Van Helsing

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Van Helsing - 3/10/2005 12:56:27 PM

Empire Admin

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Post #: 1

- 23/2/2006 7:32:47 PM

cookio1982

Posts: 31
Joined: 19/1/2006

This film is everything that is wrong with hollywood blockbusters, why do these filmakers (and i use this in the loosest sense) think that we just want to see a load of special effects with no characterisation whats so ever. This is an awfull film and compared to say spiderman two which does combine great characterisation with kick ass action its even worse. This could of been great but its just awfull, but on a positive note the opening sequence is alright (i suppose)

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Post #: 2

Van Helsing - 28/2/2006 7:01:34 PM

Andyhutch

Posts: 15
Joined: 19/11/2005

Wanted to enjoy it but poor CGI overload ruins the experience somewhat.
Kate Beckinsale makes it worth a look though!

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Post #: 3

Van Helsing - 18/3/2006 2:22:18 PM

premierbaron

Posts: 114
Joined: 11/2/2006
From: Boston

great movie with interesting plot. I think Beckinsale needs a break from these kind of movies.

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Post #: 4

WORST MOVIE EVER!!!! - 12/4/2006 9:35:07 PM

jamdodge1

Posts: 641
Joined: 19/3/2006
From: Here to Eternity

I was absoloutely appauled by this movie. How it could get any rating over one star is still a mystery. The film mixes bad acting, Bad CGI and bad action scenes with the worst direction possible and vomit inducing one liners ("Next time you go to kill someone, Kill them. Don't just stand around tallking about it.???) Whenever I see this film in a DVD store I throw it to the ground, step on it and spit on it. Then put it one the shelf and leave before I'm caught on CCTV. Anyway: DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE UNLESS YOU WANT TO DIE SHRIVELLING UP LIKE A PRUNE!!!

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Post #: 5

No personality, too many special effects and way too ma... - 19/4/2006 4:36:51 PM

popnfresh66613

Posts: 1
Joined: 19/4/2006

‘Less is more‘. A phrase that the writers of this monster bombardment should have considered before going full-on with cheap special effects, ‘creepy’ gothic castles and an extreme monster overload. Frankly this film tries too hard to entertain, and by doing this leads to a somewhat predictable storyline. The cheap thrills consist of the inevitable thunderstorms, the loud instrumental background music and the overdone ‘Transylvanian’ accents and costume. The film begins with two introductions, one being the black-and-white back-tale of Dracula & Co. which includes all things atypical of a horror flick, such as angry mobs with pitchforks, thunderstorms and the excluded castle on the hill with its own personal black cloud and lightning bolt. The other is a showdown between Van Helsing and Mr Hyde, which consists of all the typical fight scene antics, like the oh-so-witty banter and the near-death experience of the hero. Oh, and you guessed it- Van Helsing was victorious, and, right again, he won by battling his enemy to the roof (complete with night storm above) and throwing him from it. How unpredictable.

One would think that after these episodes took place within the first five minutes that the writers would think, ‘OK, let’s slow this thing down‘, but oh no, they continue to ‘dazzle’ the audience with a chain of vicious attacks and battles which each in turn make the film seem dull and cheap.

There is a somewhat repetitiveness to the plot, in that it is the same for two sections of the picture. Firstly, Van Helsing & Co. must prevent Dracula using the Wolf Man as a way of renewing his spawn, then Van Helsing & Co. must prevent Dracula using Frankenstein’s Monster as a way of renewing his spawn.

The movie seems to be mainly focused on using loud noises, bright lights and all that jazz to entertain us, but the essential emotional attachment to the characters has been so

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Post #: 6

ok - 17/5/2006 2:29:14 PM

alexisreaver2132

Posts: 83
Joined: 6/5/2006
From: UK

Wasnt too bad, thought it was good in places with some humor. Wouldn't say it was entirely bad.

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Post #: 7

- 18/5/2006 5:25:56 PM

CURIOUS_GEORGE

Posts: 2378
Joined: 25/10/2005
From: England

Literally one of the worst films I've ever seen.

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Post #: 8

- 24/6/2006 5:18:59 PM

huny_monster

Posts: 75
Joined: 14/5/2006
From: Falkirk, Scotland

Pretty damn good. To be honest when I look back at it I can't remember a single thing wrong with it.

