Underworld: Evolution

"A new race. A new battle. A new hero..."

2006 1h 46m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

🥫

17%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★6.6TMDB · 4,523🥫17%Rotten Tomatoes●36Metacritic★6.7IMDB · 217,151

FantasyActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

As the war between the vampires and the Lycans rages on, Selene, a former member of the Death Dealers (an elite vampire special forces unit that hunts werewolves), and Michael, the werewolf hybrid, work together in an effort to unlock the secrets of their respective bloodlines.

“A new race. A new battle. A new hero...”

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Cast

Kate Beckinsale
Selene
Scott Speedman
Michael Corvin
Tony Curran
Marcus Corvinus
Shane Brolly
Kraven
Derek Jacobi
Alexander Corvinus
Bill Nighy
Viktor
Steven Mackintosh
Andreas Tanis
Zita Görög
Amelia

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Len Wiseman
Writers: Danny McBride, Mark Moretti, Monica Sandstede
Languages: English, French, Hungarian
Countries: United States of America

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

Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, Hungarian.

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

CAST

Did you know

235+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Len Wiseman, shot by Simon Duggan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Len Wiseman directs. Simon Duggan behind the camera. Marco Beltrami scores. Nicolas De Toth cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French, Hungarian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 20 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, Hungarian.
4Part of the "Underworld Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5235+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Len Wiseman, shot by Simon Duggan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Marco Beltrami. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Nicolas De Toth shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman and Tony Curran carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "A new race. A new battle. A new hero...".
11IMDB entry: tt0401855 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 12 themes, including "budapest, hungary", "vampire", "key", "light".
13Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Simon Duggan
Original score: Marco Beltrami
Editing: Nicolas De Toth
Production design: Patrick Tatopoulos
Costume design: Wendy Partridge
Makeup / hair: Merribelle Anderson
VFX supervisor: Lloyd Lee Barnett
Sound: Scott Martin Gershin
Stunt coordinator: Brad Martin
Runtime: 106 min · 1h 46m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $50,000,000
Box office: $111,476,513
Return: 223% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Underworld: Evolution (2006)
Rotten Tomatoes: 17% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 36/100
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 217,151 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

2 wins & 6 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

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-10-21
★ 7/10
Oh Brother! The sequel to cult fave Underworld (2003) finds vampire warrior Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and half werewolf Michael (Scott Speedman) unravelling the truth about their respective blood lines. Just what caused the feud between the vampires and the lycans? Unsurprisingly reviews for this sequel are mixed, it's either a smart action popcorner that was warranted, or it's a huge let down after the first film. Personally I'm in the first camp, personally because it does pretty much the same things, only the story has a bit of complexity about it to try and bluff us that it's cerebral. For a film about vampires and werewolves at war it delivers all that is required in the modern era. There's lots of high energy action, blood and guts galore, CGI overdrive, fast pacing and a sexy lead actress fronting the piece. The story ticks along nicely, introducing new and interesting characters, while flashbacks fill in the gaps for any newcomers to the series. The main villain is one bad-ass winged mofo, a genuine terror that our protagonists have right to fear, and the finale is as expected a bonkers array of bloody chaos. Smartly put together by director Len Wiseman and coolly photographed by Simon Duggan (steel blues and greys), it isn't ground breaking cinema, but it's a wail of a time for those with expectation levels set at popcorn bonanza. 7/10
Gimly2020-06-07
★ 9/10
I'm sorry but I've denied myself this for far too long. Underworld: Evolution is a cinematic masterpiece and I will fight to the death to defend it. (I won't actually fight to the death to defend it, or even really try to defend it at all. I know I am in the vast minority here, but I absolutely love this film.) Final rating:★★★★½ - Ridiculously strong appeal. I can’t stop thinking about it.
CinemaSerf2024-06-09
★ 7/10
Now this film will only make sense if you saw, and enjoyed, the original in this franchise from 2003 and as sequels go, it works ok. That is, side from a strangely miscast Sir Derek Jacobi but that's short and sweet. The persecuted pairing of Kate Beckinsale and a still rather wooden Scott Speedman race to track down the imprisoned original Lycan "William" before the recently awakened super-vampire "Marcus" (his brother) can release him and unleash untold terror on the world. Such as it is, the script is a bit stilted but the action scenes are tight and the film moves along quite sharply. As with the first film, probably not for purists of the genre, but it does have the distinct benefit of being half an hour shorter and the characters are suitably mean and moody.