Search - Hellboy [Special Edition] on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Sci-Fi Violence Movie Release: 2004 DVD Release: 07/27/2004 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French SwapaDVD Credits: 2 Number of Discs: 2 Run Time: 2 hrs 2 mins Studio: Columbia TriStar Total Copies: 29 Genres: Action, Fantasy, Superhero Film, Creature Film See Also: Hellboy [Widescreen Director's Cut Collectible DVD Gift Set], Hellboy [Widescreen Director's Cut], Hellboy [UMD for PSP], Hellboy [Blu-ray], Hellboy [with Toy][Limited Edition], Hellboy [Widescreen] [Single Disc Version]

Mike Mignola's acclaimed comic book series about a creature from Hades who joins the battle against evil arrives on the screen in vivid form in this adaptation directed by distinctive horror filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. During World War II, the Third Reich has joined forces with the evil Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden), who has used his occult powers to summon up a young demon from the depth of Hell to be used as the ultimate Axis weapon. However, the demonic creature is captured by American forces, and put in the care of Professor Broom (John Hurt), the founder of a top-secret organization called the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Under Broom's tutelage, the creature develops empathy and a desire to do good while his physical powers and paranormal talents are honed to a fine point. Sixty years later, the demon, now known as Hellboy (Ron Perlman), is part of an elite secret defense team alongside Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a beautiful young woman who can create fire with her mind, and Abe Sapian (Doug Jones), an aquatic humanoid with the power of telepathy. Despite his many years of fighting for right, Hellboy finds himself facing his greatest challenge when the powerful Rasputin returns, determined to bring the demon back to the forces of darkness so that evil may finally rule the world. Hellboy's supporting cast also includes Jeffrey Tambor, Rupert Evans, and Brian Steele. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ron Perlman - Hellboy
John Hurt - Prof. Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm
Selma Blair - Liz Sherman
Rupert Evans - Agent John Myers
Karel Roden - Grigori Rasputin
Jeffrey Tambor - Dr. Tom Manning
Doug Jones - Abe Sapien
David Hyde Pierce - Abe Sapien

Guillermo del Toro knows what people want on DVDs, and this first two-disc edition of Hellboy is proof positive of just that. Designed with extravagant attention to detail, both discs are stuffed with enough bonus material to satiate any fan of the flick -- even if they're waiting for the upcoming three-disc Extended Edition. With stellar treatments given to both the anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen picture and 5.1 English track, this release does a monumental job of preserving the theatrical cut of the film. With far too many extras to count, disc one presents the film plus multiple branching features and a storyboard track that'll give new meaning to repeated viewings. Also worth noting, -Hellboy's creator Mike Mignola supplied some new animated comics that you can branch out or, just like the others, watch through a "Play All" feature as well. The movie also comes complete with two commentaries, the first with del Toro and Mignola, while the second features stars Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Rupert Evans, and the always-hilarious Jeffrey Tambor. As an added bonus to the first disc, some classic UPA cartoons have been thrown in, with three Gerald McBoing Boing adventures awaiting the viewer, as well as the studio's 1953 Oscar-nominated short The Tell-Tale Heart, adapted through some highly expressionistic animation from Edgar Allan Poe's macabre tale.

Disc two delves more into the nuts and bolts of the movie, with even more added extras to make one solid second half to one hot Special Edition. The two-and-a-half-hour "Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation" documentary starts things off, taking you chronologically through the shoot by the way of behind-the-scenes footage and cleverly inserted featurettes focused on individual aspects of the production. It's an interesting way to tackle a making-of, and the disc's producers go a long way to present all of it in a fresh and engaging way. More del Toro is rarely a bad thing, so his commentary on all three deleted scenes is more than welcome (and in one case, better than the actual clipped scene), as are the exclusive character bios that he wrote for the main actors when they signed onto the project. The rest of the immense disc includes sections on Animatics, Motion Board-a-matics (the technique of animating the storyboards on a somewhat crude, but effective level), Maquette 3-D sculptures of the film's creatures, a lengthy Poster Explorations gallery, and not just trailers, but nine TV spots as well! Add in some fairly stiff introductions by the director and Selma Blair (both reading off of obvious cue cards), along with an innovative menu design, and this is one immense DVD release that will officially kill anyone who attacks it in one day. With the Extended Edition adding both another disc and a new commentary for a director's cut of the film coming later in the year, there's even more goodness to be gleamed from the film, but any casual fan would be more than happy with this seriously packed release. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide