Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than Sword of Storms, 6 Oct 2007
Blood and Iron is the second Hellboy Animated film and it's an improvement on the first (Sword of Storms). The main thread of this story is Professor Brooms encounters with the vampire Erzsebet Ondrushko and is told partially in flashback (his first field mission) and partially in the present day. The other characters Hellboy, Abe, Liz and newcomer Sydney Leach (human metal detector) each have their own part to play and they all have their moment in the spot light. No one feels left out.
The film divides its time well between small character pieces, atmospheric ghost story and knockabout action. At times the plot moves slowly to show the relationships between the characters which means that you care for them when they are in danger. This is also true of Professor Blooms supporting cast in his flashback story.
The voice acting and animation are all good and there is enough depth to the film that its stands up even better on a second viewing.
The DVD extras are fine. The best of which is the animated short "Iron shoes".
It is also very funny.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bloody iron, 16 Jan 2009
According to legend, Elizabeth Báthory tortured and killed hundreds of girls, so she could bathe in their blood and be young forever.
That medieval version of an urban myth serves as the root of "Hellboy: Blood and Iron," the second animated spinoff of Guillermo del Toro's hit movies. This particular movie is loosely based on one of Mike Mignola's original stories, but also gets crammed with plenty of gore, bleak humor, harpies and a very nasty undead vampire.
Back in 1939, Professor Broom led an expedition into the castle of Erzsebet Ondrushko, a horrendous vampire who was abducting young girls so she could bathe in their blood. By trickery and luck, Broom managed to kill her.
Cut to present day: the BPRD is asked to investigate a haunted mansion, and Professor Broom insists that Liz, Hellboy, Abe and himself go on the mission. Though the hype-happy owner is only interested in using the investigation to make money, the place is really haunted -- bluish ghosts drift around, statues weep, and a witches' magic circle is on the floor.
It soon becomes obvious that a pair of harpy-witches are trying to resurrect Erzsebet, with the help of the lamia-goddess Hecate. And with Abe captured by the hags, Liz and Broom are in a race against time to stop the vampire's resurrection -- and even if they succeed, there's still the malignant Hecate, whom Hellboy must somehow stop.
There's also a little extra movie tacked on: "Iron Shoes," a simple tale about Hellboy encountering a nasty little hobgoblin who tries to kill people with... well, you can guess. It lasts no longer than a couple minutes, but it's a nice little direct-from-Mignola moment.
Despite being entitled "Hellboy: Blood and Iron," this animated movie is really much more about Professor Broom, the kindly old "father" and mentor of the titular character. Not only does it have his first mission (flashed back backwards, in Christopher Nolan style), but he takes the biggest and most striking part of the entire movie.
As for the movie, it picks bits and pieces from Mignola's second graphic novel, and weaves them together with an original story. There are some striking subplots, such as the fate of a young priest whose faith crumbles under pressure, as well as some sweet moments between Hellboy and his aged "father." Not to mention solid dialogue ("You grew up so fast. Before I knew it, you were too big to spank." "Not to mention the tail got in the way."
The entire thing is drenched in shadows, dark forests, vampiric monsters, and big vats of blood in shadowy, half-ruined places, and has some lovely action-packed fights for Abe and Hellboy -- including Hellboy duking it out with "Iron Maiden" Hecate. This is no kids' movie -- the whole story is drenched with blood, some brief nudity and a charming scene where the hags try to vivisect poor Abe.
Professor Broom is really the star here, and though he's old and fragile physically he shows that his ability to fight evil hasn't vanished. Ron Perlman's Hellboy is perfect (rough, kindly, sarcastic) and Doug Jones gives a nice intellectual slant to the action-fishman Abe. The only voice actor that's really a problem is Cree Summer as Hecate -- she sounds more like a whiny aunt than an ancient evil goddess.
"Hellboy: Blood and Iron" is a solid Hellboy spinoff movie, and serves as a window into the past of the underused Professor. Definitely a good buy... but not a cartoon for kids.
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Rated 15? Why?, 20 Aug 2008
The first animated Hellboy movie wasn't bad but I didn't like the Japanese mythology and I felt like Big Red should have had a more accessible story after the 2004 movie. Blood and Iron keeps the action in America (with the exception of a few flashbacks) and focuses on a haunted house.
The BRPD are assigned to a case involving a mysterious mansion in the Hamptons where spirit Erzsebet Ondrushko (based on Elizabeth Bathory,the legendary Blood Countess), defeated by Professor Broom in the early 40s, plots her own resurrection after selling her soul to Hecate, the queen of the witches. The Professor joins HB, Liz and Abe (clearly this is set before the movie) in solving the case so he can finally put the Blood Countess out of action forever.
The humor is as dry as ever and the animation would shame both traditionally animated shows and all the modern 3D CGI rubbish. I wish all animation could look this good without having to resort to the ugly aesthetics experimented with in Batman - Gotham Knight [Blu-ray] [2008] or Highlander - Search For Vengeance [2007].
With so many Hellboy graphic novels out there these animated movies could go on for ages if they were to base their stories on them. Blood and Iron itself is based on the 'Wake the Devil' storyline from the comics. It's far superior to modern cartoons. And what's with the 15-rating in the UK? (The Amazon artwork is incorrect)
The DVD is in very nice-looking 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound. There are loads of extras including an animated short called Iron Shoes.
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