Blu-ray review: 'Underworld' trilogy

The "Underworld" trilogy -- so obsessed with time, lineage and the great ghostly events of the past -- undergoes a resurrection of sorts with the home-video release of its third chapter.

Those revisiting the vampire vs. werewolf series can tear into fresh meat by rearranging the three films into a linear chronology.

In other words, start with the newly released prequel, "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans," proceed through the original "Underworld," and wrap with the sequel "Underworld Evolution." For extra impact, upgrade to Blu-ray with the new box set.

The final shot in "Lycans" feeds right into the original film, whose final sequence runs directly into the sequel.

"Underworld" co-creator Len Wiseman says that's all part of the master plan, the strange fruits of "an eight-year journey" for the filmmakers. The chronological trick works smashingly well, except for one nasty flashback inconsistency that we'll deal with later.

Alas, none of this temporal tomfoolery elevates the "Underworld" series from the genre bog. No one will ever confuse the "Underworld" trilogy with the "Matrix" trilogy. Still, these are well-crafted, above-average horror/monster movies that offer quite a few guilty pleasures.

"Underworld" fans appreciate the slick and gloomy atmospherics, the work of British actors such as Michael Sheen, the special effects and, primarily, the skin-tight "Death Dealer" costume of Kate Beckinsale. 

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" on DVD and Blu-ray. The film also completes the "Underworld Trilogy" set.  

Wiseman, who directed the first two films, points out that his series is unusual today in not coming from source material such as novels or comic books. The "Underworld" chronicles run on original content, he points out in the feature-length DVD commentary for "Lycans."

True, but quite a few influences run amuck. The first two films owe plenty to "Blade," "The Matrix," John Woo's HK films and even Shakespeare, whose "Romeo and Juliet" theme holds together the trilogy.

In "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans," the mashup includes Roger Corman's Edgar Allen Poe movies, the classic Universal and Hammer horror films, gladiator pics and even "Alien," whose claustrophobic contributions to the dungeons-and-tunnels scenes are acknowledged with an unmistakable visual gag. (Lycans are werewolves, BTW.)

Most critics who bothered to review "Lycans" found it the weakest film in the series, pointing to the absence of director Wiseman, replaced by effects wizard Patrick Tatopoulos. The series star, Beckinsale, sat this one out as well. A few brave critics, however, declared it the best "Underworld" film. 

"Lycans" was built upon the flashbacks of ancient death and torture used in the first two movies. These are the savage events from 600 years ago that triggered the war between the elegant vampires and the blue-collar werewolves.

The vampire lord Viktor (Bill Nighy) kills a werewolf who seems to have given birth to a human child. The child grows up in slavery at Viktor's castle, with an eye for the vampire leader's daughter, Sonja (Rhona Mitra, left). She and the half-werewolf (Sheen, fresh from shooting "Frost/Nixon") become star-crossed lovers, igniting all sorts of passions and uneven CG effects.

The trilogy's continuity problem concerns the black-haired actress Mitra. The earlier movies portrayed her character as a blonde, which made no sense in terms of the plot. Wiseman, who produced "Lycans," says the issue was known at the time of the original filming, but the production was running on fumes and didn't have enough money to convince the first actress to get a dye job. (Wigs, no doubt, were in short supply in Budapest.) The flaw is being digitally resolved for future projects, according to the commentary.

All three "Underworld" movies look great on Blu-ray. "Lycans" was filmed in high definition, while the first two were shot on film. "Lycans" is the darkest of these dark movies, sometimes descending into murk. The "Underworld" color scheme remains consistent -- gun-metal blues consorting with evil-dead blacks. Like ambitious bruises.

Audio is solid on all three Blu-rays, sometimes remarkable, as the combat rages across the TrueHD 5.1 sonic stages. Some important dialogue is muffled or poorly mixed, especially in "Evolution" and "Lycans." 

The fun and informative commentary on "Lycans" features Wiseman, director Tatopoulos, producers Richard Wright and Gary Lucchesi, and visual effects chief James McQuaide. The upbeat talk provides a good education in the "Underworld" film series and fills in a few gaps in its mythology. 

The filmmakers share some war stories, such as how actor Nighy's insanely blue contacts and vampire teeth kept falling out while the cameras rolled.

The film was supposed to be shot in Romania, spiritual home to vampires everywhere, but various problems prompted a move to New Zealand, inspired by the "Lord of the Rings" production. The werewolves were done by two different effects houses, probably explaining why some of the beasts look cool and others are lame.

There are three featurettes, the best of which is "The Origin of the Feud" (20 minutes). Its talking heads explain that one justification for "Lycans" was to bring back from the dead several of the main characters in the series, notably Nighy and Sheen. (Look out for spoilers if you're new to the series.) There are hundreds of years worth of stories yet to tell, the filmmakers say.

The "Lycans" Blu-ray has a picture-in-picture track that includes on-location footage and interviews, some recycled from other extras. Listen to the commentary first and go from there.

A music video, HD trailers, a digital-copy disc and a map showing where best to meet up with Lon Chaney and his pack complete the package.