Hellboy (2-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)

Hellboy is ready for DVD, the question is, are you ready for the massive amount of special features it comes accompanied with? You are about to get two discs filled to their capacity with bonus goodies galore.

Hellboy brings Mike Mignola's popular Dark Horse Comics series to the big screen as Hellboy (Perlman), was saved by Dr. Broom (Hurt) during World War II and raised to benefit mankind by protecting the Earth from those whom oppose it.

The one thing that really made me like Hellboy, aside from the awesome special effects, is the amount of humanity that was brought to all the characters. Here is this red giant with a stone hand and a huge gun, and he was able to act as if he was just one of the guys in the midst of battling some of the nastiest creatures you could imagine. Through the use of emotional settings and humor Hellboy became more than just your latest comic book-to-film adaptation with high-flying acrobatics and ultra-cool special effects, there was an actual story that was quite light on the sap and packs a hell of a punch.

Not only that, director/writer Guillermo del Toro has a flare for visual story-telling and he couldn't have found a better project to work on as this movie works on so many levels, and with this DVD filled with extras you are going to get a lot of his insight and be able to see him in the process of bringing this film to life along with all the members of the cast and crew.

Included on the first disc are two commentaries, one with the creators Guillermo del Toro and Mike Mignola, another with the cast including Ron Perelman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor and Rupert Evans. Both of these are pretty cool considering the cast loved making the film and the filmmakers loved the fact the film was made. Over time be sure to listen to both.

You can also access set visits while watching the film and be taken straight to a quick vignette where you will get a look at the making of that specific scene. You can also turn on a storyboard track that will pop up bits of storyboard while you are watching the film, sort of cool, but the second disc treats the storyboards with much more attention.

There are also some animated DVD comics that expand the Hellboy universe which are pretty cool and some great DVD-ROM features where you can print out the original screenplay as well as take a peek at the Script Supervisor's Book and the Director's Notebook, but enough of the first disc let's check out the second...

Get ready for one of the most comprehensive second discs you will ever experience with four main arenas to go into the "Egg Chamber", "Kroenen's Lair", "Maquette Video Gallery" and "Bellamie Hospital" as well as some previews and Hellboy Merchandise info.

So let's journey to the Egg Chamber first where we find Deleted Scenes, which I am going to talk about at the end of the review, a HUGE documentary and Filmographies and Character bios.

First off, there are 27 different pieces to the Hellboy documentary, and while you have the chance to play them all at once, I wouldn't recommend that unless you have 2:30 hours to spare, instead each segment is very well described and you can pick and choose what is most important to you. My favorite pieces came at the very end having to deal with some of the special effects and especially the sound mixing of the film. This may be one of the most intense and involved documentaries I have ever seen on DVD and it makes up the bulk of the second disc.

The Filmographies and Character bios have never been a favorite of mine on any DVD, but these include the origins of the characters each actor played making it a bit more interesting.

Next is Kroenen's Lair, where you will find Animatics, Board-a-Matics and Storyboard comparisons, but the first feature in the "Lair" gives you a look at some Guillermo doodles and storyboard comparisons for the opening sequence of the film, which is really short but gives you a taste of what is to come with the rest of the features.

You really ought to start with the Board-a-Matics and then go to the Animatic section as that is the process in which it works in the actual pre-production of a film. The Board-a-Matic section gives you a look at what can best be described as animated storyboards giving the crew a decent idea on which way to go with the effects and animatics.

The animatics are a little bit of storyboard animation along with some early CGI effects that help guide the filmmakers into the filming process. You will get a chance to see Hellboy battle Sammael, Abe and Hellboy working and Hellboy battling the end Behemoth all in comparison with the actual film or on their own.

The Maquette Video Gallery really wasn't too exciting for me as it is just a look at the models made for each character in the film including Baby Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Sammael, Ogdru Jahad, The Corpse and the Behemoth. The models are highly detailed and pretty cool but looking at them on the TV screen just didn't interest me.

Bellamie Hospital is your place for Hellboy publicity and boy do I love this stuff! You get to look at every bit of print publicity that was created, including posters you never saw to all the posters we have seen, and there are a lot of them. Next you get all the Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots, and trust me, there are a TON!

Now for those Deleted Scenes I told you I would get back to. You will hear in del Toro's commentary during the movie and during these deleted scenes just why there are so few (only 3), although he doesn't say it directly, but it has to do with the fact that there is going to be an extended cut of Hellboy released later this year with the scenes from this section and more included in it.

Just take a read at what Guillermo says during the commentary of one of the deleted scenes and decide for yourself it that cut will be worth it: The extended version of the movie will include this and many other scenes. I feel that for those that are curious and love the movie and want to know more about the characters it's a perfectly permissible scene, but for the people that are not familiar with the project or the comic or are having a first taste of Hellboy it was far too long... He also has other comments saying, "It got in the way of the rhythm of the movie."

My opinion is to buy this version as I anticipate the extended cut will be adding about 15 minutes of footage that is either unnecessary or unwanted. The special features on this disc are great and will be extremely interesting for everyone that loved this film.