DVD Reviews

Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic (Blu-Ray)

I have a feeling that Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic is just another entry in what’s becoming a long list of video game related animated direct to video releases.  I had previously checked out Dead Space: Downfall and whether I like or dislike any of these gamer films, I look forward to each and every one of them.  Dante’s Inferno is a bit of a mixed bag. If this is purely an advertising engine for the video game, I think it did a very good job.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to get it now.  But, if this is supposed to be more of a stand alone project, I don’t think it did as well as the creators were probably hoping.

Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery! These are the 9 Circles of Hell made famous by Dante Alighieri in his famed masterpiece, Dante’s Inferno, his first story of The Divine Comedy. Dante’s Inferno: And Animated Epic takes you on a harrowing trip through Hell as Dante braves the forces of evil, slaying demons and monsters of extraordinary imagination, all to save his love Beatrice, from the clutches of Hell’s master, Lucifer. The companion piece to the hit Electronic Ars game, Dante’s Interno: An Animated Tale is inventively told through eyes of visionary animation directors from around the world, including Shuko Murase (Ergo Proxy) and Yasoumi Umetsu (Kite: Liberator) among others. 6 Directors, 6 terrifying visions of Hell.

The video is presented in a very nice 1.78:1 anamorphic 1080p high definition transfer.  Lines are very straight and move fluidly with the motion on screen like the flames of hell dance upon the flesh of the wicked.  No “jaggies” to be found here folks.  Colours are very nice as the palette changes from segment to segment. This is an almost perfect presentation and if it weren’t for the blatant banding or the occasional bleeding I might have given it a perfect score. Of course, I might have still removed a half point for the disorientating mix of animation styles.

The audio, short of the opening sequence which is overly strong on the low end, is very good. Presented in TrueHD 5.1 lossless sound, the English track is well balanced between the dialogue, sound effects and score. Dialogue is always clean, clear and crisp.  Low end is well represented from time to time outside of the opening sequence. I was quite pleased with the use of the surrounds as ambient noise and directional sound effects had a good presence.  Not an award wining presentation but still very very good. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish.

While the audio and video are above par, the extras aren’t.  The main extras consist of 5 high definition animatics. “Beatrice Chase” runs about 3 minutes, “Charon” runs just over 2 minutes, “Dante Stabs Farinata” runs about 1.5 minutes, “Francesco Fight” is almost 3 minutes in length, and finally “Lust Minions” is almost 2 minutes long. All are interesting and some are very different in style much like their finished versions were.  The last extra is a trailer for the video game.  It looks awesome and I can’t wait to give it a go but it also makes the movie look bad as even the game play graphics were better than some of the mish mash that appeared in the film.  I was hoping for some interviews, concept discussion, or character design. They could have even had interviews with the game designers and worked them into some kind of featurette for the film. There wasn’t even a trailer for the movie.

Dante’s Inferno is worth a rental and most certainly on Bluray.  If the visuals hadn’t come off so sporadic (even though it was completely intentional) I might have enjoyed the film more and been able to give it more of a recommendation. There are also the small problems with the video which, though they weren’t too distracting, were very visible and the lack of extras. How can someone justify the purchase of a direct to video release on Bluray if there’s no real added bonus? If you’ve played the game and are a fan of anime this may not live up to your expectations (I found the visuals in the game better than this movie) but you will probably still enjoy it. I would recommend however that if you have the choice, you should probably watch the movie before playing the game.  I just think it will work better that way though it might give away the game plot.

Review By Robert Harding