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Channel 4 showed a six-part series called "Ultraviolet" that 1998, burying it away in a mid-week late evening slot. For those of us who saw the series, it remains a minor masterpiece, one that for me totally blew away my old preconceptions of what I'd expect from a drama about vampires. ... Read review
Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil The Fifth Element) Cameron Bright (X-Men 3) Nick Chinlund ... more
(The Legend of Zorro) and William Fichtner (The Longest Yard) star in this story of a woman caught in a futuristic civil war between the government and a subculture of disease modified humans in whom speed strength and intelligence are magnified. In the film she must fend off the human government to protect a young boy who has been marked for death.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Advantages: Not the usual run-of-the-mill vampire drama Disadvantages: The first episode is a little slow in places setting up the story
Prior to 1998, my take on vampire dramas was Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, black cloaks, ornate coffins and wooden-stake wielding heroes. Ho-hum.
Channel 4 showed a six-part series called "Ultraviolet" that 1998, burying it away in a mid-week late evening slot. For those of us who saw the series, it remains a minor masterpiece, one that for me totally blew away my old preconceptions of what I'd expect from a drama about vampires. ... ...in a modern-day setting, but also blurred the edges between good and evil somewhat, making the experience much more rewarding.
The two-disc DVD boxed set is worth acquiring by fans and those who were not fortunate enough to see this first time around. All six episodes are included, together with 'the story so far' trailers, cast notes and notes on the series itself. A PC screensaver is also included among the goodies. The menus are ... more
Prior to 1998, my take on vampire dramas was Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, black cloaks, ornate coffins and wooden-stake wielding heroes. Ho-hum.
Channel 4 showed a six-part series called "Ultraviolet" that 1998, burying it away in a mid-week late evening slot. For those of us who saw the series, it remains a minor masterpiece, one that for me totally blew away my old preconceptions of what I'd expect from a drama about vampires. "Ultraviolet" not only updated the old staples and portrayed them in a modern-day setting, but also blurred the edges between good and evil somewhat, making the experience much more rewarding.
The two-disc DVD boxed set is worth acquiring by fans and those who were not fortunate enough to see this first time around. All six episodes are included, together with 'the story so far' trailers, cast notes and notes on the series itself. A PC screensaver is also included among the goodies. The menus are neatly set out, easy to navigate and are free of excess baggage.
(Spoilers ahead.)
"Ultraviolet" is set in a contemporary London. The vampires have lived among humans since the beginning of recorded time, keeping a low profile most of the time and only 'recruiting' new members when they wanted a special talent, knowledge or influence. They only drain bodies when they want to 'recruit', most of the time a small amount removed is all it takes to make someone 'open to suggestion' - the vampires have many 'willing' human assistants. However, with Man's increasing ability to wipe himself out, their food supply has become threatened, and they are organising to 'save' it from destruction. Organised crime, medical research, financial institutions, the vampires are into it all. Set against them is an equally shadowy organisation with no official name (at least none mentioned in the show), financed by the Vatican and operating above the law with the tacit approval of Her Majesty's Government.
Michael Colefield is an ordinary London CID detective sergeant. His friend Jack, another policeman, disappears the night before his wedding. Two members of "T Branch", said to be part of CIB, the police's internal investigation branch, turn up at Michael's office and question him as to Jack's whereabouts. Michael's boss is powerless to intervene ("whoever they are, they've got clout"). When Michael finds out that no-one in CIB has ever heard of them, he decides to do a little investigating of his own.
Faced with a disappearing assailant and a strange death caught on videotape, the trail leads Michael to a counterfeiting racket and a man who looks human but who is certainly nothing of the sort. Caught up in a battle between a vampire and a team sent to kill it, Michael escapes with a very odd-looking weapon and more questions.
He is eventually recruited himself by the organisation that called themselves "T Branch" - they require detectives in addition to soldiers, as the vampires are organising fast. Their modern weapons include automatic pistols that fire graphite-tipped dum-dum bullets, flick-knives with similar coated blades and grenades that emit a garlic-type substance. The vampires can only be seen with the naked eye: they cannot be caught on CCTV, camera or in a mirror, whilst their voices cannot be recorded. They can be detected using UV light (hence the series' title) - guns have small UV cameras fitted). They do not smell of anything. They cannot be killed - just 'neutralised' - and their remains are incarcerated in a room at "T Branch's" base ("not a prison, it's a holding cell"). Evidently, the vampires have some way of re-generating but "T Branch" do not know how it is done.
Nowhere in the series are the vampires called "vampires" - they are referred to as "leeches" or "Code V material". "T Branch" is led by a priest who has spiritual and medical problems of his own, whilst the other key members of the team apart from Michael are the two who turned up to originally question him - Angie March, a doctor (whose husband and one of her children were 'recruited' to try and entice her into 'going over'), and Vaughan Rice, a soldier whose mates were 'recruited' during the first Gulf War.
As the series develops, we see Michael join "T Branch" and then slowly question what is happening - and in the process becomes a target himself. Each episode can be watched out of sync, however it is much better to watch them in order. They deal with medical research, counterfeiting, paedophilia, fertility issues and global warming - essentially today's problems have the "leeches" in close proximity. It is a great pity that another series was not commissioned, but buy or rent this boxed set and see what could have been.