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Post #: 9

RE: - 30/7/2006 1:12:14 PM

PedroSanchez

Posts: 2556
Joined: 30/11/2005

Oh dear. I missed Van Helsing at the cinema but snapped it up on DVD. I had obviously read many, many reviews on the film and the general reaction to it was that it was, well, utter shit.
Yet still i felt the need to purchase it. I mean, theres always a chance that all those people were wrong, right?
I am a big fan of all the original Universal Monster films so this film looked to be my cup of tea.
I popped in the DVD, sat down with Bud in hand and pressed play. For the first ten minutes i was overjoyed.
Seriously, the opening sequence, in glorious black and white, is fantastic. Oh how i wish they would have kept this tone for the rest of the film, for once the picture turns to colour and Van Helsing shows up, thing start to go wrong. Very wrong.
After a fight with a huge blob of CGI, also known as Mr. Hyde, this movie just loses the plot.
What is the plot? Something about Van Helsing sent on a mission to kill Dracula. Who cares? Nobody, not even the director. All he cares about is getting as many action scenes onto the screen as he possibly can.
CGI is vastly overused, and much of it is far from sterling. Everything is CGI. Everything!
Once the film gets to the final battle you will lose the will to live. CGI Hugh Jackman and CGI Kate Beckinsale arrive at a CGI castle to fight CGI Dracula with a little help from CGI Frankenstein's Monster. It's appaling.
CGI Dracula versus Van Helsing (as a big CGI wolf) is one of the worst fight scenes of all time, surely. How the hell are you supposed to feel involved in the events going on when it's just a whole load of pixels beating each other up?
Absolutely terrible!
I couldn't complete a review of this without mentioning Richard Roxburgh as Dracula. His performance is laughably bad. Kate Beckinsale is bad. That bloke playing the Wolf Man is bad. Frankenstein's Monster is pretty bad and Hugh Jackman is...actually pretty good.
So, you should watch only the first ten minutes if you want to see a good picture. That is far and away the best sequence in the entire film. Should you choose to carry on beyond this point, you will be subjected to a rather bad film stuffed with shoddy special effects and poor acting.
In fact, you should just go and buy the original Universal Monster films. That is how it should be done.
I'm going to be generous and give Van Helsing a full two stars simply because the amazing opening deserves an extra star all of it's own.

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Post #: 10

RE: RE: - 30/7/2006 1:39:23 PM

Daniel Kelly

Posts: 3096
Joined: 6/4/2006
From: warkham

Great fun and am glad to own it on DVD

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Post #: 11

RE: RE: - 30/7/2006 5:31:57 PM

Sutty

Posts: 3541
Joined: 6/6/2006
From: the front row

loud, brash, non-sensical, bad editing, stupid dialogue and story line, and some ropey effects in parts.
But from the guy who made The Mummy Returns, what did you expect?!

I think The Mummy must have been a fluke.
Sommers must have learned his technique from the Paul WS Anderson of film making. Speaking of which, why did Anderson add the WS? Did he think that he could change his name and start a new career?

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Post #: 12

RE: RE: - 30/7/2006 9:36:21 PM

Fluke Skywalker

Posts: 9540
Joined: 23/4/2006
From: the dark side of the sun

I am one of these filmgoers who can watch effects driven movies even if they lack most things apart from the visuals, but Van Helsing is SO fucking awful is just bored me into oblivion. I cannot overstate how bad this movie is - it is terrible

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Post #: 13

RE: RE: - 1/8/2006 7:30:28 AM

mayor vaughn

Posts: 109
Joined: 8/10/2005

A huge letdown,was really looking forward to this at the time.

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Post #: 14

RE: RE: - 1/8/2006 11:48:31 AM

Monkeyshaver

Posts: 4734
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: La Planete Des Singe

Absolutely appalling & abhorrent �film�. An offensive piece of �cinema�. Totally ineptly directed by Sommers who seems to have no idea as to how to construct anything resembling a coherent narrative. He does not have the ability to direct a story, only tired action scenes that are boringly staged & repetitive � just how many times do people swing on ropes in this film? An insult to the legacy of Universal's horror heritage. This is a film totally devoid of any merit & all copies should be destroyed. It is the cinematic equivalent of a MacDonald�s happy meal & just as repellent. One for the brain dead videogame generation.

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Post #: 15

RE: RE: - 1/8/2006 5:01:29 PM

pocketrocket

Posts: 1159
Joined: 1/8/2006
From: age frais

This is truly a shocker in every sense, I've only ever walked out of an auditorium 3 times and two of those were Sommers flicks, Van Helsing & Mummy Returns! VH is absolute garbage and I agree with all the negative stuff above, how this guy gets a gig is beyond me. It's not often I can't find anything redeeming to say about a movie, but this is such a time.

FYI the other movie I walked out of was Congo, don't get me started...

