# Underworld, anyone?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 9, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632 "2003-09-09T23:36:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/1 "2003-09-09T23:36:05Z")
I know we’re currently in the Season of Crappy Movies, but the trailers for Underworld look so frickin’ cool. But I’m a sucker for vampire movies. It looks like it’s gonna be kind of a _Crow_-y _Blade_…so, anyone else looking forward to it?
---
### Author:  [@RealTronic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealTronic)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/2 "2003-09-10T01:11:16Z")
YES
Mostly because it has Kate Beckinsdale in tight leathery clothes though… 😉
No, but seriously, it looks like it could be a fun movie. Unfortunately, LXG looked like it would be too, and look how that turned out.
---
### Author:  [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/3 "2003-09-10T01:31:08Z")
And as I pointed out in my post below they are being [sued](http://www.white-wolf.com/News/underworldrelease.html) and the movie may not come out… which sucks because it does look good, as does the plot according to [IMDB](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0320691/)
---
### Author:  [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/4 "2003-09-10T03:13:09Z")
Pfft. And V:tM isn’t based on hundreds of years of myth and legend. Be a shame if White Wolf managed to block a decent vampire movie.
---
### Author:  [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/5 "2003-09-10T05:59:58Z")
Yeah I know… in fact looking at [this](http://www.penny-arcade.com/dl/whitewolfcomplaint.pdf) site (Warning: Link contains **spoilers** and is in PDF format) some of the things claimed as being ‘stolen’ from WW is almost absurd (to anyone with knowledge of the games and backgrounds and whatnot)
Especially since a goodly portion of what was ‘stolen’ has been a part of the vampire mythos for longer than WW and they would start having to sue a bunch of others for infringements, like LK Hamilton for her Anita Blake series… certain aspects they accuse Sony of taking also appear in those books, as well as the Nancy Collins Sonja Blue books not published by WW etc etc.
It’s pretty silly if you ask me.
---
### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/6 "2003-09-10T06:15:43Z")
Just a word of warning: According to early reviews, it isn’t supposed to be very good. Keep your expectations low and you may enjoy it.
---
### Author:  [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/7 "2003-09-10T06:20:43Z")
It sounds like some lawyer is shotgunning complaints, hoping some’ll stick and the studio will have to settle. It’s a shame though, I lost a lot of respect for White Wolf for filing a BS lawsuit. If they had any sense, they’d realize that more people interested in vampires=more sales of V:tM. Idiots.
---
### Author:  [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/8 "2003-09-10T06:22:56Z")
On reading the top, it says “Jury Trial Demanded”. It’d be a hoot to hear White Wolf’s lawyers explaining Gothic Punk to 12 of Georgia’s Finest Jurors (I kid because I love, but I also live here). I’d pay to see that.
---
### Author:  [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/9 "2003-09-10T07:59:48Z")
Cervaise: I generally keep my expectations low when going to see a movie. I see stuff that appears like it will appeal to me no matter how campy it is, and try avoid stuff that looks obviously like I won’t like. I have been surprised the odd time (mainly by people dragging me to movies I didn’t want to see but was glad I did) but I don’t expect a whole lot from movies, except LotR’s of course 😛
Heck I loved Embrace of the Vampire and you have to admit that one was kinda bad. Blade 2 just, forgive the pun, sucked though. I’ve had so many people tell me they hated Dracula 2000 but know what? I didn’t go in expecting it to be this grand new thing and I enjoyed it. Especially the whole aspect of who was the first vamp and reasons for certain allergies (ie the silver thing which is primarily a werewolf one)
---
### Author:  [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/10 "2003-09-10T12:31:35Z")
Hey, even if the movie isn’t all that great, the cinematography looks wonderful. And hey, this year has been a great year for the odd action flicks.
---
### Author:  [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/11 "2003-09-10T14:09:11Z")
(from **Obsidian** ’s link)-
" Plaintiffs also claim that Underworld’s entire plot is based on Collins’ short story Love of Monsters. “Apparently they are marketing this as a remake of Romeo and Juliet,” comments Collins. “What I think they really mean is that it’s an on-screen adaptation of my story.” \_"
Er… Doesn’t that mean that her story is an adaptation of R&J?
It -does- like R&J in the WoD (Word of Darkness to non RPG-er’s)
Hrm. Sounds like a rap song title- ‘R&J in the WoD’. Now who could we get to record that?
