Underworld 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
Brad Sturdivant
December 28th, 2016
Remember when vampires were cool? It’s okay if you don’t, because it feels like it was a long time ago. But five years after the first BLADE and five years before the first TWILIGHT film, Kate Beckinsale donned some skin tight, black leather pants and kicked a lot of werewolf tail in the surprise hit, UNDERWORLD. The first film would see three sequels with Beckinsale and then one prequel without her and perhaps more surprising is that all of the sequels were fairly enjoyable. But it all started win 2003 with a Romeo and Juliet type of story between a vampire and a werewolf.
Selene (Beckinsale) is one of the vampire’s top warriors in the ongoing battle between vampires and werewolves. This battle would be more explored in the 2009 prequel UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS, but for now all we need to know is that the two supernatural species really don’t like each other. Selene is busy dispatching of werewolves when she comes across Michael (Speedman). Michael is being hunted by the werewolves because of his hybrid-like blood and while she ends up protecting him, she also ends up falling in love with him, which makes her question her allegiances. More vampire and werewolf battles ensue.
Director Len Wiseman knew exactly what he had on his hands while he was filming UNDERWORLD and that was a very beautiful and sexy Kate Beckinsale. He of course would go on to marry his leading lady in 2004, but he was smart enough to stand back and put the focus on her. She’s the reason this film works, not only because of the aforementioned sexiness, but also because she’s severely overqualified when it comes to acting ability. But that can be said for the entire cast, which includes Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen. Speedman doesn’t do anything with his role, but he wasn’t really asked to contribute. I always thought that his character was essential to the franchise because he’s what grounded the film and gave the audience something/someone to connect to. He had a very minimal part in EVOLUTION and then didn’t show up at all in the other sequels, but he was still an important part in the original.
By today’s standards, the action scenes are a little lacking. This was four years after THE MATRIX and to some extent, it felt like a rip off of what they accomplished. But even so, it was still fun to see Beckinsale fly through the air shooting vampires and werewolves. The other big positive is that even with a full two hour run time, Wiseman keeps things moving pretty well. The audience doesn’t have a chance to get bored and we manage to get enough story to keep us enthralled while the action rages on.
I always think of the vampire craze kicking off with the first episode of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ in 1997 and ending with Twilight in 2007, but I also give credit to UNDERWORLD for keeping the genre cool for a few years longer than it should have been, thanks in large part to Kate Beckinsale owning the role. UNDERWORLD isn’t a spectacular action film and it doesn’t offer anything new to the genre, but it’s a fun ride and offers more than enough action to keep the audience entertained.
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: Although the increased color range of the dark colors is a big selling point to me for 4K, UNDERWORLD is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to its 4K presentation. It’s a very dark film with saturated colors, presumably by choice from Len Wiseman. That kind of goes along with the tone and “goth” vibe of the film. The 4K upgrade starts to come through with the closeups, where details in clothing and settings comes into play. But this presentation isn’t going to wow anyone and I’m hard pressed to claim it to be a huge upgrade over the existing Blu-ray. It’s an improvement, for sure, but this isn’t going to be a new reference disc for anyone.
Audio: The Atmos track might be a big selling point to people on the fence about the upgrade. It’s a very nice track, but again, I wouldn’t say it’s a huge upgrade over the original Blu-ray audio.
This title was reviewed using a Samsung UBD-K8500 with a Sony XBR75X850C TV.
There are no 4K exclusive features included on the 4K disc, but it does include a copy of the Blu-ray.
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