I always figured vampires s fairies would make more sense. Fairies are the living embodiment of nature, and the balance between growth and decay, so right there they would have serous issues with creatures who cling onto a sort of half life by leaching off of others. Vampires surround themselves with humanity, fairies avoid civilization. And as far as parties go, Fairy parties are literally the stuff of legends.
@@kyriss12 I really like how she describes the trope of vampires vs. werewolves as being as old as "pirates vs. zombies", in a nod to the fact that the trope originated with Vampire: The Masquerade. In Eastern European lore, vampires and werewolves are seen as almost the same creature- in some countries it was believed that werewolves return as vampires after death. However, Albanian folklore contains a sort of variant were mundane wolves hate and kill vampires.
what's interesting about the Vampire versus werewolf debate is that it could be seen as almost a class divide. the vampires representing high society and werewolves representing the blue collar middle to lower classes. which seems like a pretty fair assessment since you rarely associate werewolves with fine business suits holding dignified social gatherings. and vampires aren't exactly known for engaging in bar room brawls while chugging on beers, until you get to True Blood that is.
I kind of want to disagree with you, because I would argue in the movie The Wolf Man (1941) he is at least upper middle class with a healthy social life. But I realise that it would be the exception because most other werewolf movies aren't like that. I also wouldn't say that Orlok belongs to a high society (even though he is presumably wealthy) and neither are the vampires in From Dusk Till Dawn.
As stupid and immature as the tomb of bill series could be, I really like how they changed the vampires natural enemies from werewolves to big feet. One is a creature that defies the order of life and death clinging on to the trappings of civilization by praying on other. The other are spirits that are the living embodiment of nature, and defenders of the wilderness. It’s also later discovered that vampires are resurrected by cutting off big foot spirits from the collective, driving them insane, and then binding them to a dead body. So yeah they tend to view killing vampires as freeing their own kind as well as an act of revenge.
I LOVE the original Underworld, specifically the characterizations of Raze and Lucian, who seemed to start off as cold blooded monsters but ended up being the good guys. I only wished that they could have made Lucian seem a little more sinister initially- he seemed genuinely pissed at the two Lycans fighting each other for fun but merely yelled at them like a stern father rather than, say, slap them both to make his point. Also, Kraven's decision to shoot Lucian just as he was about to fight Victor made no sense at all- Victor KNEW Kraven betrayed him and was on his way to kill him anyway, so wouldn't it had been more beneficial to just have the guy he wanted to overthrow fight a guy who routinely insulted him and have them kill each other? What the hell was Kraven's endgame in this? Underworld 2 had even bigger plotholes (but excellent monster designs, which is why I still watch it), Underworld 3 I give a pass because it explained why Lucian and Victor hated each other (though seeing Lucian as a bare chested, swashbuckling hero is a bit of a step down from his more morally ambiguous persona in the first movie) and 4 and 5 were just embarrassments that barely have anything to do with the original three movies other than have Selene in them. As a whole, I give the franchise a 5.5, but the first movie, despite the Kraven plothole, I give a 9 out 0f 10
ERIKA (Or is it ERICA?): Why did you bring him here? SELENE: He saved my life. MAVEN: (Phantom voiceover): Because the script says so ... Best comment on almost any movie churned out in the last decade.
Just so you know, even though the country (or setting I should say) of the film is never explicitly said in the movie, it is implied that the story takes place in the country of Hungary. According to the novel, Michael's paternal grandparents were originally from Budapest but they fled to the US during World War II and Michael was born sometime in the 1970s and grew up in Long Island, NY. His grandfather also took Michael to visit Budapest when he was a child for a summer, and years later after his fiance died from injuries obtained in a car crash, Michael decided to leave America for good and decided to spend the rest of his days in Budapest because that's the only other place that felt like home to him. But aside from the novelization, when Selene searches Michael's apartment in the first film, if you look closely at his book shelf, you can see an English-Hungarian dictionary there. Also the river that they crashed in the first film is actually the Dunabe River which runs all through of Eastern and Central Europe, (and straight through the city of Budapest).
Near the beginning of the second one, some human policemen try to arrest Michael nd they are shouting in... Hungarian? I’m not sure but it wasn’t English or any Romance language
@@wolfgang6442 British actors been tearing it up lately. I think half the cast of The Walking Dead is British (though they use American accents obviously).
First of all. White Wolf sued over the trailer ripping of their aesthetic and world not the movie (how could they, they hadn't seen the movie when they sued). It was after that they got the script and compiled a list of all things similar in any way. That's how Intellectual Property law works. It's the aggregate of similarities that are relevant not the individual ones. Second, thanks to how IP laws work they had to sue because the Underworld trailer was just similar enough that if they hadn't sued and someone later came along and made something that truly was a rip of then those people could have just pointed to Underworld and asked White Wolf why they hadn't sued that and that would have worked. Not claiming that Underworld did rip of World of Darkness (only the makers of Underworld can answer that) just that there was enough for White Wolf to make a case and that it would have been foolish to not sue if they didn't want to lose control of their IP.
Personally, both vamps and wolves are intriguing in their own ways. The Vampire represents elegance and appeals to my introverted lonesome side. Werewolves are pack creatures and you know that someone will always be ready to have your back. They seem to have less rules than the vamps, and that can be seen as freeing sometimes.
+Nagoragama thanks! There's some great stuff in there. Oldman is INCREDIBLE, the practical effects & make up r great, the story sticks pretty close to the book compared to other Dracula movies, and there's so legitimate scares & striking imagery. It's not perfect (looking at u Keanu & Winona) but I think it's worth a 2nd look.
Normally, I'm very unforgiving when it comes to films. But, dammit... Underworld is such a guilty pleasure for me. Like you said, the film had heart, and obviously the creators wanted to make a film they truly had passion for. Personally, I love the the scientific background for the Vampires and the Lycans. It's nice to see a fresh take on the species, and that makes it very cool in my opinion. A lot of people shit on the look of the Lycans, which is completely understandable because, lets face it... they look like giant mutant rats. But I like the way they look, mostly because they're supposed to be twisted monsters of their former selves, and a design from, say, Van Helsing would look to "perfect" for a design based on realism. Also, I will always admire a filmmakers will to use practical effects over CGI. Especially at the part where the Lycans had to climb on walls, which I must imagine was a pain in the ass to get those 100-hundred pound suits plus the animatronics on there. It's not a great film by any means, in fact, it's straight up lukewarm, and maybe even some would consider that to be to forgiving. Everything else is pretty meh, characters are meh, acting is meh, writing is meh, action is meh and fucking abysmal with filming. Just a meh movie. But I'll be damned if I don't love it.
