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Stephen Sommers hit a rich vein cash with “Van Helsing”. Like Sommers’ other updates “The Mummy” and “The Mummy Returns”, “Van Helsing” takes the mysterious hero of “Dracula” and updates him for a modern audience. Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine…sorry…Van Helsing here isn’t that different from his take on the famous “X-Men” character from that franchise. Both Van Helsing and Wolverine know nothing about their past and become affiliated with an organization that gives meaning to their lives. Likewise, both have some pretty neat toys to play with as well and both are cynical, brooding types who rarely let a ray of sunshine break through their clouds of uncertainty and action. When “Van Helsing” first came out I was unusually harsh about the film. I kept hoping that Sommers’ campy, affectionate send up of Universal’s classic monsters would be something more than just a loud, brainless action film. Like “The Mummy”, “Van Helsing” is at its best when it doesn’t allow for character development. Jackman’s monochromatic interpretation of the most famous vampire killer comes from the land of comic books. If you’re prepared for a mindless amusement ride, “Van Helsing” will be a joy to watch. If you’re expecting something as charming and witty as “The Mummy”, you’d be on the wrong ride. ***

Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) works for the Vatican as the papal 18th Century equivalent of James Bond. He has a license to kill, lots of neat toys and his very own “Q” a monk named Carl (David Wenham) that goes on his latest assignment with him. We first meet Van Helsing as he chases down Mr. Hyde (Robbie Coltrane) in London. It seems that the elusive Mr. Hyde has been a particular challenge for Van Helsing (for more background on his hunt of Mr. Hyde see “Van Helsing-The London Assignment” the direct-to-video anime that Universal produced back in May of 2004). After dispatching Hyde, Van Helsing heads back to Rome for new marching orders. It seems that Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) has been terrorizing the locals of Transylvania. His orders are to dispatch Dracula who has been working with Dr. Frankenstein (Samuel West) on experiments that the AMA wouldn’t approve of. When he arrives Van Helsing hooks up with Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale in a variation on the role she played in “Underworld”) the daughter of a nobleman who faithfully fights evil for the Vatican much as Van Helsing does. ---

An exceptionally rich and detailed transfer, “Van Helsing” looks absolutely stunning on DVD. The vivid colors, deep, rich blacks and crisp, sharp picture make this one worth having for showing off a top-notch DVD player/TV. The stunning sound comes across with tremendous presence with no noticeable compression issues. The dialogue is a bit tougher to make out on the stereo soundtrack than the 5.1 which was a bit of a surprise. ***

“The Ultimate Collector’s Edition” features three original classic Universal horror movies. “Dracula” (1931), “Frankenstein” (1931) and “The Wolf Man” (1940) all look pretty good here. In fact, it appears that these are the exact same transfers as appeared in the “Legacy Collection”. “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” have excessive problems with grain that, while not distracting, are noticeable. This isn’t a flaw in the transfer so much as a flaw in the prints (the original negatives were nitrate negatives and disappeared a long time ago). “The Wolf Man” looks slightly better with slightly better contrast but the image is a bit duller than the other two films. The soundtrack for all three films is presented in the original mono. It’s clear that all three soundtracks have been digitally cleaned up for the new transfer and they sound pretty good overall. “Frankenstein” and “Dracula” do suffer from some issues with muffled dialogue. ---

Overseas there’s a one, two and three disc edition of “Van Helsing”. Luckily, it’s not quite as confusing for folks in the region one area. The single disc edition has a number of decent to good featurettes on the film. “Explore Dracula’s Castle” allows viewers to take a virtual tour. “The Legend of Van Helsing” gives the background that Sommers imagined for his variation on Bram Stoker’s character as well as how the character has been portrayed in literature, theater and film. “Bringing the Monsters to Life” focuses on the make up, CGI effects and designs that the film’s production designer came up with to modernize the monsters for the film while still paying homage to the 1930’s and 40’s originals. There’s also an X-Box preview of the game of the same name and the Superbowl spot used to advertise the film. We also get a new “Shrek 2” preview as well. ***

Fans of the movie that buy it at Best Buy get a bonus disc with extra material that appears to borrow from the region two second disc marketed in Europe. It’s not as extensive as the second disc in the boxed set nor as extensive as the region two second disc. The “Ultimate Edition” has two additional discs. The first disc has a number of featurettes and short documentaries on the making of the movie including a section on Alan Silvestri’s score, the background and creation of each creature from the movie and the ability to do a virtual tour of Dr. Frankenstein’s lab. There’s also section that allows you to use Van Helsing’s map to track the various events from the movie. ***

The third disc essentially consists of the first disc from the “Dracula-The Legacy Collection” disc. We have Stephen Sommers’ discussion of the classic horror movies and how he chose to integrate the characters into his film. There’s also the 1931 film “Dracula” with Bela Lugosi as well as the documentary “The Road to Dracula” that came with the “Legacy” collection, theatrical trailer for the 1931 release (although this looks to be the reissue trailer), poster archives, audio commentary by film historian David Skal and Philip Glass’ new score as performed by the Kronos Quartet. The rest of the disc consists of James Whale’s 1931 classic “Frankenstein” although none of the extras from the “Legacy” set are included here. Likewise, we get George Waggner’s “The Wolf Man” with Lon Chaney Jr. and Claude Rains but, again, the documentary and extras from the “Legacy” collection are missing. ---

We get two commentary tracks for “Van Helsing”. Stephen Sommers and producer/editor Bob Ducsay provide the play-by-play for the film from the production side of things. Actors Richard Roxburgh, Shuler Hensley and Will Kemp provide the commentary from the actor’s perspective. It’s a pity that Jackman and Beckinsale weren’t involved in the commentary track as it would be interesting to find out what really attracted them to these roles which really are just variations on roles they’ve played before. ***

“Dracula” has the commentary track that historian David Skal did for the “Legacy” collection of all the films. It’s a fascinating commentary and Skal passes along numerous bits of trivia about the production and how it was received both by Hollywood and the world at large. His comments also about the various actors involved in the production are also quite illuminating particularly about Lugosi. ---