ULTRAVIOLET is a failed vision. ULTRAVIOLET is a film that could have been as great as Kurt Wimmer's previous directorial
effort, the classic EQUILIBRIUM. It shows that a great movie is in there somewhere, but somewhere along the way some
of that magic was lost. ULTRAVIOLET does pack a punch with great action sequences, music, production design, and costumes.
Knowing the history of the film's post-production to a point, I wish the vision of kurt Wimmer wasn't taken away from him
because I would love to see a director's cut of ULTRAVIOLET since a few things are missing. The extended cut adds not much,
but still I wait for the day SPHE will allow Kurt Wimmer to make a director's cut for DVD. However, ULTRAVIOLET does
play better on DVD. My favorite sequence is the shoot out in the library.
ULTRAVIOLET is about Violet (Milla Jovovich), a Hemophage about to die (her 12 years are almost up), who gets a mission
to trasnsport a kid carrying a very lethal virus inside him (that will kill him in eight hours). She bounds with the kid named
Six (Cameron Bright) and refuses to let her fellow vampires kill him or the evil Mormon bad guy, Vice Cardinal Daxus (Nick
Chinlund), have Six. So the stage is set for a film with lots of action, visual eye candy, and some character development
left on the cutting room floor.
VIDEO: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)
The transfer is fantastic. It captures the look and detail of the film as I saw it in the theater back in March.
AUDIO: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English
Great surround track and the dialogue is easy to hear too. The only misprint on the back of the case art is that the film
has a French subtitles option, but only English subs are available.
SPECIAL FEATURES: The audio commentary with actress Milla Jovovich provides a few insights into the making of the film,
but mostly the commentary is filled with dead space or Milla saying how cool this looks or the flat space technology was a
cool idea. She is less of a pain in the butt than she was in the previous commentaries she did for the Resident Evil films.
Skip the commentary.
UV PROTECTION is a four part making of featurette that has interviews with almost everyone except for writer/director Kurt
Wimmer (you see him in archive footage directing the film) which everyone praise his vision for the film during the interviews
in UV PROTECTION:
THE BEGINNING- How the film came together from Kurt writing the screenplay for Milla and Shanghai being chosen as the place
to shoot the film.
TURN OF THE WHEEL- A look at the special effects of ULTRAVIOLET
THROUGH THE LENS- production design and costume design of ULTRAVIOLET
FIGHTING STANCE- the fights and stunts of ULTRAVIOLET
In 31 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and clips from the film, the featurette isn't bad, but it should
have been so much more than just teasing at it and be a little better than promo fluff.
PREVIEWS: FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN, MIRRORMASK, MARILYN HOTCHKISS BALLROOM DANCING AND CHARM SCHOOL, THE FOG,
THE BENCHWARMERS, TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY
No trailer for ULTRAVIOLET
FINAL ANALYSIS: ULTRAVIOLET plays better on DVD, but it is still a frustrated piece of work that one day that one hopes
the director's cut will be made of this film.
Related review and article:
ULTRAVIOLET Movie Review: http://enterline2.tripod.com/ultraviolet2.html
ULTRAVIOLET article: http://enterline2.tripod.com/ultraviolet.html
this review is (c)6-19-2006 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission (except for excerpts and a link
to the review). Look for additional content at http://enterlinemedia.livejournal.com and send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