"Does every weapon she looks at make a noise?" -- that sequence makes me laugh so much! Perhaps the best 10 seconds in the whole of a brilliant corpus of videos!
Swash oftheWind From what I've seen of urban fantasy in general, if the religious themes are phased out then they are typically replaced with disability and/or minority themes.
I admit it I am pro-Action Girl in a catsuit. I have seen all the Underworld Movies in the theaters except Rise of the Lycans because I was broke at the time.
I think an individual's enjoyment of these films is going come down to their level of tolerance for pure, undiluted Rule of Cool based storytelling. My tolerance is quite high so I love them.
All these years and still no one has made a joke clip where ancient vampires are engaged in a bitter feud with a bunch of lichen growing on some trees. You're a vampire, Maven, make it happen damn it! :O
In the underworld universe there is a distinction between Lycans and werewolves. Lycans: are those bitten and infected by Lucian who has a unique strain of the wolf Corvinus virus that allows them to be both wolf and human Werewolves: are bitten by William who has the original strain of the wolf Corvinus virus that never regain their human forms again. And vampires: have a third Bat version of the Corvinus virus that stems Markus.
In Transylvania Vampires and werewolves are the same. A "Strigoi" is a witch that drinks blood and turn into a wolf at will. A lot like Bram's Dracula.
Agreed the werewolves are having a good time. On the other hand, vampire party has Sophia Myles and Kate Beckinsale. Albeit, Selene doesn't stop for fun much.
I've seen nearly all the underworld films, including the recent one, and all attempts to build upon the mythology set down in the first film tend to result in each successive film becoming less and less interesting. by the time you get to Blood Wars, it seems like Beckinsale is just phoning it in.
The Werewolves versus Vampires debate has always seemed kinda unbalanced to me. At least in the terms of which I would rather be. Realistically, the vampires are definitely the better choice. Because, for the most part, the turmoil they face is often psychological and emotional. The loss of humanity, being set adrift in time and whatnot. Whereas, if you're a werewolf you are forced once a month to undergo an extremely uncomfortable and painful procedure where your body if twisted and malformed, you lose control of yourself, are overwhelmed by your base animal instinct and blood lust, and in the process ending countless lives, causing countless damage, and are still mortal as fuck. Not a very balanced choice.
There are other versions of werewolf. That's the Lycanthrope (named after King Lycan who pissed off Zeus and was cursed to be a wolf-man because of it). There are versions where the werewolf is the wolf that walks as man, born a wolf but takes the shape of man to walk among humanity for safety and, possibly, to prey upon them. There are versions where the werewolf is someone who has learned the spell to become a wolf (hunting small prey sounds like a good idea when your food supply is severely curtailed by the local Lord taking all your grain or, if you buy into the myths about wolves, the sheer power).
The One and Only Michael McCormick Yeah, I blame the movie "Wolfman" for that. It's got more potential than it's allowed. Just doing what I can to make the other ways more accessible.
The One and Only Michael McCormick When the transformations are entirely by choice, werewolf wins in my book. Otherwise, if it's *just* a curse, then it's not cool but just something that happens to you.
I saw Underworld in the theater and it left an impression on me that I related to my friends that went with me. "That was so close to being a good movie."
Have you ever seen/done a review of Being Human (at least the BBC one- I've never really bothered with the American version)? They have a version of the vampires vs. werewolves thing too plus an interesting take on vampires that *really* compares them to addicts down to having the two vampire leads basically play addicts, having them attend "AA meetings" (Discworld did that one too though this goes less well), and having relapse be very probable. Plus the whole thing of, you are a nasty person when you are on [addictive substance of choice] and you'll hurt everyone who loves you/burn your life down when you fall off the wagon. But unlike Angel there's no convenient soul thing that can keep you safe. It's addict vs. recovering addict.
i LOVE the Underworld franchise - and im not ashamed to admit it :) just found your channel - LOVE your cosplay + style - very macabre ELVIRA esque ;) you should do this kind of this for October/Halloween - post pools asking what horror films your subs would like to see you review! anyone ever tell you you are the spitting image of a young "Melissa Joan Hart aka Sabrina Teenage Witch" :)
Talking about the Idea of Vampires VS Werwolf entering the Mainstream - there was that one Episode of the Real Ghostbusters Cartoon where the main Plot was focusing on a group of Vampires trying to lock all the Werwolfs up in order to take over the Town of Lupusville. The Episode ended with a big Vampire VS Werwolf Battle. That was back in the late 80s.
I've always wanted give-no-fucks vampires. Ala: immortals who don't have the super power of magical reflexes and shit... But just "kill" themselves repeatedly. Like with this, had she broken her legs terribly after jumping off the building and then creepily repaired herself. Would be an amusing change of pace from the "never hurt" brand of immortality.
Great review of UNDERWORLD, Maven. The references to the Old World of Darkness is delightful and that would be an excellent subject to discuss itself. I also liked how you pointed out the vampires weren't very uh...vampy.
Lady Maven, don't be so hard on Seline :( She really resonated with me, she had her job to fill the void in her heart. She trusted her daddy/boss 100% and had absolute faith that when things are grim he will set them straight. The film had me sure/hoping that Victor will fix things, he will listen to her, he won't let them treat her like that. Her disillusion with him was also my own.
