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Average User Score: 8 (224 sources)

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heylin_prince

-1

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i had very high hopes for this movie since i like fantasy movies but when i watched it that wasn't what i expected

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Posted dec 2, 2007 3:11 am pt

belial_77

-1

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How could someone mess up such an awesome movie??? I mean big budget, hot chicks in skin-tight ware, cool action scenes, and freakin VAMPIRES FIGHT WEREWOLVES!!! But the writing for the movie was horrendous... slowly developed plot w/ no kinda of...
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How could someone mess up such an awesome movie??? I mean big budget, hot chicks in skin-tight ware, cool action scenes, and freakin VAMPIRES FIGHT WEREWOLVES!!! But the writing for the movie was horrendous... slowly developed plot w/ no kinda of intelligence to it... they should have used some of the money they used on the idiotic "Hybrid" FX and bought the writes to use White Wolf's World of Darkness as a backdrop... maybe then the story wouldn't seem written by a 3rd grader.

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Posted sep 12, 2007 3:36 am pt

gamer-clemm

-1

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Simply an amazing film. Underworld is one of the best and uniqe films I have ever seen. The director (Len Wiseman) thought of something crazy that was awesome. Story is about vampires and werewolves have a war and that is just cool!

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Posted sep 9, 2007 8:38 am pt

kylehannah

-1

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Disagree (3)

Len Wiseman creates an amazing vampire film with a talented cast of mostly unknowns who manage to tell a well thought out story combined with a large amount of action.I love the look of the gothic metropolis that is the set design it only adds to...
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Len Wiseman creates an amazing vampire film with a talented cast of mostly unknowns who manage to tell a well thought out story combined with a large amount of action.I love the look of the gothic metropolis that is the set design it only adds to the overal product that is Underworrld. It is by far one of the best vampire movies ever made.

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Posted jul 25, 2007 1:17 pm pt

electricpeppers

-1

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Underworld is a film where the story takes centre stage above the gore and leather clad characters. If you are after action then I would advise you pass on this piece of storytelling. Underworld does seem to unfold rather like a novel it...
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Underworld is a film where the story takes centre stage above the gore and leather clad characters. If you are after action then I would advise you pass on this piece of storytelling. Underworld does seem to unfold rather like a novel it progressively forms a rich tapestry of mythology whilst maintaining a sense of urgency. The story arc itself is put into context using flashbacks and monologues sporadically placed throughout the film. When it first came out "professional film critics" panned this film; I have seen some truly diabolical movies in my time and Underworld is hardly a “bad� film, which is, in fact a gross exaggeration. It may not be to everyone’s taste but it is a very far cry from badly written or badly paced. As someone who eminently prefers the lengthy story telling of television as a format in which to tell a larger story, I found Underworld to be gratifying for its ambition, grandoise and depth. The story is well constructed if one is willing to concentrate and think about what is going on onscreen. This kind of complexity of plot is rarely found in movies these days. Anyone who comes looking for a shallow action thriller will be sorely disappointed; the story is the main character of this movie. It takes centre stage and every character must bow to it. I would advise rewatching Underworld a few times because there is a significant amount of things occurring at once, and one can get a little overwhelmed with the flurry of names and dates.

I would recommend this to anyone who can look past the idea of gore and action to see and enjoy the evolution of a well developed plot unfolding. The characters are, arguably relatively underdeveloped, but I believe that to be a trait of the genre. Yet Selene (Beckinsale) and Michael (Speedman) still do well to carry the film and their oblique chemistry is noticeable even in their scenes with little or no dialogue. Underworld takes itself seriously so there isn't much in the way of humour; what pervades through most of the film is this sense of malignant darkness that is disturbing and ultimately breathtaking. Watch it and see for yourself. The plot is complex, the love story is played mostly in subtext and the story itself moves quickly but can be hard to follow if you are prone to daydreaming. The performances from the likes of Sheen and Nighy however manage to bring the story and the believability of the film to new heights. Thoroughly recommended for those wanting a sprawling story over blood and gore.

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Posted jul 21, 2007 2:51 am pt

Zathic

-1

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Underworld is about the secret existence and war of the Lycans and Vampires. The movie has reminiscent qualities of the play "Romeo and Juliet" and is just as intriguing.

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Posted jul 19, 2007 1:57 pm pt

lolipoper696

-1

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One of the best Vampire movies on the whole planet! Vampires could rule the earth, and you'll know all the reasons why after watching this movie. The story line is great, and the action is breath taking.

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Posted jun 27, 2007 6:40 pm pt

osda_waya16

-1

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Disagree (2)

This is one of my favorite movies ever. I watched it over and over one summer, to the point that I memorized the whole script. The plot is great, the background is wonderful, and the characters are fantastic. I love the idea of lycans being the...
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This is one of my favorite movies ever. I watched it over and over one summer, to the point that I memorized the whole script. The plot is great, the background is wonderful, and the characters are fantastic. I love the idea of lycans being the escaped slaves of the vampires. The characters are wonderfully cast. All in all a great movie.

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Posted jun 3, 2007 7:51 am pt

MoreCowbell6924

-1

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First of all this film is awesome! It has one of the coolest backgrounds in any movie I've ever seen. Vampires vs. Werewolves in a modern setting, after they've been at war for centuries?(It doesn't get much is cooler than that) The actual story...
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First of all this film is awesome! It has one of the coolest backgrounds in any movie I've ever seen. Vampires vs. Werewolves in a modern setting, after they've been at war for centuries?(It doesn't get much is cooler than that) The actual story of the movie however isn't quite as cool as the background and could cause a little confusion for some, but the action of the film makes up for that. The cast wasn't at their best, but they still got the job done and made their characters' cool one way or another which made this film even more interesting. So basically cool characters, an awesome background and setting, along with Vampires and Werewolves fighting eachother equals a win in my book.

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Posted apr 26, 2007 5:43 am pt

sassy_eggs

-1

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I love Vampire films and this one is no exception. The special effects are good, but sadly the film is let down by some poorly written scenes and wooden performances by some of the actors. Kate Beckinsale is amazing as Vampire Selene and I adored...
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I love Vampire films and this one is no exception. The special effects are good, but sadly the film is let down by some poorly written scenes and wooden performances by some of the actors. Kate Beckinsale is amazing as Vampire Selene and I adored Michael Sheen's Lycan character, Lucian.

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Posted apr 13, 2007 1:56 pm pt

• [+] Christian Science Monitor
  
  75
  At heart, this is an old-fashioned monster flick decked out with Hollywood's full battery of high-tech visual effects. It's as goofy as it is gory -- stay away if you don't like in-your-face mayhem.

  by David Sterritt | Read Full Review »
• [+] Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  
  75
  It's Shakespearean in its political machinations and closer to "Saving Private Ryan" and "Starship Troopers" than to "Dracula" or "The Howling."

  by William Arnold | Read Full Review »
• [+] Charlotte Observer
  
  75
  However much Underworld recycles elements from other films, it carries us into a well-constructed, convincingly scary world worth visiting.

  by Lawrence Toppman | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Daily News
  
  75
  The filmmakers' decision to go with prosthetic enhancements rather than CGI gives the snouts, fangs and snapping jaws a refreshingly tactile look.

  by Jami Bernard | Read Full Review »
• [+] Austin Chronicle
  
  67
  It is the perfectly cast Beckinsale who lifts Underworld out and away from the film’s many moments of silly gravitas and steers it into a truly interesting take on the whole vampires 'n' werewolves genre.

  by Marc Savlov | Read Full Review »
• [+] Premiere
  
  63
  Riddled with ammunition for what Alfred Hitchcock called the "Plausibles"--those poor-sport moviegoers who insist on pointing out a movie's inconsistencies instead of simply enjoying the ride

  by Peter Debruge | Read Full Review »
• [+] ReelViews
  
  63
  An example of a vampire movie for the new century -- stylish, gothic, gory, and loud.

  by James Berardinelli | Read Full Review »
• [+] Boston Globe
  
  63
  As murky and derivative-looking as the film is, it moves with an authority that pummels you into submission.

  by Wesley Morris | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Tribune
  
  63
  Has one other thing in common with "The Matrix Reloaded" -- too much story, too many angles.

  by Robert K. Elder | Read Full Review »
• [+] Dallas Observer
  
  60
  Visually it's wild fun, since fledgling feature director Len Wiseman started off in production design, and creature designer Patrick Tatopoulos's diverse credits span from "Godzilla" to "Stuart Little." Yet with Underworld's guilty pleasures come copious clinkers, from its nuts-and-bolts narrative foundation to Wiseman's inability to direct actors beyond cartoonish interaction.

  by Gregory Weinkauf | Read Full Review »
• [+] Salon.com
  
  60
  The funny thing about all this is that a half-hour into Underworld I couldn't wait for it to be over. When it really was over, I couldn't wait for the next installment. Go figure.

  by Andrew O'Hehir | Read Full Review »
• [+] Miami Herald
  
  50
  A loud and relentlessly overstated B-movie, and yet not entirely stupid.

  by Charles Savage | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Sun-Times
  
  50
  It's so impossible to care about the characters in the movie that I didn't care if the vampires or werewolves won. I might not have cared in a better movie, either, but I might have been willing to pretend.

  by Roger Ebert | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Post
  
  50
  Though it sometimes feels as if it's four hours long, Underworld has going for it an intriguing fantasy premise, an eventful plot and a look that is diverting, if finally a bit monotonous.

  by Jonathan Foreman | Read Full Review »
• [+] Variety
  
  50
  Takes itself so seriously that it never has fun with its shopworn genre elements.

  by Todd McCarthy | Read Full Review »