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SYNOPSIS:
When Hellboy, Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien are assigned to investigate
the ghost-infested mansion of a publicity- hound billionaire,
they uncover a plot to resurrect a beautiful yet monstrous
vampire from Professor Bruttenholm’s past. But before
they can stop her bloodbath, Hellboy will have to battle harpies,
hellhounds, a giant werewolf and even the ferocious goddess
Hecate herself.How much crap does a guy have to take from
a Hungarian Blood Countess before he and his surrogate father
can avenge the souls of the damned? It’s going to take
more than just a horde of very pissed-off demons for our heroes
to see the light in this animated adventure from Creative
Producers Guillermo Del Toro (writer/director of the HELLBOY
movie) and Mike Mignola (creator of HELLBOY comics), now loaded
with all-new Bonus Features.
MOVIE
REVIEW
"Blood and Iron" marks a new inclusion
to the many mythical tales from Hellboy and gang (B.P.R.D,
Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense to be precise)
in pulp form (aka graphic novels aka comics) and film media.
Similar to “Sword of Storms”, this animated series
takes the paranormal investigators into realm of famous folklores
and well known horror genre. While “Sword of Storms”
took on the Japanese myths that might be relatively obscure
to viewers here, “Blood and Iron”’s focus
on vampire and ghost infested mansion shouldn’t be that
unfamiliar.
Basically,
for Hellboy stories (both the animated and motion live action
picture), the enjoyment is not so much derived from the events
that happening but pretty much more on the immersing of the
characters that lived in Hellboy’s realm.
And although this animated film is being headline by the prophesized
big red demon that will bring destruction to the world, it
felt that it was really the story of Professor Broom and his
adventures during his younger days.
His interaction with a priest was one the highlight that I
enjoyed in this animation. It spoke of the power of faith
and no matter how religiously decorated one might be or how
one might be boasting, the real measure of faith will only
comes when horrifying events occur to that individual.
Another highlight would be the handling Professor Broom character
in this tale. It shows that sometimes, you don’t necessary
need supernatural power to deal with the horror elements.
Just add some wits would be equally effective as giving the
ghouls the bashing of their lives.
However
"Blood and Iron" isn’t without weakness and
in this case, some parts felt that it was unnecessary padded
to increase the run time to full feature length. Especially
bits that featured Hellboy and the constant reaffirmation
on his future destiny (which was great in The Golden Army)
got a bit of draggy. Ironically, later on in the Bonus Features
that this DVD provides, I found out that the actual padded
moments were the one that I actually liked about this cartoon.
Bloody Ironical if you ask me.
Basically "Blood and Iron" utilized the age old
favourite vampire genre, mixing it with mythical creatures
to add more insights to Hellboy and Professor Broom’s
character. While it succeeded in giving more dimension to
Professor Broom’s character, the continuous reaffirmation
of Hellboy’s destiny felt unnecessary long. Since the
third Hellboy movie won’t be coming anytime soon, Blood
and Iron will do just fine to fill in the slot.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Dvd comes with an exclusive comic book titled
as The Yearning which is the same that could be found in Sword
of Storm. In The Yearning, Hellboy and gang to the snowy mountains
for another adventurous encounter that cross path with another
fable character.
Reversal of Fortune: Professor Broom’s Story -
This is where the irony bits that was revealed (to me). It
turned out that there was a special reason why flashback sequences
was used and it turned out to be those unintended last minute
inclusion that worked very well. In this segment, viewers
are given a chance to watch the flashback sequences in a chronological
manner. Rather novel if you ask me.
Tales from the Tomb: A Look Inside Blood & Iron
- This segment basically features the creator, director, scriptwriter
and various crews talking about the various aspect of the
film from the initial concept to the various changes made
along the way.
Iron
Shoes: The Animated Debut with Introduction - A
very short animated feature that comes with an introduction
by Mike Mignola and features voice performance by Ron Perlman
and Dan Castellaneta.
Behind the Mask Trailer - A trailer for a
non-Hellboy related teenage slasher horror flick. This trailer
played automatically before the main feature and could be
skipped by pressing the main menu button.
Audio
Commentary by Mike Mignola, Tad Stones and Vic Cook
- This
commentary by the creator of Hellboy and directors gave an
informative and revealing commentary on the making of Hellboy
Blood and Iron. They certainly didn’t hold back on how
creative inputs by the corporate personals made things better
and worse at different times. The commentary which felt like
a friendly banter between close friends revealed various interesting
incidents that happened during the production. Worthwhile
listening to if you are interested in film production or the
creative process for Hellboy Blood and Iron.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Blood
and Iron is presented in 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with
English 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack and Chinese subtitle.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Richard Lim Jr
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