Five pants.  Seriously, that's all you need to read here.  I'm giving it a full five pants. You need to go out and buy this if you're a fan of the comic or a fan of animated action movies in general. 

Want to know more about why I'm giving it five pants?  Want to know if you can trust my judgement?

Well, you probably can't trust it when it comes to Hellboy. There are only three things in this world that I am a full-on snivelling pansy fanboy of when it comes to comics.  They are Ghost Rider, Preacher and Hellboy.  Yes I know that there are other great comics out there and I welcome your recommendations, however you should just know up front that all three of these titles hit me deep.  I've been an unapologetic fan of them ever since reading the first few pages of the very first issues I picked up.

Guillermo Del Toro's live action Hellboy movie was one of the most faithful adaptations of any comic ever.  He captured the mood and the dark visuals of the comic and somehow managed to bring them flawlessly to the screen.  However, in many of the Hellboy comics, our hero is tossed into situations and story arcs that find him wandering from one monster or obstacle to the next.  It's as if fate is playing with him and that scenario has always been a personal favorite trait of the  Hellboy franchise for me. 

My only complaint (and it's a small one) with the live-action movie was that it didn't have that.  Instead, there was a definite purpose to every move that Hellboy and the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense ( B.P.R.D.) made. In all of my favorite Hellboy story arcs, our hero has no purpose other than to just get out with his life and it's his reaction to those situations that I love. The character's comic resignation in being thrust into one gigantic fight after another makes him just as funny as he is heroic.  It's like he just wants to go home, have a beer and a shower and watch some TV, but these damn monsters keep preventing that.  It's subtly written so that the character's attitude is never fully verbally expressed, but after reading a title like The Chained Coffin you can completely empathize with Hellboy. 

The second thing I love about the Hellboy comics is creator Mike Mignola's genuine love of folktales and how he winds them into the Hellboy mythology.  He pulls up some amazing stories and connects them all in some way through the Hellboy character. 

Hellboy:  Sword of Storms gets a 5 pants rating from me because it completely captures both of those parts of the comic while at the same time building on the character dynamics the live-action movie first instituted.   At first, I was wary of this new endeavour.  After all, another big draw to the comic has been Mike Mignola's art style and this... well just from the packaging I could tell this looked more like a Disney production.  Within ten minutes though, it becomes apparent that while Mignola's style works very well on the page, the new dynamic look of the animated movie is perfect for this medium.

Hellboy: Sword of Storms follows Hellboy and the BPRD as they go to check out the disappearance of a Japanese professor and the attempted robbery of a samurai sword collector's prized sword.  Soon, Hellboy has been transported to an alternate world where ancient Japanese legend is affecting life on planet Earth in a big way.  Creative Producers Del Toro and Mignola have taken a reasonably hands off approach to this endeavour and it helps immensely.  They focused mainly on the story and left the visuals in the hands of Supervising Director Tad Stones (an avowed Hellboy fan) and Director Phil Weinstein. 

In order to avoid spoilers I'll stop there but I will say that while the story is original, they do wrap in one short piece from the Hellboy comic (the story "Heads").  They also got all the actors to repeat their roles as the voices for the animated adventures (with the exception of the Abe Sapien character but there's a cool story behind that you'll catch in the commentary).  The only flaw in this at all is that one character relates an adventure that has happened in the comic but in the original story she wasn't even there and Hellboy was barely out of his teens.  That's just my inner Comic Book Guy being nitpicky though.  This movie fucking rocks!

Presentation
Mother of God does this thing look and sound good!  First of all, the animation is very well done.  Pay close attention to the killer way the animators handle the back-story.  Also, knowing that the comic uses so much black, fans will appreciate the animators’ attention to keeping with that tradition while using the full color palette.  The shades of green in the "Heads" sequence are of particular note as are the shading in the underwater scenes.  As for the sound, you get 5.1 surround sound in English and 2.0 in English and Spanish.  The score on this is fantastic and is really mixed like it's a live-action movie instead of an animated feature.  By that I mean the director used it to elevate moods instead of throwing it in to fill space.

Extras
This is the place where this DVD really goes above and beyond.  There are so many good things on here.  Literally none of it is fluff.  First up, we get To Hell And Back:  How Mike Mignola Created Hellboy.  This alone will make this a must own for fans.  It delves into where the character came from, where the stories came from and features interviews with Mignola and many others who have watched the evolution of this character.  It's amazingly good.

A New Breed:  Creating The New Hellboy takes a look at the animators who brought this to life.  Part of the contract stated that each new medium incarnation of Hellboy must look a little different.  How they came up with something faithful to the comic, yet different is the focus of this piece and it's very entertaining.  For the record, Mignola talks quite a bit about how much he loves this look.

Conquering Hellboy:  The Actor's Role takes a look at the actors recording their parts and features interviews where they breakdown why they love their characters.  This is also entertaining and well worth your time.

A View From The Top:  The "Heads" Sequence breaks down the animation in this particular part of the film and contrasts it with the panels from the comic.  This is very cool in that you can see how they mimiced individual panels while creating a new look and feel at the same time. 

Keepers of Hellboy - A Comic Con 2006 Panel Discussion is just what it says it is and gives much insight to the making of this film.  The Audio Commentary featuring Creator Mike Mignola, Supervising Producer/Director Tad Stones and Director Phil Weinstein is lively and engaging and is good for more than one listen if you're a fan.

Hellboy Goes East is a collection of four short mini-documentaries which address some of the origins of things in the story and also the creation of the score.  This is also available through a "Chase the Fox" feature you can enable on the commentary track.

There are trailers on here also and among them are one for the next Hellboy Animated feature Hellboy: Blood And Iron and one for the Hellboy videogame that will release in Fall of 2007.  That sound you just heard... that was me pissing myself in anticipation.

Finally there is the DVD-ROM material that will walk you through the script and allow you to see storyboard sketches next to the film as it plays out. 

But wait... I failed to mention that my DVD came with an exclusive 32 page comic with an entirely unrelated adventure called "Phantom Limbs".  From what I understand those are only in a limited number of these so make sure to run get yours quick.

The Bottom Line
Folks... I can't lie.  I'm biased.  I told you that up front.  Still, Hellboy: Sword of Storms now sits right next to the live-action movie in a special place in my heart.  This movie has a great story, great voice acting, great animation and the DVD has a shitload of extras that alone bump it up to "must have" status for fans.  If you've never seen Hellboy or read one of the comics, you'll still enjoy this.  If you are a fan of the franchise though, you absolutely must put this in your collection.