Van Helsing [spoilers]

Post by **haas mark** » 2004-05-07 11:27pm

So... saw it today.

Cinematography in general was pretty good. Pretty good special effects. Overly predictable ending (Anna dies).

The movie in general was all right, with a few too many funny scenes.

The vampires themselves were done extremely well, IMO (i.e., Dracula, Marishka, Aleera, and Verona). However, I didn't think the baby vampires looked all that well-done, especially with there being hoardes upon hoardes of them, nor the fact that they had green blood.

The opening with Frankenstein was actually pretty off-the-wall, but it all made sense near the last half-hour or so.

I liked the way the plot was such that Dracula had to be killed by a werewolf, and thought it interesting that Van Helsing was bitten by Velkan, who had to die twice in the movie.

Overall, I give the movie thumbs up. Discussion?

[EDIT] Fixed miswording.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-05-07 11:31pm

I'm thinking the babies have green blood because red might have pushed the rating up.

And it seems that Sommers has a thing for pygmies.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-05-08 02:14am

When was the syringe invented?

Post by **haas mark** » 2004-05-08 02:19am

Between 1670 and 1853.

The movie takes place sometime in the 1800s.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-05-08 02:46am

Thanks ver.

That makes a bit more sense now.

I liked the idea of a crossover like they did in the movie. Dracula and Frankenstein, together at last.

Post by **haas mark** » 2004-05-08 02:48am

Gandalf wrote:Thanks ver.

That makes a bit more sense now.

I liked the idea of a crossover like they did in the movie. Dracula and Frankenstein, together at last.

And don't forget the werewolves!

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2004-05-08 02:52am

I wasnt too big on it, it was enjoyable in the same way that most films I watch are enjoyable, they really have to get bad before I dont enjoy watching them - recent examples including Nemesis, Matrix Rel/Rev, but whilst I can appreciate the tongue-in-cheek nature of quite a lot of it, I loved 'the bells, the bells' in Notredame, but found the constant plot device events which just happened to save one person which then led to the saving of the next person to get a little tiresome, still we had good fun making quiet little comments to ourselves about it - not a bad film, certainly no masterpiece.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-05-08 02:57am

verilon wrote:Filmography in general was pretty good. Pretty good special effects. Overly predictable ending (Anna dies).

You mean cinematography. "Filmography" means "a list of films."

Post by **haas mark** » 2004-05-08 02:59am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
verilon wrote:Filmography in general was pretty good. Pretty good special effects. Overly predictable ending (Anna dies).
You mean cinematography. "Filmography" means "a list of films."

Yar. Knew I screwed that up.

-fixes-

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-05-08 06:31am

I liked the movie a lot. More than the two Mummy movies and I liked those.

I do think that the critiscisms that have been mention so far are accurate. I also would add that Sommers likes CGI too much, not that there wasn't a lot of good CGI in the movie but sometimes he pushes things too far just to have more. In that sense I thought there were a few too many action sequences that were pushed too far when they really weren't necessary at all. The most obvious one to me was when Kate Bekinsale was swinging on that wire at the end and she had the friar throw her the antidote syringe.

Anyway, I still really liked this movie. It was an excellent update and homage to the old Universal monster movies. I really liked the begining which was basically a quick synopsis of what happened in Universal's old Frankenstein movie. I also got a kick out of them using the old poem from The Wolfman "Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers at night....etc"

. Taking it even further so it added to the movie's plot was cool.

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2004-05-08 08:36am

I saw it with my dad yesterday evening. Kickass movie, but something interesting happened afterward: apparently, the air conditioning broke during the show, and the theater gave everyone free movie passes as they left! My dad and I hadn't really noticed, but we weren't going to say not to free movies, ya know?

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-05-08 08:57am

verilon wrote:
Gandalf wrote:Thanks ver.

That makes a bit more sense now.

I liked the idea of a crossover like they did in the movie. Dracula and Frankenstein, together at last.
And don't forget the werewolves!

Never been one for werewolves myself.

Too random of a creature.

Supreme Monkey Lord · Post by **Supreme Monkey Lord** » 2004-05-08 09:20am

Yep, likens(sp?) against vampires again, only this time Kate wasn't one of the two.

Mark S · Post by **Mark S** » 2004-05-08 10:14am

The movie was so over the top it was counting bald-spots in the audience but I still liked it.

