Van Helsing (2004) Retrospective / Review
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- čas přidán 21. 05. 2021
- Van Helsing (2004) Retrospective / Review
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#VanHelsing #Dracula #Frankenstein #Wolfman #HughJackman #OliverHarper #RetrospectiveReview - Zábava
I know it has some issues but man, I still really enjoy this movie. I still watch it every Halloween. It’s not even a “guilty pleasure” l, I feel no guilt. I find it highly entertaining and wish they did sequels.
Agreed!
Well said.
Agreed! Even the DTV animated 30-minute prequel was enjoyable. If only it was a franchise.
I find this the guiltiest of pleasures. It has lots of potential that it never quite reaches.
It's certainly a very memorable film, i loosely remember all of the main beats and scenes despite only having seen it once about 15 years ago, the black and white opening in particular is pretty brilliant. That's more than i can say about a lot of movies these days.
Always had a soft spot for this film
Same
Same 🤘
Yeah it's so bad it's good lol
Watched this again recently and really dug the opening of the film. Really wish the rest of the film had kept that look. It was great.
@@AK-47ISTHEWAY it's not that bad. It's just not good. But it's very interesting.
Van-Helsing is the closest thing to a Casltevania live action movie, next to Dracula Untold.
The game even mentions the Belmont family in a readable book in a library.
I liked what they were eluding to with Van Helsing's identity. Dracula calling him Gabriel and "The Left Hand of God" and that he had been alive since at least the Roman Empire, suggesting he was immortal or extremely long lived, implied that he was the incarnate form of the Archangel Gabriel. Interesting concept that I would have loved to see developed.
I will say the opening sequence in black and white was the best part of the movie. The sets, music, and callbacks remind me of the Classic Universal Monster Movies.
Yeah it was great and I always liked how each of the monsters are linked together. Specifically Dr Frankenstein being made by Dracula to work for him and later the involvement of Werewolves
This
The funny thing is that part of the sequence can be seen in color in the trailer
I’d include mr Hyde sequence too, it was perfect. Only after that it all started to become a convoluted mess.
Young Frankenstein lol
This movie and "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" are two of my favorite "mixed bag movies" from the 2000s!
Like League but not this one.
Yep. Real B movie tackle.
But with A movie budgets.
These are the kind of films that might not make money but are well loved.
I thought they same flim
Like them both.
TLXG, The Mummy, and Van Helsing are all in my favorite "period pieces with modern characters" genre.
I don't give a fuck what anyone says, this is still one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies and absolutely love it unironically
Yeah I dont see how anyone could dislike it when it wasnt trying to take itself seriously. It always totally dedicated to be corny and fun action
@@Spongebrain97 I actually like the small moments that the film takes itself seriously in terms of letting its characters feel sadness and anguish, the Monster is the best example of that.
If you dont give a fuck what anyones says why you calling it a guilty pleasure of a film 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️ put some respect on its name
18:34 Glad to see Grant Imhara here...RIP Legend
Had to rewind quickly as I recognized the face but didn't catch the name. As I did. I also saw the guy directly before Grant is Salvatore "Tory" Belleci.
Man. I always forget they had a past doing this stuff before Mythbusters. And of course, for Grant, he did work in the industry he loved until the end.
@Imperator No-Name93 I do not appreciate this Cat in the Hat slander in my comment section. I think it is superior to both LXG and Van Helsing!
Roger Ebert was one of a handful of movie critics who understood the concept of fun in movies. Not every movie has to be high art, sometime you just want to have a good time.
Also RIP Grant Imahara.
Isn't he the same guy who trashed Die-hard and The Thing?
@@jothishprabu8 Ebert trashed a lot of good movies. Never really cared for his or Siskel's opinion on much of anything as I found both of them to be a bunch of pompous asshats.
He hated Gremlins 2, The Frighteners, Ghostbusters 2 and other movies that were meant to just be fun and not high art, so that was a hypocritical and inconsistent understanding he had.
@@jothishprabu8 yes, and Roadhouse
@@Melvinwacko He endorsed Cradle of Life because he was crazy for Angelina Jolie, so he was probably jonesing for Beckinsale when he reviewed Van Helsing.
TBH I think the CG in a movie like this has some of the same appeal as the stop-motion effects in a Harryhausen film. No, it doesn't look real, but there's so much artistry and imagination and detail to the animation that it's still compelling to look at. The unreality of it is part of the fun.
to this day, i still think van helsing has the best werewolves in any movie
@@kaelang12 You should check out Joe Johnston's The Wolfman!
@@jothishprabu8 you mean the one with the werewolves done by Rick Baker?
I agree, the technology was limited and didn't age well. At the time of release it was good, definitely better executed than scorpion king.
I don’t care what anyone says, this movie is fantastic!
Fun Fact: The cinematographer (Allen Daviau) worked multiple times with Steven Spielberg in the 80s, especially on E.T. May he rest in peace.
One of my childhood favorites, the score fucking SLAPS, Dracula is hammy as fuck and I love him, Hugh Jackman is gorgeous with long hair, and it’s just dumb fucking fun. Love it love it love it
Why is no one talking about The Monster? That is some *serious* ham.
"Whoooo is the rrrrreal monster here?!"
They just went all in with it and that’s why it’s so enjoyable,it doesn’t even attempt to reign it in 😅
The score does slap
Alan Silvestri's score is one of the best parts of this film and the action is great too.
As a kid I always loved the shot of the painting of those two knights fighting before transforming into monsters. Also yeah the heart of the film is Frankenstein's monster. He just wants to live but also take revenge on Dracula for killing his "father".
Like "John Carter", totally underrated movies...I remember going to the cinema in 2004, I was entertained! Who the hell are those critics????
I guess they’re people who require more than awful dialogue, cringy acting, non existent characters, a laughable plot, and an inescapable bombardment of terrible CGI in order to be entertained.
In short, people who have more than two brain cells to rub together. 🤷🏻♂️
The same dopes who didn't like Speed Racer
@@MG-jo7mc *brain cells that when rubbed together produce a static charge and then obliterate themselves in the process...leaving only the residue of their petty review behind*
I immensely enjoyed both John Carter and Van Helsing. Own both on blu ray and watch them once a year. I do not understand the hate (awful dialogue and cringey acting???) These movies were great, which is why they have cult followings. I would have enjoyed sequels from both movies.
I moved to rural France in 2008, no film depicts my struggle more accurately! 🦇🤔
This is easily one of my all time favourite guilty pleasure movies.
Yeah and I gotta say there really hasn't been a fun action movie featuring all of these universal monsters since then
Mine too.
Guilty, pleasure?
I wasn't bad
I don't feel guilty about it lmao
I saw it back in 2004 when I was 6 years old, around that time I became a fan of the classic Universal monster films. And to this day it’s my biggest guilty pleasure
I don't care what anyone says, I love this movie! 😍 Better than the Dark Universe honestly. 🙄
Better then the crap coming out now 2021 it was original too dkw this guy throwing it under the bus
Hugh Jackman playing a character with memory loss. How original.
I soooo strongly disagree about Dracula in this movie being bad.
He's like one of the best ones. I love his acting, it hits all the right notes with me.
The movie isn't overall that good, but it's a guilty pleasure of mine. But the story was, reallly bad.
Quite, it's wrong to insist a baddie need always be 100% humourless, that's limited. I think this Dracula is one of the best, but it needed tweaking.
I also really enjoyed this portrayal of Dracula.
I disagree that the movie wasent good I found it to be a great movie, I just think that alot of people went into it expecting Chris Lee or something Dracula and judged it on what it wasent rather then what it is.
I always liked this film simply because it's the closest thing to a Castlevania movie we have, plus Kate looks absolutely gorgeous in it.
i know a lot of reviewers like to rip this one apart but i also know that this movie has a loyal fanbase, myself included. this was the first DVD i ever owned and i still own it.
i and everyone who loves this movie knows it has problems. but just because something isn't perfect, doesn't mean it can't be loved. and i love this movie, warts and all.
It’s SO silly. SO dumb... But I love it. One of my biggest guilty pleasures. I’ve been a sucker for vampires and werewolves my whole life, and as silly as they are, Dracula and his brides completely steal this movie in my eyes. Also, the werewolves in this movie are my favorites werewolves ever depicted in film. The movie doesn’t look real at all, but I think it has a very cool/memorable look to it.
I was 32 when this movie hit cinemas (proof that you do not need to be a teen to like this movie), bought the DVD and I still enjoy watching it from time to time. Is all fun!
I just kinda wish they'd try something like this again and just stick with it
Unirionically one of my favorite films...not just monster movies, FILMS in general, the fact that it is a monster movie just makes it even better
When I saw this movie the first time I was thinking "This is how castlevania movie should be made". I like this movie a lot. Hugh Jackmans charisma keeps this movie together. How about doing Real Steel next?
