VHS : Hellboy (Dol Slip)

Rating: - Blu-ray benchmark
First off the movie is great especially this directors cut. Secondly, the picture quality and sound quality rivals that of the pirates movies on blu-ray so I would say this is a must purchase for those who like the movie and want to show it off

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Rating: - Give Evil Hell...
In the world of comic books there are many well known heroes that populate the various universes of each publishing company's books. From DC Comics' popular characters of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman to Marvel's Spiderman, X-Men, and Fantastic Four; each of those characters are beloved by comic book fans worldwide. Aside from those characters and their respective companies there are numerous other characters that have built a cult following in the comic world, but are not as well known by the mainstream public. One such character would be the Dark Horse comic book Hellboy, created by writer/artist Mike Mignola.

In theaters many of Marvel and DC's heroes have been finding their way to the big screen with varying degrees of success, most are wildly successful, but a few have faltered along the way, but not too many of the other companies have managed to bring their properties to life with as much success. Sure, there was "Spawn" (property of Image Comics) and "Judge Dredd" (British publication called '2000 A.D.') in the mid-nineties, but they weren't all that successful, so the likelihood of these little known characters finding success with movie audiences was slim to none. At least that was the case until director Guillermo del Toro ("Blade 2") passed on an opportunity to direct the 3rd installment in the 'Harry Potter' franchise, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", to bring one of his favorite comic characters to life.

With a successful director, such as Guillermo behind the lens, New Line Cinema must have felt fairly confident in the film's success after he had done wonders for them with the second installment in the 'Blade' trilogy, so with a director on board who respected the source material, and a talented cast of actors consisting of Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, and John Hurt, this little known comic book was about to become a living, breathing reality on the silver screen.

"Hellboy" begins in 1944 during World War 2, when Rasputin, a mad sorcerer in league with Hitler, opens a dimensional portal to Hell, and through this dimension a baby demon emerges. Before Rasputin can take the baby demon and raise him to be an instrument of death and destruction, the Allied forces stop him. Among the Allies, is a young man who raises this demon, appropriately named Hellboy, teaching him the ways of the hero. As an adult, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) works with an agency known as the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, founded by the very man that raised him Professor Bloom (John Hurt), their job is to track any paranormal activity on Earth, and protect humanity from any danger that may be the result of that activity. Now, 60 years after releasing Hellboy on Earth, Rasputin has returned with the intention of using Hellboy to unleash the 7 gods of chaos upon Earth. With Earth's survival hanging in the balance, Hellboy and company, consisting of the firestarter Liz (Selma Blair), a human/amphibian hybrid named Abe Sapien (acted out by Doug Jones, but voiced by David Hyde Pierce), and FBI agent Myers, are in for the most difficult fight of their lives.

After finding moderate success in Hollywood with the science-fiction/horror movie "Mimic", and following that up with his much more successful comic book hit "Blade 2", director Guillermo del Toro probably seemed without a doubt the best choice to bring Hellboy to the big screen. Not only is Guillermo a gifted director in the arena of special effects and horror, but he also has a knack for making his characters have a sense of humor which serves to lighten the mood in his otherwise darker toned movies, those elements combined together with his affection for the source material created the optimal conditions for another comic book movie franchise to be born, proving him the right man for the job.

After Guillermo signed on, it was time to build the cast for the project. Now, I'm sure casting for this movie was probably typical by most comic book movie standards, but the difficult part had to have been finding the right man to don the red paint and prosthetics that are used to create Hellboy's demonic visage. Enter actor Ron Perlman ("Alien: Resurrection"), an actor that has made a career of playing somewhat strange, even scary characters, and who by the way is no stranger to wearing plenty of prosthetics. After all, Ron Perlman's best known role was that of the Beast in the live-action TV series "Beauty and the Beast" opposite actress Linda Hamilton ("The Terminator"), so with his experience with prosthetics and his penchant for strange characters, it was almost as if he was destined to be this character. The supporting cast members do very well with providing depth and reality to these strange new heroes that join together to face monsters determined to destroy us. There really wasn't a weak actor/actress in the entire bunch, a true rariety in the various genres that this movie fits into, i.e. horror, science-fiction, comic book. It was a welcome addition that everyone involved on screen and off appeared to have a deep respect for the source material and the fan base, and not just being there to collect a paycheck.

The special effects for the movie were very well done, especially the scenes with Liz's fire power being showcased. These scenes are where the CGI really shines. As I touched on earlier, the prosthetics and costume department also deserves great praise for their oustanding work done here, from Hellboy to the monsters that he faces, to Abe Sapien or Kronen, every aspect of costumes, prosthetics, and practical effects is top-notch all the way. And finally, the story for "Hellboy" was very fast paced and entertaining, without skimming on the details of the character, which I appreciated greatly due to my lack of awareness in regards to this comic book. Without this entertaining and engaging story that was smartly written to play well with audiences that would be hard-core fans of the comic and those that have either little or no knowledge of the character whatsoever.

With all of that being said, "Hellboy" is a terrific comic book based movie, that as far as I know, stays true to the source material without making newcomers to the character feel lost in the shuffle. Definitely a solid entry into the pantheon of comic book movies and a welcome addition at that.

"Hellboy" is rated PG-13 for violence and language.

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Rating: - Beautiful Blue Flames!
I'm not a big Del Torro fan (Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth), and this movie leaves a little to be desired at times. However, I bought this movie on Blu-ray because I knew it would be a feast for the eyes. I still can't get over how beautiful Selma Blair's character looked consumed in blue flame. Absolutely gorgeous. The blu-ray format really allows this movie to shine visually. Rasputin covered in blood is some of the richest, boldest reds I've seen in a movie. All of the colors are so saturated that they practically jump off the screen. Most of the images are not too grainy, which can be typical for HD transfers. Generally, most images are crisp and clean.

Don't get me wrong. It's not all about the looks. This movie has some great action and cool monsters. It also has a nice dichotomy brewing within Hellboy in that he is spawn from hell but raised as a Christian (which should have been fleshed out more in the film). Some of the fights with Samael (hound of hell) tend to drag on and on and get really repetitive. Ron Perlman's sarcasm in between punches tends to help it along though.

If you enjoy monster movies, comic book adaptations, or action films in general, you will most likely enjoy this one. It's not the best, but you could do worse.

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Rating: - Great movie, nice picture & sound, Sony BDP-S1 issues
This review relates more to some compatibility issues I encountered, with the blu-ray version of this movie and the Sony BDP-S1 player.

To get the movie to play, I had to update the firmware on the player, to the latest version released on 6-8-07, version 2.00. This involves downloading a file and burning a DVD.

Once updated, the picture quality and sound are up with the best I've seen from blu-ray, ie excellent.

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Rating: - Substance and style
This is one of those movies I've wanted to see since I first saw the trailer in the theatre. For some reason, though, I only saw it today.

I should have gone with my first instinct. What a great movie! Clever dialogue that had me laughing out loud, all by myself. Sympathetic yet flawed leads who were easy to root for (especially Ron Perlman, who turns in a dryly hilarious and often touching performance). Awesome special effects that added to rather than detracted from the overall appeal of the movie.

While I've never read the Hellboy comics, I do love comics in general and get excited when a movie adaptation of one is actually well made. In which case, Hellboy has me over the moon!