Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Underworld Blu-ray Movie Review

Forbidden Love Amongst the Immortals

Reviewed by Brandon A. DuHamel September 20, 2007

A modern gothic tale of forbidden love and betrayal, told through the setting of a centuries-old war between Vampires and Lycans (werewolves), Underworld could in many ways be seen as an updating of Shakespeare’s tragedies. It doesn’t ever reach the level of high literature we have come to expect from the great bard himself, but it still succeeds on many levels.

Admittedly, when I first saw Underworld, I was quite skeptical that it would be much more than another blood and gore horror flick with the central protagonist - in this case Kate Beckinsale as “Selene”, a “Death Dealer” – laying down some major whoop-ass. I was wrong, very wrong. Yes, it has the action, and the gore, and the Vampire/Werewolf lore, but at its heart, Underworld’s themes of forbidden love, honor, betrayal, revenge, and social segregation are universal themes that anyone can understand, and help to take this film beyond your typical Hollywood horror flick.

Kate Beckinsale’s incredible acting skills help sell Underworld as more than just a horror film. Her charisma and magnetism on screen cannot be denied. She’s a much-welcomed departure from the very male dominated, prototypical, testosterone driven action heroes that we usually see on screen in these roles and she plays it to perfection.

I’m not afraid to say I have no doubt in my mind that Underworld will one day be considered a classic in the Vampire/Werewolf genre of films, if it isn’t already.

Underworld Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in a 2.37:1 aspect ratio, Underworld Unrated Extended Cut is another in an increasingly huge list of superb AVC encodings from Sony.

Originally shot in Super-35 and then scanned at 2k to a digital intermediate where it was manipulated from then on entirely in the digital realm before going back out to print, the film is darkly lit and has an intentionally de-saturated color palette, which was then colored with a blue tint. This is captured accurately throughout. Blacks, blues, grays, and whites look superb. In the few scenes where some natural flesh tones can be seen - in the hospital where Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman) works - flesh tones were presented accurately.

Fine grain is captured in detail, giving the presentation an incredibly sharp, detailed, and film-like look throughout. From the smallest objects in the background to the closest shots, detail was accurate and nearly three-dimensional.

This AVC encoding from Sony obsoletes the previous DVD release in picture quality without question.

Underworld Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony continues to impress in the audio department on this release. If you thought the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack on the 2-disc unrated extended cut release sounded really good, then prepare to be amazed. The English uncompressed PCM 5.1 soundtrack is nothing less than breathtaking.

The mix is perfect, and the mastering superb. Right from the beginning, the moody score sets the tone and never lets up, but character dialogue is never lost, and special effects sound smooth, natural, and realistic. There is a beautiful ambience to everything that adds to the drama, and EQ'ing is easy on the ears. This is an audiophile delight.

Everything sounds warm, full, round, and correct. Overall tonality blended perfectly with the look and feel of the film itself, aiding the moodiness and gloom. The mid-range sounded perfect, solid and well balanced. There was ample use of the surrounds, and the LFE channel was used to good effect, never becoming cumbersome. As I was listening, I thought, "this is the sound of blue" - awesome, in a word.

Also included on this Blu-ray release, are an Italian uncompressed PCM 5.1 soundtrack, and English, French, and Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks, making use of the superior disc capacity and bandwidth available on the BD-50 disc.

Underworld Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the extras included in the 2-disc unrated extended cut DVD release - minus the 48 page Underworld comic book, 16 page production sketchbook, and TV spots - are included in this Blu- ray disc edition. All extras are in standard definition, 4:3.

The highlights of the extras included are the Fang vs. Fiction documentary, which veers off more into the realm of Science Fiction, though claiming to be based on science, and the three Featurettes: Visual Effects of Underworld, Designing Underworld , and The Look of Underworld which offer a decent level of introspection and detail for anyone interested in the process of filmmaking.

Subtitles
English, English SDH, French, Italian

Special Features
Audio commentary with director Len Wiseman, Kate Beckinsale, and Scott Speedman
Outtakes -The outtakes are really a gag reel, and not bonus scenes, as one might expect.
Fang vs. Fiction - A documentary exploring the mythology and lore of vampires and werewolves throughout history.
Storyboard Comparison – a side-by-side comparison of a few key scenes with their original storyboard sketches.
Music video: Finch: "Worms of the Earth"

Featurettes
Making of Underworld
Visual Effects of Underworld
Creature Effects
Stunts
Designing Underworld – explores the production design of the film.
The Look of Underworld – explores the cinematography of Underworld.
Sights & Sounds – another behind the scenes gag reel of sorts.

Underworld Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Universal themes that can be applied to the real world, and a stellar performance by Kate Beckinsale help move this film out of the realm of other Hollywood horror flicks while Sony's superb AVC video encoding and awesome uncompressed PCM 5.1 soundtrack make this a must buy Blu- ray disc release.