Despite how absurd it gets, Brotherhood of the Wolf is a stunning movie that holds up remarkably well over two decades since its original release. The 4K restoration of the Director’s Cut looks amazing, with the greens of the forest and the glowing orange of the peasants’ torches popping out from the screen like never before, and the clarity of the picture shows off detail in the costumes and sets that adds an extra level of authenticity. For comparison, the unrestored Theatrical Cut is included on the accompanying Blu-ray disc, and to be honest, the film doesn’t look too shabby in that version either, albeit a little too bright, but the UHD colour grading and more dynamic contrasts make the Director’s Cut the better version to watch. The deleted scenes are interesting to watch too, greatly aided by explanatory interviews with Gans. With these additional excerpts, the deleted scenes as a whole add up to a considerable length. One of the scenes is an extended version of the opening fight. I’m surprised how much was cut out and actually prefer this longer take on the sequence, as it allows the fight to ‘breathe’ and play out properly. However, I appreciate Gans’ reasons for leaving out Fronsac’s inclusion, allowing for his ‘transformation’ in the final act. Plot: What’s it about? Video: How does it look? Audio: How does it sound? Supplements: What are the extras? The Bottom Line Plot: What’s it about? Mr. Odessa on Don’t miss Goodie Emporium’s New Release update! RUN AND KILL is being released by Team Error 4444. It’s available for pre ord… Brotherhood of the Wolf: Guts of the Beast – This 80-minute documentary is about everything and anything you could want to know about the film. Interviews with the cast and crew and everything in between. If this movie is your thing, you’ll be right at home. As with the movie, this is in French but

The film has a new 4K remaster and looks superb much better than the old dated transfer on the previous releases. The image is spectacular, the film was shot in over 16 locations and the transfer embraces its natural flavouring, taking in those beautiful muddy and wet landscapes. The detail is crisp and clear with a nice grain structure. The two outdoor fight sequences at the start proved to be some of the most challenging and exciting scenes to work on. “These were multi-camera, multi-day shots, with the original production enduring the four seasons weather wise,” Bigueur explains. La Legend’ is a fascinating piece too, which has an expert explore the history and facts of the actual Beast of Gévaudan. It helps you appreciate that whilst Gans and co-writer Stéphane Cabel took a number of liberties with the story, they did tell an otherwise fairly respectful account of the legend.

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Andrew Hernandez on So Close | Blu-ray (88 Films) Agh! Why does it have to be Region B only!? This was a fun movie! This is a m… Brotherhood of the Wolf’s 1080P video has rough moments in the darkest scenes. Color saturation is weak, leaving a flat palette with a so-so contrast. Exteriors have decent depth and slightly enhanced clarity. The rural French setting has looked better in more polished Hollywood productions. Audio This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. During the reign of Louis XV an isolated district of south-central France is haunted by the “Beast of Gévaudan” which has savagely killed over 100 people, mostly women and children. As panic sweeps across the region, the King sends his finest military minds, the scientist and adventurer Grégoire de Fronsac and his martial-arts-trained Iroquois blood brother Mani to flush out the Beast and kill it… Studiocanal is set to release Brotherhood Of The Wolf (Director’s Cut) on 4K UHD, Blu-ray & DVD this May 2023 in the UK.

The action scenes are still quite impressive though. As mentioned, Dacascos is a pleasure to watch, being highly skilled in martial arts on top of generally having a magnetic presence. Samuel Le Bihan does a convincingly good job with his action scenes too. Philip Kwok’s choreography is remarkably good for a non-HK production, utilising a lot of acrobatic moves and weapon combat. Starring Samuel Le Bihan, Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci, Émilie Dequenne, Mark Dacascos, Jérémie Renier, and Jacques Perrin.The ambitious French movie somehow meshes high-flying Hong Kong martial arts (mostly by Mani) with gripping action and decent intrigue in a period setting. As Fronsac and Mani investigate the mystery, more and more questions are raised. Local officials are sure it’s a wolf. A sinister conspiracy soon emerges which adds depth and complexity to the chilling tale. As Fronsac and Mani investigate the incidents around the area, they become inclined to believe that this ‘beast’ is far from the large wolf many claim it to be and it may, in fact, have a human owner controlling its actions. This idea is dismissed by most though, as the local dignitaries push on with the senseless slaughter of the local wolf population. During the reign of Louis XV an isolated district of south-central France is haunted by the "Beast of Gévaudan" which has savagely killed over 100 people, mostly women and children. As panic sweeps across the region, the King sends his finest military minds, the scientist and adventurer Grégoire de Fronsac and his martial-arts-trained Iroquois blood brother Mani to flush out the Beast and kill it... Brotherhood of the Wolf meshes traditional horror with a werewolf theme and superb martial arts action from Mark Dacascos who almost steals the film as the cool but deadly Mani. The fight scenes are very Hong Kong in style which is no surprise as the choreographer was Philip Kwok, who martial arts movie fans will know as one of the Five Venoms in the cult Shaw Brothers movie of the same name and also Mad Dog the villain in John Woo’s Hard Boiled.

On May 23, 2023, Shout! Factory is releasing a 3-Disc Collector’s Edition 4K UHD + Blu-ray for Christophe Gans’ 2002 thriller Brotherhood of the Wolf. Featurettes: The Extras / The Studies Of Fronsac / Mise-En-Scene / Emile And The Music / Thomas D’Apcher / Jeremie Renier And The Horses / Special Effects / Make-Up

Conclusion

Fronsac’s investigations lead him the local brothel, where he is intrigued by the mysterious Sylvia (Monica Bellucci), who may or may not hold some sort of clue about what is going on, as more locals fall foul to what appears to be some sort of wolf-like creature, with huge jaws twice the size of a normal wolf. Fronsac discovers that whatever the creature is, it has metal fangs and may not be the folklore-ish monster that the locals fear but something less supernatural, which points him in the direction of the local gentry. The disc presents a 3840x2160/24p BT.2020 image in the film's theatrical aspect ratio of widescreen 2.4:1, and uses a Wide Colour Gamut (WCG), High Dynamic Range and Dolby Vision, and is encoded using the HEVC (H.265) codec. The Guts Of The Beast (78:11 in SD) – A look at the creation of the film from the fight scenes to the digital effects. An extensive and nigh comprehensive documentary starring the cast and crew. The filmmakers are quite proud of their efforts detailing bringing the beast to life. STUDIOCANAL announce a stunning brand-new restoration of the thrilling 2001 cult classic BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLFDirector’s Cut by Christophe Gans, starring Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Jérémie Renier, Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci. The 2-disc Blu-ray includes deleted scenes and a host of extras, while the 4-disc 4K UHD release also includes the theatrical cut and eight featurettes – while all formats include the English audio as well as the French audio in Dolby Atmos. As for advice, Bigueur says important it is to surround yourself with the original creatives when remastering work.