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Ghost Canyon

'Underworld Evolution: Special Edition'
(Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, et al / DVD / R / 2006 / Sony Pictures)

Overview: This movie continues the saga of war between the Death Dealers (vampires) and the Lycans (werewolves). The film traces the beginnings of the ancient feud between the two tribes as Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and Michael (Scott Speedman), the lycan hybrid, try to discover the secrets of their bloodlines. All of this takes them into the battle to end all wars as the immortals must finally face their retribution.

DVD Verdict: Bloodsuckers, werewolves, two-handed shooting, swords and Kate Beckinsale in leather - what more do you want from a movie? In all seriousness, the Underworld movies may not be classics of the action genre but they contain enough kick-ass ingredients to keep most red-blooded men entertained for their running time. The higher-budgeted sequel, Underworld Evolution is basically a bigger-faster-more update on the original with more action, more CGI, and more well-lit shots of the features that truly separate Miss Beckinsale from mere mortals. As a film, it takes itself way too seriously and gets a little slow in the mid-section, but as a guilty pleasure it gets the supernatural job done better than most and comes home to DVD in a nice enough package to make fans happy and possibly even convert a few new ones. Sony treats Underworld fans really well in the visual department with an anamorphic transfer that looks simply stunning. There's much talk lately about whether or not the average movie watcher is going to be able to tell the difference between regular DVD video quality and that of Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. If all regular DVDs looked this good, they might not be able to. The picture is crisp and clean at all times with an almost three-dimensional quality that should blow fans away. The audio is more of a mixed bag with the effects and score - coming from the rear speakers in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound - shaking your couch but the dialogue often sounding muffled in the front speakers. You'll strain to hear what Kate's saying, only to be blown back in your seat by a werewolf attack. It's a little annoying, but that's werewolves for you. The special features on this "special edition" are strong on their own but smell a little bit like a holdover until another edition comes down the vampire's stake. It's not that what's included is bad - far from it. It's the fact that considering how often the first Underworld was re-released on DVD in new editions and the complete absence of deleted scenes on this release, you have to be a little suspicious that something was held back. Until that day, there's a filmmaker's commentary including director Len Wiseman that's entertaining and informative, a music video by Atreyu and a series of featurettes. The mini-docs are all about 12 minutes long and cover a wide range of the making-of. The six behind-the-scenes looks are separated as follows - "The Hybrid Theory" about the visual effects, "The War Rages On" about the stunts, "Bloodlines: From Script to Screen" about the making-of, "Making Monsters Roar" about the creatures, "Building a Saga" about the production design and "Music and Mayhem" about the sound design. Some of the featurettes are a bit repetitive and somewhat randomly segregated, but fans of the film should find answers to most of their questions about how to make a movie like Underworld: Evolution. The Underworld series is one of those cultural items that makes you wonder how this didn't happen earlier. Mixing two of the most timeless legends - vampire and werewolf - with a heady dose of Asian-style action and a gorgeous woman in leather pants seems like a pitch any studio exec should have taken a long time ago. Maybe that's why the first two movies in this probably long-running series (the sequel did over $100 million worldwide on a $50 million budget and that's before the double-fanged killing it's likely to do in the home market) didn't quite live up to high expectations. But with a DVD that looks as good as its heroine and an entertaining action ride, we're no longer scared of a third go-around with the vamps, the wolves and the lady in black. Also to be found on this DVD is an audio commentary with writer/director Len Wiseman, production designer Patrick Tatopoulos, 2nd unit director Brad Martin, and editor Nicolas de Toth. Early on, the guys seem intent on delivering production information and they keep the comments flowing smoothly, but come the final third and their words are far and few between. A half-dozen featurettes are also included, the standard sort of extra material that's not exactly EPK-style self-love, but gives only a cursory look at the behind-the-scenes activities. Bloodlines: From Script to Screen (13:25) covers the creation of the second story and the lead actors' impressions of the sequel; The Hybrid Theory (12:59) looks at the FX work, both practical and computer-generated; Making Monsters Roar (11:56) deals with the creature creations, from the new-fangled werewolves to the mega-fanged bloodsuckers; The War Rages On (9:52) focuses on the extensive stuntwork in the flick; Building a Saga (12:54) is all about the production design and locations; Music and Mayhem (11:49) covers the sound design and music. In addition to the commentary and the featurettes you'll also get a music video for "Her Portrait in Black," by Atreyu. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Commentary by: director Len Wiseman, production designer Patrick Tatopoulos, second-unit director and stunt coordinator Brad Martin, and editor Nick De TothUnknown Format
"The Hybrid Theory" visual effects featurette
"The War Rages On" stunts featurette
"Bloodlines: From Script to Screen" making-of featurette
"Making Monsters Roar" creature featurette
"Building a Saga" production design featurette
"Music and Mayhem" music and sound design featurette
Music video: "Her Portrait in Black" by Atreyu

www.SonyPictures.com

www.MGM.com/DVD





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