Van Helsing – Collector’s Edition (Universal DVD)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: B+     Film: C-

 

 

As soon as more actors play Van Helsing in legitimate Dracula films, this awful dud will be seen as even more of a joke.  At this site we have enjoyed reviewing dozens of films not only in the horror genre, but especially the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy.  You can read about some of them here:

 

The Mummy (1932)

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7251/The+Mummy

 

Frankenstein (Dan Curtis telefilm)

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6234/Dan+Curtis

 

then there are more effective tales Universal made about a more memorable monster hunter…

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2888/Kolchak:+The+Night+Stalker

 

or in this Nosferatu essay: http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/essay/222/

 

 

You would think a film that did this poorly would have its release possibilities exhausted, but with a Blu-ray imminent, one more DVD is possible and here it is.  We previously reviewed the discontinued HD-DVD version of the film, which you can access here:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3778/Van+Helsing+(2004/HD-DVD)

 

 

For this DVD edition, which is dubbed the “Collectors Edition” Universal decided to put together a 2-disc set that includes many of the extras that were featured on the initial DVD release, which also made it to the HD-DVD release, here we have the following supplements included:

 

The Legend Of Van Helsing: The evolution of the legendary character Van Helsing, throughout film history, Explore Dracula's Castle And Frankenstein's Lab: an innovative 360 degree self-guided tour, discover the stunning environments of Van Helsing, Bringing The Monsters To Life: pencil sketches to complete digital composition, the experts at Industrial Light & Magic show how the Van Helsing monsters were brought to life, outtakes, two feature commentaries with cast & crew, which include director Stephen Sommers and Bob Ducsay; Richard Roxburgh, Shuler Hensley and Will Kemp, Track The Adventure – Van Helsing's Map: The secrets behind each fantastic set are revealed via an interactive map, Van Helsing – The Story, The Life, The Legend: An in-depth look at each of the film's characters, original set designs, Industrial Light & Magic featurette.  All of which add great insight into the film, but will only appeal to real fans of the film. 

 

The performance on this DVD is average for DVD standards with a 1.85 X 1 anamorphic image that does not look nearly as good as the HD-DVD did when we reviewed that, nor does the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix compare to the average mix in Dolby Plus on the HD-DVD. 

 

All in all a disappointment unless you want the extras, but maybe you’d be better off sticking with the much-better videogame tie-in for fun.

 

 

-   Nate Goss