Hellboy II: The Golden Army [Blu-ray]

Product Description

The fate of mankind hangs in the balance in Hellboy II: The Golden Army when a ruthless prince awakens an unstoppable army of creatures and wages war with the human world. It's up to Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his team of paranormal outcasts to face off with the forces of darkness in the ultimate battle of good versus evil! Prepare to be taken by the visionary director of The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro) into a fantastical world with imaginative creatures and thrilling fight sequences unlike anything you've ever seen before!

Top Reviews

A near-perfect comicbook movie. Wonderful performances all-around. One of GDT's very best films.
by Jinzo Ningen (formerly Hose Knows) (5 out of 5 stars)
January 19, 2019

BOTTOM LINE: This sequel is so engrossing, enchanting, outrageous and out and out fun that even if you've never heard of the character or seen the first HB movie you'll still enjoy it. It's stuffed with amazing creatures who are so alien and yet instantly identifiable as wholly human by their actions & emotions. This is just a grand time at the movies. In fact, the only downside of this film is that we'll never see the final installment of GDT's Hellboy trilogy to find out how everything wrapped up, now that they're rebooting the franchise. :-(

THOUGHTS: I rather enjoyed the first Hellboy movie back in 2004. I knew nothing of the comic on which it was based but was familiar with Ron Perlman's genre work and was already a fan of Guillermo Del Toro, so it was a no-brainer to rent it when it hit the video store shelves. The first HB is off-kilter and chock full of so much eye candy in the form of crazy creatures that it was as much fun to stare at the individual elements of the film as it was to enjoy it as a whole. Thankfully, this 2008 sequel is everything the first film is and MORE, in the best possible way. Even better, you don't have to have seen the first movie nor be familiar with the Mike Mignola comicbook series to enjoy it. (It helps, of course, but you won't be completely lost if you view HB II:TGA 'cold').

The acting across the board in this movie is simply outstanding. Ron Perlman nails the character of Hellboy and brings additional emotional depth this time around, fully fleshing out the complex demon anti-hero and making him so human that you feel he could be someone you know. (Like Mr. Spock, Hellboy and his eclectic friends / co-workers often come across in these films feeling more 'human' than most of the actual humans around them.) Selma Blair as HB's hot love interest Liz Sherman doesn't get as much screen time as I would've liked, but she makes the most of what she does get. Doug Jones (for heaven's sake, someone give this man an Academy Award already! Sheesh!!) is absolutely wonderful as the literal fish out of water, Abe Sapien. His nuanced performance is a joy to watch; he can say more with twitchy physical mannerisms & head tilts than many other actors could with five pages of dialog. New BPRD/government liaison, Johann Krauss (voice acted by Seth McFarlane) is a visual wonder, (his intricately-detailed diving suit-inspired outfit is just fantastic!), and his wickedly funny interaction with HB and the others makes him a wary yet welcome addition to the rowdy BPRD crew. Jeffery Tambor as Tom Manning, the forever-frustrated divison head of the Bureau of Paranorma Research & Defense, is hilarious as always; the man's comic timing has been so finely honed over the years that he can probably do this kind of role in his sleep. :-)

The villains & sidebar characters are equally interesting, engaging and startling. Luke Goss as exiled Prince Nuada is a manic adversary, yet he has enough anguish and conflict bubbling just under the surface that you really feel for him. He is a frighteningly fierce fighter, and though he is thin & wiry almost to the point of malnutrition, his ferocity in combat makes him a very scary and lethal threat to our beefy red lughead hero. The action scenes, it must be said, are some of the most energetic and excellently-choreographed I've seen on film in ages. Magnificent work by both the actors & their stunt doubles. The Prince's behemoth henchman 'Wink' is a real treat, too; wonderfully realized through elaborate practical make-ups & suitmation work. No CGI hocus pocus here; just a very real, very tired and very sweaty stuntman giving his all in some brutal fight sequences... and managing to turn in a surprisingly deft acting performance underneath all that foam rubber as well.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Prince's wide-eyed, gossamer-like sister Nuala (Anne Walton), makes an enchanting first love for flustered fishman, Abe. His genuine awkwardness in his scenes with her feels so... real. And I dare anyone not to be fully in love with this terrific film by the time the amazingly touching "Can't Smile without You" scene is over. That may be my favorite seen from ANY comicbook movie, and probably in the top 10 of my favorite scenes from ANY movie - ever. It is just magnificent. Disarming, real, relatable and heartbreakingly funny. If you've ever been in love or had a painful crush on someone who didn't return that love, then you will completely feel right there in the moment for both Abe and Hellboy in this marvelous little side scene. Pure GDT genius at work here... and throughout the entire film in fact; all the way to that wondrous, sidesplitting final freeze frame.

THE BLU-RAY: A solid hi-def release from Universal Home Video, the video & audio for HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY are first rate, as they should be for a modern blockbuster movie of this caliber. There is no artifacting, edge enhancement, pixelation, crush or other video irritants to spoil the viewing experience. The dialog in the otherwise excellent soundmix was a little on the soft side, but not so much so as to ruin things. (And that's what subtitles are for, anyhow.) This Blu-ray comes stuffed to the gills (sorry, Abe!) with an exhaustive amount of bonus content, which is fairly common with Guillermo Del Toro films. There are interactive goodies and a wealth of behind-the-scenes stuff to please even the hardest of hardcore HB fans: commentary tracks, deleted scenes and multiple "making of" featurettes, the main one clocking in at over two hours! Trust me, you really get your money's worth here.

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY is a truly wonderful motion picture; a film that was just ahead of the cinematic comicbook boom that we're all so used to now. If you haven't seen this terrific movie yet, do yourself a favor and treat yourself to this spiffy Blu-ray. You'll be glad you did.
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Great Continuation Of The Original Story, Open Ended Though
by Mitch (4 out of 5 stars)
August 24, 2015

Being a fan of the first film, I decided to give The Golden Army a shot, knowing that most sequels, comic-book stories included, are sh*** compared to the original film. I was pleasantly surprised with this film. Guillermo Del Toro really did a great job bringing this sequel to life and addressed my biggest complaint with the first film in that he gave the characters some serious development in this sequel compared to the original. We finally get to connect with the characters of the film and learn about them in ways we definitely didn't get to in the first film.

The CGI in this film is as great as the first, and the acting is just as superb, but there is one complaint I have with this film. The ending.

The movie has a great plot and a great climax of the story but the way it ends leaves it open for a third installment, but so far we have nothing. I find movies that set up a hole for a third installment, but never fill it to be disappointing. It feels as though there is a section of Hellboy's story that we will never see on the silver screen because there isn't a third movie, but who knows, maybe someday with all these continuations and reboots and remasters running around nowadays.

Aside from the ending, the film is great and certainly worth a watch if you enjoyed the first film.
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A Good Sequel In A Cool Steelbook
by benjamin bannister,Top Contributor: Cooking (4 out of 5 stars)
January 2, 2017

I bought this mainly for the collectible Steelbook and digital copies. This is part of Universal Studios' first wave of Steelbooks. The cover artwork is done in the style of comic panels. This one is nice and shows the main character of Hellboy in a battle pose along with other characters in this sequel.

You get *two* digital copies: an Ultraviolet version, and the same code can be redeemed in iTunes as well. I appreciate the codes that give us two options like this.

This is a good movie in a cool Steelbook to add to your collection.
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Hellboy II: The Golden Army 4K
by Darrin (5 out of 5 stars)
May 26, 2019

The studio did a great job converting Hellboy II: The Golden Armying over to 4K. The movie looks sharp, crisp and has great color throughout. This one is worth the upgrade to 4K. The movie itself is a good comic book movie.

They should of continued this series instead of rebooting Hellboy. Ron Perlman was the perfect fit as Hellboy along with a good supporting cast already in place.
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And a Good Time Was Had By All . . .
by Richard Brookes (5 out of 5 stars)
October 7, 2016

I am not a Hellboy comic fan so did not even know of the existence of Hellboy until the movie came out. My son, of the comic generation, recommended the movie to me. I do enjoy a science fiction or fantasy film, now and again. I watched Hellboy, not expecting much, but was very pleasantly surprised at the characterization portrayed by Ron Perlman. Wonderful character and a beautiful job of acting by Perlman. The movie is so good, I have watched it several times. It is light-hearted, with comic book violence. Very good acting by the supporting cast as well. Everyone seems to be having a good time in the production and this spills over into the audience.
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KIWI HORROR FLIX...A MUST SEE!!!
by BOBjr STEPHENSON (5 out of 5 stars)
December 2, 2016

There are a lot of NAZI OCCULT HORROR MOVIES out and about, but this one rates in the top percentage. I would recommend this title and DEAD SNOW (2009--NORWEGIAN/ICELANDIC--HORROR-n-COMEDY) for a double feature night with pizza, beverages (I don't think I can recommend beer or alcohol on an AMAZON review), and friends. Also, the lead role was played by GINA (Greek/Kiwi Goddess) who studied acting in NYC and ROME. She has one nasty attitude and an appetite for German Food (aka Nazis). lol :-)
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Hell Yeah!
by JAMES MCCORMICK (5 out of 5 stars)
September 16, 2011

Deeper than the first, but admittedly great movie, "Hellboy", "Hellboy II" is right up there with the best of this genre breed, the last two Batman's, " Watchmen," & "Superman II!"

