch soft. I wonder how they managed that cos I not once felt like I was watching anything other than film.

[DeputyDave]

I liked it. I saw it last night and thought it was a good action/popcorn flick. I did almost get in a fight with this teen biaatch and her three boyfriends who kept kicking our seats and talking. Luckily they behaved after I stood up and threatened to kick all of their asses.

[Dr. DVD]

Saw it yesterday. Good visuals, but I all I really got out of the movie was that the filmmakers had seen both The Matrix and Blade, and wanted to make a movie utilizing the action areas of them both.
Question: if the movie is about vamps vs. werewolves, why so much emphasis on guns and ammo? Why not some old fashioned creature feature blood letting in full make-up?
Also: if the vamp/werewolf hybrid was supposed to be such a bad ass, how come he was getting his butt whipped so bad by Victor, who was just a vampire? Also, couldn't they have made him look more elaborate than a cheap nightcrawler rip-off?

Overall, I was underwhelmed by this movie. It seemed to think that if it couldn't sell people on gun and Matrix style action, it would try and please you with multiple shots of Kate Beckinsale's tightly clad butt. It takes a real no talent to make a movie where the lead spends all of her time in skin-tight latex and make it dull, this movie is such a case.

[Zodiac_Speaking]

I liked it. I understand most of the negative comments, but oh well, it was supposed to be a fun movie, and I enjoyed it. I thought the werewolves FX were really good and different; a change of pace b/w a "wolf" looking makeup.
I thought the sets and CG work were all pretty impressive, considering the budget of 20 mil.
bloody-disgusting.com said it was the disappointing film of 2003 and I don't think so. I'd say that would be either LXG (C+) or Hulk (C+). I'll buy the dvd.

Grade: B

[FiveO]

Horrible, gross, disgusting.....

I loved every minute of it :D

:drool: Kate............

I think she was perfectly cast.

Lots of dialog to go back and try to pick up the next time I see it.

Love the CGI. Did notice a couple bad edits between scenes but overall not too bad.


3 out of 4.

Definitely be buying this one on DVD.

[clemente]

Ehhh. I didn't hate the movie, I enjoyed myself.

But throughout the movie I had this feeling that there was so much more that I was missing out on. I wanted everyone involved to really step and deliver something special instead of just letting the concept survive on its own (love the concept).

I wish the movie had stopped moving at some point during the first 3/4....its in constant movement/chasing without giving the audience much of a reason as to why its all important or why we should care. Only in the last 1/4 are we given the information and moments to actually care about what happens to the characters.

The visuals were nice, if not original. It took liberties with the mythologies of both creatures, but I was okay with that.....and Kate Beckinsale is sooo hot.

[Frank TJ Mackey]

Also, note to Hollywood.

Please stop using the slow motion on everything.

It was cool the first 2 or 3 times but not so in the last 100-200 times it's been used.

[RocShemp]

Originally posted by Frank TJ Mackey
Also, note to Hollywood.

Please stop using the slow motion on everything.

It was cool the first 2 or 3 times but not so in the last 100-200 times it's been used.

Though I could have done with less, I thought the use of slo-mo was nowhere near as bad as most action movies (especially every John Woo movie).

[clemente]

Originally posted by RocShemp
Though I could have done with less, I thought the use of slo-mo was nowhere near as bad as most action movies (especially every John Woo movie).

That's like ragging on McD's or Burger King for making burgers. McD's and BK are allowed to make burgers, its when Taco Bell and KFC try to sell us burgers that we know we have a problem....a problem with Taco Bell and KFC. McD's and BK are just doing what they do.

[Trigger]

I liked it. If someone asked me if it's good or not - I'd say "It's cool." I don't think I could say whether or not it's good, but it's certainly cool... and I liked it. I'll probably buy the DVD. I'll go see a sequel too if they make one.

[mdc3000]

Originally posted by RocShemp
The most interesting to me was that this movie was shot on video rather than film (I mean the whole film not just during post-production). The focus looked better than that of Episode II and Once Upon A Time In Mexico which were both a touch soft. I wonder how they managed that cos I not once felt like I was watching anything other than film.

And the reason you felt that way, was because you WERE WATCHING NOTHING BUT FILM. Underworld was shot on 35mm film, not HD.

