With the Hellboy reboot impending, I figured it was only a matter of time before nostalgia for del Toro’s version got some sort of 4K Ultra HD treatment. To my surprise, the live action films are not the first ones out of the gate, but the pair of animated films that followed are.
Starring del Toro’s cast from his films, Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, and the late John Hurt all reprise their roles in this double feature of Hellboy: Sword of Storms and Hellboy: Blood & Iron
. The films, released in 2006 and 2007 originally, follow the further adventures of the BPRD.
The films are remastered with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos technologies, and if you’re lucky to have a 4K player, you also will get a pretty great set of special features as well.
Hellboy: Sword of Storms explores Japanese mythology, with a Professor getting caught up with the demons of Thunder and Lightning, while a cursed sword sends Hellboy to a dimension of feudal mayhem. Arguably the better of the two features, Sword of Storms showcases more of Perlman’s ability to be the titular character and is more like the comic books than you realize.
Hellboy: Blood & Iron sends the team to a haunted mansion where they come face to face with a vampire from Professor Bruttenholm’s past. More traditional vampire lore is on display here, with an interesting color palette to boot, make it another enjoyable entry into the series.
The 4K Ultra HD disc is jam-packed with special features, like making of featurettes of the films, audio commentary on both, in-depth looks at some of the characters, and more. The only downside is that you can ONLY watch the features on the 4K Disc.
The included Blu-ray disc just has the films themselves. That’s a little surprising, consider how well done the discs are, so I guess take that as you will. However, if you’re Hellboy fan, and have not seen these two animated features, the price tag is worth it, even if you only own a Blu-ray player.
Either way, definitely nice to add these two films back into my collection in HD, 4K or not. The new Hellboy is out 4/12, so if you need some more Red in your life to hold you over until then, this isn’t a bad alternative.
The Hellboy: Sword of Storms and Hellboy: Blood & Iron double feature 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray combo pack is out today!
