Product Description: When a professor of folklore opens an ancient scroll and becomes possessed by powerful spirits the authorities call on Hellboy for help. But Hellboy has battles of his own when he picks up a samurai sword that transports him to a netherworld of ghosts and monsters. Intrigue and action abound in this Hellboy animated feature entitled SWORD OF STORMS.System Requirements:Running Time: 77 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/ADULT SWIM Rating: NR UPC: 013138207685 Manufacturer No: P2076
Overall opinion? Impressed. Three & a half stars Normally you get these animated spin off shows, and the actors from the original show will either disown them, or lose interest very quickly. I'm never that keen on watching them. But since Hellboy 2 isn't released in the UK until August, I'm trying to stay in the Hellboy mood, by watching Hellboy stuff.
I was really surprised by Sword of Storms. It had an excellent storyline, and featured the characters from the original AND the actors even returned to voice them. I was slightly disappointed in Liz's portrayal in the movie - she seemed to have a random nose piercing and her hair was long. But when I watched the extras, it looked like Liz was actually based around how Selma Blair's hair was at the time. Ron Perlman (my birthday twin) also appears in the extras which is really good.
The storyline is very involving, and much better than I expected. A Japanese university professor reads a forbidden scroll and becomes possessed by the twin demons Thunder & Lightning. When they want to come to the human world, Hellboy arrives in Japan and then finds a mysterious sword, which transports him to the world of Japanese folklore. The story does mainly feature around Hellboy, with Abe and Liz wondering where he has disappeared to, and perhaps a romantic undertone to their relationship?
I haven't seen Blood & Iron as yet, but no doubt will do at some point. I hope for the same from that as I got from this. And I'm looking forward to Hellboy 2 in August!
More Hellboy I found this animated movie pretty awesome. There are moments were the dialog is simple, especially with the final boss/bad guys but over all i found it entertaining. It's just more Hellboy. Its filled with enough content to please any Hellboy fan, plus the voice actors are the same as the live action films.
Hellboy vs. Japan Hellboy serves up exactly what I love. Creator Mike Mignola pits his gruff red giant against a magical mystery tour of the world's dark realm of gods and monsters, delving deep into authentic folklore and legends, serving up a concoction that is part scholarly research, part Gothic horror, and full-on balls-out entertainment. The problem comes when transferring a creation that is such a singular vision of its creator, with a unique art-style and atmosphere, into a fluid medium. It is rarely going to be a complete success, and the best attempts come when the animation team brings something new to the character, something that couldn't be achieved within the confines of the printed page.
"Hellboy: Sword of Storms" attempts to strike a balance between the "Hellboy" movie, which was a decent adaptation, and the original comic. Most of the original cast has been brought in for the voices, which is a real coupe as they are already familiar with the characters. That makes a nice grounding point for the audience as well, as there are no shocks or disappointments when they start speaking. The animation could have been a little stronger, and shows the influence of Paul Dini's now-familiar "The Animated Series" style that most comic animations follow. In the DVD extras, it is revealed that the animators wanted to use the actual look of Mignola's art-style, but they were contractually forbidden to do so, which is a bit of a shame.
For the storyline, Hellboy is sent against the invisible realms of Japanese mythology, attempting to return back to the physical world while retaining possession of the Sword of Storms, a mystical samurai sword, and thus save the world. As usual, the monsters are all authentic creatures from Japan, including the gods of Thunder and Lightning. He takes on a kappa, an oni, a joroguma, rokurokubi and the collection of nukekubi that was adapted from the Mignola story "Heads". Even with the deviations in the visual style, the story is pure Hellboy, and it is great to see it animated. I do miss the subtlety of the comic, with the tiny background details that manifest the atmosphere, but even without that I would call this a successful adaptation.
The DVD extras are a real boost as well, with interviews with Mignola detailing the creation of Hellboy, and even more fascinating are interviews with the director and animation team explaining the choices they made when transferring the comic to moving pictures. Its makes one a little more forgiving when you realize the compromises that had to be made, and they they did their best to retain the integrity of the work of art they all adore.
A good start to a cool franchise I am not a huge Mike Mignola or Hellboy fan just so you know where I stand. Not that I have anything against them, I think he's a creative writer and artist and that Hellboy is definitely an awesome character. I thought the live action movie had a cool look to it so once Hellboy made the leap to the animated world, I couldn't resist.
The first thing that stood out to me when I started watching it was the music. It's sounds just like the live action soundtrack which helps you remember this is an extension of the movie and not a Saturday morning cartoon. The character designs for animation are pretty bright and cartoony, but not to the point of being distracting. I suppose it could have been a little more dark and shadowy like the comic but that's a minor complaint. The voice acting is pretty decent, Ron Pearlman's voice proves to be just as well suited for the animated Hellboy as the live action one. Selma Blair was a little bland but so is her character I guess. Plus this was her first time doing animation so I suppose she deserves a break. Doug Jones takes over the voice of Abe from David Hyde Pearce and I guess they liked him so much he'll now be voicing him in the live action sequel. Peri Gilpin also joins the cast and adds a new dynamic to the team. The only one missing is Prof. Broom unfortunately.
The featurettes on here are great, with plenty of behind the scenes, interviews with Mignola about creating Hellboy, and a very in depth look at the character design during the comic con panel. It even comes with a mini comic of the animated Hellboy. So while I think it was a cool idea and had some decent action, I think they could do better, and am looking forward to checking out the sequel Blood and Iron.
I Think I'm Turning Japanese, I Really Think So... The animated tales of Hellboy, brought first to television by Cartoon Network and then to DVD by Anchor Bay, follow Hellboy and his friends in the B.P.R.D. through a few more days at the office. Sword of Storms begins with the acquisition of a little something on the origins of something really terrible, connects the dots with a wonderful sword and a nice little demon that has an interesting tale empowering it all, and ends with - well, that would spoil all the fun. It incorporates the minds behind the Hellboy movie, looks into the mind behind the character, and gives a good animation team a great project and a nice little tale of Japanese conundrums. The tale is a good one in my mind, too; if you follow Hellboy and like the design of the work that Mignola and others have put into the unique storytelling Hellboy often encounters then this is something of a nice trip. It is different in some ways when you add in a carton appeal, but Hellboy has always adapted quite well and does so here as well.
The one thing I have to say about Hellboy is that you know something like this never leads to any type of horrible conclusion. The main pieces of the puzzle never fall to the wayside, the evil elements are always a little on the oddity side of the spectrum, and some of the pieces are just there to be a bit strange. Still, this is Mignola working on the film so you know it will have good composition, something to say on the horror that is the "it" in our tale of twisted time, and it will be enjoyable. When you add the fact that you do not have to watch commercials into the equation it makes it A LOT better. I actually bought it because I couldn't stand the disruption that those brought and was glad I did so.
If you expect something really dark, you might be a tad disappointed. It is a cartoon and, despite what can be done with cartoons, it is slightly toned down. It still has the twisted mind of Mignola, though, and that makes the watch pleasing. So, if you like Hellboy, this might be something for you. It has a fairytale quality (with Hellboy punching it now and again) and makes for a light audio-visual lunch. Also, pick up Hellboy: Blood and Iron and The Amazing Screw-On Head if Mignola-based material is something you want/ need on DVD.
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