Underworld | Anatomy of a Franchise
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- čas přidán 18. 03. 2021
- In today's franchise retrospective, we are looking at the history of the Underworld series and seeing how they utilized vampires and werewolves over time. I recently reviewed a few different werewolf films on Amazon Prime with my friend Giallo Julian through Dread Central, and if you would like to check that out you can find it in the link below. Thank you for watching.
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Hey everyone, thank you so much for watching. Sorry if I sound a little bit off in the last ten minutes, I got sick while making this and didn't want to delay the video anymore because it had been a while since the last video came out. Also, if you want more werewolf content from me, I recently did a piece through Dread Central with my friend Giallo Julian reviewing a few werewolf movies and you can find the link to that in the video description. Thanks again, and I hope you all have a great weekend!
Get well soon dude.
Thanks!
Hoping you get well soon. Thanks for the video!
its a vampire movie not a marvel movie. Sue vlad the impeller.
I dipped out of the series pretty early since I was always more on the Werewolf side and I didn't think this series gave them much of a fair shake, I didn't even know about Rise of the Lycan and now I need to watch the hell out of it. Thank for this vid, I really enjoy your work on long established series that I would not normally have any interest in. I hope you get better soon too btw.
The first Underworld movie was really good. I remember seeing it at the movies with no idea of what it was about, no expectations. It was one of my best movie going experiences.
Now if you watch trailers they basically show you the entire films plog.along with promoting 4 5 scenes before it comes out.the way they promote films now ruins the entire experience.
Tbf, that is one of the best ways to see it. Underworld always benefitted from the big screen.
I had really low expectations after watching a "documentary" on TV that turned out to be a bad promo for the movie. But now it's one of my favorites. In a way, genre movies have never been better than late 90s-mid 2000s.
I hate we never got to see Michael grow into his new life as a hybrid & explore his new powers. The lycans would've been very scared of both him & his daughter.
I can't accept what they did to him. So unfair!
I hate that Lycans wore bad guys
Michael was overpowered....
@@BEASTNYC how? His only victories were against weakend lycans , inclouding a weaknd william but got beaten by victor and Marcus to near-death
honestly, they should have stopped at the second movie. or at least at the prequel about Lucian. that way the franchise would be almost perfect for what it had set out to achieve.
The 1st scene of the movie is my favorite. When Selene jumps of the building,lands and just bopps away like it was nothing? One of the coolest scenes ever.
Also THAT FUCKING OUTFIT. That is all.
It looks totally awesome. And it's what Deadpool coined to be a "superhero landing". But it takes a superhero to walk away from it. I recently fell down almost 5 meters and managed to land on my feet, like a superhero. But I didn't walk away from it. Instead I went to the hospital and one of my feet was bolted together with plates and screws.
Early 2000's seemed to have a lot more personality than what we have now.
Totally. 2000-2008 had it's identity while now there's barely any personality at all. Miss those times. There's barely any atmosphere now days.
@Orlokk Noxx this has to be the dumbest comment of the night. You trying to blame inclusivity for the lack of originality in Hollywood is bottom tier behaviour. Do better.
I blame cancel culture
@@leafyfeathers That makes no sense.
@@Disconnect350 I would take it back a few years earlier, as I think Blade and then The Matrix were the beginning of that particular cinematic period.
Me: Oh, I love underworld!
Shadows: *I love underworld.*
Me: this is gonna be a great video
hello fellow underworld enjoyer
Yes 🤣
I love underworld so much but I think Michael should have met his daughter Eve they're would've have been awesome father daughter duo
A Blade/Underworld crossover wouldn’t make sense because both franchises and universes have their own different mythos and versions of vampires.
I don’t think every single studio of a franchise should constantly be doing crossovers with something else just because Marvel studios made it popular/possible. It’s like the studios are being the stereotypical moody and lonely teenagers desperately wanting to fit in the popular zone. No need for that. Just stick to being yourself even if it’s not popular.
Am I right?
This is one of my unashamed guilty pleasures. I love this series and I wish more people did too.
Agreed
Finally smone remembers Van Hellsing. I used to love that movie so much.
Personally, I think if it came out today, it would have been received way better with some adjustments...at least it would have been better than The Mummy
I just hate how useless the character of Kate Beckinsale was in that movie.
Oh I still do.
Killer flick
it's one of my favorite vampire movies and i was so confused when i found out it was generally disliked. i can't even imagine the problems people have with it. it's such a cheesy love letter to Hammer Horror.
The first Underworld film is unironically one of my favorite movies ever. It's just so gloriously fun and doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't.
This is the correct answer to anyone questioning why someone would like Underworld.
Also.. Beckinsale.. perhaps two correct answers.
@@mattgilbert7347 hahaha I was more about Scott Speedman, but yes. Sexy vampires in tight black leather fighting badass werewolves in awesome action scenes blatantly ripped off from the Matrix? Hell yes. Also: Bill Nighy lol
Exactly! I see it as just a super fun Halloween movie (even if it's only vaguely related to Halloween season).
And the basic plot is fine enough, so it's not like it's complete nonsense.
The most unintentionally funny thing in Underworld was that someone was named Craven.
Because he's "craven" for some blood?
I feel like Underworld was one of those series where the talent that worked on it was wasted. Underworld: Evolution is one of my favourite movies, and that's probably because it's the closest the franchise ever got to fully utilizing everything it had at its disposal. Beckinsale gets to be awesome, McBride gets to just toss every stupid idea he has at the wall, Williamson and Beltrami get to unleash all the emo with the soundtrack, and Duggan gave us one of the best versions of a contemporary techno-gothic setting that we've ever seen in media.
I feel like Underworld was a product of that 2003-2008 post-Goth emo era, and couldn't survive after emo culture became a thing of ridicule. If Underworld, Evolution, and Awakening had all been planned out and released back to back instead of all the down time and tangents in between, Underworld as a franchise would've been much stronger and much better remembered. Sadly it tried to survive after the world around it had moved on, and it withered away.
@@thotslayer9914
Still here? Yes.
Still trendy and bankable? Nuh-uh.
