World Famous Comics: Brotherhood of the Wolf - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Brotherhood of the Wolf - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Vincent Cassel, Émilie Dequenne, Monica Bellucci Directed By: Christophe Gans Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: AC-3, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Universal Home Entertainment Number of Items: 2 Region Code: 1 Release Date: August 26, 2008 Running Time: 151 minutes Theatrical Release Date: January 25, 2002
Product Description: BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF - DIRECTOR'S CUT (DVD MOVIE)
Amazon.com: If you crave an over-the-top historical kung fu-fantasy epic with a good dose of voluptuous nudity, bravura machismo, and passions so intense they verge on ridiculous, then Brotherhood of the Wolf is your movie. Based (loosely) on an 18th-century legend, this French film follows a hunky scientist (Samuel Le Bihan, who's sort of a second-string Christopher Lambert) and his Iroquois sidekick/spiritual partner (Mark Dacascos) as they pursue a monstrous wolf ravaging the French countryside. Along the way Le Bihan gets entwined with a beautiful noblewoman (Émilie Dequenne) and a gorgeous prostitute (Monica Belluci) with secrets. The plot grows more and more incomprehensible, but the mix of torrid emotions, outrageous action sequences, and lurid titillation is really what the movie is about. Ignore the highbrow philosophizing and confused political intrigue; just enjoy the sensual images. --Bret Fetzer
EXCELLENT ACTION THRILLER! This is an absolute favorite. Ok...get pass the kung fu in France during the revolution (btw...fantastic fight sequences) and you still have a great action/thriller. Loosely based on a true story this movie will grip you from the beginning to its end. Wonderfully done (script, acting, sets and cgi)!!! Watch it in French and read the subtitles...after awhile not only will you not mind, you'll say I can't believe how fast I can read!
This review is also based on the 3 disc import from Canada which is the director's cut. A new 2 disc edition is coming August 2008. I don't believe it will have as much as the 3 disc import.
P.S. There is a scene in the film that pays homage to JAWS. Enjoy!
RENT!!!!!!! Rent,I can't believe this dry movie got so many stars,everytime it look like the movie could be good,a wack twist and plenty more uncalled for talk,plenty of times you forget this is supposed to be scary...ok I'll give it..... a star for the beginning.
Le Pacte Des Loups! Another unknown movie that rocks!
This movie has alot of awesome fight scenes, good action and a tricky story. You won't figure it out until the end. I guarantee it!
Watch "Brotherhood of the Wolf"!!
Well done. Another example of how the church used fright, horror, torture, death and always lies, lies, lies to build the most powerful empire in the world, even to this day. Well acted period piece. I didn't know who the actors were, but they did a good job. Enjoy!
The beast that attacks Imagine a fairy tale... but with grit, blood, stylized camerawork, and lots of French kung-fu (savate).
That about sums up "Brotherhood of the Wolf," an epic horror/martial-arts/erotic/action movie loosely based on the French legend of the Beast of Gévaudan, but with a chilling story woven around it. Christophe Gans could have given it a bit more character development, but it's a simple flaw in an otherwise terrifying, intense experience.
An enormous, savage wolflike beast is killing young women and children in the French countryside. And so royal naturalist Grégoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan) and his Native American sidekick Mani (Mark Dacascos) arrive to investigate, and find that the local authorities are incompetant, the Beast is larger than any wolf, and it's still savaging the locals.
Mani and Grégoire set about tracking down the beast, finding it to be too large and intelligent (and with metal fangs too). But something more sinister than animal attacks is going on -- Fronsac uncovers a mysterious, treasonous society connected to the Beast, and a mysterious, seductive courtesan (Monica Belucci) with hidden motives of her own.
It may be based on a real incident, but "Brotherhood of the Wolf" soon takes off into its own storyline, and relishes every minute. And Christophe Gans crams the whole thing with whatever he likes -- horror, action, fantasy, political period drama, romance, sex, and some French martial arts. It's like an old fairy tale mutated into a live-action anime.
And Gans' direction style can include a little of everything too -- he handles rosy-skied romantic scenes with the same dexterity as raw sex scenes, rainy sludge and bloody chases, including the aftermath of the beast's attacks. And he handles the camera just as well, although the style comes as a bit of a shock in a period film -- it zooms down cliffs and through underbrush, rapid-pans, and lingers on the fairy-tale landscapes of the French countryside.
One of the best examples of this is near the beginning, with Mani and Grégoire encountering a pair of gypsies being bullied, and Mani whipping the bullies with savate and a little la canne. It's a wild, dizzying scene, and thoroughly effective in showing these guys as a force to be reckoned with, even with just their feet, hands and sticks. But at the same time, Gans wraps the beginning and end in a sense of poignant regret, as well as certain scenes of loss.
If there's a flaw, it's that the plot and rich direction take up so much time that it's hard to wedge in some character development. Bihan fares pretty well as the inscrutable taxidermist who finds himself involved in this mess, and over the course of the movie, you develop a liking for him and his girlfriend. But it would have been nice if the characters of Mani and Sylvia were explored a bit more than they were -- as it is, Belucci and Dacascos do amazing jobs with their characters, an earthily beautiful agent and a butt-kicking Iroquois.
The Canadians put out a three-disc deluxe set awhile back, but Americans have been suffering with the bare-bones theatrical release. Fortunately this is being rectified -- it's a two disc set, and apparently will have some cut scenes restored as well as a bunch of other stuff, one presumes.
This horror/action/period/French kung-fu flick breaks all the rules, and it's all the more enjoyable for it. A glorious action classic, and a must-see for cult film lovers.
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