Product Description

As dark forces gather to hasten the apocalypse hellboy fights fire with fire in this mind-blasting supermatural action-adventure. Based on the celebrated dark horse comic book. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 01/22/2008 Starring: Ron Perlman Selma Blair Run time: 132 minutes Rating: Ur

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22294 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Released on: 2004-10-19
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 132 minutes

Amazon.com
In the ongoing deluge of comic-book adaptations, Hellboy ranks well above average. Having turned down an offer to helm Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in favor of bringing Hellboy's origin story to the big screen, the gifted Mexican director Guillermo del Toro compensates for the excesses of Blade II with a moodily effective, consistently entertaining action-packed fantasy, beginning in 1944 when the mad monk Rasputin--in cahoots with occult-buff Hitler and his Nazi thugs--opens a transdimensional portal through which a baby demon emerges, capable of destroying the world with his powers. Instead, the aptly named Hellboy is raised by the benevolent Prof. Bloom, founder of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, whose allied forces enlist the adult Hellboy (Ron Perlman, perfectly cast) to battle evil at every turn. While nursing a melancholy love for the comely firestarter Liz (Selma Blair), Hellboy files his demonic horns ("to fit in," says Bloom) and wreaks havoc on the bad guys. The action is occasionally routine (the movie suffers when compared to the similar X-Men blockbusters), but del Toro and Perlman have honored Mike Mignola's original Dark Horse comics with a lavish and loyal interpretation, retaining the amusing and sympathetic quirks of character that made the comic-book Hellboy a pop-culture original. He's red as a lobster, puffs stogies like Groucho Marx, and fights the good fight with a kind but troubled heart. What's not to like? --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
Ron Perlman is a man born for prosthetics. With his large features and solid but nimble body, he convincingly portrays otherworldly creatures. Here, in the Mexican director Guillermo del Toro's cuckoo comic-book feature, he's a super-sized red demon from hell. The complicated and ultimately senseless plot begins with Hellboy's origins (he was "born" during a Second World War Nazi occult ceremony presided over by Rasputin), then quickly focusses on the modern-day Hellboy and his adventures in fighting some doomsday monsters and the freaks that control them. It's not particularly groundbreaking stuff. Where the film really succeeds is in its dank, almost introspective atmosphere-a del Toro specialty-and in the immensely appealing bravado Perlman brings to his role. When the movie's story line concentrates on the character of Hellboy and his relationships with those important to him (the man who raised him, the girl he loves), the film becomes a unique romp, with an exciting yet vulnerable superhero at the center who just happens to be the spawn of Satan. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker