Hellboy (2004 film)

While writing the script, Del Toro researched occult Nazi philosophies and used them as a reference for the film's opening scene.[10] In an early version of the script, the gyroscope portal was described being made out of rails that formed into pentagrams, hexagrams, and inverted stars to illustrate the film's magic and occult elements.[11] Del Toro chose to alter the origin from the comic to give main characters interconnected origins.[12]

Labyrinths became a motif for the film to represent Hellboy's conflict of "choosing the right path."[13] This was reflected in the film's opening titles. Del Toro felt that labyrinths represent the film's themes regarding "choices and taking different turns and choosing different destinies," Del Toro stated, "A labyrinth, it is said, is not a place to be lost, but a place to find yourself."[14] Del Toro chose to add context to the BPRD logo by rooting the film's version in Catholic mythology by adding archangels in Broom's office.[15] Del Toro wrote Hellboy's dialogue with Perlman in mind for the role, prior to casting him.[16] Del Toro noted that he tried to emulate Jack Kirby and Harryhausen's action style for the film's action scenes.[17][18]

Hellboy's gun was given the name "Samaritan" for the film to illustrate the BPRD's techno-magic.[19] Del Toro approached the love story with a reverse Beauty and the Beast approach, stating, “I wanted the beauty to turn into a beast in the end to fully assume her mortal gifts... and when she accepts herself for what she is, a monster, then she can love the monster [Hellboy].”[20] The idea of Hellboy spying on Liz and Myers was originally written for a separate script titled ‘’Meat Market, A Love Story’’.[21] While Broom’s death happened early in the comics, Del Toro wished to delay it to have audiences become attached to the character and “make it painful to lose that character.”[22]

Aside from working with Perlman before, Del Toro chose him for the title role because he felt Perlman can deliver subtlety and nuance with makeup.[23] Del Toro assigned his real life friend, Santiago Segura, to play the train driver who assaults Hellboy.[24] David Hyde Pierce was hired to provide the voice for Abe Sapien due to Pierce being a "bigger name" and having a "more recognizable sound". Pierce refused to take credit, perform press tours, or attend the premiere out of respect for Doug Jones.[25]

The film was shot 6 days a week for 130 days, Mondays through Saturdays without a second unit. Sundays were reserved for editing.[26] Del Toro noted that the film could have commenced filming in 1998, however, the film had difficulty finding a committed studio due to the stigma Hollywood associated superhero and comic book films with, at the time.[27] The action scenes were staged after Harryhausen films with little to no camera movement using wide shots.[28] The cemetery sequence was filmed in a real cemetery in Prague.[29]

Hellboy had its world premiere at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood, Los Angeles, California on March 30, 2004,[31] and subsequently opened in wide release on April 2, where it grossed USD $23.1 million in 3,028 theaters on its opening weekend. It went on to gross $59.7 million in North America and $40.2 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $99.8 million against a budget of $66 million.[3] Mike Mignola, the original creator of the Hellboy character, has stated that he was "very happy" with the Hellboy films.[32] Some theaters refused to host the film due to the word "hell" being used in the title. Certain theaters in the South marketed the film as "Helloboy," to avoid sacrileges perceptions with the then-release of The Passion of the Christ.[33] The film was mysteriously dropped from certain theaters during easter, despite still playing nationwide.[34] Certain toy chains also refused to carry the film's products due to the word "hell" in the title.[35] Del Toro noted that the following scene after a rock hits the screen was carelessly removed by projectionists in American theaters. He deduced that projectionists believed the reel had ended.[36]

Hellboy was released on DVD in a two-disc special edition DVD on July 27, 2004, less than sixteen weeks after it opened in theaters. Included, were video introductions by Del Toro and Selma Blair, plus a feature that allowed viewers to click during selected parts of the film to comics drawn by Mike Mignola. Other bonus features include two audio commentaries, one by Del Toro and Mignola; and the other by Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor, and Rupert Evans, which was recorded on April 12, 2004.[37] The special features also include visits to the "Right Hand of Doom" set and a two-hour documentary.[38] This DVD topped the Nielsen VideoScan's First Alert DVD sales chart and the Video Store magazine's list of top rentals for the week ending August 1, 2004, registering a total of more than a half-million units in sales.[39]

A three-disc unrated director's cut DVD set was released on October 19, 2004. In addition to all of the features of the original two-disc set, with the exception of a new director's commentary replacing the old one, new features included Del Toro introducing 20 minutes of additional and extended scenes, a composer commentary with isolated score replacing the cast commentary, a Cast Video Commentary with Perlman, Blair, Tambor and Rupert Evans, multiple production workshop featurettes, a Comic Con 2002 Panel Discussion with Del Toro, Perlman and Mignola, and A Quick Guide to Understanding Comics with Scott McCloud.[40]

A high-definition Blu-ray version of the director's cut was released on June 5, 2007. It contains most of the same content as the DVD set, but is missing a few features such as the video commentary and the composer commentary.[41] An Ultra HD Blu-ray version was released on October 15, 2019, with many of the remaining bonus features from the 3-disc reinstated and both cuts remastered in 4K resolution.[42]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 81% based on 202 reviews with an average rating of 6.76/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With wit, humor and Guillermo del Toro's fantastic visuals, the entertaining Hellboy transcends the derivative nature of the genre."[43] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[44] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B-" on scale of A to F.[45]

Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B" rating and wrote, "Pop pretensions can't undo a basic contradiction: that our hero is fighting metaphysical evil with pure, meaty brawn. Hellboy is engaging, but it's got a lot more boy in it than hell".[46] In his review for The New York Times, Elvis Mitchell wrote, "Mr. del Toro avidly lavishes this texture on Hellboy ... giving it a kiss of distinction. It's an elegant haunted house of a picture with dread and yearning part of the eeriness".[47] Roger Ebert gave the film three and half stars out of four and praised Ron Perlman's performance: "And in Ron Perlman, it has found an actor who is not just playing a superhero, but enjoying it ... he chomps his cigar, twitches his tail and battles his demons with something approaching glee. You can see an actor in the process of making an impossible character really work".[48] The film also received good reviews in the British press – for example, Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian commented amusedly on the unhistoricity of the Nazis invading Britain in the initial sequence but overall called the film "bizarre and loopy, romantic and dynamic".[49] Claudia Puig USA Today was less enthusiastic and wrote, "Hellboy's special effects don't offer much of anything new, its far-fetched plot leaves a bit to be desired, and there is plenty that flat-out doesn't make sense. Those unfamiliar with the comic book may leave the theater bedeviled and scratching their heads".[50]

Hellboy was nominated for four Saturn Awards in 2005, including Best Fantasy Film, Best Special Edition DVD Release, and Best Make-Up, which it won.[51] The film was also nominated for a Visual Effects Society Award in the category of "Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture."[52] In 2007, Rotten Tomatoes declared Hellboy to be the 13th best-reviewed comic book film adaptation, out of 94 total.[53] In 2008, Empire magazine ranked Hellboy 11th in their list of "The 20 Greatest Comic Book Movies".[54]

• Del Toro, Guillermo (2019). Hellboy (2004) Director's Cut - Audio Commentary (Ultra HD Blu-ray). Sony.
• Sony (2019). To Hell and Back Retrospective (Ultra HD Blu-ray). Sony.