Van Helsing

Summoned to Transylvania, Gabriel Van Helsing (Jackman) comes to the aid of Anna Valerious (Beckinsale) to help in her family's struggle against Count Dracula (Roxburgh) and his vampire brides. There, Van Helsing learns that Dracula and his wives need Dr. Frankenstein's monster (Hensley) in exchange for the lives of their offspring. In addition, Anna's beloved brother transforms into a wolf man when the full moon rises and other supernatural foes abound. (Suzanne Hodges)

Most of the fantastic, in-depth features included on the Ultimate Collector's Edition are also incorporated onto this HD DVD, starting with two feature audio commentary tracks: one with director Stephen Sommers and editor Bob Ducsay, and the other with actors Richard Roxburgh, Shuler Hensley, and Will Kemp. There is a six-minute blooper reel; a 10-minute behind-the-scenes look at bringing the monsters to life; featurettes that explore the cinematic history of Dracula (12 minutes), Frankenstein (nine minutes), Werewolves (12 minutes), and the women of Van Helsing (Anna and Dracula's brides); as well as a 10-minute Legend Of Van Helsing; a 10-minute featurette on The Music Of Van Helsing, a time-lapse video of the creation of Dracula's lair, an in-depth unmasking of the Masquerade Ball Scene (Part One runs 25 minutes, while Part Two will set you back an additional 17 minutes). As with the Collector's Edition, there is an interactive map with selectable locations that take you to different featurettes that explore the production and set designs. Places to visit include the Vatican Armory (five minutes), The Burning Windmill (seven minutes), Dracula's castle (eight minutes), Frankenstein's Lab (seven minutes), The Village (eight minutes), and an interactive tour of Dracula's castle. Finally, extensive art galleries highlight Dracula, Frankenstein, Velkan Werewolf, The Brides, Val Helsing Wolf, Bats, and Mr. Hyde.

The high-definition 1.85:1 HD DVD picture is extremely stylized to visually support the period and genre of the story. The opening scene sets the stage with black-and-white images that introduce the viewers to the monsters and characters in the movie. The dark, desaturated imagery perfectly complements this vampires and werewolves tale, with lots of cold bluish-gray exteriors and warm firelit interiors. Fleshtones are appropriately pale, and deep bluish blacks hide the unknown horrors in the shadows. Speaking of shadows, delineation is excellent with just enough visual information in the darkest scenes for heightened suspense and the occasional "cat-on-the-ceiling" jump from your seat. Rich blood red is a vivid accent throughout the color palette. The VC-1 compression codec nicely manages the material, and there does not appear to be any problems with pixel breakup. (Suzanne Hodges)

Now here is a 5.1-channel soundtrack that really benefits from the extra bits provided by the Dolby® Digital•Plus codec! The level of articulation is beyond anything I have heard before in a prerecorded motion picture presentation for the home. The snaps and crackles of flames are extremely realistic, and the incredible dynamic range of the presentation makes it easy to pick out individual effects regardless of their sound level. The mix is very energetic, with well-placed images around the soundfield. The power of the bass is explosive, creating a low frequency foundation that I have never heard with a soundtrack encoded in Dolby Digital. One caveat: the enhanced audio makes it easier to pick out poor ADR integration. While dialogue generally sounds great, there are infrequent moments when a barely audible hum can be heard over the sonic character, which may point out the use of ADR. In all, however, this is a wonderful experience that needs to be heard, and felt. (Danny Richelieu)