Solomon Kane [Blu-ray] [Region B]

I loved this movie Solomon Kane is one of those rare films thats is purged of wokeness . It has a few game of Thrones actors in it including the Mountain and the Hound. Great acting and story telling. Good effects and great fighting scenes, I highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this movie. It is based on Robert E Howard the Creator of Conan. His style of storytelling is very apparent in the film. Rampaging pirate Solomon Kane breaks into a tomb to steal the treasure. The problem is it is a trap by a demon to claim his soul for the devil; due to a mysterious bargain struck and Kane's life of murder. Kane's crew is slaughtered, but he defies the demon and escapes. To save his soul he tries everything from covering his body in religious symbols to abstaining from violence and trying to live a life of peace. He is told to leave the church as the head priest has a vision he is meant for a greater purpose. Now demons are escaping hell. Kane must take up the sword and fight to save the daughter of a family who was kind to him. Good action, good story, good visual effects all in all a very good film. I enjoyed it all the way through. The only down side for me was too many kids killed in it for my taste. I realise it was to show the brutality of the evil army, but still. Good movie I enjoyed it.

Solomon Kane is a vastly entertaining movie filled with perfectly crafted sword fights, gripping set pieces, excellent acting and a soundtrack to boost everything up into a movie that is epic, gory, action packed and thrilling. The special effects are very good and the monsters that are included are neither over used or under used, they remain just long enough to send chills down your spine but not so long that you grow bored of them. The cast are brilliant in their parts, especially Purefoy who play Kane with a sense of real malice and bravery that may have been disastrous in other acting shoes, Pete Postlethwaite is excellent but his part is too brief for us too really care what happens to him, whereas Rachael hurd wood is suitably fit for her part as the damsel in distress. the atmosphere is dark and gritty and the scenery rugged and unforgiving, the eternal rain and snow, rather than delivering something depressing make for a stark and realistic world that borders on the realsitc whilst not tipping over too much into a narnian look and remaining with the lord of the rings type world that gives the film its edge over other fantasys released this year. If you like lord of the rings this is the ultimate for any fan, it is fast, slick and immensely entertaining. The reason i didn't give this five stars is that the final fight is too quick.

Scrubs up nice on Blu-ray. Solomon Kane is directed by Michael J. Bassett and Bassett adapts the character of Kane from the magazine character created by Robert E. Howard. It stars James Purefoy, Rachael Hurd-Wood, Pete Postlethwaite and Anthony Wilks. Music is by Klaus Badelt and cinematography by Dan Laustsen. It's early 1600 and English mercenary Solomon Kane (Purefoy) is informed by the Devils Reaper that his wicked ways have damned his soul for eternity. Not wanting to spend eternity with old Nick and all his hellish instruments of torture, Kane escapes and renounces violence and converts to Puritanism - that is until a wicked turn of events in his life sends him on the violent road to redemption. Solomon Kane was created by pulp writer Robert E. Howard, who would a few years later also create Conan The Barbarian, safe to say then that swords and sorcery was at the time of his life in the 1920s/30s on his mind. It's also safe to say here that if this type of genre swish and swash is not your thing then this will definitely not convert you into being someone who suddenly does. However, fans of such fare are in for a treat, where not for the first time a picture that bombed at the box office - and got a delayed release in The States - has broken free of supposed stinker damnation to become a firm cult favourite to like minded souls. Kane is our anti-hero, a real hard dude who ends up living by the fight evil with evil mantra. In the hands of Purefoy and his director, Kane is moody personified, the whole film dishing out ladles of brood and dark thematics as religion and dark arts come under the microscope. The action is well choreographed, plenty of blood letting and head loping, accompanied by swivels and lurches. Imagery is potent - such as graveyards and reaper lairs, while Bassett firmly believes in soaking his cast in mud and rags, all for realistic payment. Some popular actors slot in for some support work, which is a bonus, and although the finale is not without problems (main baddie all to brief, the big showdown likewise), this rounds out as an imaginatively and thrillingly mounted period genre piece. 8/10