Anyhow, I thought the movie was OK, but the plot similarities to BLADE 2 kept bothering me... very similair. It had a strong enough start and finish, but much of the middle was pretty dull.

I'll probably pick up the disc if I can get it cheap...I really hope they don't go ahead with Underworld 2...eh.

MATT

3 out of 5

[Draven]

Way better than Blade 2 (and I liked that movie.)

Interesting plot, it seemed to hold up to cursory logic.

I liked the world they set up and the "disease" aspect of it (I know Blade did that too.) But that means we don't have stupid things like not being able to see a reflection or using crucifixes as weapons. Werewolves are allergic to silver and vampires are allergic to sunlight. Fine, I'll go with it.

And I'm sure the vampires held their own in earlier times with swords and knives. The machine guns just gave them that much more of an advantage.

Good flick.

[BRAISKI]

The movie was actully better than I expected it to be, it would have been better if the transformation was sooner and more fight.

[C-Mart]

For those of you who mentioned the liberties with the mythologies, I read a story about it in the October 2003 issue of "Realms of Fantasy" where the writer and director talk about specifically changing the mythology on purpose. There were certain aspects of the mythology that they didn't like, so they changed it, a-la the reflection in the mirror.

I saw this Friday night and I was duly impressed. I thought that the action scenes were great, though I tend to agree about using more physical methods of attack rather than the massive amount of gunplay.

Others have mentioned how Viktor owned Michael at the end, and I can see why he did. You have to remember that Viktor has several hundred years on Michael, and has the skills and experience to match it. Michael has just changed for the first time and doesn't know the extent of his powers, something I am sure we'll see develop in the sequal.

Also mentioned was when Lucien drew Michael's blood... he immediately injected himself with it, I guess thinking to transform himself into a stronger creature... and it worked a little, as he lasted quite a while with all of the liquid silver in him.

It seemed to me that with the massive amount of history involved in changing the mythologies around with both species, they crammed it all into a rather tight time frame. I think they should have spread out the information a little more.

Ok, I'll cut it off here, but I did like this movie, I will see it again, I will b uy the DVD, and I hope that it does well enough that they make a sequal.

[Daytrip]

i liked the movie, it wasn't great but it did it's job. the vampires where no where near as strong or as fast as they should have been, it took them this long to design a round that contained silver nitrate, and they couldn't shoot for crap. but otherwise decently entertaining

[RocShemp]

Originally posted by clemente
That's like ragging on McD's or Burger King for making burgers. McD's and BK are allowed to make burgers, its when Taco Bell and KFC try to sell us burgers that we know we have a problem....a problem with Taco Bell and KFC. McD's and BK are just doing what they do.

First, you just made me hungry and I can't decide what fast food joint to head to. :( Meh, they're only serving breakfast right now. I guess I can take the extra time to make up my mind.

Second, I'm not against slo-mo. In certain cases it really helps highlight a shot without seeming self serving. With a few exceptions, I felt Underworld (and back in the day Woo movies) achieved the former whereas more and more action movies seem to go for the latter (current day John Woo and practically every new action movie). I like slo-mo but only when tastefully done.

[RocShemp]

Originally posted by mdc3000
And the reason you felt that way, was because you WERE WATCHING NOTHING BUT FILM. Underworld was shot on 35mm film, not HD.

Well then blame the guys who did the end credits and not me cos towards the very end it mentions that the film was shot on digital cameras and in "digiscope". I understand I was watching a film print but when I watched Episode II and Once Upon A Time In Mexico transfered to film they both appeared a touch soft. Underworld did not suffer from this problem.

[ZKButler]

4 out of 5 *'s

Really enjoyed this one. Kate was perfectly cast. Had a bit of a problem with Kraven's constant frown and the actor bugged me a bit. Dark, moody and blast of a film.

Also, downloaded the Half-Life mod, very cool.

[cdollaz]

I was pretty bored. My biggest complaint was that, although it was vampires vs. werewolves, it really didn't delve into the unique aspects or the mythology of either. This script could have just as easily been used in a setting where 2 neighborhood gangs were against each other. Very uninspired script.

[bigsoos]

I thought the flick was decent. Kate looked damn hot! Nice butt.


