Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

Based on the DARK HORSE comic book character - HELLBOY takes to the big screen on this his second movie , and once again GUILLERMO DEL TORO does not disappoint ,I thought this sequel was better than the first movie. The story was excellent ,long long ago the humans / men were at war with the mythical beings / elves ,ogres & goblins , the humans were gaining the upper hand , so the mythical beings played there last card - and built the GOLDEN ARMY , an army that consisted of 70 x 70 indestructible & merciless giant mechanical soldiers ,with the introduction of the Golden Army the tide turned , and the war now went in the mythical beings favor ,the golden army was all set to WIPE OUT mankind , only one thing stopped it from doing so , because the army was commanded by the merciful king of the mythical beings' KING BALOR ' - he had never wanted the war to start with - so he now called a truce with the humans , and he ordered that the GOLDEN ARMY be retired - so it was hidden away where they could never be used again . His son PRINCE NUADA was angry at this decision , so he went into self imposed exile ,but vowed to return one day and unleash THE GOLDEN ARMY if ever he felt his people /the mythical beings needed him . FASTFORWARD & Back to present day , NUADA is back , and the race is on for HELLBOY & CO to try and stop him unleashing the legendary GOLDEN ARMY on all of mankind The creature design , costumes & CGI are all superb ( wait till you see THE TROLL MARKET & Mr WINK- theyve got the WOW factor ) , the action scenes are awesome and the action is non stop , the acting was fab ,RON PERLMAN really brings HELLBOY to life again ,DOUG JONES using his own voice this time round - was great as ABE SAPIEN , SELMA BLAIR aka LIZ SHERMAN was terrific , MATT GOSS / PRINCE NUADA ( YES the guy who used to be in 80s BOY BAND - BROS ) made an excellent BAD-GUY , he was fab ,DEL-TORO seems to like him playing bad-guys in his movies , and I can see why ( he also played the mutated vampire bad-guy in DEL-TORO'S - BLADE 2 movie ) - and I must admit in HELLBOY 2 I did have some sympathy for his plight :) GUILLERMO DEL TORO is really racking up a list of impressive movies , he is a very talented film-maker who rarely disappoints , hope theres a HELLBOY 3 some-where in the pipe-line , but for now he is gonna direct THE HOBBIT- the prequel to THE LORD OF THE RINGS movies - theres gonna be two of THE HOBBIT movies - so HELLBOY 3 might be some time in coming ( hope not ) Would highly recommend this HELLBOY 1&2 STEELBOOK 4 DISC EDITION DVD - available at AMAZON & AMAZON MARKETPLACE - I own this STEELBOOK EDITION and the case looks very COOL ,its a great collectors dvd , its has the BPRD logo ( SWORD in HAND ) printed on the front cover , youre getting HELLBOY & HELLBOY 2 - THE GOLDEN ARMY in ONE CASE , just follow the link and check it out Hellboy 1 & 2 Steelbook [DVD] [2004 ] BUY IT - WATCH IT - ENJOY IT ...... AND AS HELLBOY LIKES TO SAY -INDUSTRABLE MY A$$ :)

Just as good as the first one

Item as described

Having loved the original Hellboy [2004 ] I was fervently looking forward to this sequel and while Hellboy II The Golden Army isn't a disappointment neither is it up to the standard of the first film. Having said that anything that lets director Guillermo Del Toro propagate his extraordinary imagination is well worth seeing for that reason alone and this film displays that to superlatively sumptuous effect. Ron Perlman reprises the role of the wisecracking Hellboy who we see as a boy in the opening sequence being told the story of the golden Army by his human father ( John Hurt) who once fought against human kind( the golden army that is , not his father ) but have been mothballed by dividing the crown that controls them into three separate pieces kept in secret locations. Elf prince Nuada ( Luke Goss) may look a little on the pasty side but he is a great warrior and is determined to awaken the golden army so he can wage war on human kind. His twin sister Nuala (Ann Walton) is rather more moderate realising the chaos this would unleash .She also holds one of those missing pieces. This is pretty standard fantasy fare and there is an argument that Del Toro and Hellboy creator Mike Mingola , the writers should have come up with something stronger in terms of the story , though the script does have a certain sardonic frisson and there is some tremendous character interplay. Hellboy is still working for the secretive Bureau For Paranormal Research And Defence and still annoying his overbearing boss Manning (Jeffrey Tambor ) who laments his lack of discipline and the fact he keeps getting photographed and put on "You Tube" ."I hate You Tube" he tells Abe Sapian ( Doug Jones) the polite blue skinned amphibian . Hellboy,s partner the fiery (literally ) Liz (Selma Blair) is finding "Reds" lack of domesticity a problem and there is another potential dilemma lurking . Agent John Myers from the first film has been dispatched to Antarctica we are told ( this is because Rupert Evans who played him in Hellboy was unavoidable due to stage commitments)"He likes the cold" Hellboy sneers, and is replaced by ectoplasmic agent Johann Krauss ( voiced by Family Guy - Series 1 To 5 - Complete " Seth McFarlane with an amusing mangled German accent which he based on Jeremy Irons character in Die Hard 3) whose officiousness rubs up Hellboy the wrong way. The film makes points about selfless sacrifice , the power of love, the magnetic need for normality (Which it shares with Batman ) and hints broadly at a potential conflict of interest for Hellboy to resolve if there is another Hellboy film . The performances are great again and it,s nice that Liz is given a more developed role other than looking mopey. Really though it's the visuals and set pieces that astound with this film .Del Toro has an incredible eye and will make a scene fantastical even when something ordinary would do. The "Troll Market" scene is astonishing and the high-speed acrobatic denouement between Hellboy and Nuada in a cavernous city surrounded by enormous golden mechanical beings and massive rotating cogs is just breathtaking . There is no cheap CGI for Del Toro , everything looks authentic and he even invokes the demise of a giant "elemental" creature with a sense of magic and loss. Del Toro clearly feels close to the Hellboy character .He turned down the chance to direct "Halo " , Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince " and " I Am Legend [2007 ]" to bring this sequel to the screen . It wouldn't be the same without his marvellous vision yet if there is to be another Hellboy ( I very much hope there is) film he needs to work more on the story . Can you imagine a Hellboy film with the same allegorical and dramatic punch as his masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth [2006 ] ? Till then this will do nicely though.