---
### Author:  [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/12 "2003-09-10T17:03:19Z")
Producers of “Underworld”, a new motion picture about Vampires and Werewolves in a modern setting, announced today that they had reached a deal with White Wolf, specifying that White wolf must pay the estate of Brahm Stoker 6 million dollars, the estates of Max Schreck 10 million dolars, and distribute 30 million dollars divided among every vampire and werewolf story author before they began publishing games. In exchange, The producers will change the name of the movie to “Crow vs the Matrix vs Batman vs Blade”.
---
### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/13 "2003-09-10T18:32:49Z")
I always wanted to know what the offspring of Dark Angel and Blade II would look like.
And to think that I said the all-night Armani / Sunglass Hut / Leather Emporium outlet mall wouldn’t generate any business.
---
### Author:  [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/14 "2003-09-10T22:25:45Z")
This whole time, I kept thinking “V:tM” was “Vampire: the Musical”.
---
### Author:  [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/15 "2003-09-11T00:39:53Z")
There was some musical about Vampires and I do believe Michael Crawford was in it. Or at least the title involved vampires. Or something.
Cervaise: Really? IMDb has it rated at something like 8.8/10.
---
### Author:  [@RealTronic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealTronic)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/16 "2003-09-11T01:15:29Z")
Hmm
I usually don’t care about “previews” over at Aintitcoolnews, but this doesn’t bode well:
> **[Strahd says UNDERWORLD was a very disappointing film](http://legacy.aintitcool.com/node/16037)**
>
> Hey folks, Harry here Last night I was checking out my DVD of THE VAMPIRE LOVERS and what a wonderful film that was. It is pre- all this Goth leather and latex stuff see through sheer gowns bouncy breasts girl on girl blood-sucking
---
### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/17 "2003-09-11T01:39:36Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \*
> \*\*Cervaise: Really? IMDb has it rated at something like 8.8/10. \*\*
IMDb is driven almost entirely by user submissions. That score, therefore, is from regular viewers. Of which, _nota bene_, there aren’t any, because the movie hasn’t actually come out yet.
When the rating? you ask. See, this always happens when potentially promising genre entertainment, horror and SF especially, is in the pipeline; during the last few days before it opens, the rabid fangeeks in the movie’s core audience submit high ratings for something they haven’t actually seen, partly to pump up their own expectations, and partly in a somewhat futile hope that the inflated score will convince other people that it’s worth seeing, thereby resulting in a fatter box office take and thus a greater likelihood that Hollywood will produce more movies like it. The same thing, for comparison, happened last year with that dragon movie with Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey, _Reign of Fire_, because expectations were through the roof. Then it actually came out, and it was kind of _eh_, and the score dropped.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not dumping on the movie just to be negative. Few people would be happier than I if _Underworld_ turns out to rawk; despite my art-movie-geek reputation, I have a somewhat guilty soft spot for well-executed genre entertainment. It’s just that I’ve been watching the industry for so long that I can’t help but be carefully disciplined about maintaining realistic expectations. As a result, occasionally I’m surprised by something that’s better than it has any right to be (_Pirates of the Caribbean_), and occasionally I’m painfully disappointed by something that isn’t as good as it ought to have been (_Gangs of New York_). More often than not, though, my expectation turns out to be pretty close to reality.
---
### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2003, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/18 "2003-09-11T01:48:33Z")
I should clarify something in my first paragraph above: _Underworld_ did, in fact, have a public screening at the Toronto International Film Festival this past Monday night during their midnight cult-flick schedule. Those audiences tend to be self-selecting, though; they’ll hoot and holler through, say, _Bubba Ho Tep_, which they’ve been foaming at the mouth to get a look at, and when it’s over, they’ll stumble out, still churning with adrenaline, and call it the best movie ever, which it decidedly isn’t. Me, on the other hand, I knew it was a Don Coscarelli movie (_Phantasm_ and _Beastmaster_ are his two biggest credits, so I went to it with that in mind, and I enjoyed it for what it is.
I’m just sayin’, is all.
---
### Author:  [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/19 "2003-09-11T03:41:52Z")
Yea, I’ve noticed the same trend with games, unfortunately. But I usually figure all the idiots who vote 0 will cancel out the idiots that vote 10. Ahh, well.
That said, I want to see Bubba Ho Tep. Cause it’s got my man BC in it.
---
### Author:  [@Harli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harli)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632/20 "2003-09-11T03:51:09Z")
I thought the movie was _supposed_ to be based on WoD…but I’ll be damned if I can remember where I read/heard that.
Regardless, I am looking forward to this flick with great anticipation. I’ll be there opening night!
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underworld-anyone/200632.md?page=2)