@@thotslayer9914 reading comprehension isn't really your thing is it? OP was specifically talking about the "post-goth emo era." Which as the phrase implies had it's roots in the goth subculture, but became it's own distinct entity.
And yes the emos were ridiculed out of relevance by the wider culture.
I disagree with the OP. I think Lycans was a great movie, better than Evolution. The problem with Awakening wasn't lack of franchise continuity, it was that it wasn't as good as the previous movies. Anyway, I think the first three make a good trilogy.
@@aweigh1010 yeah, about that.. punks were always dumb, so we know were this is going, but if you are talking about goth as a culture, they actually don't exist anymore, the closest that there is headbangers, and to be honest headbangers "ideology" if it happens to have one is all about metal itself... is already dying tough, something like this centered around music require gathering (usually in metal concerts) and since the world stop functioning to allow this...
Funny tough, most headbangers i know are right wingers... maybe all that viking metal is starting to pay off...
@@thotslayer9914 Oh No!
Hot damn. Weird vampire masquerade sex parties with fountains pumping blood is not a movie I thought I wanted until you mentioned it. Eyes Wide Shut meets Interview with a Vampire meets Lord of the Rings. Someone make that
That first description fits Blade pretty well too
That does sound heavenly
I don't know if you have any interest in tabletop games, but you'd probably like Vampire The Masquerade.
Yeah, these things are very common in WoD (Vampire the Masquerade, Werewolf the Apocalypse, Changeling the Gathering, Wraith -Oblivion, Mummy -Resurrection, etc).
Typical Sabbat feast.
The first Blade movie was heavily ”inspired” by V:tM. They even used Bradfords artwork from the books as concept art etc.
@@ezeziel1498 A Blade/Underworld crossover wouldn’t make sense because both franchises and universes have their own different mythos and versions of vampires.
I don’t think every single studio of a franchise should constantly be doing crossovers with something else just because Marvel studios made it popular/possible. It’s like the studios are being the stereotypical moody and lonely teenagers desperately wanting to fit in the popular zone. No need for that. Just stick to being yourself even if it’s not popular.
Right?
Ah, I miss these aesthetics and vibe from the edgy 2000's. People may call it cringe but we were a lot happier then. Underworld will always be part of my childhood.
Everything is lacking style now :c
When it comes to the "plagiarism" of Underworld and Vampire the Masquerade it mostly came down to the worldbuilding and the "feel" of the world. Both have a secret society of vampires where elder vampires rule over younger vampires and they have that have influenced humans for hundreds/thousands of years, and have had conflicts with werewolves for hundreds/thousands of years. They also both have punk rock and goth feel in there world. But just like Underworld took a lot of elements from VtM, VtM took a lot of elements from Ann Rice's Vampire Chronicles, Lost Boys, Near Dark and a lot more vampire media. So even as a fan of VtM, I don't believe White Wolf had much ground to stand on with the copyright claim. However VtM was the first franchise to combine all of these influences into one setting and its is pretty obvious that Underworld films took a lot of the themes, worldbuilding, and atmosphere from VtM if you were familiar with the setting.
Seriously though, I would highly recommend checking out VtM and the World of Darkness, it seems to be right down your ally. Since it is pretty much Underworld but with a more in depth and realized world, which is something that Underworld franchises really lacked. You have over 25 years of lore for VtM, so worldbuilding and history of the vampires of the setting is top notch and is one of the most fleshed out vampire societies in fiction imo.
Maaan, a video about VtM by IPoS would be a dream! 😫
Stealing from one thing is plagiarism - stealing little bits from a lot of things is research and influence, it reads like a joke but the difference is losing a court case. They’re not equivalent instances.
My confusion is whether or not VtM was large enough for Sony to have even noticed in 2003. Not to dismiss the importance of proper IP research before you throw $22 Million at a project and it's definitely a mess up on Sony's part, but I imagine it was more difficult at the time to search "vampire vs werewolf" and VtM to specifically come up.
And to entirely take the piss, the idea that vampires fighting werewolves in a modernized gothic industrial setting just doesn't seem unique. Pretty sure Batman did that in the 70's.
Edit: I should note, this is entirely from a point of ignorance when it comes to VtM. Like, I know of it because I play D&D and visited the comic shop a lot, but VtM didn't seem like something you knew about unless you specifically sought it out.
The issue between the world of darkness and underworld is that Werewolves are so damn broken when it comes to power compared to Vampires. Like Vampire need to either be very strong outright and or get the drop on one. Since most Vampire's powers are deluded yet Wolves are like just as good as the ones from centuries ago. In Underworld, there's pretty much even due to them being basically the same family. WoD was inspired by basically everything when you look into the others like Hunter, Mage, Mummy and Demon there's even a zombie one. It feels like a Kettle getting caught with a lot of pots when said kettle wanna cry foul.
@@shubniggurath3255 I would watch a miniseries like the history of horror comics but with Vampire The Masquerade, it would be awesome
Bruh, I dyed my hair jet black because of these movies.
@@thotslayer9914 ofc
@@thotslayer9914 I don't know you and I doubt we share similar interests tbh.
@@Alice_Typhon Hahahaha you was almost another notch on the thot slayers belt. Nice dodge
@@thotslayer9914 maybe try to be less of a total and complete creep...
@@thotslayer9914 you down bad😪
This franchise still had the creepiest looking werewolf in movie history. I love the way they did William. That's my peak werewolf design of all time, it's just the perfect iteration - more wolf than man, but still unmistakeably not a wolf. I love it.
Movie history? How old are you? Rhetorical. Obviously you've never seen The Howling. The first movie (only the first) in the franchise has the best. Second is American Werewolf in London. Here endeth the lesson.
@@ip3887 The Howling werewolf has huge goofy ears tho , which look somewhat comical.
No doubt American werewolf in london has the most gruesome , classic werewolf transformation. However, William's design does best both werewolf classics overall.
Come on guys, you may not like it, but we all know that teen wolf is what peak performance werewolf body looks like.
William was great, but i personally prefer Van Helsing werewolf.
