Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)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.)
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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: An Animated Epic will take 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 Arts game, Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic, 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, 1 heart-stopping epic adventure! 6 different covers - 6 different animation styles. See which cover you end up with!
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