Real Steel is a good suggestion.
And Kate Beckinsale in leather.
It might just be nostalgia but I think this movie is pretty underrated.... its surprising that it hasnt developed a bigger cult following over the years
Because it really isn’t very good in truth ?
The look and designs of this film made a huge impact on modern Castlevania, the MTG set Innistrad and Ravenloft. It may not have earned a sequel but it lives on in many artist'
s imaginations.
This movie is underrated. It’s not a masterpiece or anything, but its a good time.
Yes, you got that right. Harper fucked up when he reviewed this film. Every here likes it.
It’s nuts and a lot of fun.
One of the many attempts from universal to make cinematic universe.
And yet, somehow they only succeeded the first time they did it... in the 1940s.
It is always an attempt for them lol
@@samuelbarber6177 right? People need to watch older films😂
And this one might have actually
worked if they'd taken their time
with it. Still a far better film than
2017's The Mummy though!
Frankenstein meets the Wolfman is a classic. Check it out.
They probably intended to flesh-out Van-Helsing's backstory in a sequel.
Fuck, looked up and saw “Belleci” and I’m like “I recognize that name” just to look up and scream “WHAT TORI??”
And before I could exclaim how he worked on VH, Grant Imahara is in the next shot and just ugh 😩😩 I love those two
Aww, nostalgia. This came out during my college years. It was campy but I enjoyed it. I had the book and game boy advance game (which I don’t remember being very good). I used to read novelizations of all the movies back in those days.
Hugh Jackman’s werewolf is still my favorite werewolf design ever.
I think the movie is decent. It is ridiculous as all hell the way everyone is just jumping everywhere and smashing into each other and the action doesn't really have a sense of style, but to me the movie itself is over the top, so I don't mind it being over the top. Guilty pleasure for sure since I watched it when I was 10, but not as bad as some people make it out to be.
This film is great fun, and I love Richard’s Dracula in this. The camp is strong with this one 😎
Such a shame. After Universal's latest failure with the 'Dark Universe', I don't think there'll be any more such films for a long time. With the MCU sputtering out now, we may have seen the last of the 'cinematic universe' fad for a while too.
The MCU is not sputtering out. We have plenty of movies and shows coming out this year and next.
@@gamestation2690 And nothing good, no headliners, no tent poles.
@@Bateluer Meh. I’m excited.
Richard Roxburgh is particularly good in this. I love how much fun he's having.
Is the family of Kate Beckinsale’s character inspired by or a nod to the Belmonts from the Castlevania franchise?
You know I've always thought it was
@@MythmasterFunky well stephennsomers I think dud admit to being inspired by castevania
Interestingly, in the 2004 video game, Van Helsing can read a book in the family estate titled "The Belmonts" as a nod to Castlevania.
I have a soft spot for this movie to be honest. It had its cheesy moments but it was entertaining and fun as hell. It had a Mummy (1999) feeling to with its approach as a film and it just really worked for me personally. I gotta give a shout out to David Wenham who played Van Helsing's "weapons guy" basically. He went from a bumbling helpless character in this movie to the badass narrator warrior in 300 just a few years later. Thats what you call versatile.
I actually really liked Van Helsing, LOL. I remember going to the cinema to watch it with a group of friends and when it ended the girls had tears in their eyes seeing Anna in the clouds and the guys were excited by the action scenes. But I guess as with anything it is all down to the individual as to what works and what doesn't.
Your pitch for the Dark Universe is excellent!!!!
Dracula working with Nazis, Van Helsing fighting/teaming up with a classic monster in each movie, etc.
That is awesome, and it's too bad it will never happen.
This is my favorite Dracula, he was the Dracula i always imagined in my head,, i dont care what anyone says, his accent, the look, the acting perfect
You watch Bram Stokers Dracula with Gary Oldman, then watch this piece of shit, and you come to the conclusion that this absolute cringe fest performance is not just good, but the best?
You’re not a very deep thinker are you?
@@MG-jo7mc nah bro. I love Oldman. Top 5 easy! But I always saw his drac as just a really cool really weird vampire. An amazing performance. This Dracula is a “man” on top of the world! He revels in his power. In himself. In life as an undead creature! He is after all nobility!
"The setting of all their legends is Eastern Europe" - That's not true. Yes, Dracula is from Transylvania. Dr. Frankenstein, however, is a Swiss scientist who creates the monster in Ingolstadt (Germany) - no connection to eastern Europe at all. Werewolf legends come from very different places in Europe (Scandinavia, Balkans, etc.). The famous werewolf film with Lon Chaney, however, is set in Britain.
I love the film, especially Dracula. He´s like a real life anime character.
Gosh I forgot about this movie, used to love it as a child
Are you serious? The ending of this film was beautiful! And Silvestri's music elevated it to a whole new level! Here, slap me (28:48)if you want, but that's my opinion!
I feel zero guilt for loving this movie!
Loved this as a young kid it had every old school monster rolled into one keeping the same atmosphere from the old films with newer technology and cgi
Honestly I never hated this movie. It's not perfect but it's an enjoyable enough update to the classic universal monster movies I love.
I'm just waiting for him to tackle the entire LOTR trilogy.
I don't think it'll ever happen, but one can dream.
Same
I always liked this movie, watched it several times.
I love the guy playing dracula in this movie
Big fan of the female vampires in this movie, especially Aleera.
I agree with virtually all the criticism but I do enjoy this movie.
I love this movie, for what it is, it's really entertaining. A guilty pleasure no doubt!
Same as
There are certain movies which you'll never get bored off. For me this movie is one of them. One of the things I liked was its epic music.I remember i was so thrilled when I heard Transylvanian horses as they introduced van helsing. I didn't know it was treated so bad by critics untill I watched this video TBH.
This film has one of my favourite cheesy villain lines.
"I'll rather die than help you!!!"
"Oh, don't be boring....everyone who says that dies....."
Back when Gothic, Victorian, vampires and werewolves were the "in-thing" 🤣 Underworld was good too. And League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Underworld isn’t perfect but don’t lump it in with those other shit burgers, come on.
Hugh Jackman playing a guy with big hair, who wears a lot of leather, uses sharp weapons and can't remember his past. How the hell did he pull that one off?
I love this movie and the League. Both good summer flicks. Not perfect but still good movies in their own right.
That snowy town looks like what the latest Resident Evil game is based in.
Never thought you'd do this movie. Still hoping and praying you do the 1976 King Kong remake.
one of my favorite movies - frankenstein's performance is powerful
Yeah, have always felt this was kind of underrated. It's very silly but also energetic and fun. Very much in the spirit of the Mummy, and its equal as well imo.
I don't know. I like that they don't decide to ever explain Van Helsing's background, and him not even caring at the very end of the film. I love that it matters so much to Dracula. Dracula knows everything. He can fill all of it for Gabriel. He has no reason not to, outside of not having any time. I love that aspect of the characters.
Wonderful retrospective review, Oliver! I especially enjoyed your preferred outline for a Universal Monsters Dark Universe, the 19th century setting is essential but the World War II finale made me want to put YOU in charge of that franchise!
It’s really a shame Stephen Sommers got lost in spectacle over story in the latter half of his career. While Van Helsing has his style all over it, G.I. Joe really felt like a work for hire job. He could have bounced back from Van Helsing by directing the third Mummy film with Brendan and Rachel.
There are only two reasons I'd rewatch this:
1) Kate Beckinsale
2) Kate Beckinsale
Simp
She looked real good super good I'm with you
@@lilpp4791 I'm straight and have working eyes :P
@@lilpp4791 I don’t think you know what that word means.
@@MG-jo7mc i know exactly what it means
This is mental I watched this last night and now Oliver has uploaded this thank you 🤝
I love this movie and the Universal Monster movies. It's a great tipping of the hat to the old movies but it does something fresh and unique with the iconic monster characters. I liked how this movie has a reason why the monsters are in it, unlike the monster mash movies that Universal made in the 1940s where they were just there by chance. I believe that many of the computer effects have aged well and the monster designs still hold up. The final scene in this movie is so emotionally moving and is far more mature than many movies that get made now of days.
$160 million? I can see why this movie looked so good , but still managed to look like old Dracula movies.
I'll say Kate Beckingsale was distracting, she is just too pretty.
Kate is mesmerising 😍
The only issue this movie has that it has 3 movies within a single movie. I loved this movie so much and it's rewatchable.
"It's a pity that your moment of Triumph is spoiled over little thing like grave robbery." I love the hammy Dracula.