What gets me is how it never really got to be "Romeo and Juliet with vampires and werewolves" because Michael never really WAS a werewolf. I mean, technically, I guess you could say he was, briefly, but... he never actually changed forms. He started to, once, but it was stopped because he wasn't even ALLOWED to change for plot reasons, and I think they only threw that sequence in there so they could have more of a justification for SAYING he was a werewolf. I suppose they made him human at first in order for him to act as a surrogate to the audience, but it weakened the core premise down to nonexistence. It might have worked much better if he had always been a Lycan, someone fully indoctrinated into their customs as Selene was with the vampires, forcing both of them to directly cross the gap separating their feuding races. But then, what about the human element? Perhaps the plot could have benefited from being turned on its head and maybe given a sense of humor. For instance... let's assume that more people fantasize about being vampires than werewolves. What if "Selene" was the human at the start of the film? In fact, her name isn't really Selene, it's Suzanne or something. She's a regular human being who has a fascination with vampires, just like lots of people (and presumably the target audience). One day she's targeted for assimilation into a vampire clan. Perhaps they want her for a version of Lucian's plan to create a perfect race, or maybe that whole storyline could be dropped entirely. In any case, "Selene" thinks it's a dream come true, and functions as the surrogate for the audience by being introduced to the Underworld but also seamlessly acting as an example of vampire society through her pre-existing inclinations. But then Michael captures the neophyte bloodsucker for the Lycans, forcing her out of her idealized decadent comfort zone and forcing her to experience a more violent and visceral form of life as she's held captive, a representation of an alternative to the insular life which she indulged in even as a human. The two bond, romance blooms, etc.... Granted, this all would have probably required the films to be less action oriented and more character driven, and basically would've made them entirely different movies. But then, maybe that's not such a bad idea.
When I was very little, I was in love with monster movies.... I actually remember having a mental crisis at the age of 6 when my dad asked me if I would rather be a vampire or werewolf. I actually could not choose and was so distressed by it. In high school I went with a more vampire phase, but always found myself going back to loving werewolves, so to this day I still can't choose. A part of me wants to say I would be a vampire, but it's like a 51:49 ratio on that.
I was in the Camarilla (LARP) when Underwold came out. We of course went to see it and thought the lawsuit was ridiculous. We were like okay, what part of this is like out game...oh, you see when Selena comes in the gathering, bypasses all the vampires lounging about doing nothing & goes straight to the important people - yep that is all the Camarilla games I've been too. Person with plot from the Storytellers shows up and goes to the primogen (as they should) then the primogen will go take care of it instead of sending other people (as they should). I believe in the movie only Selena leaves because she is told "whatever" but in our games, all the important people would then leave to take care of the plot while the rest of us just con't to sit around entertaining ourselves not even been told what the issue was.
1:14 Please say you're planning to review Razor Blade Smile.(Also, love the outfits. I wish I had your wardrobe, and enough valid reasons to wear that stuff every day!)
The best part of the first movie was the abrupt plot twist - you start off thinking that Selene and the vampires are righteous because they're better defined for the audience as individuals, whereas the Lycans are largely just a faceless horde. It takes a complete outsider, Michael, to point out that most vampires aren't certain about the history of the war because their leaders discourage questions (or fraternisation). Finally we learn that Lucian is a freedom fighter and that the Lycans are victims of centuries of brutality. It was very well done.
The annoying thing is that the people claiming the copyright on my Blade review are Blip.tv which is the old website where I used to host my videos. Blip doesn't even exist anymore! And the parts they are claiming copyright to are sections of me on screen. Like they have a copyright to my own face. It's definitely completely bogus, but nothing I've done to fight it has worked so far.
Razor Blade Smile refrence made me think it would be neat to maybe a top 10 low budget vampire movies(though i am not entirely sure Razor Blade makes it)
Give some credit to the actors. Michael Sheen is a classy actor, Bill Nighy is worth watching in anything and Kate Beckinsale is wearing a rubber suit.
One thing i never understood about the movie and series as a whole, is the lack of any female werewolves. Its something that’s bothered me for 15 years. Also, even as a vampire lover, the wolves were way stronger and badass than the vampires in this. Still, my 12/13 year old loved this movie when it came out.
Year's late response (just getting into Maven) but I've read up to Narcissus Unchained I think it was. An interesting premise that kinda devolved into smut.
Valid points. I am not giving up burritos, so I am team Were. Besides, if I got changed now, I would be stuck with a beer gut for ETERNITY! No one wants that. I am just glad none of these vamps go out in the sun, the exception being Blade, I don't care for that business. Adam
its not dodging bullets its creating an energy field which is a drain on the vampires resources, shes not just cutting true the floor shes pushing true it,, the helicopter scene in the second movie is Marcus summoning his own power,
ya know i know this is a lackluster movie series and really just action movies with supernatural twist but this series and the resident evil series will always be my favorite movie series. I dont even know why.
My family fights like Vampires and Werewolves/Lycans. I always wanted to be a Death Dealer. I always wanted to be that person who went out night after night taking out the monsters. Not necessarily because I wanted to make the world a better place or because I wanted an award or what have you, but because I felt such rage at the thought of monsters being free to run amok, destroying and killing whenever the mood struck them. I wanted to kill them for the same reason a janitor does, it needs to be done.
I think the writer who starred that you mentioned who was big, did look like a white wolf nerd, just like vin diesel is a self professed role playing nerd.
Since at this time this is your latest video on youtube I will say this here. On JonTron's review of Dark Dungeons, your name is referenced at 12:51 by the movie which I thought was weird. It says The Complete History of Vampire Maiden of Eventide.
Matthias Corvinus King of Hungary and Croatia both imprisoned Vlad Tepes and later when he heard what he did to the turks freed him and had him lead an army.
Coming from a fan of Werewolves here, I think the big reason one might choose the Claw over the Tooth is, in my personal opinion atleast, the social structure of each group. Vampires tend to have more class in fiction, sure, but as their numbers grow, so does the chances of them stabbing each other in the back in a power struggle. A small group tends to be fairly safe from this, but in a larger group? They aren't very trusting of each other. Werewolves, on the other hand, tend to be trusting and embracing, treating each other with a level of respect, each member of the pack having their role, without having a superiority complex. Sure, the Vampires live it up in lavish luxury, but they risk it all trying to ascend the throne. Werewolves have little in terms of material possessions, so to what would they gain from inner fighting? Aside from the occasional fight for the title of "Alpha", which is more rare in Werewolf fiction, they have more to lose. Along with that, Vampires tend to have more weaknesses than Vampires. The typical weaknesses of a vampire in popular media include sunlight, garlic, crosses, holy water, running water, stake to the heart, decapitation, silver, usually including and removing some at the writer's discretion. Werewolves tend to only have to fear Silver in some shape or form, though other major bodily harm such as evisceration or decapitation seem to also do the job. Overall though, I think it really comes down to what kind of a dark-life you'd want. One of luxury and distrust, or one of the wild and comfort.