I, like many people, am becoming a huge fan of Del Toro's work both in English and Spanish and having really enjoyed the first Hellboy was excited about seeing this sequel. I saw it twice in the cinema, once in London in a special preview screening and again back at home on it's last night - and was completely bowled over both times. For someone like me who watched Ray Harryhausen creatures slugging it out on TV as a kid with his jaw open - this movie is a dream come true, Del Toro has just unlatched the top of his head and spilled his imagination onto celluloid and the result is amazing. I really liked the first one, but I love this one! The reason I gave this review the title I did was because I can see that for some people there maybe a flaw in this movie, and that is that there are no real human characters of any consequence in it. If you exclude Liz whose pyro-abilities leave her one foot in the creature camp anyway, we are left with only Manning who is a caricature bureaucrat, black suited agents that are tooth fairy fodder and obnoxious ungrateful members of the public. In the first movie we had Myer's, Professor Broom and even one of the Black suits was given a personality and a name - Agent Clay, if I recall; with his hair plugs. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing - what I am saying is that the movie is pretty damning of people and their behavior - it's sympathies are much more with the magical folk - but this can make it pretty hard to hate the 'villain'. Though I think the elf prince is an great character and his first scene in what seems like an ancient chamber, until a subway train screams past, is genius - there is moral complexity here. The story is in essence a timely environmental allegory - reminding us that there are many things that the world will be a sadder place without, and that the planet has many reasons to be very pissed off with us! I won't say anything about the incredible design work and vision - as there isn't anything to add that others haven't already said - except maybe that it really stands up to repeat viewings; I spotted so many details on my second viewing that I missed first time (like all the crabs on the legless Goblin!) There is an obvious hint in the scene with the Angel of Death at a third movie, but whether or not that story will ever get told seems doubtful (with Del Toro signed up for about 4 or 5 other projects - Including the 2 Hobbit movies and working as producer on a stop motion version of Pinocchio, which could be amazing given the bedtime story that opens Hellboy 2). I for one would love to see a Hellboy 3.

I had never heard of this comic book anti-hero before but don't let that put you off, this movie is a spectacular occult extravaganza! Go for it! The original movie was very good too but the second instalment I found much better, the actors seem more at ease within their roles somehow, can't quite place it but it just feels better all round... The intro is great, building the story with young hellboy eagerly listening to Fathers bed time story of the Golden Army, brilliant. Watched this with my son and he loves this movie but there are some more intense sense so if you're a parent you might want to give it a watch first just in case. Blu-ray credentials are amazing, picture is crisp and detailed. Sound is perfect, pump up the volume and warn the neighbours. If you're looking for something different I would highly recommend this wholeheartedly. A fantastic additional to any collection.

This is the sequel to the 2004 cult movie Hellboy, which was a superb little movie made for half the budget of the majority of other movies based on comic book properties. Hellboy also had a small budget, but both movies use them to such effect that they both look like they were made for a lot more. This sequel continues the story of the excellent first movie, but also furthers it, by taking Hellboy (Ron Perlman) further into the realm of fantasy rather than the horror of the first movie. And Hellboy 2 is all the better for it, I loved the first movie, but this just better's it in every way, especially action and special effects. Believe me when i say you wont regret buying this on DVD, in any other year, it would have been movie of the year, but it isnt quite as good as The Dark Knight, but it comes closer to it than any other movie hs in 2008. A superb little movie, WELL worth the purchase.

This was the version of Hellboy I liked years ago, but this time I found that, like most sequels, it didn't have that special something that the first one had. The elfin villian, though nasty, was a conflicted character trying to save his race. Therefore, especially if you are a Hobbit/Lord of the Rings fan where you care about the elves, you are conflicted as to how it should all end. The beginning makes me sick so I usually skip that scene. I think Ron Perlman is the perfect Hellboy and many thumbs up to him for putting up with the make-up and gear that he needs to wear to do this role. I gave this movie a five despite its flaws because it is a good action movie, Ron Perlman and Selma Blair are excellent in it, along with whoever plays the 'aquaman' (he got a better story line this time), the sets and costumes are wonderful. However, although my cat loved the first one, she slept through this one.