Product Description

The first Underworld film introduced the world to the sexy, dangerous vampire Selene and Michael, a Lycan/Vampire hybrid. Then the sequel Underworld Evolution continued their adventures. Now, both movie adaptations are available in one collection, complete with the series prequel Red in Tooth and Claw, a story set hundreds of years before the epic movies. Based on the exciting screenplays by Danny McBride, and adapted for print by Kris Oprisko (Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #166176 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 172 pages

Customer Reviews

Great artwork, but too brief
Collected in this book are comic versions of the two Underworld films (`Underworld' and `Underworld Evolution') as well as a story that pre-dates both films (`Red in Tooth and Claw'). Artwork for `Underworld' and `Red in Tooth and Claw' is by Nick Postic and Nick Marinkovich, for `Underworld Evolution' by Antonio Vasquez.
I assume that most will be familiar with the story, so I won't repeat here (if you're not familiar with it, please read the reviews of the films)
First of all, the artwork in all three parts is stunning. Vaquez's is a more clear rendition, with full, luminous colours and fine lines reminiscent of the tomb raider comics. I prefer Postic and Marinkovich's visions: dark, shadows of wood-cut provenience on a hazy photographic movie-scape. While arguably more difficult to decipher (which becomes a slight problem in combination with the scant plot - see below), I find the images are more powerful and haunting - which is partly what graphic novels are about. The style certainly suits the subject matter better.
Although both film and graphic novels are visual media, their realization is different: there are things you can't do in a movie that you can in a graphic novel and vice versa.
In the two film adaptations I felt that the medium of the comic was not being used as well as it could be. This may have to do with the fact that they are both hugely compressed (just 50 pages for each Underworld film, which together run for about 4 hours). And that is the book's main weakness: the narration is so short and stunted that there is little development. It is more a race from frame to frame just to get the plot told in its rudiments - because you never get more then the very basic skeleton of the story. If you haven't seen the films, yes, you will get the story, but not as fully or richly. This is a huge shame and not doing the graphic novel medium a favour. Another 100 pages would have made these adaptations excellent.
The third story is how the Lycan Raze became what he is. As the story is not bound to the plot of any film, it is a fuller story than the other two. Raze began life as an African bushman called Koro. Stronger than the others and skeptical of the supernatural, he stands in the way of the power-hungry tribal medicine man. As the tribe is caught up between the fronts of vampires and lycans, so is Koro, ultimately finding a new life as Raze.
What I liked about the films is once again true here: contrary to expectation, the vampires are the more inhuman, ruthless and cold beings, the lycans being more `human'.
If you enjoyed the films, this is a good book to have. As a fan of graphic novels I recommend it for the artwork, but not for the story, which is a shame as these could have been truly brilliant as adaptations and as graphic novels in their own right.