Anyone else think it’s ironic that our modern ideas of vampires were from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and in the book Dracula could not only control wolves but actually BECOME a werewolf.
Here’s my problem with the movie. The investment of the plot is poor. I just couldn’t with the characters I found them being to serious. They didn’t even smile once. I expect comedy but at one laugh or a few smiles. Second of all I have to adore the design and action parts were AWESOME.
I could have imagined werewolf exchange student in the Carmilla webseries... Werewolf Exchange Student is in full werewolf form... Carmilla: Time of the month? Werewolf (in Geordie accent): Awwww ye knaa what it is? I swear down, the next time someone makes that crappy joke, I'll chew them up, spit them out, shite on what's left of their corpse and then I'll *proper* start on them! Carmilla: (gingerly placing a pack of Kotex on the sideboard) Just um... y'know... And on a different occassion... Werewolf exchange student in human form: ... Carmilla: (ruffles exchange student's hair) Who's a wuvverwey doggy-woggy? Who's a bonny lassie-wassie?" Werewolf: OK... this getting a bot out of order... Carmilla: (ball in hand) y'want the ball? Y'want the ball? Y'wanna fetch the ball? Werewolf: Right this is racial harrassment and I will put in a complaint! Lucy: (to Maddie) Does that really count as racism? Maddie: You know what... she might be a lowly dog... but yeah, I think thi this does count as racist... wrewolves may be scum... but they are a race of scum... and as human of my... certain persuaion... I identify with some for some reason...
The movie looks pretty but thats about it. Also, for a movie that looks really good and has many good outfits, what the male vampires wear is all pretty boring.
Do any extended cuts of Underworld or Underworld 2 show what happened to Ericka? She lets Selene go and just never reappears at all in the entire franchise. Marcus did burn down the mansion after he became a hybrid in the second movie... did Ericka die in the fire?
you got me! I really enjoyed this video and I would like to thank you for this video. I do share your opinion too and I also hate it how weak these vampires are.... anyways keep going! :D
This movie puts me to sleep every time I try to watch it. It's the Liquid Sunshine Bullets, my brain just can't do it, and I play White Wolf games. I really had no idea there was so much to this movie.
In the Underworldverse I don't know how any of the vampires stand a chance against the 8 foot lycans with claws and teeth like that. This was the first time I thought werewolves were bad a$$
Can you give me a source for the Vampires are dead Werewolves? My understanding is that vampires are a kind of deadly ghost that usually results from people who die horribly. They originally had all the attributes of a ghost: could only go where they were welcome in life, could only be seen by their relatives or witches, could walk through walls, return to their graves at dawn. Werewolves have a totally separate origin as shape changing sorcerers. Although I can see some crossovers, if a werewolf was killed horribly they might turn into a vampire. But I haven't heard of that as the origin of vampires.
![ทุกครั้งที่หลับตา (Lucid Dream) - AYLA's [ Official MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4i1OBAQyv58/mqdefault.jpg)
Wait--Michael Sheen? So the leader of the werewolves--was played by the leader of the Volturi in Twilight. That is hilarious.
and now he's an angel
See, even Werewolfs don't want to be Werewolfs.
@@hujan1744 they're the same damn thing
@@Jane-oz7ppok, my mistake there then XD
I never even realized that. Thank you.
Come on, Selene landing perfectly after jumping several stories and then just walking it off like "and what?" was dopest of the dope!
Vampire vs. Werewolves a class war. Bestiality or Necrophilia. A girl's choice is never easy.
Diamonddusted68 once you go wyld,
everything is out of style.
I always figured vampires s fairies would make more sense. Fairies are the living embodiment of nature, and the balance between growth and decay, so right there they would have serous issues with creatures who cling onto a sort of half life by leaching off of others. Vampires surround themselves with humanity, fairies avoid civilization.
And as far as parties go, Fairy parties are literally the stuff of legends.
@@kyriss12 I really like how she describes the trope of vampires vs. werewolves as being as old as "pirates vs. zombies", in a nod to the fact that the trope originated with Vampire: The Masquerade. In Eastern European lore, vampires and werewolves are seen as almost the same creature- in some countries it was believed that werewolves return as vampires after death. However, Albanian folklore contains a sort of variant were mundane wolves hate and kill vampires.
Screw Twilight, Vampire Diaries, and the Teen Wolf show. THIS move series is how you make werewolves look like actual werewolves.
Am I right?
what's interesting about the Vampire versus werewolf debate is that it could be seen as almost a class divide. the vampires representing high society and werewolves representing the blue collar middle to lower classes. which seems like a pretty fair assessment since you rarely associate werewolves with fine business suits holding dignified social gatherings. and vampires aren't exactly known for engaging in bar room brawls while chugging on beers, until you get to True Blood that is.
It's never exactly a subtle parable though, is it?
I kind of want to disagree with you, because I would argue in the movie The Wolf Man (1941) he is at least upper middle class with a healthy social life. But I realise that it would be the exception because most other werewolf movies aren't like that. I also wouldn't say that Orlok belongs to a high society (even though he is presumably wealthy) and neither are the vampires in From Dusk Till Dawn.
Warren Zevon’s Werewolves of London are portrayed as high society. Love that song
@@PonzooonTheGreat subtle is highly overrated. :p
As stupid and immature as the tomb of bill series could be, I really like how they changed the vampires natural enemies from werewolves to big feet.
One is a creature that defies the order of life and death clinging on to the trappings of civilization by praying on other.
The other are spirits that are the living embodiment of nature, and defenders of the wilderness.
It’s also later discovered that vampires are resurrected by cutting off big foot spirits from the collective, driving them insane, and then binding them to a dead body. So yeah they tend to view killing vampires as freeing their own kind as well as an act of revenge.
I LOVE the original Underworld, specifically the characterizations of Raze and Lucian, who seemed to start off as cold blooded monsters but ended up being the good guys. I only wished that they could have made Lucian seem a little more sinister initially- he seemed genuinely pissed at the two Lycans fighting each other for fun but merely yelled at them like a stern father rather than, say, slap them both to make his point. Also, Kraven's decision to shoot Lucian just as he was about to fight Victor made no sense at all- Victor KNEW Kraven betrayed him and was on his way to kill him anyway, so wouldn't it had been more beneficial to just have the guy he wanted to overthrow fight a guy who routinely insulted him and have them kill each other? What the hell was Kraven's endgame in this?
