About this deal
Thanks to the support of Studiocanal and Metropolitan, we were able to rescan and reassemble the entire film shot by shot, ensuring the feature was remastered in the best possible quality. On paper, this unusual blend of gothic horror, swashbuckler, martial-arts movie and bodice-ripping romance shouldn’t work. I enjoyed the film a lot back then but, for whatever reason, haven’t revisited it for a long time since those first couple of viewings. The absolute heart and soul of the production, his arc - which feeds right back to his very introduction into the movie - is perfect, and he comfortably owns the movie's best setpiece, going toe-to-toe with the fabled Beast in a fashion reminiscent of something from Predator (or now, more aptly, the period Prey).
After a genuinely rough-to-bad Blu-ray release, Scream Factory does right by fans and collectors with a new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Collector’s Edition of Christophe Gans’ stylish period martial arts horror epic Brotherhood of the Wolf. The box set has a Blu-ray disc with the shorter Theatrical Cut of Brotherhood of the Wolf, but this is an ancient presentation of it from the DVD era. Those highly stylized sequences that ape bullet-time effects used in The Matrix look better than ever, with gorgeous textures, a nice and delicate layer of film grain, plus those old CGI effects are much better blended into the overall picture than in previous presentations. While any changes to the story itself were out of the question, the director did want to adapt the film for more modern viewing while addressing some of the issues arising during the mastering process. STUDIOCANAL announce a stunning brand-new restoration of the thrilling 2001 cult classic BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF Director’s Cut by Christophe Gans, starring Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Jérémie Renier, Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci.Fronsac’s investigations lead him the local brothel, where h StudioCanal has announced that it will release on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray Christophe Gans' Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), starring Samuel Le Bihan, Vincent Cassel, Émilie Dequenne, Monica Bellucci, and Jérémie Renier. Sylvia’s intentions are not clear though and being with her causes Fronsac to experience some frightening dreams. 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.
Whilst the action effectively ramps up towards the end, the storytelling becomes convoluted and some character shifts are less convincing. He also talks of the problems faced during the shoot and waxes philosophical about his work and that of French and genre cinema in general. There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French Dolby Atmos, German DTS-HD Master Audio 5. 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.
The first sequence shows footage of the relationship between Grégoire de Fronsac and the two ladies. Effects range from punishing body blows and the crack of muskets to the satisfying whip-thud of a tomahawk, or the crash of the beast, tearing through wood or violently smashing its prey against rocks. In native 4K, HDR even creates the impression that the dynamic range of the visuals is off, which should not be the case.
There's some surround enveloping going on here, drawing you into the atmospheric piece, allowing caves to echo, or minute nuances in the silence to creep out at you. LFE input is welcome and unabashed, mostly beast-related, but also to be found in everything from galloping horses to those aforementioned gunshots. That is, apart from 2001s French epic Brotherhood of the Wolf, which has now been given a 4K UHD makeover courtesy of StudioCanal, and what a sparkling example of physical media superiority it is. On the other hand, the new 4K makeover alters color values that were not impressive on the old master and makes some sections look more convincing. Gone is the frustrating over-use of edge enhancement and I didn’t spot any irritating smoothing or aggressive grain reduction.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.