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6 Degrees Entertainment

'Hellboy: 4K Ultra HD'
(David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Daniel Dae Kim, Sasha Lane / 4K Ultra HD + Blu ray + Digital / R / 2019 / Lionsgate Films)

Overview: Hellboy is back, and he's on fire!

From the pages of Mike Mignola's seminal work, this action packed story sees the legendary half-demon superhero (David Harbour, 'Stranger Things') called to the English countryside to battle a trio of rampaging giants!

4K Ultra HD Verdict: Lionsgate Films (LGF) continues to expand their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this July with the release of this quite stunning, and brilliantly off-center action tale 'Hellboy' on their new 4K home video format on July 23rd, 2019.

For my money, this 'Hellboy: 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital' combo pack's sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is 'Hellboy' presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265, Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: Dolby Vision + HDR10, Aspect ratio: 2.40:1, and Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHD's, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisper with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what's more is that it's enjoyably noticeable. For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color; like the delicious hues and nuances of all the daylight outdoor scenes and the frantic street chases.

Indeed, the picture enjoys the fruits of the added resolution in terms of bringing out the aforementioned extremely fine facial and some of the yellow graded material (notably some scenes where Hellboy is conversing with Nimue / The Blood Queen and spurts and plumes of fire are sent raging in every which way back and forth!) now have been tinged with a glorious kind of honeyed amber appearance. Which is interesting, and at least a little different from the 1080p Blu-ray accounting.

As for the audio, well we have: English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, and French: Dolby Digital 5.1.

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

Phew! OK, so, as for the movie itself. Well, telling it like it is, I'm a huge Del Toro and Ron Perlman fan so yes, it would have been great to see their trilogy come to fruition, but it wasn't to be.

It's a bummer, but is what it is. What we do have, now, is the opportunity to see a new trilogy happen. After watching this I truly hope it happens. Nobody can ever take away the great things that Perlman, Del Toro, and Doug Jones brought to the table, but David Harbour has brought his brilliant iteration of Hellboy in a big way.

I thought he killed it and I enjoyed this movie from start to finish, as I'm sure you all did. Oh, what's that now, I'm hearing a lot of you didn't give it a chance simply because Harbour was brought in to replace Perlman!

Well, for those of you with open minds, there was not a draggy moment throughout nor did it feel rushed. The CGI looked great, the practical effects we're beautiful and the acting from everyone was fantastic.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course (although my God, Harbor "looked" just like Perlman, for the most part!) and if some truly did not care for it, that is what it is, for sure.

I feel like many crap on reboots because they feel it disrespects the originals they love. I don't see why both can't have their own merits. It's like the endless DC vs Marvel debate. Some insist only one or the other is worthy of their time.

Again, I'm a big fan of both 'Hellboy' flicks. Seriously! This was such a fun movie. I hope the negativity does not hurt the chances for a sequel or a possible trilogy because, personally I want to see more.

I mean, The creators of 'Hellboy' proved that with great dedication and little finances you can create an eminent solution of horror and comedy. The balance between these two was admirable, the jokes thrown during a seemingly intense scene made the exact effect creators anticipated.

Hellboy himself is the key to the movie's success, as the actor (the much aforementioned David Harbour) himself described Hellboy are the perfect mix between Logan (wolverine) and Deadpool!

Actually, the full cast is good. Comics fans will be disappointed that main players Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman aren't in this at all, but I credit the creators for trying to separate this from the original films.

Hellboy's new partners in crime Alice Monaghan (Sasha Lane) and Major Ben Daimio (Daniel Dae KIm) are pretty likable - although I admit that Alice doesn't have much of a story arc and reason to hang around other than to repay a debt to Hellboy.

Ian McShane's Professor Broom, Hellboy's tough love foster father, is a real change of pace from the scholarly figure from the comics and other films, but it's fun to see the actor chew the scenery.

The enormous amount of blood and gore, while some may consider too much, made the perfect atmosphere for the film making it one thing you'd like to watch after an exhausting day.

I feel like this is a great one for anyone who loves brutally violent battles, strangely relatable dysfunctional characters, or just 2 hours of nonstop fun.

In closing, the music kicked ass, the acting by all was wonderful, and the CGI was, for the most part, spot on seamless. Overall, a fun ride … for adults only though!

Anyway, that's that, for the most part, so now let's concentrate on a couple of the special features that are included.

The first I'll talk about is "Tales of the Wild Hunt: Hellboy Reborn" which is a delightful71 minutes long three-part featurette that showcases a lot of glorious pre and post-production information for the fans along with housing some short interviews with principal cast, crew, and director Mike Mignola.

After a slew of "Deleted Scenes" (that runs around 8 minutes long), we get the other excellent bonus feature of "Previsualization" which at just over 7 minutes long offers some computer animated storyboards for some of the more broader sequences.

This is a Widescreen Presentation (2.39:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs via 1080p and comes with the Special Features of:

Includes 4K UHD, Blu-ray and a digital copy of Hellboy
Tales of the Wild Hunt: Hellboy Reborn (HD, 1:11:28)
Deleted Scenes (HD, 7:56)
Previsualization (HD, 7:18)

The 'Hellboy: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack' (+ Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD) will be released June 23rd, 2019 and will be available for the suggested retail price of $42.99, $39.99, and $29.95, respectively.

Official 'Hellboy' 4K Ultra HD Trailer

Official 'Hellyboy' Website

'Hellboy: The Movie' @ Facebook!

'Hellboy: The Movie' @ Twitter!

www.LGF.com





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