Underworld 2 had even bigger plotholes (but excellent monster designs, which is why I still watch it), Underworld 3 I give a pass because it explained why Lucian and Victor hated each other (though seeing Lucian as a bare chested, swashbuckling hero is a bit of a step down from his more morally ambiguous persona in the first movie) and 4 and 5 were just embarrassments that barely have anything to do with the original three movies other than have Selene in them. As a whole, I give the franchise a 5.5, but the first movie, despite the Kraven plothole, I give a 9 out 0f 10
ERIKA (Or is it ERICA?): Why did you bring him here?
SELENE: He saved my life.
MAVEN: (Phantom voiceover): Because the script says so ...
Best comment on almost any movie churned out in the last decade.
Just so you know, even though the country (or setting I should say) of the film is never explicitly said in the movie, it is implied that the story takes place in the country of Hungary. According to the novel, Michael's paternal grandparents were originally from Budapest but they fled to the US during World War II and Michael was born sometime in the 1970s and grew up in Long Island, NY. His grandfather also took Michael to visit Budapest when he was a child for a summer, and years later after his fiance died from injuries obtained in a car crash, Michael decided to leave America for good and decided to spend the rest of his days in Budapest because that's the only other place that felt like home to him. But aside from the novelization, when Selene searches Michael's apartment in the first film, if you look closely at his book shelf, you can see an English-Hungarian dictionary there. Also the river that they crashed in the first film is actually the Dunabe River which runs all through of Eastern and Central Europe, (and straight through the city of Budapest).
Wow good observation I honestly thought they were in the UK being as their all British
Near the beginning of the second one, some human policemen try to arrest Michael nd they are shouting in... Hungarian? I’m not sure but it wasn’t English or any Romance language
@@wolfgang6442 British actors been tearing it up lately. I think half the cast of The Walking Dead is British (though they use American accents obviously).
@@justcrapynames the second film was filmed in Canada (Vancouver) but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were speaking Hungarian or even German.
First of all. White Wolf sued over the trailer ripping of their aesthetic and world not the movie (how could they, they hadn't seen the movie when they sued). It was after that they got the script and compiled a list of all things similar in any way. That's how Intellectual Property law works. It's the aggregate of similarities that are relevant not the individual ones.
Second, thanks to how IP laws work they had to sue because the Underworld trailer was just similar enough that if they hadn't sued and someone later came along and made something that truly was a rip of then those people could have just pointed to Underworld and asked White Wolf why they hadn't sued that and that would have worked.
Not claiming that Underworld did rip of World of Darkness (only the makers of Underworld can answer that) just that there was enough for White Wolf to make a case and that it would have been foolish to not sue if they didn't want to lose control of their IP.
Personally, both vamps and wolves are intriguing in their own ways. The Vampire represents elegance and appeals to my introverted lonesome side. Werewolves are pack creatures and you know that someone will always be ready to have your back. They seem to have less rules than the vamps, and that can be seen as freeing sometimes.
Id love to get a full review on Bram Stoker's Dracula from maven sometime
Ooh, that sounds great actually.
Yes that would be awesome, MAVEN! make it happen.
Hear hear! Pretty please
+Nagoragama thanks! There's some great stuff in there. Oldman is INCREDIBLE, the practical effects & make up r great, the story sticks pretty close to the book compared to other Dracula movies, and there's so legitimate scares & striking imagery. It's not perfect (looking at u Keanu & Winona) but I think it's worth a 2nd look.
Seconded!
Normally, I'm very unforgiving when it comes to films. But, dammit... Underworld is such a guilty pleasure for me. Like you said, the film had heart, and obviously the creators wanted to make a film they truly had passion for. Personally, I love the the scientific background for the Vampires and the Lycans. It's nice to see a fresh take on the species, and that makes it very cool in my opinion. A lot of people shit on the look of the Lycans, which is completely understandable because, lets face it... they look like giant mutant rats. But I like the way they look, mostly because they're supposed to be twisted monsters of their former selves, and a design from, say, Van Helsing would look to "perfect" for a design based on realism.
Also, I will always admire a filmmakers will to use practical effects over CGI. Especially at the part where the Lycans had to climb on walls, which I must imagine was a pain in the ass to get those 100-hundred pound suits plus the animatronics on there. It's not a great film by any means, in fact, it's straight up lukewarm, and maybe even some would consider that to be to forgiving. Everything else is pretty meh, characters are meh, acting is meh, writing is meh, action is meh and fucking abysmal with filming.
Just a meh movie. But I'll be damned if I don't love it.
I thought it was funny that the actress that plays erica went on to play the love interest on moonlight, a show about a vampire detective.
"Does every weapon she looks at make a noise?" -- that sequence makes me laugh so much! Perhaps the best 10 seconds in the whole of a brilliant corpus of videos!
As the modern world drifts away from religious stigma it'll be interesting to see how vampire lore evolves.
Swash oftheWind
From what I've seen of urban fantasy in general, if the religious themes are phased out then they are typically replaced with disability and/or minority themes.
I admit it I am pro-Action Girl in a catsuit. I have seen all the Underworld Movies in the theaters except Rise of the Lycans because I was broke at the time.
I think an individual's enjoyment of these films is going come down to their level of tolerance for pure, undiluted Rule of Cool based storytelling. My tolerance is quite high so I love them.
All these years and still no one has made a joke clip where ancient vampires are engaged in a bitter feud with a bunch of lichen growing on some trees. You're a vampire, Maven, make it happen damn it! :O
In the underworld universe there is a distinction between Lycans and werewolves.
Lycans: are those bitten and infected by Lucian who has a unique strain of the wolf Corvinus virus that allows them to be both wolf and human
Werewolves: are bitten by William who has the original strain of the wolf Corvinus virus that never regain their human forms again.
And vampires: have a third Bat version of the Corvinus virus that stems Markus.
In Transylvania Vampires and werewolves are the same. A "Strigoi" is a witch that drinks blood and turn into a wolf at will. A lot like Bram's Dracula.
That comparison between the vampire and werewolf parties kind of backfired. I actually think the werewolf party looks way more fun.
Yea what happens if they fought demons in the movie
Agreed the werewolves are having a good time. On the other hand, vampire party has Sophia Myles and Kate Beckinsale. Albeit, Selene doesn't stop for fun much.
Yes, because most people's idea of fun is beating the shit out of a bunch of other guys in a dark wet sewer whilst drinking cheap booze.
The One and Only Michael McCormick
I live in Kentucky. I understand the words you're saying but not the sarcasm.
+C.T. Phipps But you did recognize it as sarcasm, so good job for that.
I love Underworld for the same reason I love The Fast and the Furious. They're my brain candy babies.
I've seen nearly all the underworld films, including the recent one, and all attempts to build upon the mythology set down in the first film tend to result in each successive film becoming less and less interesting. by the time you get to Blood Wars, it seems like Beckinsale is just phoning it in.
The Werewolves versus Vampires debate has always seemed kinda unbalanced to me. At least in the terms of which I would rather be. Realistically, the vampires are definitely the better choice. Because, for the most part, the turmoil they face is often psychological and emotional. The loss of humanity, being set adrift in time and whatnot. Whereas, if you're a werewolf you are forced once a month to undergo an extremely uncomfortable and painful procedure where your body if twisted and malformed, you lose control of yourself, are overwhelmed by your base animal instinct and blood lust, and in the process ending countless lives, causing countless damage, and are still mortal as fuck. Not a very balanced choice.
There are other versions of werewolf. That's the Lycanthrope (named after King Lycan who pissed off Zeus and was cursed to be a wolf-man because of it).
There are versions where the werewolf is the wolf that walks as man, born a wolf but takes the shape of man to walk among humanity for safety and, possibly, to prey upon them. There are versions where the werewolf is someone who has learned the spell to become a wolf (hunting small prey sounds like a good idea when your food supply is severely curtailed by the local Lord taking all your grain or, if you buy into the myths about wolves, the sheer power).
+WingedWyrm Well, I'm not a wolf, and I don't see the local lord being a problem, so Lycanthropy is probably the most accessible by most people.
The One and Only Michael McCormick Yeah, I blame the movie "Wolfman" for that. It's got more potential than it's allowed.
Just doing what I can to make the other ways more accessible.
+WingedWyrm I mean, I kinda think werewolves are more badass, but I'd much rather be a vampire.
The One and Only Michael McCormick When the transformations are entirely by choice, werewolf wins in my book.
Otherwise, if it's *just* a curse, then it's not cool but just something that happens to you.
I liked Lucian because he was the most complex.
This movie reminded me of Resident Evil and Aeon Flux. The antagonists are different, but the basic story premise and action sequences are the same.
I saw Underworld in the theater and it left an impression on me that I related to my friends that went with me.
"That was so close to being a good movie."
Have you ever seen/done a review of Being Human (at least the BBC one- I've never really bothered with the American version)? They have a version of the vampires vs. werewolves thing too plus an interesting take on vampires that *really* compares them to addicts down to having the two vampire leads basically play addicts, having them attend "AA meetings" (Discworld did that one too though this goes less well), and having relapse be very probable. Plus the whole thing of, you are a nasty person when you are on [addictive substance of choice] and you'll hurt everyone who loves you/burn your life down when you fall off the wagon. But unlike Angel there's no convenient soul thing that can keep you safe. It's addict vs. recovering addict.
i LOVE the Underworld franchise - and im not ashamed to admit it :) just found your channel - LOVE your cosplay + style - very macabre ELVIRA esque ;) you should do this kind of this for October/Halloween - post pools asking what horror films your subs would like to see you review! anyone ever tell you you are the spitting image of a young "Melissa Joan Hart aka Sabrina Teenage Witch" :)
Talking about the Idea of Vampires VS Werwolf entering the Mainstream - there was that one Episode of the Real Ghostbusters Cartoon where the main Plot was focusing on a group of Vampires trying to lock all the Werwolfs up in order to take over the Town of Lupusville. The Episode ended with a big Vampire VS Werwolf Battle. That was back in the late 80s.
I've always wanted give-no-fucks vampires.
Ala: immortals who don't have the super power of magical reflexes and shit...
But just "kill" themselves repeatedly.
Like with this, had she broken her legs terribly after jumping off the building and then creepily repaired herself.
Would be an amusing change of pace from the "never hurt" brand of immortality.
That cow was so cute.
Great review of UNDERWORLD, Maven. The references to the Old World of Darkness is delightful and that would be an excellent subject to discuss itself. I also liked how you pointed out the vampires weren't very uh...vampy.
Thank you Maven! Once again, you rocked it!
I think it's supposed to be set in Budapest. Never been there myself so I can't say how accurate a representation it is.
Aww. I was hoping you were going to talk about the fact that the werewolves were practical effects. :(
Great review.
I remember in the a behind the scene, I think it was the director or art director that said he wanted the werewolves to be more 'cat like'.
It was an allegory for RACISM and "race traitor" "race wars" themes Mave! The writer even talked about this. How could you miss that Maven?!?!
I genuinely laughed so hard at the sword sound effect bit.
Same too😅
I really like to see Lupa with her red hair ;)
(Yes, I know, this video is a bit older ... but still ...)
Red ...like blood
MUHAHAhahahahahah
awesome maybe Dracula prince of darkness and legend of the seven golden vampires next .
Lady Maven, don't be so hard on Seline :( She really resonated with me, she had her job to fill the void in her heart. She trusted her daddy/boss 100% and had absolute faith that when things are grim he will set them straight. The film had me sure/hoping that Victor will fix things, he will listen to her, he won't let them treat her like that. Her disillusion with him was also my own.
If I had to choose between Underworld and Queen of the Damned in the guilty pleasure watch, winner is Underworld.
What gets me is how it never really got to be "Romeo and Juliet with vampires and werewolves" because Michael never really WAS a werewolf.
I mean, technically, I guess you could say he was, briefly, but... he never actually changed forms. He started to, once, but it was stopped because he wasn't even ALLOWED to change for plot reasons, and I think they only threw that sequence in there so they could have more of a justification for SAYING he was a werewolf.