The liquid silver-nitrate rounds I can see working, but what in the hell was that blue stuff the werewolves were using? That blue stuff was liquid UV light? I was expecting more hand to hand combat, but alas all you really get is what's in the trailer. I loved watching Kate jump off the tower in the beginning and walking away like it was nothing. Amelia looked strangely attractive IMO.

[gerrythedon]

Kate related:

Did anyone else see her on Carson Daily [Friday]... Damn! I'm In LOVE:)

[minguy]

The premise had so much potential.

I was bored by most of it, but one thing I really liked was the backstory to the feud. I'm an idealist at heart, and Underworld carries very romantic notions about love.

Too bad the execution was so lacking. In more capable hands, this could've been thrilling and moving.

[Sessa17]

Originally posted by gerrythedon
Kate related:

Did anyone else see her on Carson Daily [Friday]... Damn! I'm In LOVE:)

Oh yeah. IMO she is the most stunningly beautiful actress in all of Hollywood. Now, I find other actresses & celebs to be hotter & sexier. But Beckinsale is the most old-school, drop dead radiant beauty in all of Hollywood IMO. Also, she has a reputation of being one of the most real, kind, & down to earth people in the business.

Also, did you see the entire interview? Can you believe that Carson even has his own talk show. He knew ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the movie or the questions he asked Kate. He said that Underworld was based on a comic book & even after Kate corrected him, he still went on to ask questions about Underwold being from a comic book. The guy is so fake it's sickening.

[calhoun07]

I also was among those who hated this movie, and was bored to tears during the entire movie. Even the "action" sequences seemed so forced and horribly staged for me to even feel any sense of wonder or suspense or to even give a rat's crack about what happened to these characters. The story was a muddled mess, the action contrived and the dialogue was atrocious. Like others who posted here, I saw people walking out, and I heard laughter in places that I think the movie was trying to be serious but was failing miserably. They clearly set it up for a sequel, and I hope it never gets made, but knowing Hollywood, this will get made and great sequels we are still waiting for will languish in development hell.


BTW, I thought Underworld was based on a comic book. I never read it personally, but a friend of mine I saw the movie with told me it was based on a comic book and even talked about the comic book. If it's not based on a comic book, where are people getting that idea?

[Shilex]

Add a cup of The Matrix , two tablespoons of Blade , with a pinch of Equilibrium and you've got Underworld . Every shot in this movie was ripped from another movie. Nothing very inventive at all (the director must be a smooth talker to have landed Kate Beckinsale as his girlfriend). Kate had absolutely nothing to do in this movie, and could they have at least put her in a sexier leather outfit (granted, the one she was in did show off her nice booty). When that Raven vampire guy (or whatever his name is) first walked on, I thought he was going to have a killer English accent and be really cool. But when he spoke, it completely destroyed his image. No accent, just heavy breathing, a whiny voice, and an angry face.

So with all these complaints it was still ok. I was pretty bored through the first half, but the second half picked up a bit. There were plenty of problems with this movie, but at least it wasn't terrible. I can understand why some people liked it.

[gerrythedon]

Originally posted by Sessa17
Also, did you see the entire interview? Can you believe that Carson even has his own talk show. He knew ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the movie or the questions he asked Kate.

yeah I've only stayed up to see his show like 3 times in the last year or so.... when SHAKIRA was on a while back, then like two weeks ago when Robert Rodriguez was on and on Friday for KATE!!!... and yeah it was for them not CARSON [he don't know jack]

[filmerp]

Saw it tonight. I can appreciate the intent to keep the tone serious and epic, but I honestly thought I had sat through nearly 3 hours by the time the first hour was over. I hesitate to call the entire thing 'bad' because I did like werewolves. The Kraven villan was such a prissy whiner. That's no way to treat a suppossedly feared head vampire. Gun-fights were endless loops of the same damn thing.
I agree with Shilex- the director is one lucky guy to have bagged Kate as his fiance. What is even more shocking is that she had a child with the actor who played Lucius!
http://imdb.com/name/nm0790688/

In the words of Chris Rock... "Damn, I had a chance!"

