5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Hellboy comes to England, where he must defeat Merlin's consort and Nimue the Blood Queen. But their battle will bring about the end of the world, a fate he desperately tries to turn away.
Starring: David Harbour, Ian McShane, Milla Jovovich, Penelope Mitchell, Sasha LaneAction | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 70% |
Adventure | 62% |
Comic book | 57% |
Fantasy | 55% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English, English SDH, French SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Since at last count we’re up to basically — what is it now? —
three thousand or so* film versions of Spider-
Man, it probably shouldn’t come as any huge surprise that Hellboy is
itself getting the “reboot” treatment. Still, many fans may approach this “new, improved” (?) version with the same question that accompanies
many
other remakes: why? Original Hellboy author Mike Mignola is on hand in some supplements included on this release as stating
this version of Hellboy is closer to his original conception, and in fact according to Mignola includes copious moments lifted directly
from various stories offered in the Hellboy comic books (er, pardon me — graphic novels). And yet, still the lingering question
of
why pervades this version virtually from the get go. For example, some may wonder if it really “helps” things to include an
Arthurian element which also involves a witch who has been chopped into as many pieces as there are Spider-Man films, with each piece
being secreted away in hidden places with guardians watching over, in a plot device that is eerily similar (as in virtually identical) to ones found in
any
number of other films.
*I exaggerate of course, but not by that much, as evidenced by this
Wikipedia
page.
Hellboy is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. The IMDb lists a couple of Arri Alexa models as having digitally captured the imagery, with everything finished at a 4K DI. Aside from some occasionally soft looking CGI and few scenes of murkiness in some dimly lit environments, this is a really pleasing looking transfer that offers consistently excellent detail levels and a nice accounting of what is almost a Bava-esque palette at times, with lots of lurid purples, reds and greens. There's some rather striking use of black and white in the opening (see screenshots 5 and 9 for two examples), which features nicely modulated gray scale and some impressively deep blacks. Hellboy himself has a bit more of a violet or orangish hue in this version, but fine detail on elements like his "shaven" horns is typically very good. I noticed no problems with regard to compression anomalies.
Hellboy features a rather bombastic Dolby Atmos mix which provides a lot of surround activity as well as some fun vertical placement of effects. There are a number of well done panning effects that can whip both through and over the listener, and the sound design regularly populates the surround channels with discrete effects even in some of the relatively "quieter" scenes. Ambient environmental sounds are appealing placed around the soundfield in several outdoor sequences. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this presentation, with fidelity remaining excellent and dynamic range extremely wide.
I'm kind of a nut for some of the late 19th century occult societies that are passingly referenced in this Hellboy, and that peculiar interest may have been enough to maintain my interest in what is really a kind of hodgepodge of storylines and characters. The Perlman - del Toro films didn't exactly set the box office on fire (one probable reason this version is helmed by Neil Marshall and stars David Harbour), but they had style in abundance and they were often downright fun (and funny) to watch. This Hellboy has moments of excitement, but it's too convoluted and never comes close to realizing the emotional content it seems to be aiming for. Technical merits are first rate for those considering a purchase.
15th Anniversary Edition
2004
Cinematic Universe Edition
2017
2013
2018
2011
2008
2009
2019
2023
2013
2014
2024
Cinematic Universe Edition
2012
2019
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #4
2009
2017
2018
2010
2014
2017