Fun fact:Underworld is a way better vampire-werewolf franchise than %#$&ing Twilight.
Anyone agree?
Underworld had become one of those series that it's "cool" to hate on. But I love it and I am not sorry.
Best vampire/werewolf movie franchise of all times, non-negotiable
I thought about it for a minute, and yeah no I guess you're right
What about Hellsing?
Or Vampire Hunter D?
@@criminalsaint9611 oh man I'd love a well made world of darkness show
What about what we do in the shadows
@@criminalsaint9611 Not gonna lie, playing Bloodlines and getting into Vampire the Masquerade TTRPG has kind of ruined other vampire media for me, with the exception of What We Do in Shadows, obviously. anytime I watch or read anything to do with vampires, my mind always goes to "oh this reminds me of this one thing in VtM" or "VtM did this thing better" and I end up just really wanting to see a faithful live action adaptations of VtM and the World of Darkness. But yeah, VtM is the goat when its comes to vampire franchises.
Just so you know, the "continuity break" you mentioned of the three elders fighting William and his army together can be easily explained- Marcus had just turned Victor and Amelia into vampires to help him take down William. He trusted that Victor's military experience would be enough to take the lycan down, but was horrified at Victor's treatment of William once he was caught. Since the vampire army was loyal to Victor and not Marcus, Marcus had no choice but to defer the leadership of the trio to Victor, who decided that Marcus was too much of a liability and instilled the "one awake, two asleep" rule. I'm guessing, with the course of events that happened in the third film, Victor opted to lead first (with the second generation of Lucian being born and rising to fight Victor), then Amelia, then Marcus, who, despite having a hundred years to himself, couldn't persuade the vampires to go look for William, and so he followed the rules and woke Victor up on schedule. Victor, I guess, met Selene in this cycle, taking her in as his adoptive daughter and having all the history books rewritten so it seemed like Victor was the oldest vampire, not Marcus.
I'm pretty sure he meant it FELT like a continuity break not that it literally was.
@@nathanhird-younger5151 It didn't to me. This is ancient vampire lore, with the rise of the big bads and big heroes of that lore. It only made sense to me the very first time I saw the scene, that of course they would all be awake in that timeline. No matter what the elders being awake or sleeping in orders in the centuries in recent times.
So to me, people who even so much as bring up a point like that, only show to me, that for some reason, they are being deliberately obtuse, or completely unobservant to a high degree to make the criticism at all. Feeling like a continuity break, or being a continuity break, are both very flawed criticisms.
@@adrianbundy3249 I just made a very similar comment that points out the obvious time period. Glad to see that someone else has eyes and some common sense.
It seems more obtuse latveria to make excuses for franchise that is perfectly to retcon out previous material in other to fit with the most recent movie.
Glad someone pointed that out.
These movies were so influential that, for a brief period of time in the 2000's, Black Widow's character design was changed to resemble Beckinsale.
Now that you’ve mentioned it I see the resemblance too
Maybe I'm wrong but I seem to remember thinking, upon viewing Rise of the Lycans, that the reason why the vampires don't seem to need to sustain huge farms of human livestock is because part of the "tax" they collect from humans in exchange for protection includes a certain amount of either blood or straight up sacrifices to feed from. Although I have not seen it since release so idk.
According to Kraven in the first movie, Victor's rule was to feed on animals that he secretly broke himself. This was the reason for Victor going out and killing Selene's family and blaming it on lycans before introducing William's prison in the second movie. I know at least some of the human prisoners given to the vampires were turned into lycans before Lucian's rebellion. I also remember a human in the third movie calling Victor out on also being a monster, implying that they were at least trying to keep being vampires secret, and probably the real reason they don't feed off humans normally/openly.
And then of course we have the cloned blood by the time of the first movie that no one ever mentions again that they've had for X amount of time...
An action-horror movie set in a cyberpunk world will be a dream!
Check out Split Second, a 1992 movie staring Rutger Hauer.
@@chriswiltz6860 I will, thank you!
Can recommend Altered Carbon, not quite horror though
Cyberpunk 2077 Underworld mod... if Ciri (wich is basically a badass version White Snow in the Witcher series) is in the game, why not vampires and werewolves?
@@chriswiltz6860 will do! It’s in CZcams too czcams.com/video/OKo2yubjduc/video.html
Rise of the Lycans is my favorite. I love medieval fantasy, I love werewolves, so seeing an entire horde of them charge a castle in the climax did it for me.
The first Underworld movie came out on my 13th birthday, and it was the best birthday present I've ever gotten. I carried the novelization in my purse and read it every day at lunch and while waiting for class to start. Selene was my idol, and I am not ashamed to say that I cried like a baby in the theater when I thought Michael really died in the second movie (my mom actually had to console me by reminding me that they wouldn't kill the male lead).
Then blood wars came out... 🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮
My siblings and i loved the underworld series as kids.
"His immune system overreacted, making him immortal. Here's where it gets kind of silly: ..."
Nah, buddy, you gave the warning about silly one sentence too late.
"I don't know what to do about this virus, fuck it. Turn off death." - his immune system
I'll never understand why they consider that silly. It's fantasy, as long as it has internal consistency anything goes
I thought something similar when he mentioned the immune system immortality thing lmao
On the white wolf thing: several key details unique to their IP were taken directly from the works into the movies. The vampire/were wolf fighting concept was popularized in the US from their lines as well as having the secret faction of vampires keeping everything a secret and a grungy gothic aesthetic that puts gargoyles and fountains in a dense modern city
Yeah, that’s also why the first movie got delayed in it’s release. They got sued and couldn’t release the movie until they’d settled that with White Wolf.
In the novels, it's established that the Vampires sustain-themselves on animal blood. I the 1st film, Kraven-himself confirms this, when he says that Viktor 'couldn't abide on the blood of livestock' and broke his-own laws forbidding vampires from feeding upon humans by gorging in secret.
Vampire - the Masquerade: Hey, you stole my stuff!
