Disc Details
Special Features:	Deleted Footage (with commentary) Trailer Production Info Cast/Crew Biographies
Video Format:	Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) [SS-DL]
Languages:	English (Dolby Digital 5.1) French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles:	English, Spanish.
Captions:	Yes
Casing:	1-Disc Keep Case

Loosely based on an 18th century French legend about a monstrous beast ravaging the French countryside, “Brotherhood” (or in French, “Le Pacte des loups”) is part kung-fu actioner, part sweeping fantasy, and entirely over-the-top. Samuel Le Bihan plays Sir Grégoire de Fronsac, a knight/scientist of sorts for the royal family, sent in to investigate supposed monster attacks afflicting the countryside. He’s accompanied by his silent-but-deadly kung-fu wielding Iroquois Indian sidekick Mani (Mark Dacascos), whose thunderous kicks do the talking for him. Beautiful noblewomen and prostitutes cross their path, as well as a confusing wild-woman character that keeps appearing in scenes for no apparent reason. They’re looking for the beast, a wolf-like monstrosity capable of ripping to shreds anything crossing its path.

Director Christophe Gans uses the anticipation of our first visual encounter with the beast as a suspense tactic, and it’s quite effective. In fact, it’s probably the most entertaining aspect of the film. Once the beast is out in the open (and yes, it looks frightening), some of the luster for the film is diminished. The kung-fu is sub-par, and the editing – using tiresome fast-to-slow-mo techniques that have long been fully abused in American cinema – is also lackluster. The plot too, weaves itself into a big mess of political intrigue and human emotions, and the film’s two and a half hour run-time will have most wriggling in their seats by the end.

As a whole, “Brotherhood of the Wolf” is a stylistic success, that works much like the offerings seen in most summer Hollywood fare. That is to say, don’t think, just watch and enjoy.

Picture Quality: 10/10
"Brotherhood of the Wolf" is presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Though the film is mainly dominated by muted color schemes and low saturation, the presentation is excellent. The image is incredibly sharp, and there is no noticeable artifacting or grain.

Sound Quality: 9/10
Almost as impressive as the video is the audio, which offers a superb atmosphere and one of the better tracks I've heard of late. I was blown away by the creative use of the channels, from directional effects to excellent pans to all other manner of usage, this is an excellent audio track.

Menu: 8/10
A nice menu system that keep in line with the film itself.
NO Easter Eggs found during review.

Extra Features: 6/10
There are some deleted scenes with accompanying director's introductions, theatrical trailers and cast/crew biographies. The director introductions for the deleted scenes are in French, with English subtitles, and it's easy to see why most of these scenes were cut (the film runs nearly 2 and a half hours, so you can do the math).

The Final Word:
Though a sizeable hit in its native France, "Brotherhood of the Wolf" failed to make much of an impact in the U.S., particularly when compared with the superior French import "Amelie." Though much of the film is over-the-top (crazy action, on-the-verge-of-confusing plot), director Gans' style is quite effective. The film runs quite a bit longer than it should (at nearly two and a half hours), but is still a lot of fun to watch. Universal treats the film's audio/video transfer with the same kind of accuracy lent to its more prominent "Collector's Edition" titles, but other than that, there's not much else going for the disc. Fans of the film will certainly buy the DVD, but most others should rent it first.

Stephen Wong