Search - Ultraviolet on DVD

Current day twist on the ancient vampire myth...

Scubafiend | St. Petersburg, FL USA | 01/22/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"An elite group in the police department are pursuing modern day vampires. But they aren't running around killing vampires with wooden stakes. This British "miniseries" (6 episodes) gives an updated twist to the old Vampire myths. For example, if a vampire can't be seen in a mirror, it stands to reason that he can't be seen on videotape. Hmmmm.... Provides a surveillance challenge!! Very inventive twists make Ultraviolet fascinating to watch!However, it's not just the unique updating of the myth that makes this series a good watch. The story development is excellent, and the characters are very well played. Probably most familiar to US audiences will be Susannah Harker in a very different role from her portrayal of Jane in the BBC/A&E production of "Pride and Prejudice". She is excellent as the doctor in the group, focusing on the medical aspects of the vampire challenge.Very different in style from the US shows "Kindred: The Embraced" (available on DVD) and "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer", Ultraviolet is more focused on the psychological than blood and guts. "Kindred" and "Buffy" are action fare, "Ultraviolet" is psychological fare. If you enjoy a psychological thriller with a little action thrown in and are intrigued by the Vampire myth, you will enjoy Ultraviolet."

What The X-Files Could Never Do

Geoffrey Kleinman | Portland, OR USA | 06/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got an advance copy of Ultraviolet DVD and watched all 6 hours over the course of 2 nights. Right off the bat it was very obvious that Ultraviolet is a British production - rather than beating you over the head in the first 15 mins, they give you credit for having a brain and piece things together in a way that really draws you in. The film/series runs 6 hours and the writer/director Joe Ahearne really understands how to set a pace to keep you engaged while moving the story along. Ultraviolet takes a wonderfully fresh and inventive approach towards vampires. I genuinely enjoyed the infusion of technology in relation to vampires - If vampires don't have any reflection, how can they talk over a phone? I also really liked the philosophical approach it took to the subject of vampires: Are vampires really bad? Should they be killed because they are who they are?In the early years of the X-Files I was certainly a fan, but the show really lost me over the years, after watching Ultraviolet I realized why. Rather than hyping up some big conspiracy and never doing anything about it, Ultraviolet creates a complex world where everything isn't black and white but there are very specific 'rules'. Rather than myopically focusing on the world it creates Ultraviolet concentrates on really telling complete stories about the people in that world.Ultraviolet was well acted, well directed and thoroughly enjoyable. I can't remember the last time I spent 6 hours watching something and was more than willing to see more. If Ultraviolet ever became a regular series I'd certainly be a faithful watcher!"

Grown up vampire hunters for the new millenium

notdannow | London, England | 05/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This excellent British mini-series has brought the vampire myth bang up to date. We all know from the old movies we've seen that vampires don't cast a reflection in a mirror.... nowadays it's a little more complicated. They can't use the phone without a voice synthesiser, and how do you track them running through a busy subway station when they don't show up on CCTV cameras? Although they are called "Leeches" rather than vampires, we all know what we're talking about. Leeches can be detected with ultraviolet light (hence the title), and modern weapons have been developed to fight them, including machine guns with ultraviolet sights firing carbon bullets and garlic gas grenades. Policeman Michael Coleman is recruited into the secretive organisation formed to combat the leeches, but he's very much an outsider, and those around him all have their own hidden agendas. He is about to be best man at his friends wedding when the friend disappears, and the next time Coleman sees him, he's been through a few changes..... I'm a big Buffy fan, but this series tackles the whole vampire-hunting scenario in a more adult and thoughtful way, and puts forward some interesting ideas about how vampires might have adapted to the modern world, and how we might combat them. The individual episodes are self-contained while still moving the arc of the whole story forward, and are guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat.....this is some of the most gripping tv I have seen in a long time. British viewers will recognise Jack Davenport (Coleman) from the BBC2 series "This Life", and Susannah Harker (Angela Marsh) from the excellent BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Predjudice""