[Giles]

I have to give it credit the ending featured a great pummel-fest, never thought I would see an action-horror flick with Bill Nighy in it. The last quarter of the film redeemed itself. A couple of lose unresolved ends obviousily were indications that the filmmakers have a sequel in mind.

[Dr. DVD]

The way I see it given its somewhat impressive opening weekend, Underworld can take two routes for the sequel(s).

1) Make one big-budget sequel that no one really cares to see like Tomb Raider 2 with everyone back in tow.

2) Get a different cast and crew. Give the original director and writers executive producer credits, and make about three direct to video sequels with someone like Charisma Carpenter playing Selene and making a mockery of the English accent.

[Giles]

Originally posted by Dr. DVD
The way I see it given its somewhat impressive opening weekend, Underworld can take two routes for the sequel(s).

1) Make one big-budget sequel that no one really cares to see like Tomb Raider 2 with everyone back in tow.

2) Get a different cast and crew. Give the original director and writers executive producer credits, and make about three direct to video sequels with someone like Charisma Carpenter playing Selene and making a mockery of the English accent.

Message to writers:

Take all weapons away from the werewolves and vampires and let them duke it out with their hands, claws, teeth, feet, etc. I mean sheesh, if you're going to have an all out apocalyptic war, give us something original and gory.

[chess]

strange. i must have seen a different cut of this movie or something. i enjoyed it quite a bit. it felt a bit familiar vis a vis the crow, dark city, blade 2, and the matrix...but those are all in my DVD collection. it stands to reason that i liked it quite a bit. go figure. :hscratch:

i thought it was well written (both story and dialogue), and i distinctly remember seeing at least 4-5 camera moves that i liked. i especially liked the ambiguity of the characters and their less obvious but more realistic motivations. i don't know. maybe it's just "cool" to pan this film or something.

if you liked the 4 movies i named above, i'd bet you'll enjoy this one. it's not my new favorite or anything, but it's a definate purchase on DVD.

[DonnachaOne]

Chess, I also own the four movies you have. Underworld was quite good-looking, but derviative, with a few good actions scenes (what else to expect from a script by two stuntmen and an art director!).

There's a few things to like, but they're easily outweighed by the things to hate.

[chess]

Originally posted by DonnachaOne
Chess, I also own the four movies you have. Underworld was quite good-looking, but derviative, with a few good actions scenes (what else to expect from a script by two stuntmen and an art director!).

There's a few things to like, but they're easily outweighed by the things to hate.

fair enough.

the story was "blade 2 with a twist". the costumes as well as a few overhead slo-mo shots were certainly matrix inspired. the palette and to a lesser extent the tone were somewhere between dark city and the crow.

but...

writing: i never lost interest. i never rolled my eyes at the dialogue...though i did think that the "shooting the floor" scene from the trailer was stupid. i remember thinking "nice spin" on some of the plot developments and revelations. also, the next time you see it, try to be cognizant of what the camera is doing (i'm not at all saying that you didn't the first time btw). it may not be citizen kane or anything, but they did some interesting things with the camera...expecially in the stairwell scenes. some of the single shots in underworld would have had 15 cuts had michael bay directed it.

my only real complaint was that they expected us to believe that these two were "in love" without developing it in the slightest. if their chemistry had been a bit better, it might have been believable, but as it stands, they should have dedicated a minute or so of screen time to establishing some sort of intimacy between the leads.

guess we know what matrix reloaded would have been like without the love scene...maybe the wochowski's were right after all. ;)

to each his own, i guess. i just don't think it even remotely approaches the level of badness some people have labled it with.

[DRG]

I loved the 'modern gothic look' of the film, the set design was incredible. I also thought the werewolf transformation was the most convincing way to 'morph' that I've seen... it had those stutter-steps that made me think of classic 80s transformations, and not the goofy CGI morphing in 90s werewolf films.

That said, the movie just didn't engage me. There were a lot of scenes that SHOULD have been exciting, but just weren't for some reason. There were several scenes they could have mined for more tensiona nd excitement, but they just handled them wrong. The love story angle was total crap... but I dislike ALL movies that have a "I just met this person but I'm already so in love I'll do anything for them" storylines. Also wish they would've delved more into the werewolf living style... we only got glimpses, while we saw tons of scenes at the vampire mansion.