Skyrim - Dawnguard: *Hold my mead*
I'm just picturing Anne Rice, meat cleaver in hand, stood over Vampire the Masquerade, which is standing over Underworld with another meat cleaver
@@VickyTheVickname I half agree. NO 13 clans in Anne Rice. No Cain. No magic. Or werewolves, or antediluvians, or hunters, But yes they did have a Demon (evil spirit) create the first vampire and what happens to her happens to all her progeny. so meh. altho I haven't read past 7 or so maybe 8. but I did read her failed new vampire series with Lestat's son? and Pandora (which was pretty good).
@Brian Keys
There kind of is magic in Rice's vampire novels; it's just sort of in the background and kept tangential to the main story. The Talamasca studies magic (along with everything else) and the series shares the same universe as the Mayfair books.
"Skyrim - Dawnguard: Hold my mead"
Amusingly it started with Elderscrolls II: Daggerfall in 1996, thanks to some of the Devs running a VTM PnP game. Sadly it never got fully implemented as intended and the limited number of quests are buged out causing you to only get contacted by your clan once a year in the base game.
@@briankeys5941 The vampire vs werewolf was a World of Darkness thing. Cain is more of a myth in WOD lore, as well.
Lucian is my favorite character throughout the whole Underworld franchise.
The message of violence begets violence is such a great one and very true.
If only people this day and age in our world, would actually listen to that message and take it to heart.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over thinking you can change that thing just once, but you can’t because the same outcome always plays out.
Stay safe out there everyone, rather you are Male, Female, Left, Right, Republican, Democrat, Straight, Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans, White, Black, Asian, Latino, Hispanic, Puerto Rican, Jamaican, Moi, Scottish, Irish, British, Australian, Russian, German, Taiwanese, Philippino, South Korean, North Korean, Brazilian, Swedish, Polish, Italian, Greek, Argentinian, Alaskan, Hawaiian, Canadian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, and Young and Old.
Peace, Love and Respect to yourselves and you should do the same to those around you, weather they are your friend, ally, stranger or enemy.
I played a lot of Vampire: The Masquerade back in the day and I can see what White Wolf were getting at with their lawsuit against Sony. It's not so much that there's vampires and werewolves and that they fight and fall in love but more the general setting of the world the film presents. That Vampires have secretely lived among us for ages. That they actively attempt to keep their presence hidden from human society - a kind of _Masquerade_ if you will.
I could definitely find more and I'm sure a decent lawyer can find plenty more. But even then I don't think White Wolf had a good case. You can sure find these similarities but I think it would be really hard to argue in court that these things are definitely plagiarized and not just something one or a team of writers could come up with well by themselves.
Also, glass houses and stuff. White Wolf can't deny their ideas are heavily inspired by other sources when it comes to their own games, especially Vampire: The Masquerade. Anne Rice's Interview the Vampire is all over their more serious approach to the vampire theme, loss of humanity, a conflict of man and beast inside you, personal horror, etc. Also their art style especially in the early editions is clearly inspired by the 1987 vampire movie Near Dark. And the art the cover of their first V:tM books is (in my opinion) pretty derivative of the album cover art of Ministry's "With Sympathy" album from 1983.
But me personally, i never cared that either may have been inspired by what came before them. That's something that is true for basically every type of story or media if you just look for it closely enough.
When the first Underworld came out I was a huge V:tM roleplay nerd and it was like cross between my favorite RPG and the Matrix. What more could I have asked for? Me and my friends loved it.
The stuff after Rise of the Lycans wasn't quite for me but I will always have a soft for the franchise and especially the first one because of my love for that kind of world setting with vampires and werewolves.
It's also the cinematography that was taken directly from the players manual images. The makers of Blade also stole from White Wolf, they admit to having used the players manuals during the writing and filming as style guides. Nancy Collins sued for copywrite infringement because they stole from a story she wrote for White Wolf
@@erinswitzer2744 Absolutely. Blade itself entirely lifted one image from the Vampire The Masquerade main rulebook, down to the sun glasses and blood drops and leather jacket! 🤪👈
The whole thing would bother me less if Bloodlines 2 hadn't just imploded!
The shame is that we never got the chance to get a real proper adaptation of the games.
Maybe they couldn't because Aaron Spelling had the rights XD
@@erinswitzer2744 the Blood Pack from the 2nd(?) Blade movie was a Sabbat coterie…a Sabbat pack, actually.
As a fan of the White Wolf universe, I can testify that we LOVED this film because it did have that World of Darkness flavour. :D
I went to see this opening day during a matinee when I was a dumped, single, twenty something all by my lonesome. Kate Beckinsale + latex = 👍🏻
The honesty in this comment is fantastic
me too.
This present single, twenty something feels a bit jealous lol
As a teen back then with no transportation, and left at the mercy of those with no interest who had to make do with waiting for the tv release am jealous.
There are many of us who coped with loss via this franchise.
I think I'll watch it again and do some more..um.."coping".
I’m actually fine with them foregoing the sexual aspect of vampires. I always preferred vampire stories that weren’t super sexual in nature, just not really something that interests me
Yeah, while I agree how they are portrayed often, you'd think they'd be a little beyond such things. Not saying they need to be monks either but they live for so long that you'd think it wouldn't be that important to them. I prefer the more stoic types.
There was one vampire that had this vice in the film. It's also hinted in the first film and is associated with bad guys.
It's a vice in this series, i think, just as love is also highlighted as a virtue.
i dont care either way but i hate how they always try to make blood sexual. eww. i love a movie with atmosphere and mythology. these movies are pure escapism. they dont feature a lot of human interaction but i think that really lets you escape into the society more.
If you didn't find this movie sexual you weren't fapping hard enough
You know, the lycans should just ditch the guns and just use UV lights and lasers. You can torch an entire room full of vampires by flailing around like an inflateable tube man while dual wielding UV torches.
Yh but then we wouldn't have gotten a movie and Kate think about Kate
Thanks for the hilarious image that put in my head hahaha.