I smell a Saturday morning cartoon.

KrauserKrauser · Post by **KrauserKrauser** » 2004-05-08 02:35pm

It was a great start to what is going to be an action packed summer movie season. I recommend it, though come in to enjoy, not to analyze.

Post by **haas mark** » 2004-05-08 03:16pm

Mark S wrote:The movie was so over the top it was counting bald-spots in the audience but I still liked it.

I smell a Saturday morning cartoon.

Already the Hellsing manga. -shrugs- Wouldn't be surprised if we ended up with Saturday morning cartoons though.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-05-08 05:07pm

There's a tv show coming out.

Hobot · Post by **Hobot** » 2004-05-08 05:09pm

I found it to be incredibly corny, cliched, and contrived, it was so bad that my friends and I were laughing through the entire movie. The entire audience groaned and then laughed at the cheesey ending, it was great. I loved how everything caught on fire and I knew that carriage would blow up as it went hurtling off the bridge (reminded me of the Simpsons). There are so many other things that had me in hysterics, I don't think I could list them all.

Definitely not what I expected, but I can't say I'm sorry to have seen it.

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2004-05-08 06:45pm

Loved it. Adored it. Was laughing my arse off the entire way through.

Fan-smegging-tastic.

And Hugh Jackman, grrrr!

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-05-08 08:37pm

Hobot wrote:I found it to be incredibly corny, cliched, and contrived, it was so bad that my friends and I were laughing through the entire movie. The entire audience groaned and then laughed at the cheesey ending, it was great. I loved how everything caught on fire and I knew that carriage would blow up as it went hurtling off the bridge (reminded me of the Simpsons). There are so many other things that had me in hysterics, I don't think I could list them all.

Definitely not what I expected, but I can't say I'm sorry to have seen it.

Technically, it is believable that the first carriage would blow up. It was rigged to. But for the second to catch on fire was hilarious.

StarshipTitanic · Post by **StarshipTitanic** » 2004-05-08 08:37pm

The entire thing was shit shit shit shit shit. The directing was mediocre at most, EVERYONE overacted to the extreme, the score was a tiny little piece they played slightly different each time, the CGI was blah.

Post by **haas mark** » 2004-05-08 08:45pm

neoolong wrote:
Hobot wrote:I found it to be incredibly corny, cliched, and contrived, it was so bad that my friends and I were laughing through the entire movie. The entire audience groaned and then laughed at the cheesey ending, it was great. I loved how everything caught on fire and I knew that carriage would blow up as it went hurtling off the bridge (reminded me of the Simpsons). There are so many other things that had me in hysterics, I don't think I could list them all.

Definitely not what I expected, but I can't say I'm sorry to have seen it.
Technically, it is believable that the first carriage would blow up. It was rigged to. But for the second to catch on fire was hilarious.

Which is the problem.. The movie was too funny.

I did like the music at the beginning, but as StarshipTitanic said, it was really overused.

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-05-08 08:57pm

Just saw it today, thought it was great fun. On the action movie scale (1 being a chick-flick and 5 being Terminator 2 or the first Matrix) I'd give it a good 3.5-4. On the general movie scale it's only an unremarkable 3.

Mutant Headcrab · Post by **Mutant Headcrab** » 2004-05-08 09:45pm

verilon wrote: Already the Hellsing manga. -shrugs- Wouldn't be surprised if we ended up with Saturday morning cartoons though.

Please don't tell me you think the Hellsing manga has anything to do with this movie...

Bug-Eyed Earl · Post by **Bug-Eyed Earl** » 2004-05-08 09:56pm

neoolong wrote:
Hobot wrote:I found it to be incredibly corny, cliched, and contrived, it was so bad that my friends and I were laughing through the entire movie. The entire audience groaned and then laughed at the cheesey ending, it was great. I loved how everything caught on fire and I knew that carriage would blow up as it went hurtling off the bridge (reminded me of the Simpsons). There are so many other things that had me in hysterics, I don't think I could list them all.

Definitely not what I expected, but I can't say I'm sorry to have seen it.
Technically, it is believable that the first carriage would blow up. It was rigged to. But for the second to catch on fire was hilarious.

I thought it was because there torches on the wagon and the wolfman knocked it over when he crashed into it.

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Van Helsing [spoilers]

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