Underworld: Blood Wars appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. No issues developed in this pleasing presentation.
Sharpness seemed positive. A smidgen of softness appeared at times, but the majority of the movie displayed clear, accurate images. No signs of shimmering or jaggies occurred, and the movie lacked edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to mar the transfer.
The prior Underworld films focused on a heavy blue tint, and that continued to be the case with this one. Within those parameters, the hues looked appropriate. Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed good clarity. Overall, this was a positive image that deserved a “B+”.
As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Blood Wars, it seemed positive, though not quite as ambitious as prior films. This meant that the soundscape opened up pretty well for its action scenes, but I thought it felt less active than in the past.
Nonetheless, the mix offered a nice array of fight sequences, and those managed to expand the horizons in a compelling manner, as various elements meshed well and filled the room. Music showed good presence as well, so this turned into a very good soundscape.
Audio quality remained strong, with speech that sounded concise and distinctive. Music showed nice range and heft, while effects appeared accurate and full, with deep bass response. The soundtrack brought a good sense of sizzle to the proceedings.
A handful of featurettes appear, and we open with The Evolution of Selene. It runs eight minutes, nine seconds and offers comments from producers Tom Rosenberg, Richard Wright and Gary Lucchesi, director Anna Foerster, and actors Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, Charles Dance, Clementine Nicholson, and Daisy Head.
We get notes about the development of Selene across five movies as well as aspects of Beckinsale’s performances. Not much information appears in this largely superficial overview.
During the six-minute, 15-second Old and New Blood, we hear from Wright, Lucchesi, Foerster, James, Nicholson, Dance, and actor Peter Andersson. “Blood” looks at returning and new characters as well as the actors who play them. Like “Evolution”, the featurette lacks much informational value.
The Evil Evolved goes for six minutes, seven seconds and features Head, Foerster, Wright, and actors Lara Pulver, Bradley James, Tobias Menzies and James Faulkner. This one continues the trend of its predecessors, as it looks at more supporting characters/actors. It also fails to deliver much of merit.
Lastly, Building a Blood War fills 12 minutes, three second with info from Foerster, Lucchesi, Rosenberg, Wright, Beckinsale, Pulver, Nicholson, Andersson, executive producer/VFX supervisor James McQuaide, production designer Ondrej Nekvasil, and costume designer Bojana Nikitovic. “War” looks at Foerster’s impact on the production, visual effects, locations and set design, and costumes. “War” offers the most informative of the featurettes, as it gives us some good notes about production areas.
We also find a graphic novel rendition of Blood Wars. This uses a still frame format to show the comic book in question. It offers an interesting take on the material and is worth a look.
The disc opens with ads for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Trainspotting 2, Resident Evil: Vendetta and Life. No trailer for Blood Wars appears here.
Five films into the franchise, Underworld: Blood Wars offers the same old, same old. The movie offers little in the way of thrills or drama, as it plods along without much forward momentum. The Blu-ray presents very good picture and audio as well as a smattering of minor supplements. Blood Wars offers a forgettable affair.