Underworld

2003, US, Directed by Len Wiseman

Colour, Running Time: 139 minutes

Review Source: Blu-ray, Region B, EIV; Video: 2.39:1 1080p 24fps, Audio: DTS

A rivalry between werewolves and vampires that began a millennium ago continues into the present day when it becomes apparent to the coven of vampires that a foreboding ‘lycan’ is killing off the bloodsuckers with a small army and a new weapon. Action vampiress Selene notices that the lycans appear to be pursuing what looks like an ordinary human called Michael and sets out to find out what’s going on - it turns out that Michael is blissfully ignorant himself, until it’s revealed that he’s the unwitting carrier of a unique gene that holds the key to a new hybrid species. Developing mutual attraction, Selene becomes the protector of Michael as both species indulge their interest in him for one reason or another, leading to a bloody subterranean showdown between the ancient rivals.

When the film was released a few years ago Underworld looked like little more than a popcorn foray into gothic/action horror, one the earlier examples of a contemporary generation that manifests itself to this day with the likes of the Twilight films. The (original) story appeared a little convoluted and hard to follow considering one would go into something like this expecting to temporarily detach the brain from consciousness and the accomplished visuals gave the impression of an emphasis of style over content. Clearly amassing some popularity, the film has spawned a couple of sequels (plus another on the way - Underworld Awakening, with Beckinsale back in the lead role) and has apparently proved to be quite influential several years later (contribution towards what is now an unnecessary proliferation of vampire TV and cinema). I always thought it was reasonably entertaining candy for the eyes at best, though that opinion has improved a little thanks to repeat viewings, and more so after finally seeing it on Blu-ray. The persistently dark visuals do certainly take centre stage, almost stealing the spotlight throughout, however the story has grown on me over the years. Kate Beckinsale had been around as an actress for a while but it was Underworld that granted her a certain degree of appeal to larger numbers of fans - this is mainly because she is utterly gorgeous as Selene, and dressed in a ridiculously tight spandex/leathery suit that would be welcome in most S&M dungeons (as well as the majority of bedrooms). It also had the unfortunate (from her perspective) side effect of pigeonholing the British actress to a degree, resulting in her repeatedly threatening to quit acting but never quite managing (ah, the lure of $$$!). The rest of the cast do an acceptable job of looking like the yuppie Goth outsiders they’re supposed to be. The action sequences are usually accompanied by machine gunfire exploding from all directions and despite promoting mild excitement these scenes do seem to be aimed mostly at the teen crowd. Special effects tend to be very good and include some excellent werewolf transformations amidst the copious body-dropping, although the revelation of the hybrid creature that feels like it should be climactic turns out to be a less than powerful disappointment of a monster that was built up by the script but has to have its butt saved by a lady. With a film such as this there are going to be shortcomings from anybody’s point of view, but it does create a tangible world of darkness where natural humans are rarely seen, incorporating characters wrapped up in their own little soap opera in between bouts of blowing each other away with limitless ammunition. The conclusion sets itself up nicely for the sequel that followed three years later.



Having watched this on VHS many full moons ago (panned and scanned!), followed by DVD on a few occasions since, I actually enjoyed Underworld more on Blu-ray than before, probably due to the noticeable enhancements to the image quality. There are fluctuating grain levels but the detail is improved to a point where individual hairs on Beckinsale’s beautiful head are often quite vivid. There isn’t a great range to the palette, which largely consists of blues and blacks, but I suspect the original cinematography is fairly faithfully reproduced. I was disappointed by the lone inclusion of a non-HD DTS track, meaning that the Blu-ray doesn’t offer much of an upgrade audio-wise. This track is foolishly referred to as ‘Dolby Digital 5.1’ in the menu system and EIV’s ignorance extends to the cover details that claim this is ‘anamorphic widescreen’ - anybody who knows anything about the technical specifications of DVD and Blu-ray knows that this refers to the electronic compression/decompression technique employed on DVDs to provide increased resolution for the benefit of widescreen VDU owners - it has no relevance in Blu-ray terminology (though you’ll still see reviewers erroneously say that Blu-rays are presented in anamorphic widescreen) which delivers a resolution most suitable to widescreen displays by default. The disc also seems to be missing an audio commentary, although the rest of the useful extras are still there alongside the fact that the film is presented in its extended cut. EIV took an age to understand the difference between VHS and DVD, so it’s not a surprise to find them slow taking full advantage of superior Blu-ray technology (witness their 'HD' disc of The Crow...) - for example, the US Sony disc comes with an uncompressed 5.1 PCM track. Despite the fact that the release could be better, Underworld on Blu-ray still beats the DVD with the marked improvement in picture quality, and I found the movie itself highly watchable in high definition.