Blu-ray Movie Reviews

"Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans" delves into the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires, known as Death Dealers, and the barbaric Lycans (werewolves). A young Lycan, Lucian, emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor, the cruel vampire king who has persecuted them for hundreds of years. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, the beautiful vampire Sonja, in his battle to free the Lycans from their brutal enslavement.

Rather than continuing the saga of the first two films, Rise of the Lycans goes back to the beginning and shows the beginning of the feud between the vampires and Lycans. The relevant cast members return and I was far more entertained by the film than I was expecting given the rather ho-hum execution of the sequel. There are still some plot holes toward the end of this one but overall it has enough action and relevance to the series to make it a worthy addition. If you liked the first two, don’t miss this one.

The film’s visual style is almost identical to the first installments in the series; dark. This is a very contrasty image with plenty of rich shadow detail and deep, deep black levels. Fine detail never disappoints though and the image retains a remarkable level of dimension despite being so dark. This is a movie that will look the best on a high contrast display and played in a light controlled room or in complete darkness.

Sony delivers a stellar 5.1 TrueHD mix for this film. The soundstage has a very alive quality with lots of activity in both the main and surround soundstage and really everywhere in between. Side wall imaging is quite good and I loved the rich nuance the surrounds delivered. Bass extension is impressive and brings some serious impact to the more intense battle sequences and the tone of the film. Dialogue never gets lost in the action and the imaging across the main soundstage is excellent.

This 2-disc set includes a digital copy of the film for your portable device or home computer. The main feature also includes some features on the film’s production including a great look at the visual style of the film. A picture-in-picture feature includes a look at the production design complete with interviews and a there is an interactive feature on the Lycans. For BD-Live enabled players you can chat with friends during the film. A music video from the film’s soundtrack is also included.

This was a surprisingly good addition to the Underworld series that sheds some insight into how the feud began. Sony delivers an incredible presentation that never disappoints and some great next generation features. Highly recommended.