@@Corn_Beef_Boss oh I do quite often
Correction: Kraven knew *nothing* of Lucian's true plans, much-less helped him to track-down descendants of Alexander Corvinus. All that Kraven knew was that Lucian was going to have a team of his best Lycans hit Amelia's entourage, and had given Lucian the means to enter Ördögház (the mansion where the Budapest branch of the Old World Coven was located) so as to access the Crypt where Viktor and Marcus were hibernating and kill them. Whenever Lucian intended to stop killing vampires after killing all 3 Vampire Elders is debatable; Lucian clearly was using Kraven!
Lucian clearly didn't hate Vampires, just Victor. I'd say at most, he was indifferent to Vampires. I mean, hell, the blending of the species' would have ended the war.
But yes, he was using Kraven, who simply was a powerhungry weakling. Kraven thought he would become "elder" after the others where killed and he'd rule the vampires.
@@Mukation It's more that Lucian didn't hate the idea of vampires--given that he originally grew-up thinking that they were his superiors, and, of-course, his falling in love with Sonja and fathered a half-vampire child (albeit, one that never made it to term)--but he hated the vampires out-&-about, representing Viktor's regime, after the events of 'Rise of the Lycans'.
Somehow you make multi hour long videos about things I think I won't care about. By the end of it I always appreciate the works you discuss a lot more than I did before watching your videos. Here we go again.
Underworld is that movie series that always have something great going for it but just could not catch a break. The first 2 movies arw incredibly solid outings and a serious take on world building and lore setup. thank you so much for showing love on this movie series.
This franchise was my jam when I was 13/14 years old. Back then we didn't have as many female-led action flicks as we have today, so as a young girl who really loved action movies and the vampire lore I was pretty obsessed with this because it not only combined these things but it also had female lead, and that was something that my young self found it pretty cool.
Unfortunately, I think this was a case of a franchise that overstayed its welcome. They should've found a way to wrap up Selene's story in Awakening. Because over the years things change, people move on, and there's also the fact that actors age. This is problematic for action franchises in general but it's specially problematic for an action franchise centered on vampires. So yeah... Underworld ended for me in Awakening (even though it technically ended on a cliffhanger) and I didn't even come back to see Blood Wars.
Tbh I enjoyed blood wars a lot more than awakening (mainly cause I found the plot about humans intervening the war boring) but the ending for blood wars was pure 🗑🚮🗑🚮
I agree about female-led fantasy action movies. Underworld and Resident Evil were my jam. And what do we have now? Black Widow making an occasional cameo appearance in a Marvel movie, and overrated wooden-acted WW films. Despite the delusional accusations of "wokeness", Hollywood has really not given us kick-ass girl movie franchises like those of the 2000s.
Sweetheart, the world didn't start to spin after you are born, you know? Female protagonists didn't just become a thing only before you was born, i grow up watching Elen "badass" Ripley burning aliens to death, i also had my first crush on a vampire in the old 80's movie Lifeforce (who doesn't love a beautiful super powerful naked space vampire) altough in this case, she was more a antagonist (but more like a force of nature).
Also, Red Sonja? Never heard of it? Old, really old character from the universe of Conan... and the most CLASSICAL character of all (and it is really a real historical figure) Saint Joan D'Ark...
Female protagonists were always present (both in movies and in real life), it's probably just you who never had an interest, never try to see some older movies like Lifeforce, or the original Alien trilogy, it isn't any WONDER why so many teenage girls this days think the world is ALWAYS oppressing you! YOU KNOW NOTHING about the past! How could you expect change a world for better if you DON'T EVEN KNOW THE HISTORY of your world? Not even from MOVIES that is something you like? Stop reading Jesebel or whatever feminist bs you are reading, this ain't going to help you...
Also, Wonder Woman was a series in tv since the 80's?
So if they don't look like you, you can't follow? Not surprising for this generation. Question. If you have to signal virtue are you really virtuous? Rhetorical question. Of course you're not.
Kind of a shame how heroines and lead females like Selene are now a rarity in action movies.
Now we just got sh*tty entiled humans like Brie Larson going around demanding respect.
Kate Beckinsale earned my respect for being a badass. I can confidently say Selene the Deathdealer is up on my pedestal with Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, and the Black Widow.
The Underworld and Resident evil crossover now exists! It is called Van Helsing on netflix, it very much reminds me of campy B horror movies on the sci-fi channel back in the day. It merges the vampire/zombie aesthetic relatively well!
noooo but we don't just want the vampire x werewolf x zombie mash up, we want the crossover of the underworld and resident evil *franchises.* :(
A Blade - Underworld crossover would have been interesting, but it definitely would be pretty hard to explain why Selene wasn't part of the Reaper hunting team in Blade 2 or the coexistence of Marcus and Dracula.
Really hoping for an
In Praise of Shadows video series on The History of Vampires
YES!
That’s one that I’m really wanting to do sometime in the future, probably the next really big project that I do. I’ve been excited to make that for a while.
I would like a History of Werewolves because they don't get as much attention as they deserve
@@ZelphTheWebmancer The History of Frankenstein is the neglected Frankenberry cereal of the lot.
I don't understand how anyone could hate this trilogy, It's full of action, the soundtrack is amazing and it has a great backstory, I think its the best vampire franchise out there.
One of the writers rules for the 'Underworld' franchise is that they Vampires and Werewolves/Lycans are not creatures/beings of a *supernatural* nature; they're all biologically-immortal transgenics.
Which is odd cosidering some of the plot points.
@@fightingmedialounge519 Which ones specifically?
@@alexandriacollins7119 like selina's kid being able to see through the eyes of her parents.
@@fightingmedialounge519 Well, while being-able to see through each-others eyes is a little too-far, it's based off-of the fact that, like twins, Marcus and William, could sense each-other when they were within proximity, so-too could Eve with her parents, due to, both, the close blood-relations to each-other *AND* due to the increasing complexity to their hybrid-strains, like a wireless network connection.
P.S.: Her name's "Selene", not "Selina". ^^;
@@alexandriacollins7119 there's a significant difference between the gentic similarity between twins and a child and their parents. Also you just compared a genetic strain to a wireless connection. Are you starting to see how trying to make the powers scientific becomes more unbelievable as the series went on.
That early 2000s, World of Darkness, Latex, Blue Filter, Vampires vs. Werewolves movie was beautiful. This is the kind of cheese I'll put on my food.