Advantages: Tense well written Drama Disadvantages: Only the one series.
...this DVD set. Really.
Ultraviolet was a UK TV drama in 1998 about Vampires. Like most UK Drama it is grittier with a plot that hangs together without ramming itself down your throat. The Vampires are faster and stronger than us but there's no special effects (except when they die) and no superhuman girls beating them up. The jokes are thin on the ground as well.
The basic concept is simple. Vampires exist, they are known about by the government ... ...is centered around CIB T Branch a group of government funded Vampire hunters with extremely wide ranging powers. The four main characters are Vaughan, the ex army commando who saw all his friends killed by Vampires during the Gulf War, Micheal, the policeman who is the nominal star of the show, Pearse, the priest who has been hunting vampires all his life and Angie, the doctor a specialist in blood disorders whose husband & daughter were 'taken' ...
Scimon 24.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ultraviolet (DVD)
Advantages: Thought-provoking, modern take on old subject Disadvantages: None!
I originally first saw this series on television and was blown away by it - the first ever vampire story that made you think that, just maybe, they could be out there..... that just maybe the scientific aspects were true....that just maybe television had got its act together and would make a second series..... and that just maybe we wouldn't be left with a beautiful memory of what drama was like before it got dumbed down!
Nothing of this calibre ... ...thought-provoking dramas of the day and in some ways implied future possible behaviour of a section of society which might be outcast for various reasons.
As far as I am aware it was never even repeated on television - a definite loss to a new generation of viewers - if you have ANY spare money - buy this!! ...
prom22 03.08.2008 (05.08.2008)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Ultraviolet (DVD)
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Advantages: None Disadvantages: Acting, Casting, Special Effects, Story
, and the show marvelled about the movie. But better still was the presence of Milla Jovovich who I had enjoyed in the Resident Evil movies. I really looked forward to seeing Ultraviolet; so you can imagine my pleasure to receive the DVD.
The movie started with great promise, stylish storytelling and a fantastic setting. I sat with my variety of movie loving food prepared for something special. And by now you know that all this build up means just one thing?.. The movie is a dire piece of high budget trash, with low budget values.
Milla Jovovich plays exactly the same role she played in Resident Evil (attitude wise) showing a complete lack of talent. The annoying Cameron Bright plays the same style of freaky child that he did in the dreadful Birth. Nick Chinlund (who he?) turns out a disgustingly acted performance that could only qualify to be ...
Advantages: Enjoyable action film Disadvantages: Very unoriginal
take, sadly it didn't really work but it was impressively like anime from the settings to the costumes to the way some of the characters looked and acted.
I've given the film three stars because although I have a few complaints with it I found it watchable enough and overall mediocre. I wouldn't watch it again and I definitely wouldn't buy it on DVD. I would, however, recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Resident Evil , Aeon Flux and Underworld . Fans of Equilibrium may find this to be just a slightly dumbed down version. Equilibrium had a great dystopian plot and rather good acting and you could sort of wringe a moral from it, Ultraviolet had al the same action etc but was just a little dryer.
Certificate
15 for violence and bad langauge
Trailer
http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/ultravio let/index.html ...
You can't sell a film on a pretty actress, action scenes & lots of CGI. It needs a good story to bind it together & a plot to drive it from start to finish. The film is obviously based on a comic of some sort judging from the opening titles, and they try to hard to stick to the comic style. The plot gets left by the wayside and they go for lots of action and fighting which really doesn't help the film very much. Yes, Milla looks excellent in her various costumes which change colour on her as she wears them. The buildings and backdrops look stunning. You can tell that the fight scenes were made to look so fast by over-cranking the camera to get the illusion of more speed.
Sadly the film suffers from being over-cut. The DVD contains an alternate start (much better than the one used in the film) and several cut scenes (which I would have ...
Features all six episodes from the television series. 'Habeas Corpus', 'In Nomine Patris', 'Sub Judice', 'Mea Culpa', 'Terra Incognita' and 'Persona Non Grata'.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
Contender Entertainment Group
Release date
05/02/2001
No of Discs
2
Catalogue No
KLT 61001
Barcode
5030305610012
Screenwriter
Joe Ahearne
Languages
Main Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Cast And Crew Biographies, Trailers, Ultraviolet Screensaver, Gallery Of Anti Vampire Weaponry, Extended Version Of Ultraviolet Theme Music
Aspect Ratio
4:3 Full Frame
Sound
Dolby Surround
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Surround English
DVD Description
ULTRAVIOLET is a six-hour miniseries that takes place in a world where vampires have lived with humans for centuries and have gone mostly undetected. However, this changes when detective Michael Colefield (Jack Davenport) investigates the strange disappearance of his partner and discovers a troubling alternate reality where vampires seem to control a number of important aspects of society. Because of this experience, Michael is recruited by the government's vampire squad, the CIB, an elite team of agents who are trying to hunt down this society of vampires. A dark, brooding programme that plays like a mix of X-FILES and PRIME SUSPECT, ULTRAVIOLET is one of the most engrossing series to appear on the small screen in years.
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