This is one of my favourite movies- I remember a friend brought it for me to check out on DVD in high school and I was extraordinarily obsessed with it. I think the whole concept and lore of it really hit me, so I always forgive it a lot of the issues it does have because what it did for my imagination at that time and really sparked my love of monsters.
I genuinely love Van Helsing, it’s a fun/good movie with a lot to love about it.
It’s one of my favorite movies.
I thought the SFX were good at best and decent at worst.
I also don’t have a problem with the CGI.
The characters/acting and story/script/dialogue were good/entertaining.
I thought Dracula in Van Helsing was great, it being over the top is why I love it.
I had no problem with the “James bond scene”.
I thought the action was entertaining.
Exposition isn’t always bad and perhaps Van Helsing doesn’t know it.
Critics were far too harsh on it, and frankly you are too.
To say it’s objectively bad, imo is just wrong.
I think it’s genuinely good, not a “guilty pleasure”.
I haven't seen this movie in well over a decade. I loved it though. I'd watch it every time it was on HBO or whatever movie channel it was on. And, let's be honest, I was like 19 when it came out so I was very attracted to the female cast 😃
My taste and knowledge of film has changed drastically since then so I may sing a very different tune, now!
Well, I loved it. Good soundtrack, nice and dumb fun.
3:33 wow, back in the days when I actually agreed with professional movie critics. Everything you said there is how I felt about the movie.
Kate Beckinsale may have hated her corset but she looked stellar in it! I was truly smitten!
This and The Mummy should have been the beginning of Universal's Dark Universe
A completely missed opportunity. It's sad we'll never get a proper Dark Universe with this action/adventure tone.
Same director for both movies
3:04 Golly, you just hit me with a luscious wave of nostalgia.
remake with Van-Helsin teaming up with o'connel vs Dracula and the mummy as the villainous puppet masters over the other monsters. that could be great!
I adore this movie. Whenever I catch it on some tv channel i watch. That's about 3-4 times a year since first appearance on tv channels and I never get bored. So literally familiar with every single word they say but love for it never fade away
Its one of my guilty pleasures, i have so much nostalgia for this movie
Also it has the best looking werewolves ever put on screen
"Actually I'm just a frier, I can swear all I want... DAMN IT!~"
Yes, the movie can be silly at times, but real effort was put into it and it's a very fun adventure. Only wish we got the automatic crossbow more.
The standouts in this movie are Kate Beckinsale's looks, Frankenstein's monster and Richard Roxburgh.
You summed my thoughts on it pretty perfectly. I know it's a bit silly and has issues but I really like this film, its setting and action sequences are very enjoyable. Nostalgia's a hell of a drug!
Back from work : 50 min of train
A new Oliver Harper videos shows up !
You made my day !
12:49
Not going to lie, a spin-off where a Quincy Morris type character has to deal with vampires and shit in Transylvania could have been really cool. Quincy Morris is such an under-utilized Dracula character-especially since he's the one that all but kills him in the book.
I hope you review Underworld or The Craft one day.
"(Frankenstein, The Wolfman and Dracula) all take place around the same time".
There's 80 years between Frankenstein's monster and Dracula.
Man, I loved this movie as a kid and it's still a blast to watch. It has its flaws but I think the narrative and the action are solid. Perhaps it's best that it never got a sequel, chances are that it wouldn't have been as good like with the Mummy in the 90's (another classic watch for me).
The actresses who played Dracula's brides really steal the show. Since their parts were mostly CGI they really had to pull off the expressions and body movement and boy did they! Swinging around on the wires for the flying segments had to of been fun! They really make the brides feel like classic movie monsters.
I would love to see a well done remake. I absolutely adore the setting and character designs. Some ideas like the Werewolf transformation are awesome. Sadly Hollywood just tries to cash in on old classics that don't even need a remake. And the remakes aren't even good.
Oh, Mr. Harper. Thaks for another great Video. Its Always a Joy to watch.
Something that isn't explicitly stated but hinted at in the film is that Van Helsing is the Archangel Gabriel. This is made a little more clear when he's referred to as the "Left-hand of God" by Dracula.
Probably would have been more expanded in the sequel...oh well
love the visual artwork on all of your reviews btw
oh, and excellent review!
Rob Cohen directed, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” and Stephen Sommers produced it.
I fell in love with this movie instantly. Screw those critics.
This is one of my favorite movies ever. I don't care what anyone says, Dracula turning into his monster form was dope.