Customer Reviews

Dante's Inferno

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

There are a couple things you should know before deciding to view this movie: 1) Instead of "Dante's Inferno" a more fitting title would be "A Gentle Nod in the General Direction of Dante's Inferno"; and 2) It's explicit. And by "explicit" I mean there is brazen nudity, unapologetic violence with gushing blood, and man-eating genitalia (I kid you not).

If you're still with me, that means you're open to experiencing an interesting, gory, and twisted animated tale about a soldier on a quest through the nine circles of Hell to rescue the love of his life. Dante, having returned home from fighting God's war, finds everyone he knew--including his love Beatrice--slaughtered. He then watches her soul snatched into the jaws of Hell after she (apparently) made a deal with the Devil and lost (through no fault of her own). Thus begins the quest. Along the way, Dante meets his guide, Virgil, and learns the fate of (and is attacked by) all the sinners writhing in agony--absolving a few along the way.

Having read The Divine Comedy a couple of times (The Inferno about five), it was difficult getting past the *liberties* taken with the overall story, but I could see why they were taken--watching a frightened middle-aged poet sojourning through the underworld with an old ghost and chit-chatting with various dead people wouldn't be nearly as entertaining as a hot young warrior lopping off heads every few minutes and being chased by lustful women with carnivorous nether-regions.

The animation is beautiful and done well, Anime with Western influences, if a bit inconsistent since there were six directors with six different styles. My main complaint however comes with the pacing and dialog. Scenes went by too fast and barely allowed time for the character to absorb the words being spoken much less the viewer and the delivery of the dialog was too often overly dramatic--think William Shatner (circa original Star Trek) saying, "O Beatrice! Beloved Beatrice! I shall traverse the depths of Hell to rescue you. O my love, Beatrice!" That aside, the story flowed and, for the most part, made sense.

As for the DVD itself, the menu is a bit difficult to decipher, but not a deal-breaker. The bonus materials include sketches of various scenes from the movie--a nice touch for people who are interested in art or animation--and the trailer for the video game. (As an aside: I have to admit, the game looks awesome. I kind of wish the movie was made in the 3D style of the video game, but I'm not too upset about it.)

I have to say, with some amount of guilt in my voice that I really did enjoy this film. My expectations were pretty low to start, so maybe my surprise that the story had real content and had many elements of the book actually incorporated have lead to an overly positive review. That said, it was a pretty good movie in its own right. I would just like to also point out that this is a film that persons under sixteen probably should not be allowed to watch. The artists and writers for the film did a very good job portraying Hell.

I doubt that any person who reviews this film will have anything bad to say about its visuals which are indeed, fantastic. Each character in this story had a good deal of thought put into how his or her character was designed, and I think that it was this that was the main payoff of the film. All of the different creatures of the nine levels of Hell were great, many of them imagined in ways that I would never have considered. The levels of Hell, though imaginatively realized were however, quite similar to how they were described in the book and this could be considered either a bonus for purists or a con for those looking for a few more surprises.

The plot which is what I was really concerned would be lost in this film is actually, despite a large degree of artistic license, preserved fairly well so that perhaps a new group might become interested in Divine Comedy. That being said, while it may appear a gory action movie many of the subtle themes of redemption are still here and the film may perhaps require a second viewing to be fully understood as many of the more violent scenes overshadow the more dramatic for sheer memorability.

I am not usually one for anime, cartoons based on video games, video games or adult themed movies but this film gets my sign of approval.

Reasons to watch:
+ Awesome animation - from all the artists
+ Interesting storyline
+ Cool if you have surround sound

What will make you wince:
- Done by SIX directors/artists all with completely different styles.
- Difficult to distinguish characters after a director change
- Timing sucks
- It's not really Dante's Inferno, just based on the characters or story or something...

You Might like:
= Lots of gross, gory violence
= nudity
= unappealing language
= not for children

Based on the Playstation game, but based first (but not necessarily foremost) on the Dante classic (instead of entirely the reverse), this `Inferno' is actually closer to the book and has more actual quotations from one of the greatest pieces in Western literature than any other cinematic version I have yet seen. The GCI is impressive more than not in many scenes--even if the readings and characters sometimes come off with no more emotional appeal than a `Cartoon Network' special or a Saturday morning cartoon. The art direction has quite a scope: from flimsy sketches to splendid panoramic interpretations of hell as we know it from the text.

The circles stay close to the book, but they make Dante the Pilgrim and Poet more like a chivalrous warrior (and anatomically correct--I must add--like today's mannequins and super heroes) who must save Beatrice (who in this interpretation) has been captured by the torturous and deceptive Lucifer. (Yes, this Satan has dialogue and seems more like the evil emperor in Star Wars than the Devil we know from Dante as the eternal emperor of hell, deglamourized, crying eternally with his eyes frozen shut and his bat-like wings moving like a windmill producing an eternal lake of ice [Coccyx]).