It's an absolutely underrated series and considering we don't get a whole lot of vampire movie franchises, honestly I'm super happy it exists. The fourth one is my favorite due to the primal vampiric carnage Selene wreaks on the humans. What I pretty much waited the whole time to see. I loved these movies and they have plenty of potential to continue the series. 💘🦇🧛♂️🦇💘
I forgot how much I loved this series! I didn't even realize there were movies after Rise Of the Lycans! I'm so going to have to rewatch it all soon, it is so much fun and definitely one of my favorite series growing up!
My favourite part of Underworld is that White Wolf tried to sue them for doing Werewolf vampire Romeo and Juliet.
It went way deeper than that. Research the really large werewolf's actor from the beginning of the movie and you'll see how it was actually kind of messed up.
The Witches video or I should better say documentary, is one of the best pieces of media I saw in 2020. I have rewatched a few times and still get some facts out of it with every rewatch. Im so glad your channel is growing. You deserve it so much!!!
I think it's ironic that while the western world has pretty much moved away from action horror, anime and manga have begun to embrace it with incredible results.
Not really. Action horror has been popular concept in Japan for centuries. That's why you see so many Japanese ghost stories referenced in recent media.
the best thing about the Underworld series is that it introduces to us Kate Beckinsale in latex suit.
I feel like one of the only white wolf fans in the comments that doesn't necessarily see VtM as a "vampire versus werewolf" series. I haven't looked into older versions of the tabletop game, but it feels like more of an internal conflict between the vampire clans and how they struggle with their humanity or lack of it. I've not played werewolf but I read that they have their own internal conflicts and issues.
Anyways regardless, I found this a fun watch. Even if it's probably not my cup of tea now because I'm not an action person and prefer more world building, it was nice seeing videos based on a series I loved when younger.
I played Werewolf the Apocalypse and dabbled in Vampire the Masquerade for about 25 years now. The movie's screenplay was basically a 90% percent match to a couple of books written by the author mentioned in the lawsuit. Supposedly the large werewolf in the movie was a avid fan of role-playing games for years and was also one of the screen writers. He figured that since the game series was so underground, Sony could get away with the plagiarism. It was actually pretty brutal behind the scenes. The white-wolf website had a lot of the evidence and a petition until they settled. It's actually funny because for years I talked about this subject amd no one believed me lmao.
This is my favorite vampire/werewolf franchise ever. I think it is brilliant.
That whole 'shoot a hole in the floor to escape an enemy' scene was "inspired by" a similar scene from Nemesis (1992) which was also a progenitor for The Matrix. If you watch it then find I'm sure you'll catch the similarities in the 2nd act which may get you thinking that is there much of a difference between falling through a floor a couple stories (Nemesis, Underworld) and falling between a wall...(The Matrix)
The Selene establishing shot reminds me a lot of The Crow, for that matter.
Nemesis rules. Albert Pyun needs more respect.
Wow, thanks for making me aware of this film! Looks like they tried to compete with Total Recall on a tenth of the budget, but there are lots of imaginative touches. If I may return the favor, have you seen *Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into the Future?* (never released to home video, and not to be confused with the later TV series)
czcams.com/video/aZY-yQYVf38/video.html
One of the best franchises in movie history to me.
Kevin Grevioux's voice in the movies is his actual voice. Many people don't know that.
In just the first 4 minutes of the video, you have me foaming at the mouth, ravenous for a desire to watch this series now. So, I probably will do that and then come back to this once I finish! Given vampires are so eternally cool and everlasting, I would love to see you cover Vampire: The Masquerade some day. As both a history on its existence and a focus on the tabletop/computer games themselves with heavy emphasis on Bloodlines!! I feel it would suit your style very well and, if Bloodlines 2 ever actually sees the light of day, that’d be even greater reason to get an Anatomical Analysis out on the series :) Hope all is well, Zane, and take care!
This is a very pleasant surprise. I am very interested in your in depth analysis on the franchise as I’ve heard mixed reactions for it and not watched it to be honest.
I concur, one of the best channels on YT.
Clearly, the stone wall in William's prison was thicker, much thicker, than the stone floor of the Elders' Crypt; too think for Marcus to just smash-through.
I think Tokyo Ghoul is a great example of a modern vampire series. While Underworld and TG have totally different styles, you can't say they don't have similarities. I loved Underworld as a kid, but loved TG even more as a teenager and adult
Tokyo ghoul has more in common with traditional ghouls rather than traditional vampires.
And it’s also more of a VTM rip off than Underworld.
Amazing video once again! Only 10 min in and I love it! This will definitely make my lunch break 100% better later today!
The soundtrack was epic too.
I'm so thankful that more people are coming out and telling about movies they _like_ rather than just banging on about stuff they dislike.
Craven's wardrobe is a marvelous blend of Goth and early 70s glitter that somehow brings to mind a sinister coke dealer..
Probably one of the best sentences I've ever read xD
Wow-I _just_ realized the Devil May Cry 3 case art was based off of that of Underworld. That took _waaaaayyyy_ too long lmao
EDIT: Can we just talk for a moment about how great the licensed music was in the first two films? The first one was literally the birth of Puscifer, which is the only group I can say I got into when they formed. Not only that, but Bowie, Maynard Keenan and some other guy made _Bring Me The Disco King_ for it, which remains one of my favorite songs of all time. Hell, the first film had the only song from Milla Jovovich I could stand. (I mean, I _tolerate_ her in _the Mission_ by Puscifer, but I don't like her voice much). In general, the Underworld and Underworld: Evolution soundtracks are great fuckin' albums.
i used to watch 1 & 2 constantly on my ipod nano 3. downloaded them in little segments just to watch in the school library. Im a lesbian.
oh also fantastic video and I love your channel
I'm not a lesbian.
I mean with Beckinsale in skin tight, spandex... who wouldn't be!
Def very gay to be obsessed with these movies in middle school
Always a damn good day when you post a new upload, sir.
You’re one of the best video essayists working today.
I'm glad the vampires in Underworld didn't play to the traditional characteristics of the fantasy vampire. Vampires being overtly sexual & seductive has been done to death. Quite frankly after a while I began rolling my eyes the moment a vampire started seducing someone in a movie. I found it very refreshing to see the vampires in the Underworld franchise have actual ambitions & agendas, besides sex & getting drunk off blood. In the 5th installment of Underworld there are two characters that display the traditional characteristics of a vampire but thankfully it did not overshadow the character's agenda throughout the movie
Underworld was a staple of my youth and it was a real shame to see Blood Wars turn Celine into some kind of damsel in distress for a large chunk of it. She doesn't need to be rescued by anyone. It also seemed like (as you mentioned) they forgot about her cool new vampire abilities that she got in the second film. I would love to watch a live action or even animated series of Underworld but I am one of those long time fans and in order to survive it would need to draw in new people
"....that you can find anywhere" can you? i dunno about you, but i literally haven't seen this that much to be honest. Everyone says how cliché and how everywhere it is... well? Show me? And if it is really everywhere, then it's not often that you see it done so well, in such detail and with such passion.
Totally. I miss our straight forward Rock and Roll Vampires. I wish Masquerade would take another run at a tv series, in a post GoT media world, they wouldn't have to hold back, in format or rating.
@@jrobertlysaght yeah, werewolves and vampires haven't been seen or used at all lately, but i am quite interested in the upcoming werewolf the apocalypse game coming out.
@@DaxterL i feel like before underworld i had never seen vampires vs werewolves. it was a novelty for me. the mythology of these movies are very interesting as well. im ready for some more vampire stuff too.
It being everywhere and it being done with such detail are entirely different points.
I love the Underworld franchise and I hope it never dies. It reminds me of every movie you mentioned as well, which I also love. Great movies to grow up with 👍
About 'The Chain'; when Viktor 'rewrote' history to displace Marcus as 'The First', the status of the Elders and their 'time-share' order of ruling was obviously made-up to the newer vampires of the recovering Old World Coven.
One of the best channels on youtube
I personally would like to see like a series after rise of the lycans, but set all throughout time, and getting to see how they evolve between between the prequel and the first movie.
Kate Beckinsale is amazing in these movies it's a shame she doesn't get the credit she is deserved, even if you think the movies are bad or not to your taste, you can't deny how good of an actress Kate really is.
I always thought vampires in the Underworld lore were over powered. Always irritated me how easily they killed lycans with their bare hands.
Only elders ageins younger Lycans vampire and Lycan on a same level Lycan usualy stomps
Lol. Vampires in so many things are overpowered. My personal favorite is the Originals, from the TVD verse, where they are generally stupidly more overpowered than anything in underworld, Klaus and co probably even beat with Selene in the form she had at the end of Blood Wars where she was a blur. And believe it or not, the ones in Underworld are far, far weaker than some other types of vampires in a vast number of stories with them. There are some where they might as well be full fledged magic users with the power to destroy cities with it (for the life of me, I cannot recall the series, it has been far too damn long). Heck, now since I am thinking of it, the recentish movie Dracula Untold, he is practically soloing armies with his vampire bat swarm.
But take all that overpoweredness out, and just where you are talking about beating these lycans with their bare hands? Without being totally visually broken, overpowering huge groups with a hand wave, but rather normal looking? Some of the vampires in Buffy would probably wipe the floor with these Lycans too mind you. At least the boss level ones as things started to ramp up in difficulty after Buffy's early bouts, and they would have looked smaller to while also being able to be victor like, in casually overpowering lycans with strength and speed in a human sized package.
And besides, if anything, vampires in general are nothing compared to the other mythical overpowered beasts of mythology, or horror fiction tropes like this... What am I talking about? Witches. Witches in so much media have so much untold powers of ridiculousness that in their overpowered forms (like Sabrina the teenage witch), can even have time altering spells. History changing spells. Immortality spells. Anything you can think of that is completely broken, they can do it. Because, MAGIC. Want to kill a vampire that moves at blur speeds and is practically immortal? Oh, I can probably make a spell for that. Sure, there are a lot of witches in horror media that is much more down to earth than that, and we even have ones from Oz that can be beaten by water, lol. But in general, where media is concerned where they are at their best, vampires have nothing on witches. Or magic users in general, but witches are the things that come to mind for this specific comparison.
@@adrianbundy3249 my favorite are real world wersion were prety much al of it is releted vampires lycans are all just whiches or black magician s who raise from the beon the grave as a undead immortal s they can drain your energy drink your blood and eat you hole they can show as a gosts and physical form they can change in to a difrent forms and animals( lycantropy)... And so much more to me they are creepy and scary powerfful and at a same time can be repeled they have weakneses as all things should
In most fights, the lycans won. Selene had centuries of experience of hunting and killing lycans. And she use her silver weaponry and her agility to defeat lycans as brute force wouldn't work against most lycans.
@@lostinthestorywithjeremymi9385 I think before she drank Alexander Circinus blood she was able to hold a Lycan back for a little while more so than other vampires as she was turned directly by Victor, the second vampire
I was just watching your video on Giallo and this gets uploaded? I'm not gonna complain!
Man, you made me so sad when you mentioned the idea of vampires in a cyberpunk setting. Not because I don't like the idea but because the idea is so cool and obvious
I really try to put vampires in a futuristic setting, like a space station like the Citadel, finally see the sunlight even if it fake or in the Freelancer universe, the problem is, if you set vampires in the future, your characters always must be a younger vampire, and that have been done to death, but older vampires would be OP, so it wont be any conflict, because they are way to old.
@@TheKeyser94 Well you could always add some cosmic horror style aliens against OP elder vampires
@@rb.6322 I already doing that in a science fiction/fantasy series with a mesh of Lovecraftian squid nightmare, Onryos and the Thirdspace aliens from Babylon 5, they are the treat in the background, meanwhile the galaxy is at war, but when they find their herald or general (like in Berserk), their is nothing would stop their fleets.
The issue I have with the first film is that as an avid werewolf fan, the film builds up this first Lycan guy as a huge badass and then they just take him out like a punk before he gets to do much.
