• Release Date: 2007-06-05
• Genre: Fantasy
• Artist Name: John Hurt, Doug Jones, Angus MacInnes, Ron Perlman, David Hyde Pierce, Jeffrey Tambor, Karel Roden, Biddy Hodson, Brian Steele, Selma Blair, Corey Johnson, Ladislav Beran, James Babson, Rupert Evans, Brian Caspe, Kevin Trainor, Garth Cooper, Jim Howick, Stephen H. Fisher
• Director: Guillermo del Toro
• AMG Rating:
• MPAA Rating: Unrated
• Category: Feature Films
• Cautions: Sci-Fi Violence
• Year: 2004
• Running Time: 132
• Movie Country of Origin: USA
• Available Language: English
• Subtitles: Eng/Fre/AR/Ger/HR/
  

Mike Mignola's acclaimed comic book series about a creature from Hades who joins the battle against evil arrives on the screen in vivid form in this adaptation directed by distinctive horror filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. During World War II, the Third Reich has joined forces with the evil Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden), who has used his occult powers to summon up a young demon from the depth of Hell to be used as the ultimate Axis weapon. However, the demonic creature is captured by American forces, and put in the care of Professor Broom (John Hurt), the founder of a top-secret organization called the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Under Broom's tutelage, the creature develops empathy and a desire to do good while his physical powers and paranormal talents are honed to a fine point. Sixty years later, the demon, now known as Hellboy (Ron Perlman), is part of an elite secret defense team alongside Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a beautiful young woman who can create fire with her mind, and Abe Sapian (Doug Jones), an aquatic humanoid with the power of telepathy. Despite his many years of fighting for right, Hellboy finds himself facing his greatest challenge when the powerful Rasputin returns, determined to bring the demon back to the forces of darkness so that evil may finally rule the world. Hellboy's supporting cast also includes Jeffrey Tambor, Rupert Evans, and Brian Steele. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Action, Fantasy

Devil Worship, Heroic Mission, Opposites Attract, Unlikely Heroes

Goth, Creepy, Eerie, Visceral, Humorous, Atmospheric

DVD Features

• Audio commentary with director Guillermo Del Toro
• "Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation" documentary
• Deleted scenes with optional director's commentary
• VFX How-to's
• Make-up and lighting tests
• Scott McCloud's guide to understanding comics

DVD Chapters

• Disc #1 -- Hellboy
• 1. Chapter 1
• 2. Chapter 2
• 3. Chapter 3
• 4. Chapter 4
• 5. Chapter 5
• 6. Chapter 6
• 7. Chapter 7
• 8. Chapter 8
• 9. Chapter 9
• 10. Chapter 10
• 11. Chapter 11
• 12. Chapter 12
• 13. Chapter 13
• 14. Chapter 14
• 15. Chapter 15
• 16. Chapter 16

Review

Completely original and stunningly realized, Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy is a masterstroke of awe-inspired entertainment that sparkles with bold storytelling that dares to go where no monster movie has gone before. Adapted from the original Hellboy comic miniseries The Seed of Destruction, the film takes creator Mike Mignola's dynamic graphic style and molds it into its own cinematic marvel, using a color palette that explodes around one of the strangest lead characters ever brought to the screen. However dark his origins might be, Hellboy (as brilliantly embodied by Ron Perlman) fits the American action-hero role to a T; full of witty one-liners and the first to fearlessly jump into the fray, the character is immediately personable and a perfect fit for the kind of bigger-than-life heroes to which people have flocked for years. What's wonderful, too, is that there's an incredible amount of heart to this beast -- in fact, to the whole film. When the movie's not wowing you with its stellar production design or thrilling you with its wall-to-wall action, the filmmakers have instilled real emotion into a story line that, for all good measure, probably wouldn't have been this juicy if it were not for del Toro. Bringing a loving humanity to each of this film's strange clique of characters isn't something that any storyteller would just pull out of their hat for a flick like this, which is all the more reason to soak it up here. For your buck, you not only get over-the-top action, but also a comical adventure that's based around a gothic tale of love and belonging (oh yes, with a whole lot of Lovecraftian horror for good measure). If that sounds like a little too much, don't worry, because all of those pieces only fit together only for the sake of pleasing you, the viewer. With a genuinely quirky score from Marco Beltrami that thankfully strays far away from Danny Elfman's recent cut-and-paste superhero jobs, Hellboy in every way looks, feels, and sounds completely different from anything else out there. If ever Hollywood had the cards stacked against it while selling a comic book idea to general audiences, this is it. The fact that it works is unbelievable. The fact that it's as fun as it is makes it that much more satisfying. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi