Go On One Hell Of A Ride With Hellboy On DVD And Blu-Ray

Good never looked so bad in theaters this summer and now you’ll be able to watch your favorite unlikely hero in a hell of a good picture at home. Universal Studios Home Entertainment will release a 3-disc special edition DVD and 2-disc Blu-ray Hi-Def edition of Hellboy II: The Golden Army on November 11th.

When the truce between the creatures of the mythical world and humankind is broken, a power-crazy leader assembles an army of relentless beasts to wage war on the humans. Who better to stop them than Hellboy (Ron Perlman), the tough-talking hellspawn who may be just a little misunderstood? Hellboy teams up with his comrades from the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Development including his pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair), aquatic Abe (Doug Jones) and protoplasmic mystic Johann to travel between the human realm and the realms of the fantastic in order to take care of business. In the midst of trying to assuage this inter-dimensional dilemma, Hellboy finds himself forced to choose between the life he knows and the destiny that summons him.

With the significant increase in weapons and ungodly creatures, you’re going to crave even more DVD extras and if you opt for the special edition version, that’s exactly what you’ll get. In addition to feature commentary with director Guillermo del Toro and the cast, you’ll also get a significant amount of material detailing the film’s creative process. For those of you who’ll make use of the BD-Live element of the disc, you’ll get to play with some pretty cool interactive elements. In the “Comic Book Builder,” you’ll be able to create your own Hellboy adventure by selecting stills from the film and adding your own text. There’s also the “Scene Explorer: Schufften Goggle View,” which lets you view scenes from the film while it moves along from storyboards to the final product. Even though I’m not a huge Hellboy fan, it’s hard to make options like these not sound appealing.

You’ll have to sleep on this one because there will be quite the number of purchase options come November. You can keep it simple and get the single disc version for $29.98 or you can take home the 3-disc special edition DVD or 2-disc Blu-ray Hi-Def for $34.98 and $39.98, respectively. But if you want to get your hands on one of those, you’ll have to act fast, because they’ll only be offered for a limited period of time. Finally, for the ultimate Hellboy experience you can buy the limited edition collector’s set, which features all of the bonus material from the special edition as well as a decent amount of physical goodies. The set comes with a collectible Golden Army statuette, limited edition poster, director’s production journal and certificate of authenticity. Good loot doesn’t come without a pretty penny. The collector’s set will cost you $64.98 for the DVD version and $69.98 for the Blu-ray version.

  • Blu-ray, single- and 3-disc DVDs all feature the following bonus content:
  • Feature Commentary with Director Guillermo del Toro
  • Feature Commentary with Cast Members Jeffrey Tambor, Selma Blair and Luke Goss
  • Set Visits: Seven mini documentaries provide viewers with unlimited access to the Hellboy II: The Golden Army set.
  • Troll Market Tour with Guillermo del Toro: Using sketches and backstage video, del Toro walks the audience through the creation of one of the film’s most distinctive sets, the legendary Troll Market.
  • Animated Zinco Epilogue Comic
  • Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary by Director Guillermo del ToroIn addition, the Blu-ray and 3-disc special edition DVD also include the following features:
  • Prologue: A special introduction to the DVD from director Guillermo del Toro.
  • Pre-Production Vault: Director’s Notebook - Exclusive interviews, image scans and text from Guillermo del Toro’s personal notebook. Concept Art Gallery - Original designs and concepts for Hellboy II: The Golden Army’s costumes and sets.
  • Hellboy: In Service Of The Demon: Over two hours of footage that takes fans into the creation of this film.
  • Production Workshop: Professor Broom’s Puppet Theatre: A special look inside the opening sequence of the film including storyboards and animatics.
  • Image Gallery Featuring Teaser Banners, One-Sheets and Poster Explorations
  • DVD Rom: Hellboy II: The Golden Army ScriptExclusive Blu-Ray Hi-Def Bonus Features (BD Live):
  • My Chat: Using your internet-connected player, host a text chat with your friends who also own Hellboy II: The Golden Army on Blu-ray™ Hi-Def while you watch the movie in synchronization!
  • Sneak Peek of Wanted: Watch never-before seen footage from the explosive action movie Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy.
  • My Scenes Sharing: Show your friends your favorite scenes from Hellboy II: The Golden Army via BD-Live.
  • Comic Book Builder: Create an original downloadable Hellboy adventure by selecting still images from the movie, dropping them into comic book layouts and adding text. The result can be e-mailed to friends or published via BD-Live buddy lists.
  • U-Control: Universal’s exclusive signature feature U-Control allows viewers to delve into the making of the film with the click of the remote without ever leaving the movie.
  • Scene Explorer: Schufften Goggle View: View scenes from the film as it progresses from storyboards and early renderings of the visual effects to the final film.
  • Director’s Notebook: Fans will get an interactive glimpse at the director’s personal journal and view how early thematic concepts evolved into the final film. Includes an introduction by Guillermo Del Toro.
  • Set Visits: Interactive vignettes provide information about key moments in the film.
  • Comic Book Back-Story Interactive Feature: Clickable motion pages provide backstories of the film’s characters.

Perri Nemiroff

Staff Writer for CinemaBlend.