Buy Van Helsing on DVD

Van Helsing

Universal / Year: 2004

DVD Widescreen More Info Close Caption: Yes Region Code: 1 UPC: 025192326622 Catalog #: DL2043041 Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (Primary), French Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, English subtitles, French subtitles, Spanish subtitles	Usually ships in 5-10 days	$11.99 (7% off) List Price: $12.99
DVD More Info Region Code: 1 UPC: 025192586125 Catalog #: DV2043042 Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (Primary), French Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, English subtitles, French subtitles, Spanish subtitles	Usually ships in 5-10 days	$11.99 (7% off) List Price: $12.99

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Review

Monsters and bats and wolves, oh my. They're all here, that is Frankenstein and Dracula and Wolf Man. And that's part of the problem of this slick, over-produced, loud and loopy vampire story that has bit off more than it can chew. No longer an elderly crusader as in Bram Stoker's book "Dracula," Van Helsing is now a young, beefy superhero (played by the young, beefy Jackman) who works for the Vatican fighting the dark side that most of the world doesn't know exists. After tackling Dr. Jekyll, who looks suspiciously like The Hulk, Van Helsing travels to Transylvania. There he teams with Lara Croft-wannabe and vampire hunter Anna (Beckinsale), and together they take on Dracula and his brides. Jackman and Beckinsale are both in rote mode, reciting lines with professionalism but adding nothing to characters who are given nothing substantial to recite. It is Roxburgh, however, as Dracula who has the most fun, and the actor creates a particuarly worthy heavy for the two to fight. Too bad the majority of the film doesn't have his panache. The CGI effects and makeup are terrific, but at this stage they oughta be. It's just that they bombard the viewer, with nary a second to take a breath. If that's what you're looking for, then this is for you. Van Helsing is nonstop action with spectacular scenic design and effects -- it never lets up once. But it's also brainless and quite silly (intentionally and unintentionally) and lacks the verve that have made these monsters such great fun since the 1930s.

-- David Bleiler

Product Format Information

DVD Widescreen: $11.99

Availability: Usually ships in
5-10 days
Close Caption: Yes
Region Code: 1
UPC: 025192326622
Catalog #: DL2043041

Studio : Universal

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (Primary) , French Dolby Digital 2.0 , Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 , English Subtitles , French Subtitles , Spanish Subtitles
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen
Features:
Audio commentary: Director Stephen Sommers & Producer Bob Ducsay; Actors Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh & Shuler Hensley
Documentaries: Filmmaker’s Diary which chronicles one week of the production and a New World Technology vs. Old World Monsters FX featurette; You Are in the Movie on-location featurette shot with miniature cameras; Anatomy of a Scene: The Masquerade Ball, a Creating the Characters and the Monsters interactive featurette
Designing Van Helsing: A 360-degree IPIX Tour of the sets; Love Bites mockumentary in which Dracula’s brides dish on their boss; Interactive Van Helsing Monster Map; Van Helsing Time Lapse feature containing footage of two key sets being built, filmed and torn down; Outtakes

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DVD : $11.99

Availability: Usually ships in
5-10 days
Region Code: 1
UPC: 025192586125
Catalog #: DV2043042

Studio : Universal

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (Primary) , French Dolby Digital 2.0 , Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 , English Subtitles , French Subtitles , Spanish Subtitles
Aspect Ratio: Full-Frame
Features:
Audio commentary: Director Stephen Sommers & Producer Bob Ducsay; Actors Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh & Shuler Hensley