Underworld is the first film in the set and introduces us to the dark underbelly of Europe where a violent war rages between vampires and lycans (werewolves). Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a Death Dealer, a vampire assassin whose job it is to eliminate as many of the lycan clan as she can - and Selene is very good at her job. One day, in the course of her regular bloody business, she comes across not only a large den of lycans, but a group of them also seem to be pursuing a human, although she cannot determine why. It seems that Michael (Scott Speedman), the human, is a direct descendant of the first immortal, Corvinus, and they need his blood to alter their species to grow even stronger. As Selene protects Michael so that he doesn't fall into lycan hands, she stumbles upon a plot brewing in the vampire kingdom where the current leader, Kraven (Shane Brolly) has made an alliance with the lycan ruler, Lucian (Michael Sheen). She decides to awaken the sleeping vampire leader, who is also the most powerful vampire of all, Viktor (Bill Nighy), the vampire who originally "turned" her, so that he can help stop Kraven's betrayal. What she discovers when Victor returns is that he has betrayed her more than anyone else and she can only escape doom by killing him.
Underworld: Evolution brings Selene and Michael back together again, this time with Selene being hunted for Viktor's murder. Marcus (Tony Curran), the remaining vampire leader and the first vampire ever, is awakened and is hell-bent on releasing his brother, William, the first lycan, who was imprisoned hundreds of years before by Viktor. Selene and Michael find themselves falling in love as they battle for survival against the very formidable Marcus. Their only hope is assistance from the long-hidden father of Marcus and William, Corvinus (Derek Jacobi) himself. They have a sporting chance because Michael is now a vampire/lycan hybrid, having the pure Corvinus bloodline, then having been bitten by both Lucian and Selene. Underworld: Evolution seems to set things up for a sequel where Selene, having consumed Corvinus' blood, can now exist in the sunlight.
However, the third movie in the trilogy, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is actually a prequel and tells the story of the forbidden love between Lucian (Michael Sheen) and Viktor's natural daughter, Sonya (Rhona Mitra). Lycans were once the slaves of the vampire kingdom and were used a protection during the daytime. When Sonja and Lucian fall in love, only to have Victor execute his own daughter before Lucian's very eyes when their secret is discovered, Lucian decides to lead a revolt among the lycans to gain their freedom. What ensues is a very exciting battle between Lucian and the more civilized lycans who can regain their human forms, along with the lycans who roam the forests, wild beasts unable to return to human form, as they war against skilled vampire fighters. Most interesting of all was watching the three movies in rapid succession and seeing recognizable characters from all three films. Raize (Kevin Grevioux) is featured prominently as a human turned lycan and close friend of Lucian's in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, but I remembered him from Underworld as well. Grevioux is also the co-writer of all three movies and with his background in science, was one of the people who pushed for a story steeped more in science than in mysticism. Really interesting stuff that I learned from featurettes.
Speaking of featurettes, there are a ton of them across the three movies - more than you could ask for. There are featurettes on everything from the story, the mythos, stunts, special effects, sound design and visual effects, music videos, outtakes (which were really funny), and exclusive to Blu-ray on Underworld: Rise of the Lycans are cinechat, a picture-in-picture feature and an interactive map with werewolf tidbits from around the world. The weirdest special feature was a documentary called Fang vs. Fiction featuring real-life werewolves and vampires.
Overall, if you don't already have the Underworld films in your collection, now is the time to add them and Blu-ray is the way to go. Everything looks and sounds wonderful (although the blood did look a bit too red on Underworld: Rise of the Lycans). Overall, this is a great set for lovers of vampire flicks.