I suppose they made him human at first in order for him to act as a surrogate to the audience, but it weakened the core premise down to nonexistence. It might have worked much better if he had always been a Lycan, someone fully indoctrinated into their customs as Selene was with the vampires, forcing both of them to directly cross the gap separating their feuding races. But then, what about the human element?
Perhaps the plot could have benefited from being turned on its head and maybe given a sense of humor. For instance... let's assume that more people fantasize about being vampires than werewolves. What if "Selene" was the human at the start of the film? In fact, her name isn't really Selene, it's Suzanne or something. She's a regular human being who has a fascination with vampires, just like lots of people (and presumably the target audience).
One day she's targeted for assimilation into a vampire clan. Perhaps they want her for a version of Lucian's plan to create a perfect race, or maybe that whole storyline could be dropped entirely. In any case, "Selene" thinks it's a dream come true, and functions as the surrogate for the audience by being introduced to the Underworld but also seamlessly acting as an example of vampire society through her pre-existing inclinations. But then Michael captures the neophyte bloodsucker for the Lycans, forcing her out of her idealized decadent comfort zone and forcing her to experience a more violent and visceral form of life as she's held captive, a representation of an alternative to the insular life which she indulged in even as a human. The two bond, romance blooms, etc....
Granted, this all would have probably required the films to be less action oriented and more character driven, and basically would've made them entirely different movies. But then, maybe that's not such a bad idea.
Can we all at least agree that the soundtrack is solid?
Whenever I saw ads for this movie, I couldn't help but think "Vampire Matrix"
When I was very little, I was in love with monster movies.... I actually remember having a mental crisis at the age of 6 when my dad asked me if I would rather be a vampire or werewolf. I actually could not choose and was so distressed by it. In high school I went with a more vampire phase, but always found myself going back to loving werewolves, so to this day I still can't choose. A part of me wants to say I would be a vampire, but it's like a 51:49 ratio on that.
Love Underworld...it's a guilty pleasure of mine😊
I love your reviews! Keep them coming!
Hell yes.
She's a whole mood😏🖤
Twilight movies have got NOTHING on Underworld movies so PLEASE do not compare them together out of Respect
Maven of the Eventide
😊.
Have you seen Blood: The Last Vampire? I would like to see your review of that.
Or Blood+
We talking original Anime or the live action?
I have yet to see Blood+. But it's on my list.
The lupa part at the end made me cry with laughter. i loved this review!
I was in the Camarilla (LARP) when Underwold came out. We of course went to see it and thought the lawsuit was ridiculous. We were like okay, what part of this is like out game...oh, you see when Selena comes in the gathering, bypasses all the vampires lounging about doing nothing & goes straight to the important people - yep that is all the Camarilla games I've been too. Person with plot from the Storytellers shows up and goes to the primogen (as they should) then the primogen will go take care of it instead of sending other people (as they should). I believe in the movie only Selena leaves because she is told "whatever" but in our games, all the important people would then leave to take care of the plot while the rest of us just con't to sit around entertaining ourselves not even been told what the issue was.
hey now werewolves are way cooler
What was the music you used in the background? I really dug it.
The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman is a guilty pleasure. Have you done of a review of that milady?
Rayn Wolfsbane I'm hoping on a crossover myself for Werewolf vs Vampire woman. I am itching to strike a blow for Werewolves everywhere.
Indeed my friend, the prejudice against lycanthropes is unacceptable.
1:14 Please say you're planning to review Razor Blade Smile.(Also, love the outfits. I wish I had your wardrobe, and enough valid reasons to wear that stuff every day!)
I had completely forgotten about Razor Blade Smile..
team: werewolf all the way
The best part of the first movie was the abrupt plot twist - you start off thinking that Selene and the vampires are righteous because they're better defined for the audience as individuals, whereas the Lycans are largely just a faceless horde. It takes a complete outsider, Michael, to point out that most vampires aren't certain about the history of the war because their leaders discourage questions (or fraternisation). Finally we learn that Lucian is a freedom fighter and that the Lycans are victims of centuries of brutality. It was very well done.
Love, love, love this movie! I have seen it so many times. I mean it has some plotholes bigger than your average subway tunnel, but I still love it.
She should review Blade, it's one of the best vampire action film out there.
The annoying thing is that the people claiming the copyright on my Blade review are Blip.tv which is the old website where I used to host my videos. Blip doesn't even exist anymore! And the parts they are claiming copyright to are sections of me on screen. Like they have a copyright to my own face. It's definitely completely bogus, but nothing I've done to fight it has worked so far.
Oh I didn't know that. I'm so sorry this happened. This sucks so much.
Underworld is a great movie, awesome story, great acting, special effects top notch, action scenes on point, couldn't have done it any better....
Razor Blade Smile refrence made me think it would be neat to maybe a top 10 low budget vampire movies(though i am not entirely sure Razor Blade makes it)
Give some credit to the actors. Michael Sheen is a classy actor, Bill Nighy is worth watching in anything and Kate Beckinsale is wearing a rubber suit.
I think you'd enjoy playing white wolf's Vampire: the Masquarade LARP. Think of the costumes! I imagine you'd be a Toreador, or maybe a Venture
I like Underworld for the visuals, though there is little else.
One thing i never understood about the movie and series as a whole, is the lack of any female werewolves. Its something that’s bothered me for 15 years. Also, even as a vampire lover, the wolves were way stronger and badass than the vampires in this. Still, my 12/13 year old loved this movie when it came out.
7:00 X,D please tell me I'm not the only person who has read this series (biggest guilty pleasure of mine, pun very much intended).
Year's late response (just getting into Maven) but I've read up to Narcissus Unchained I think it was. An interesting premise that kinda devolved into smut.
Nice review :)
I do wonder, do you or did play the roleplaying game? The LARP maybe?
Valid points.
I am not giving up burritos, so I am team Were. Besides, if I got changed now, I would be stuck with a beer gut for ETERNITY! No one wants that.
I am just glad none of these vamps go out in the sun, the exception being Blade, I don't care for that business.
Adam
its not dodging bullets its creating an energy field which is a drain on the vampires resources, shes not just cutting true the floor shes pushing true it,, the helicopter scene in the second movie is Marcus summoning his own power,
ya know i know this is a lackluster movie series and really just action movies with supernatural twist but this series and the resident evil series will always be my favorite movie series. I dont even know why.