Of all the extremely numerous Robert E. Howard stories, those describing the adventures and tribulations of Solomon Kane are amongst the most succesful - and also possibly the hardest to film. Therefore one must already give a good point to Michael J. Bassett for even trying to tackle this great classic of fantasy/adventure letters. In my personal opinion, this film managed well to reproduce the ultra-dark style of Solomon Kane stories, but was less succesful in picturing the "hero" himself - and that notwithstanding the really good performance of James Purefoy. After reading all the stories about Kane, I personally came to believe that he was not entirely alive - for me Solomon Kane was a kind of spectral shade of a man, paroled from the Purgatory and released on Earth to track the worst kind of warlocks, witches and all other kind of people using the surnatural to commit evil deeds. I was comforted in this feeling by the fact that he seemed never eat, drink or sleep and in all his dealings with people he was as laconic, cold and distant as possible. Also, Kane is always described as gaunt and grim with almost dead eyes, but still looking at the world with a kind of cold intensity. Now, for this movie, James Purfoy created a Kane who was quite grim and threatening, but not even close to the one from the books - his Kane certainly looks very dangerous but no one would mistake him for a vengeful wraith! Even more important were the mistakes in the scenario. Kane is supposed to be a Puritan, and this allegiance strengthens considerably his dangerosity (Puritans were after all as fanatical as today's jihadists) - but in the beginning we see him living in a monastery, an institution which for a Puritan would be the very forteress of Devil and his Papist servants! After that we see Kane gently entertaining (totally innocently) a beautiful damsel - which is completely against the character from the stories! Finally, I believe that giving Kane a background and explaining it, was at least partially a mistake - this character was so cool in the books because he was a complete mystery. The one thing known, was that he was a man with mission and that very probably that mission was in the same time his redemption and his pennance - but his past and especially the horrible sins he had to atone for were unknown. By removing this veil of mystery, I believe the character in the movie was harmed. That being said, if one discards Robert E. Howard stories, this film is very honest. Some of the episodes in the movie were borrowed from others Howard stories (especially the "Conan" series) but they were very skillfully included. The subplot including Kane's family was not half bad - even if as I stated before I believe it would be even better if it was not included... The episodes with the witch and the lone priest in the abandoned church were excellent! The villains were very evil and the ultimate foe is very impressive. And the whole visual aspect of the film is excellent. James Purfoy plays admirably. Rachel Hurd-Wood is certainly a delight to contemplate - gosh, did this girl grow well since "Peter Pan"! Last but not least, it is one of the last occasions when we could admire Pete Postlethwaite considerable talent, which sadly is now no more available... Bottom line, this is a very honest fantasy/adventure movie, although definitely not a masterpiece - you just need to forget a little about Robert E. Howard stories if you want to appreciate it and spend a nice popcorn/movie evening.

Not having seen this film upon its initial release in the cinema last year, i wasn't really sure what to expect. Being familiar with the stories of Robert E Howard, creator of Conan, the books I had read a few years back, I expected some kind of fantasy nonsense which made little sense, with a poor plot, and an even poorer script since many books do not always translate well to the big screen. However, in this case, i was pleasantly surprised. It didn't take me long to get into the film, and kept me glued to the screen during its entire 100 min run. Full of action, some gore, evil monsters, with Solomon Kane battling for survival amidst an England which had come to the end of the Elizabethan age, and the beginning of the Stuart Dynasty from 1603 onwards. England was shown to be a dark and depressing place, with various groups of bandits led by a mysterious masked man foraging around the countryside destroying villages and taking men, women and children into captivity for slavery. Kane meets up with a puritan family travelling to the coast to sail to a new life in America. He is befriended by the family, until fate takes a hand, and then he sets out for vengeance despite taking a vow to renounce violence. That is basically the storyline, and there is quite a twist at the end. The action and the violence is pretty gruesome in parts, so be warned. It is one of those stories which has transferred well to the screen, and in this Blu-Ray version, the print is pretty good, despite many of the scenes being dark, with little grain being noticeable. The 5:1 soundtrack is pretty good too, with many action sequences reverberating around the room. For those who enjoy action films, and are a bit dubious about purchasing blu-ray you won't go far wrong with this. It is being offered at a great price, and therefore should not be missed.

Great film, a different kind of super hero!