Also added to the plot are flashbacks shuffled from faux memories with grueling war scenes (undermining the crusades) to poignantly painful moments in Dante's fictitious past (reading more like a modern family fable than anything allying us to Dante Aligheri's biography).

Even with the departures, the circles are depicted closer to the book and the overall interpretation is closer to Dante than any film version I've ever seen (especially 'What Dreams Must Come' and Sean Meredith's paper cut-out interpretation of Sandow Birks' [et al] novel).

Inspiring, but hardly tapping into the strength of this epic poem by any measure.

this is going to be a weird movie. We watched the movie over 2 nights and had the chance to do more research on Dante on Wikipedia in order to refresh our memories about him. What we found about him is absolutely fascinating. I suggest doing the same. Our research really helped us put this movie in its proper context. When my wife and I go to Tuscany, we are always amazed at how the churches' murals were used to manage the behavior of the people. The depiction of "Hell" served the same purpose.

We really enjoyed watching it and we learned alot. The visuals effects are great. We highly recommended it to the people interested in that kind of movies! Not for everyone though. Especially not for kids.

Anime lovers will probably enjoy this Dante's Inferno, especially those who like the more adult theme film. Literature purists will probably not even have this on their radar, but if they did , they'd likely be disappointed with how loosely it interprets the original story.

This is a decent, modern re-imagining of Dante's classic tale. It was not always easy to follow and the pacing was off in spots, but the visual eye-candy, exotic levels of hell and more action than you can swing a sword at, held my interest all of the way through. The use of different artists for different parts of the movie help bring distinction to the various stages of the story, but the work was all similar enough to keep it from being distracting. The voice-over acting was top notch as was the DVD sound quality. The sound design is highly immersive on a good home theater system with the lights down low.

For anime fans, Dante's Inferno is worth a rental and perhaps even a purchase. Those adverse to mild sexuality and gory animated violence should look elsewhere -- this one is definitely not for young children. It is not great cinema, but it is a pleasant 88 minute diversion.

I have been a fan of Dante Alighieri for many years. With that being said, the similarities between the book and the anime are far-fetched, but i still enjoyed it none the less. The story in some ways did stick to the basis of the manuscript, a mans journey through the tortures hell and in the end to come face to face with the devil. Now with that original concept added with a templar knight's "warrior skill" you'll have the overview of this anime. Besides being a fan of classical literature, i am also a fan of anime and i can appreciate them both equally on there seperate terms. Dante's Inferno(anime) had a great anime based story, full of action, drama and good imagery. What made this anime a true delight was the different animation styles by some of the greatest anime artist around. All n' all if you enjoyed animes such as: afro samurai, sword of the stranger, vampire hunter d blood lust, trinity blood, samurai 7, spawn(animated series) and samurai champloo you'll greatly appreciate this one. Donot expect it to be entirely like the book, but still i recommend to any anime fan.

While it's been many years since I read Dante's Inferno it's one of those books that leaves you with some fairly strong lasting impressions. I thought that an animated video version had the possibility of being even more chilling but was sadly disappointed. It was more like a comic book than one of the most horrific novels of all time and I found it to be poorly done and not worth the time. Sad, because the medium had to potential to render the classic tale with new levels of horror and suspense.

Perhaps I should have known better. A movie based on a video game based on Dante's "Inferno"? How good could it possibly be?

But I took a chance. Unlike some (I'm looking at you, Mr. Ebert), I acknowledge that video games can be post-modern works of art in their own way. And it's undeniable that the video game industry is grabbing some of the most creative minds in America and overseas. I try to read Dante every couple of years, so I figured what the hell, I'd give it a shot.

What a goof. The movie starts promisingly enough, with Dante as a soldier returning home from the Crusades. He comes home to find his family murdered and his beloved, gorgeous Beatrice dying of a gruesome stab wound. But Dante's horrors don't end there - soon Lucifer himself has snatched Beatrice's heaven-bound spirit and claimed it for his own. Dante follows Lucifer to hell in an attempt to free his beloved's virtuous soul.

That doesn't sound half-bad for a set-up. But the movie then devolves into an interminable series of scenes where Dante moves from one circle of hell to another, screams "Beatrice, no!" and kills the nasties he finds there. He frees a couple of souls he recognizes, although how Dante is empowered to do this nobody explains, and he's rather churlish in that he doesn't just free everyone and have done with it. He also slays some demi-Lucifers who have been in hell for thousands of years, thereby raising lots of metaphysical questions that the movie doesn't pretend to answer, as in, how can you kill Minos, the judge of the dead, if he's already dead and in hell?