There are so many great moments in this film it's hard to pick a favorite, but two come right to mind. The "Stars Wars" bar scene inspired "Troll Market," was just a plethora of far out characters in a far out world! I especially loved, "I'm not a baby. I'm a tumor." LOL! The other is the scene with Red & Abe, where they remorse over the loves of their lives while drinking beer. Both were hilarious in this scene, but Abe really stole the show here, but then again, when they both started singing along to Barry Manilow, it was a moment of pure comedic genius! I busted a gut on this one!

Ron Perlman just owns every role I've seen him in, & this may be my favorite yet! That is not to say the cast was not uniformly excellent, as they were! I could not picture a better cast for this film, all had memorable parts, lines, & the acting was top notch, especially Luke Goss, as Prince Nuada! His determination to save his world, his obvious vulnerability for the love of his sister, yet willing to sacrifice her & himself for his cause, was quite a performance, though tragic, to behold! To bad I've not seen him in more films, though he was particularly good in "Blade II," as "Nomak" who spread the Reaper virus through out the Vampires. A role not unlike his in "Hellboy II."
"Hellboy II" looks & sounds magnificent on Blu-ray! It's razzle dazzle special effects, it's beautiful palette of colors, & it's superior overall cinematography is a site to behold in high definition! The sound was deep & resonating!
"Hellboy II" is a must for everyone's inner child fantasy!
5 Stars = Masterpiece
5 stars out of 5 = Masterpiece
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Not nearly as much fun as the first take.
by Some Useless Geek (2 out of 5 stars)
September 28, 2019

Disjointed, poorly written and performed, nothing holding this mess together. Characters you don't know nor care about. Deus ex Machina all over the place with no explanations and no sensibility of cohesion.

On Prime it was okay for a dull Saturday night when there were no good reruns on TV. Please don't pay actual money to see this thing, though. You'll be unhappy.
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About on par with the first movie
by S. Harris (4 out of 5 stars)
August 16, 2010

With the release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, while it seems to be just on par with the first movie though that I don't think that this movie went about outdoing itself like some sequels try to go about doing. I do have to say that this movie is better than I would think for a sequel to a really good action packed movie such as the first Hellboy movie and I feel that they done good in delivering a good sequel to it. While the story itself doesn't follow where the first movie left off like some sequels tend to do, though the story is about the humans against elf/magic world at war. Although it seems like that it was just a story that they told kids, but as it turns out it was as true as the people had said it was.

Hellboy better known as `Red' throughout the movies, finds himself along with his friends in the midst of the battle that is about to come about once again and stop the `Prince Nuada' from starting this war once again. On top of that `Red' and Liz are having a few issues to work out, not only that Abe falls for Princess Nuala, and the worst part is that she's tied in with her brother Nuada, meaning what happens to him happens to her as well. Everything in this movie seems to be just as good as the first installment of the series, though the CGI was also just as good as the first if not maybe better than the first. I don't think I really have any complaints towards the movie, that I feel that it could've been a bit better, but not by too much though. Some of the special feature are interesting view on the movie and add to what was brought to the table. Although I don't like how the 3 Disc Special Edition, the 3rd disc was just a digital copy of the movie. Overall I give it 4.5 stars out of 5.
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Awsome Movie And Picture Quality
by DC (5 out of 5 stars)
August 9, 2011

I am not going to discuss the movie itself, as there are plenty of reviews that focus on that, so please read those if thats what you are looking for.

I will be concentrating strictly on picture and sound quality for those that have not yet purchased this.

The picture quality is top notch all the characters are shown in clear vibrant well saturated hues. This movie has a main color pallet of blues, golds and rich earthy tones that are so well done you really do feel imersed in the wold the director created.

This BD creates this with stunning depth and realism

hell boys deep red skin texture is mostly constant throughout the film and looks amazing on BD, from deep black levels to its well saturated but never overdone colors, this is the type of film that showcases the true capability of BD extremely well.

One thing to note that I feel helps further immerse you into this world is the fact this film is not shown letter boxed, so it will fill your full 16x9 screen from top to bottom, actually I prefer this wide screen format over the other, while this is my personal preference others might also agree. I just feel that when a film is shown in this format it just makes it feel more like your set is a real movie screen then if you see it framed with black bars top and bottom.

As for the sound of the film the word awesome is the only way to describe it. The dialog is recorded with fantastic accuracy. Voices throughout the film never sound thin or tiny as I have heard on many a film, and are always mixed at levels that are legible and clear no mater what the scene throws at you, from gunfire to

rumbling LF F/X you can always hear what is being said.

When the film calls for LF FX this BD delivers. The bottom end is powerful but not boomy, what you get is a solid low end punch mixed flawlessly with enough rumble to create a realistic HT experience you will not soon forget.

I think this is a film that any true collector and or Home Theater enthusiast should definitely own.

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