Did they even address what these vamps do in the daytime? Why not have the werewolves pull a siege on the mansion in the daytime? And the end beast thing... should've been more badass. He just looked like Nightcrawler without a shirt.

[Amel]

I thought it was a damn good movie. Like others have said, I wish there was more hand-to-hand and less gunplay in the action scenes. The vamps came off wimpy once they ran out of ammo. I thought the Felecity guy did alright. Kate was great and looked amazing. Story-wise, I wish they hadn't of had Kraven kill Lucian. I liked the alliance between them and was disappointed with Kraven turning back-stabber.

That Amelia chick was damn sexy. :drool:

[Giantrobo]

Before I start let me say that this is yet another movie where I’m glad I didn’t listen to the critics who said it sucked.

I must say I liked this movie a lot. :up:

I loved the storyline and I loved the twists in the storyline even if they were kinda easy to see coming. ;) I really liked the Hero and I also liked the “Bad Guys”. One character who really got to me was Raze. He was an actually very scary to me and that’s saying something in the “jaded movie goer” day and age. The sets were also cool and the costumes fit into the modern/goth atmosphere. Especially Kate Beckinsale’s :drool:

Personally, I hope they do a sequel to Underworld and the critics can bite me ;)

No pun there…

Lucian :up:
Raze :up:
Celine :up:

[B.A.]

Originally posted by chess
strange. i must have seen a different cut of this movie or something. i enjoyed it quite a bit. it felt a bit familiar vis a vis the crow, dark city, blade 2, and the matrix...but those are all in my DVD collection. it stands to reason that i liked it quite a bit. go figure. :hscratch:

i thought it was well written (both story and dialogue), and i distinctly remember seeing at least 4-5 camera moves that i liked. i especially liked the ambiguity of the characters and their less obvious but more realistic motivations. i don't know. maybe it's just "cool" to pan this film or something.

if you liked the 4 movies i named above, i'd bet you'll enjoy this one. it's not my new favorite or anything, but it's a definate purchase on DVD.
That's crazy, because when I left the theater those are the four movies I was citing as inspiration, if that's what you want to call it.

I guess I'm in the minority, too, because I really liked it. ***1/2 out of *****. I loved the visuals and the sound was amazing. This movie was made for DVD - if they give it a DTS-ES soundtrack I will be happy as hell. First time in a while I was impressed w/ the surrounds at a theater.

I liked the back-story to the war and I thought the plot was simple, but good and I enjoyed the twist towards the end. A sequel to this movie definitely has the potential to be even better, since they can learn from some of their mistakes in this film.

Yeah, they could of used more hand-to-hand combat, like the last scene, but I can get over it. I thought Michael looked cool, though I could have done w/out the delayed slicing effect on Viktor.

The love connection between Selene and Michael definitely could have had more time given to it to develop it, but he did save her life and she saved his, so maybe it was just love at first sight. ;)

I thought Kate was great, Speedman did just fine and I really liked the guy who played Viktor. Raze was a bad-ass, too. . The only character they could have done a better job w/ was Craven.

[RoQuEr]

I really enjoyed it.

Maybe it was because I walked in with no expectations. Maybe it was because I am a fan of White wolf material.

Who knows, but as long as I find it entertaining, I don't care.

[matome]

I liked it a lot more than I was expecting. It's definitely not in the same league as <i>Blade</i> or <i>The Matrix,</i> but it managed to hold my interest. Nice special effects and decent gore and Beckinsdale was mighty sweet here!

[Michael Corvin]

Just got back. I loved it. I think it has to do with your intrests in Vampires/Werewolves. I have a casual interest in them. I enjoy one or the other every now and again, but not an overall freak about them. Never read Anne Rice, tried a Luarell K. Hamilton(pretty good). But you get the idea. I think the diehard Vamp/WW fans are the ones that are disappointed.

That being said, yes the idea of the silver nitrate and UV bullets was very cool, but more hand to claw combat would have been cool. The vamps did seem weak in comparison. Maybe due to the fact that they have been on top of the food chain too long and have gotten lax, only having a handful of death dealers battling the likens.

I liked everyone but Kraven. He just seemed like a pretty boy. Lucian was quite cool.

Kate :drool:

I will be picking this up on release day.