Producer: We got three stahs.
Director: Who?
Producer: Blue, Black and Gray.
Director: YES!!
30:14 Any chance we could expect Yu Yu Hakusho content from you? Or have you already created such pieces unbeknownst to me? Superb video by the way, I appreciate the time and effort you took to let us rediscover Underworld through your analysis.
Thanks, I’m really glad you liked it! I possibly will in the future, but if I do it will be a part of a larger video topic instead of its own thing if that makes sense? I love the show but there are great videos made on it, so I would like to talk about it but I would probably do so through the lens of a broad topic I think.
@@InPraiseofShadows Makes total sense. A thematic approach would indeed suit the show quite well. Thanks for your answer and have a good week-end!
I am patiently waiting for a video on What We Do in the Shadows (when that officially can be called a franchise) because I think your thoughts on that are going to be interesting and it would just be a fun video
I used to love the first movie when I was a kid. I still think it holds up really well.
I love ALL of the Underworld movies and I want MORE!
So when is the Resident Evil/ Underworld crossover happening? I would love to see Milla Jovovich and Kate Beckinsale team up killing vampires and zombies
@Zombobo Smith haha I was one of those people. I still don't know how they messed that up. Hollywood was given peanut butter and jelly and they gave us shit
@Zombobo Smith I mean, Alien and Predator is still a very compatible franchise, the movies just didn't take a very good direction with it.
They should have just had it take place in Alien's timeline and structured it like an Aliens movie but with a Predator thrown in.
@Zombobo Smith Why would you rather have another screw up followed by no movies, than have a movie that's actually done well?
@Zombobo Smith True, but it's still a workable concept.
I think the movie Pitch Black kind of shows that the concept can work, and was probably closer to what an AvP movie should be, than any of the actual AvP movies.
I don't think Selene would actively be trying to kill her own species.
That's pretty damn ballsy of them to claim they own the entire concept of vampires and werewolves fighting in a modern day setting.
I don't think it was that simple.
Thanks for the great video again, love this series and your channel! :)
Latley i've been binge watching your videos, the amount of effort and analysis you put is outstanding! I enjoyed all of them, thank you and keep up the good work, god bless you.
I loved the first 3 movies, and they will always have a place in my heart.
So the possibility, infinitesimal as it may be, of a show based on this franchise that takes its time flesh out how it all works realistically, economically, politically, socially, and so on, would get me very hyped.
Also,
I didn't like the 4rth film much as it felt like a big jump from the second film. I would've preferred to have seen it take place IN the newsflashes, Selene, Michael, the vampires and lycans, dying to defend themselves from the humans.
Blood Wars can rot in hell.
I do like this series of films, they're great fun and I enjoy the physical elements in the first movie. All of your videos would work in a university film course. They are well observed and presented, much more than some goofy, half-arsed course materials I've seen. Always informative and interesting.
Underworld has some amazing things about it. It’s got a fantastic premise. It’s got some of the best werewolf designs I’ve ever seen. Also, Viktor is a truly amazing character. The 1st three films are great.
Just came off a weekend-long binge of the first four movies and this video was the perfect way to draw them to a close. I agreed with almost every point you made and would similarly love to learn more about the lore and history that never got fully fleshed out. Keep up the great work!
Please talk about Sleepy Hollow! I don't see anyone talking about this masterpiece. Loving your channel from Brazil!
A one hour long video on the Underworld franchise?! HELL yeah 😈
I'm so happy you addressed these movies! I have always loved these movies since I first saw them and I'm so glad someone like you could make a legit, objective, and tastefully subjective video about them. Rock on man!
Some of the quirks addressed by you against the film......
1. Yes, there should’ve been more hand to hand combat between the vampires and werewolves. But the explanation given is that at this particular moment in the film, the werewolves are more aggressive and lethal, hence why they are using the uv rounds against the vampires. So the vampires retaliate with the continuing usage of firearms and other weapons.
2. The coven - it is explained that they have become bored and decadent, and since they have power they don’t need to do anything else. Plus the fact that the elders have it so that they do not call attention to themselves.
3. In take of blood - In The movie it is explained that the vampires have created a synthetic blood in order for them to one survive without having to kill humans and draw attention to the covens, and also to generate revenue that is then used to continue with the lifestyle of the coven and with their development of weapons against the lycans and other enemies.
4. Continuity of the storyline - yeah I. The first film they should’ve had a dark haired Sonja and how that connected with the relationship of Selene and Victor, and it would look better when they released the third film. But sometimes filmmakers do things in films without thinking about sequels or prequels. Only a few have that vision and control.
5. Sometimes studios decide to green light sequels or other mediums for a story depending on how much revenue it generates for the studio. And I don’t think that the studio thought that Underworld was going to be so well received and then develop such a cult following. I can honestly say that this is a trend with film studios. They don’t support or have an open man with certain films that they just don’t do the proper work for them to be successful, until one they make money or they have such a following that money revenue is all but guaranteed.
5. I think they should’ve stopped and regroup and formulate a better storyline after evolution..... too many loose ends and a bit of a mess.
My favourite moment is when he lists bad slock movies and I nod along like yeah, they bad, I know, I love em nontheless, except for I Robot, that one just sucked. Also now I'm interested in the Resident Evil Franchise, witch I never bothered to watch.
If you like Underworld I think Resident Evil would be up your alley
@@justwannapost69 Has the same horrid last movie too.
Resident Evil is a pretty fun zombie action franchise if you don't associate it with Capcom's games. It's definitely dated, but if you like that feeling, it's a good watch. I had trouble separating the movie from the games, which ruined a lot of the movies due to removing the horror from the big bosses.
@@antonakesson retribution was fun for the non stop guns blazing at least. honestly the movie franchise prolly would've been better without that other one.
Awesome, can't wait to watch this :) .
I saw that you had a preview for Anatomy for a series of Leprechaun, your favorite series, are you also working on this :) ? Your videos are always great!
UNDERWORLD is one of my favorite set of American movies. They're wonderful. I never knew people downed it.
Rise of the Lycans was the absolute peak of the series.