This might be one fantastic game, but the repeated fighting gets dull quickly. Dante loses his sword and fights with a bizarre bone-scythe that he instantly masters even though the proportions are all wrong. Seemingly every opponent in hell can be defeated the same way - I think the Church would be well-served if it would hire some Blackwater mercenaries and send them downstairs armed with the latest in modern armaments - hell could be toppled before lunch.

There are a couple of scenes where Dante confronts his own sins, but there is nothing in this movie that qualifies as real dramatic development. Instead, the movie is essentially a bunch of cut-scenes from the video game - this is what would happen if you were to play it. The violence is flamboyant and bloody, but since you are watching it rather than causing it as a player, it gets tedious quickly.

Parts of the movie look great - hell is given some quite diverting circles and some nasty denizens to boot. But there's nothing here that saves the overall film, and that's a shame.

Dante Alighieri's DIVINE COMEDY, and more specifically THE INFERNO, has had a tremendous influence upon our culture. It's been over a decade since I read this poem, but when I heard that there was a video game coming out that was based on THE INFERNO it really intrigued me. It wasn't so much the game itself, but the idea of what the main storyline would be in the game. Since I don't have a PS3 or an XBOX 360, I was able to get an idea of what the story the game-developers created by watching the DVD based upon the game.

So, DANTE'S INFERNO is an animated movie conceived by six different directors that is based upon a video game that is loosely based upon a Middle Age Italian poem. Get that?

The movie revolves around Dante Aligheiri. In this version of the story he's apparently the son of an English lord gone off to the Crusades to fight for King Richard and win Jerusalem back from the Muslims. In flashback seen during key points during Dante's journey it's revealed that Dante was involved in some very horrible acts while in the Holy Land. He returns home to find his family and his beloved Beatrice, to whom he is betrothed, murdered. As Beatrice, a supposedly pure soul, begins to rise toward Heaven, she is snatched by Satan and taken to Hell. A gateway is left open and Dante, though a living mortal, follows in pursuit. Beatrice is taken deep into Hell because Satan intends to make her his bride. He taunts Dante with the assumption that he can save Beatrice, but only if he's able to make it through the nine levels of Hell alive. Dante seems to want nothing more than to be with Beatrice again and with the help of Virgil, who serves as his spirit guide that explains to him the tortures of each level, some of the famous people there, and what he must do to open the door to the next level, he begins fighting his way through the nine planes of Hell. In addition to fighting of Hell's minions, Dante has a cross that contains a real artifact (a thorn from the crown of Christ, I believe) that Dante can use to save any souls he feels don't deserve to be in Hell.

Just like the poem, DANTE'S INFERNO is incredible violent and graphic. There are babies crawling around on four legs with giant scissor appendages, women with genitalia that can both eat a person or pierce them through the heart, zombie desert warriors, as well as numerous harpies and demons. Appendages get slashed and gore gushes out. At one point in the movie there are literally rivers of blood. Oh, and there's also nudity. There's lots and lots of nudity; numerous full frontal females and every once in awhile a full frontal male. Oh, and there's lots of cursing, too. I don't recall the "f-bomb" being spoken, but there are lots and lots of damns and when Dante damns something he really means it. I've played the first two GOD OF WAR video games, and in all honesty parts of the story and the tone of the movie are quite similar to those games.

The overall layout of Hell and many of the characters that Dante encounter are actually taken directly from the poem. Also, the narrated segment at the beginning of the film are the opening lines of the poem, spoken word for word. I was actually quite surprised by this.

However, if you're looking for solid theology, look somewhere else. Other than taking basic ideas from Christianity and the overall theme of good conquering evil, there's nothing in this movie that comes close to good theology.

In terms of animation, the animation is decent and at times beautiful (even in Hell there is beauty). There were six different animators on the project so there are times that a character physically changes from one scene to the next. For instance Beatrice's brother, Francesco, has a different hair color and body-type almost every time he is seen.

There are a lot of people who would not enjoy anything at all in DANTE'S INFERNO. However, if you realize that the movie is extremely graphic and explicit and it's only loosely based on the famous poem and don't mind poorly written dialogue (it seems that Dante yells Beatrice several hundred if not a thousand times), it's not too bad. It can work as an introduction to either the famous poem or DANTE'S INFERNO video game. Recommended for people who have an interest in Dante, who are curious about the video game DANTE'S INFERNO, or those who enjoy extremely graphic and explicit animated movies.

The special features on the DVD include animatics of several scenes in the movie as well as a trailer for the video game.