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Post #: 16

RE: RE: - 2/8/2006 10:55:54 AM

MuckyMuckMan

Posts: 2327
Joined: 1/10/2005

Van Helsing has to be one of the biggest disappointments in cinematic history. I was so geared up to watching this on its initial release. But I came out feeling absolutely gutted. Bad acting, direction, story and special effects culminate in a mess of huge proportions.

2 stars is mighty generous IMO. One of the worst films I have ever seen and will never see again!!!

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Post #: 17

RE: RE: - 2/8/2006 5:14:16 PM

Bobby1975

Posts: 297
Joined: 17/7/2006

I've heard arguments in support of this film (and others like it) that go like this 'hey it's for ten year olds, relax and enjoy it blah blah blah' Guess what? Star Wars, Indy Jones, The Goonies, Superman:The Movie. These were all movies aimed at ten year olds and lo and behold, there good. Van Helsing is not, it's drivel. A horrid horrid movie.

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Post #: 18

Van Helsing - 23/10/2006 9:19:40 PM

kevin stanley

Posts: 14
Joined: 7/10/2006

Hugh Jackman is the notorious monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing. Employed by a shadowy Vatican based evil-fighting organisation, he's sent to Romania to help Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale), gypsy princess, destroy Dracula. He is an ambiguous character, constantly walking the fine line between hunter and murderer.

After two outings as Wolverine and now as Van Helsing, Jackman has perfected the hero with a tortured soul and delivers an impressive performance.

Beckinsale is also on excellent form. However, whilst their characters are superficially engaging, the non-stop action prevents us from fully understanding them and consequently it's difficult to truly empathise.

Van Helsing begins as a visually dazzling no-brainer action flick that works well as a vanquish-Dracula-and-free-my-family-from-eternal-purgatory story of vengeance and simple things.

When writer/director Stephen Sommers introduces a megalomanic subplot, the film becomes a far more complex proposition, as if influenced by monster-movie-with-high-concept-script-specialist Ang (Hulk) Lee.

The plot strands eventually become too numerous and confusing and my brain, that had been happily coasting in neutral, enjoying the fighting and the action, had difficulty quick-shifting into a higher gear.

It's these faults, along with dreadful performances from David Wenham and Richard Roxburgh, that sees Van Helsing failing to live up to its early promise, although Allen Daviau's cinematography is absolutely perfect at times.

Ultimately, the movie is impressive and ineffectual in almost equal measure. The clearest illustration of this being the opening and closing scenes: a delightful pastiche of early Hollywood monster movies and a hideously heavy handed instance of faux poignant direction, respectively.

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Post #: 19

What a horrible film - 15/5/2007 9:18:49 PM

jamdodge1

Posts: 641
Joined: 19/3/2006
From: Here to Eternity

With hype like this, you'd expect Van Helsing to deliver something but instead it was a boring, dissapointing mess with shit CGI. Piss Offf.

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Post #: 20

Well I like it.... - 9/4/2009 10:08:53 PM

Chimene

Posts: 33
Joined: 5/1/2008
From: Scotland

I really honestly cannot see why this film is hated by so many people. Yeah it's got a lot in it but for gods sake the sets, costumes , make up and the acting are bloody fantastic!!!! If you don't have nothing nice to say don't say nothing at all.....

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Post #: 21

I remember how this sucked. - 29/4/2009 11:34:48 AM

alsybroth

Posts: 112
Joined: 5/1/2007

In response to Chimene "you don't have nothing nice to say don't say nothing at all" - Get bent. That's the point of giving your critical opinion. Stephen Sommers just emulates Star Wars and Indy way too much but he has no spark of originality, or time to even bother with character or tension. And to all who say 'its an action fest, who cares about character', without character you don't care what happens to anyone. Van Helsing looks rich but there's nothing of any real value here at all. Don't expect GI Joe to be anything worthwhile when its hits cinemas this summer.

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Post #: 22

Treat as Comedy? - 3/8/2009 10:26:42 AM

Hillsman

Posts: 137
Joined: 12/12/2005
From: Belfast

This film gets slated for putting too much emphasis on action and not spending enough time on character development & story. These are valid points - but are they any less valid for more critically acclaimed action blockbusters like, say, Transformers, Spiderman 3, X3, Armageddon etc? I watched all these films at the cinema, own them all on DVD and watch them at least once per year. Why? Because they're fun and don't take themselves too seriously!! 4 stars for me.

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Post #: 23

Almost perfect - 10/9/2009 2:46:37 PM

tdw2782

Posts: 18
Joined: 14/10/2008

I would have given it 5 stars but I didnt like his hat.

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Post #: 24

Almost perfect - 10/9/2009 2:46:39 PM

tdw2782

Posts: 18
Joined: 14/10/2008

I would have given it 5 stars but I didnt like his hat.