Underworld

"An immortal battle for supremacy."

2003 2h 2m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

🥫

31%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 6,827🥫31%Rotten Tomatoes●42Metacritic★7IMDB · 299,220

FantasyActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Vampires and werewolves have waged a nocturnal war against each other for centuries. But all bets are off when a female vampire warrior named Selene, who's famous for her strength and werewolf-hunting prowess, becomes smitten with a peace-loving male werewolf, Michael, who wants to end the war.

“An immortal battle for supremacy.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Kate Beckinsale
Selene
Scott Speedman
Michael Corvin
Michael Sheen
Lucian
Shane Brolly
Kraven
Bill Nighy
Viktor
Erwin Leder
Singe
Sophia Myles
Erika
Robbie Gee
Kahn

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Len Wiseman
Writers: Danny McBride, Kevin Grevioux, Danny McBride
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Underworld Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Len Wiseman, shot by Tony Pierce-Roberts. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Paul Haslinger. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Martin Hunter shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman and Michael Sheen carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Len Wiseman directs. Tony Pierce-Roberts behind the camera. Paul Haslinger scores. Martin Hunter cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 4.4× over at the box office.
2Released 23 years ago.
3International production across 3 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany.
4Part of the "Underworld Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Len Wiseman, shot by Tony Pierce-Roberts. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Paul Haslinger. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Martin Hunter shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman and Michael Sheen carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "An immortal battle for supremacy.".
10IMDB entry: tt0320691 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11The top-rated still from this film on TMDB has multiple community votes — a signal the frame composition stuck with viewers.
12Classified under 16 themes, including "budapest, hungary", "love of one's life", "vampire", "subway".

The technical file

Cinematography: Tony Pierce-Roberts
Original score: Paul Haslinger
Editing: Martin Hunter
Production design: Bruton Jones
Costume design: Wendy Partridge
Makeup / hair: Giovanni Giuliano
VFX supervisor: Robert Duncan
Sound: Claude Letessier
Stunt coordinator: Brad Martin
Runtime: 122 min · 2h 2m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $22,000,000
Box office: $95,708,457
Return: 435% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Underworld (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes: 31% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 42/100
IMDB rating: 7/10 · 299,220 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

1 win & 10 nominations total

Part of

Underworld Collection

A centuries-old war is waged between vampires and lycans (short for lycanthrope, from the Greek 'luk' [wolf] + 'ánthrōpos' [human], or werewolf). It begins with a fifth-century man, the sole survivor of a plague that wipes out his village. Somehow, his body turns the disease to his benefit, and afterward, he ceases to age. After living secretly, he moves often to prevent his immunity to the ravages of time from being discovered, even marrying on occasion. After he fathers twin sons who also inherit his gift, they learn its ultimate price after they become the first vampire and lycan after one suffers a bite from a bat and the other from a wolf. Once they learn they can "turn" normal humans into others like them by inflicting their bites on them, they terrorize the nearby countryside, taking from them either victims or tribute. The vampires ultimately enslave the Lycans until love leads to the Lycans' escape, igniting a bitter war that seems destined to have no end.

Also by

Len Wiseman

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2019-01-20
★ 8/10
Movies like Underworld just don't end up with the calibre of actor that Underworld has under normal circumstances. Somehow, Underworld did though, and yes, it's very much a product of that early '00s industrial inspired age, but it is a solid, solid take on some realistic(ish) aspects of supernatural monster mythos. Final rating:★★★★ - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite.
The Movie Mob2022-08-19
★ 9/10
Overall : Action, horror, monsters, guns, striking practical effects, spectacular creature designs, and a surprisingly proven and fantastic cast led by Kate Beckinsale all get mashed together to create one of the best creature features there is! Underworld brings a new twist to the vampire and werewolf genre by pitting them against each other as they vie for control of the criminal underworld ruled by nightmarish creatures. It's hard to believe the budget for this film is relatively small because it doesn't feel limited in any way. The action and fight sequences are superb, with Kate Beckinsale proving herself an unstoppable action heroine for the first time with her prior career consisting of primarily romcoms. The creature design, special effects, sets, cinematography, and even the rest of the cast are all top-notch. Len Wiseman found a way to take a small budget and produce a big-budget genre-blending masterstroke that any action or horror fan is sure to love.
CinemaSerf2023-09-03
★ 7/10
True, this isn't the most original of concepts and we have oft seen similar styles of treatment of these ancient rivalries, but Kate Beckinsale's lithe and deadly "Selene" and Michael Sheen's menacing "Lucian" are engaging enough in this tale of vampires v werewolves. Scott Speedman provides the eye candy (but very little else) as the hapless human "Michael" whom she rescues only to discover that he might prove a lot more important than either of them realise, and Bill Nighy is superbly over the top as the recently raised from his slumbers "Viktor" who really did fancy a (very) long lie in. Clad in leather and scurrying from place to place amidst the darkened environments the breadth of the city, the two must avoid capture and find a way to thwart ambitions that will re-enliven the timeless conflict between the two warring species. The combat scenes are heavily choreographed and do repeat themselves quite often and least said about Shane Brolly's weakly portrayed "Kraven" the better, but I did enjoy this.