Gritty and Awesome
Added 8/9/2009
This is heavy duty Hellboy action. It's a lot more gritty and gruesome than "Sword of Storms." It really touches on good vs. evil. One of the reasons I like Hellboy is because of the Catholic aspects. In this one there's a weak priest who doesn't stand up to evil at first. I'll say no more about that. I don't want to spoil it for you.
This one is more frightening than "Sword of Storms," but my 8 year old girls like it anyway and it brings up some good discussion about evil in the world.
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Bloody iron
Added 1/9/2009
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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Better than Sword of Storms? If you like creepy and spooky-Yeah! It's better!
Added 12/5/2008
Start with a peek at a past adventure from Professor Brooms(No, I ain't gonna try for his whole last name) past. Lets have some vampires and a faithless priest for starts. Then toss in everyones favorite B.P.R.D heros and a greedy guy, some witches,a major mythological figure(Hectate)-we also have to have a werewolf and unavenged ghost! You can find out where the best pastries are-but whatever you do-don't order the fillet of fish! Anyway, with that out of my system, I'll add that Blood and Iron is a great tale of redemption as well as good versus evil. It might be a little to much for young kids-hey; I even cringed a bit myself. There is some gore, but then again this isn't y7! I guess it was the "horror" element that I found a bit more appealing that "Sword". After all, the Hellboy and B.P.R.D. comics are listed as "horror". One more thing, Man, I hate those nasty Harpies!
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Hellboy: Certainly puts a new spin on packing Iron.
Added 11/25/2008
Hellboy: Blood and Iron, was first commented to the cartoon network and was really hard to watch. It was not the content that caused the problem or the fact that Hellboy was being portrayed via animation that did this a disservice: to the contrary, the show was engrossing and hard to stop watching. The problem with it was that Cartoon Network would show 3 minutes of it, go to commercial, and then come back for a few more minutes. This took an amazing 2 hours of my life before I finished it, and I have to say that not toning out the wrong thing was really hard to accomplish because commercials are never a friend to the watching public. Some time later this was remedied by the DVD version, which touted a beautiful story that coupled known Hellboy ideas with unknown Hellboy tastes and made for something that was really stood out in the wash.
I absolutely loved that little beastie in all his horn-sawed glory.
As far as the plotline was concerned, I recognized some of the considerations and I knew a few of the key players. Hectate has been around the Hellboy block a few times now, the monsters were ones I remembered from waltzing with a whole lot of Graphic Novels, and the notion - the notion was one I had heard before but the expansion here was superb in its delivery. Everything was well-done, too: I was happy with the story from the get-go and things went from promising to thought-provoking as the wilderness expanded and thought aloud. It tasted so much like Hellboy as well: it parts of it I knew a fist would be the answer and other portions contained the whit that I had long bought into. Combine that with the voices utilized - yup, that is indeed RON PEARLMAN - and you have a cartoon that makes it's a grand chapter in the story of one Anung Un Rama.
You cannot imagine how pleased that little piece of direction style made me feel - or maybe you can, depending on how heavily that monkey and its crown have become ( and, yes, that was a pretty bad joke, delivered from a Box Full of Evil, for those who like to play along).
So, should you buy this puppy? I say abso-smurfly, but I am bias reviewer and admit to it. It is cost effective, especially when you think that if you catch it on TV it "good luck with your three-minute snippets. I hope they do not drive you mad." The voices are those from the movies and Hellboy fits Ron Pearlman perfectly - and I say that as a watcher of movies and as someone who has offered up reviews on every piece of Hellboy Graphic Novel tastiness that has ever crossed these wires.
You do not have to know anything about the beastie to enjoy it, you get a stellar cast in the form of a cartoon, and you learn a mixed-bag of lore and mythos while finding out about some oddity in the making. What's not to like, really?
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Hellboy-Blood and Iron.........
Added 9/5/2008
Hellboy-Blood and Iron is second animated feature in the Hellboy Animated series. The story goes a little something like this... In 1939, a young Professor Broom destroyed Erzsebet Ondrushko, a vampiress who bathed in the blood of innocents to stay young after selling her soul to the Queen of Witches, the goddess Hecate. Flash forward to today, a haunting in the Hamptons, on Long Island, is brought to the BPRD's attention. Broom decides to investigate it himself taking Liz, Abe, and Hellboy himself with him & a new BPRD member named Sydney Leach who is actually a human metal detector who has never seen any action in the field. Upon getting there, they meet a vulgar millionaire hoping to cash in on the supernatural angle, he's filled the house with relics of "Blood Countess" Erzsebet Ondrusko (based on the 16th century Hungarian noblewoman Elizebeth Bathory). They soon find out that it is really haunted and the gang tackles all types of beasties. The storyline, itself, is based on the "Wake the Devil" storyline from the original comics.
It was written by Tad Stone and Mike Mignola and directed by Victor Cook and Tad Stone. Vocal talents were provided by: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Hurt, Jim Cummings, Rob Paulson, J. Grant Albrecht, Cree Summer, James Arnold Taylor, Grey Delisle, Kath Soucie, and DeeDee Rescher.
I'll admit, I liked this feature alot more than the last. I guess it is because it deals with the subjects of Vampires. In some ways, this feature is alot better...especially in tone and subject matter. Although, it still lacks that darker feel of the original books. "The Amazing Screw-On Head" feature was closer to Mignola's style and feel of the comics than this. At any rate, I liked it. However, I feel this may only appeal to hardcore animation or Hellboy fans.
Course, after seeing these animated features, I wonder why there hasn't been an animated series on TV. My nephews really loved the cartoons so I know it would appeal to their age set.
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