My family fights like Vampires and Werewolves/Lycans.
I always wanted to be a Death Dealer. I always wanted to be that person who went out night after night taking out the monsters. Not necessarily because I wanted to make the world a better place or because I wanted an award or what have you, but because I felt such rage at the thought of monsters being free to run amok, destroying and killing whenever the mood struck them.
I wanted to kill them for the same reason a janitor does, it needs to be done.
I think the writer who starred that you mentioned who was big, did look like a white wolf nerd, just like vin diesel is a self professed role playing nerd.
The sound effects!!!🤣🤣🤣🤘🤘🤘
Does anyone know the names of the background songs?
I think they're all from the Underworld soundtrack. Which is a pretty freaking sweet album.
Would love to see Maven doing review of Sleepwalkers since Sleepwalkers is kind of a vampire film.
Maven do you know Claudia Gray's Evernight series?
Dang. That pic of you in the jumpsuit. 👍👍
Since at this time this is your latest video on youtube I will say this here. On JonTron's review of Dark Dungeons, your name is referenced at 12:51 by the movie which I thought was weird. It says The Complete History of Vampire Maiden of Eventide.
Matthias Corvinus King of Hungary and Croatia both imprisoned Vlad Tepes and later when he heard what he did to the turks freed him and had him lead an army.
Review Let The Right One In and Let Me In.
Coming from a fan of Werewolves here, I think the big reason one might choose the Claw over the Tooth is, in my personal opinion atleast, the social structure of each group. Vampires tend to have more class in fiction, sure, but as their numbers grow, so does the chances of them stabbing each other in the back in a power struggle. A small group tends to be fairly safe from this, but in a larger group? They aren't very trusting of each other. Werewolves, on the other hand, tend to be trusting and embracing, treating each other with a level of respect, each member of the pack having their role, without having a superiority complex. Sure, the Vampires live it up in lavish luxury, but they risk it all trying to ascend the throne. Werewolves have little in terms of material possessions, so to what would they gain from inner fighting? Aside from the occasional fight for the title of "Alpha", which is more rare in Werewolf fiction, they have more to lose. Along with that, Vampires tend to have more weaknesses than Vampires. The typical weaknesses of a vampire in popular media include sunlight, garlic, crosses, holy water, running water, stake to the heart, decapitation, silver, usually including and removing some at the writer's discretion. Werewolves tend to only have to fear Silver in some shape or form, though other major bodily harm such as evisceration or decapitation seem to also do the job. Overall though, I think it really comes down to what kind of a dark-life you'd want. One of luxury and distrust, or one of the wild and comfort.
Anyone else think it’s ironic that our modern ideas of vampires were from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and in the book Dracula could not only control wolves but actually BECOME a werewolf.
Here’s my problem with the movie. The investment of the plot is poor. I just couldn’t with the characters I found them being to serious. They didn’t even smile once. I expect comedy but at one laugh or a few smiles. Second of all I have to adore the design and action parts were AWESOME.
Maven can you redo this video with the Elmer fudd voice?
Please do a review on the Bloodrayne films or videogames. Big fan of your work.
I could have imagined werewolf exchange student in the Carmilla webseries...
Werewolf Exchange Student is in full werewolf form...
Carmilla: Time of the month?
Werewolf (in Geordie accent): Awwww ye knaa what it is? I swear down, the next time someone makes that crappy joke, I'll chew them up, spit them out, shite on what's left of their corpse and then I'll *proper* start on them!
Carmilla: (gingerly placing a pack of Kotex on the sideboard) Just um... y'know...
And on a different occassion...
Werewolf exchange student in human form: ...
Carmilla: (ruffles exchange student's hair) Who's a wuvverwey doggy-woggy? Who's a bonny lassie-wassie?"
Werewolf: OK... this getting a bot out of order...
Carmilla: (ball in hand) y'want the ball? Y'want the ball? Y'wanna fetch the ball?
Werewolf: Right this is racial harrassment and I will put in a complaint!
Lucy: (to Maddie) Does that really count as racism?
Maddie: You know what... she might be a lowly dog... but yeah, I think thi this does count as racist... wrewolves may be scum... but they are a race of scum... and as human of my... certain persuaion... I identify with some for some reason...
The movie looks pretty but thats about it. Also, for a movie that looks really good and has many good outfits, what the male vampires wear is all pretty boring.
Viktor had some cool coats, but yeah- You'd have thought they'd be more peacockish.
Do any extended cuts of Underworld or Underworld 2 show what happened to Ericka? She lets Selene go and just never reappears at all in the entire franchise. Marcus did burn down the mansion after he became a hybrid in the second movie... did Ericka die in the fire?
Will we get a review for Rise of the Lycans?
White Wolf doesn't even exist anymore and Underworld is still... kinda... around. so... I guess we know who won that
you got me! I really enjoyed this video and I would like to thank you for this video. I do share your opinion too and I also hate it how weak these vampires are.... anyways keep going! :D
This movie puts me to sleep every time I try to watch it. It's the Liquid Sunshine Bullets, my brain just can't do it, and I play White Wolf games. I really had no idea there was so much to this movie.
You've never seen a chemical reaction that emits light? It's the basis of the glowstick.
In the Underworldverse I don't know how any of the vampires stand a chance against the 8 foot lycans with claws and teeth like that. This was the first time I thought werewolves were bad a$$
Can you give me a source for the Vampires are dead Werewolves?
My understanding is that vampires are a kind of deadly ghost that usually results from people who die horribly. They originally had all the attributes of a ghost: could only go where they were welcome in life, could only be seen by their relatives or witches, could walk through walls, return to their graves at dawn.
Werewolves have a totally separate origin as shape changing sorcerers. Although I can see some crossovers, if a werewolf was killed horribly they might turn into a vampire. But I haven't heard of that as the origin of vampires.
14:50 Shes crearly repressing her vampire nature so as to not attack the human sitting next to her!
That's a whole lot of Skinny Puppy!!!
I don't know why you seek me out baby. I don't know why!
Yes! My favourite Vampire Reviews episode! ❤️💜🌹🎩
It’s philosophical, full of metaphors. Tons of guns, leather and action. It’s the matrix but with VAMPIRES.