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Underworld (Widescreen Edition) Customer Reviews (88 - 90 of 127 Reviews)

Why repackage a horrible film?
This is just another plot to make money. I don't know why they would even bother to repackage such a horrible film. I fell asleep trying to watch this at least three times. It was a huge disappointment for me. The extras on the DVD aren't going to save this. It wasn't worth watching then and it still isn't worth watching now. Don't buy this, there are better films in this category that are actually worth watching.

Still A Bite That Has No Teeth
The first time I saw Underworld on DVD, I thought it was rather "ho-hum", filled with potential and promise, but ending up somewhere else. When I heard about the unrated extended cut though, curiousity got the better of me, and I wanted to see if this version was any better.

The film ties together two of horror's most popular mythologies, and tries to put a new spin on what we've come to expect from the genre at the same time. The story is set in the secret nocturnal and supernatural world of vampires and werewolves. These are two groups that have been at war for centuries, vampires are a secret clan of modern aristocratic sophisticates, while werewolves are a cunning gang of street thugs who prowl the city's underside. A romance develops between a female vampire warrior and her sworn enemy. Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is known for her strength and werewolf-hunting prowess. While Michael (Scott Speedman) is a peace-loving human who's recently been bitten by a werewolf, and wants to end the war.

First time director Len Wiseman, has inserted 12 minutes of additional footage, as well as 11 minutes of replacement footage for this cut. The movie is still a very stylish and good looking film, that is a bit better with the other footage. But, unfortunately still misses the mark As I said, the film is visually striking with great sets, a cast that tries its best with the material, and some cool stunts and special effects. All of these positives cannot save the story which is burried by just more convoluted doublespeak. The new cut can't erase the fact that the story "borrows" too much, from films like The Matrix, Blade, and The Crow. As I stated elsewhere, a little imitatation is flattering...but it seems as though someone decided to mix successfull elements from the past--and hoped enough of it would work. The "Romeo & Juliet" plotline is given more screen time, still, only to go so far and then, fall apart.

The DVD extras on the 2 disc set, are a mix of stuff released on the previous edition, and "new" bonus material. Gone are the two audio commentaries, in their place is a commentary with director Wiseman, cast members Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman. It's kind of strange track, knowing Wiseman and Beckinsale are an item, and the fact that Speedman leaves midway through for an audition! There are 4 making of featurettes from the other disc. There's the fairly generic "The Making of Underworld", one on creature effects, stunts, and "sights and sound". Take your pick. The all new "Fang vs. Fiction", a 45-minute documentary examining the history of vampires and werewolves is worth your time. Three new featurettes, designing Underworld, the visual effects of Underworld, and the look of Underworld, have information basicaly repeated elsewhere. An outtake reel storyboard comparision, the Finch music video for the song "Worms of the Earth", from the soundtrack, theatrical trailers, and TV spots top off the set. But that's not all... you also get a collectible production sketch notebook and a suprisingly meaty 48-page mini comic book as part of the package.

Despite the additions, changes, and deletions to the film and otherwise, I stand by my original assessment of the film. Underworld is worth a look for genre faithfuls who are curious. Too bad its borrowed ingredients overshadow its potential...no matter what form it's in.

Don't bother with the Extended Cut
The two stars are only for the recently released Unrated Extended Version - not the original DVD. The original DVD is definitely ***** stars for me. Like a lot of people, if I really like a movie, I'll buy the Unrated Director's Cut because of all the extras. But in this case, the original is much better than the new version.

Let's compare. The first DVD has a great commentary by Len Wiseman (director), Danny McBride (screenplay), and Kevin Grevioux (storyline - he is also the huge Black guy with the incredible voice who plays a Lycan). They talk about how the three of them came up with the idea for this movie and how it got made. They also talk about how some of the scenes were done, information on the cast, the conditions under which they made the movie - no budget, major time constraints - and what it was like filming in Budapest, Hungary. It also has a technical commentary that I haven't listened to yet. On the other hand, the commentary for the extended cut is done by the director, Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman. This commentary's main subject was talking about Beckinsale's hair, compliments for Beckinsale by Wiseman (who is Beckinsale's husband or partner) and Speedman, teasing Speedman, and gushing over Michael Sheen (who was great as Lucien). There are no technical discussions and the only other cast member who is talked about for any length of time was Bill Nighy (Viktor, who was excellent). Half way through the commentary, Speedman leaves and then there's a bunch of chit chat between Wiseman and Beckensale about Speedman going off to make a movie with the Olson twins.

Wiseman also states a couple of times that this version is not a director's cut (are they going to release another DVD?). When he talks about added scenes, he points out which scenes he would have liked in the original theatrical release and the first DVD, and which scenes he wouldn't like to see back in the movie. If he didn't want certain scenes added then why are they in the extended cut? This newer version adds a scene where Michael (Speedman) talks about his past and how he ended up in Budapest, a storyline that adds a love affair between Erika and Craven, plus some added shots of Viktor with the apparatus that pumps blood into him. But there are also numerous and completely unnecesarry scenes of Lycans and Vampires going up and down stairways over and over, and just little shots of objects that are part of the set. In addition, there's absolutely NO reason to title this DVD as unrated, which implies that there are scenes that were deleted because of problems with the MPAA rating. I don't see how any of the added scenes could have pushed the MPAA to make this movie NC-17. I think that was just another ploy to get people to fork over more money for this version.

The only thing that I liked in the extended cut were some outtakes. But there weren't enough of them to make up for the additional money you'd have to pay for this cut.

To sum up, if you're a film geek who loves to listen to commentaries on the DVD, stick with the original DVD. If you don't care about that kind of stuff and you don't already own the original DVD, then it's up to you if you want to sit through a lot of unnecassary additons that the director didn't even like. But if you already have the first DVD, I would not recommend buying this version (unless you're dying to listen to Beckinsale complain endlessly about her hair).

The Extended Cut is NOT a director's cut - it just has extra scenes in it. Some of the scenes the director wanted in the movie and some of the scenes he didn't. How do I know this? - from listening to the commentary

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