Based on a character created by Conan's Robert E. Howard and unreleased in the US after failing to set the international box-office alight, Solomon Kane turns out to be a surprisingly satisfying sword and sorcery adventure that gets away from the usual barbarians and lets loose its mayhem in a 17th century England ravaged by plague and unrest. James Purefoy's Kane is a cruel and sadistic soldier of misfortune who, discovering he's bound for Hell and the Devil is eager to claim him, tries to walk the path of peace only to find the Devil's minions forming an army and enslaving the good and is faced with the choice of fighting evil with evil and losing his soul or turning the other cheek. No prizes for guessing which he chooses, but writer-director Michael J. Bassett takes his time establishing the character and his friendship with Pete Posthlethwaite and his family en route to a new start in the New World so that when he finally decides that going to Hell is a price worth paying it actually carries a bit more weight than you might expect. At times slightly reminiscent of Witchfinder General, albeit in a world where the witches are real, the second half is never quite as good as the first and the finale fizzles out a little when Jason Flemyng's sorcerer reveals himself and an impressively realised but under-utilised fiery demon appears, but it's still enjoyable enough to make you forlornly hope that the DVD sales were good enough for a sequel somewhere down the line. Purefoy makes a surprisingly convincing tormented hero, even looking a little like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger in a couple of scenes, while Pete Posthlethwaite offers a beautifully underplayed supporting turn that manages to inject a little emotion into a couple of moments. Few of the rest of the cast get as many opportunities - Alice Krige, Rachel Hurd-Wood's damsel in distress and Patrick Hurd-Wood, appropriately cast as her younger brother do what they're required rather better than they need to but Flemyng and Max Von Sydow have too little to do and make little impact. Bassett has enough old-fashioned craftsmanship and a good enough eye for his locations to give the film a decent sense of scale that raises it above the average exploitation film and, while the action scenes could be better they're still more than decent delivering in many ways the kind of film you suspect Van Helsing wanted to be if it had been made with less money and more imagination. All in all, quite a pleasant surprise. The UK BluRay offers a fine 2.35:1 widescreen transfer with a good array of extras - two audio commentaries, deleted fight scene, making of documentary, cast and crew interviews, picture-in-picture storyboard comparison (not available on the DVD), design gallery and trailer among them.

J'ai découvert ce film sur une bande annonce et je suis très satisfait, très bon film je recommande.

If you like “ Van Helsing” “ Underworld “ You will love this. 5 deserved stars Recommend. Lizard

In 2011 a blogger named John Wright, having just seen yet another `revoltingly stupid' version of Robert E. Howard's work turned to cinema, wrote: "The best of Robert E. Howard's pulp tales of the 1930s -- which in recent years have been reprinted everywhere from academic presses to Penguin's prestigious Modern Classics imprint, and which the various silly comic books and movies resemble not a whit -- cry out for the cinematic talents of a Akira Kurosawa or a Sergio Leone, men possessed of the same operatic poetry, grandeur, heroism, and thematic depth found in Howard's original stories. Perhaps someday." That someday is now. Inexplicably never released in U.S. theaters, Solomon Kane is the Howard-based film fans of the writer have been yearning for since the first abysmally horrid Aahnold-the-Austrian Conan films sullied the screen. Director Michael J. Bassett approached Howard's Solomon Kane -oft referred to as `a thinking-man's Conan'- with respect, understanding and the love of a true fan, very much as Peter Jackson approach Tolkien's `Lord of the Rings.' The result -with a much smaller budget and limited resources- is surprisingly similar. While Solomon Kane is a more personal, straightforward film, Bassett's loving craftsmanship shines, and James Purefoy's Kane is everything Schwarzenegger's Conan was not: nuanced, haunted, and driven. A more perfect actor could not have been chosen. Those who've followed Purefoy and Basset since filming know that both men are thoroughly committed to Kane and Howard's legacy...and it shows on film. No stupid fancy swords and martial arts weirdness here: the action is period-correct and spot on. In the eyes of some the film suffers from a limited special effects budget. I disagree; the overall effect harkens back to the best of the lovingly-crafted fantasy and sci-fi films of the 50's, 60's and 70's, from the early Sinbads through The Witchfinder General (set in similar environs). While Bassett chose to create an origin story, those familiar with Howard's Kane works, especially the poems, will find that the story fits perfectly with Howard's overall vision. Conceived as the first of a trilogy that would eventually encompass all of Howard's Kane canon (there are only 9 stories, 3 poems and some fragments), the movie stands alone as the very best version of a Robert E. Howard's vision committed to film, and among the best fantasy films of recent years. Don't expect "Lord of the Rings," but, taken on its own, Solomon Kane compares favorably with Jackson's work. This is a fine film, with great acting, a straightforward story, tremendous cinematography, a great sound track, realistically period-correct sword fighting, and a sense of verve and zeal the lover of a good, old-fashioned fantasy-swashbuckler will want to watch again and again.

Good quality dvd. Good movie

Muy buena pelicula