100 Greatest Superhero Stories Ever
By Steve Lam
Image Courtesy of Revolution Studios
#55. Hellboy
Medium
Live-Action Feature Film
Release Dates
March 30, 2004 (Mann Village Theater)
April 2, 2004 (United States)
Credits
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers: Guillermo del Toro (Story and Screenplay), Peter Briggs (Story)
Cast: Ron Perlman as Hellboy, John Hurt as Trevor Bruttenholm, Kevin Trainor as Young Trevor Bruttenholm, Selma Blair as Liz Sherman, Millie Wilkie as Young Liz Sherman, Rupert Evans as John Thaddeus Myers, Krel Roden as Grigori Efimovich Rasputin, Jeffrey Tambor as Tom Manning, Doug Jones as Abe Sapien, David Hyde Pierce as The Voice of Abe Sapien, Brian Steele as Sammel, ladislav Beran as Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, Bridget Hodson as Ilsa Haupstein, Corey Johnson as Agent Clay, Brian Caspe as Agent Lime, James Babson as Agent Moss, Stephen Fisher as Agent Quarry, William Hoyland as Klaus Werner von krupt, Angus MacInnes as Sgt. Whitman, Jim Howick as Cpl. Matlin, Guillermo del Toro as Ivan Klimatovich
The Reason It’s Great
It’s weird, it’s fantastic, and it’s got some wild humor. Hellboy was a comic book that only visionary director Guillermo del Toro could bring to life on the silver screen. Let’s also not forget about the cast. Ron Perlman was born for the role, and Doug Jones’s gangly tall appearance made him a perfect Abe Sapien.
In 1944, the Nazis build a dimensional portal to bring in entities as a means to fight the Allies. When the Allies infiltrate the Nazi stronghold, they discover that something else had come through the portal—an infant demon with a hand of stone. Trevor Bruttenholm, an Allied researcher, adopts the infant and names him “Hellboy.”
Sixty years later, Bruttenholm and Hellboy work at the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD). They, along with other supernatural beings, defend the world from evil paranormal activities. Soon, an enemy from the past is resurrected, and it’s up to Hellboy and his team to stop him.
Guillermo del Toro’s imagination has no bounds. Aside from the the comic-accurate portrayal of Hellboy, the creatures and monsters in this world were brought to life beautifully. This film definitely satifies Hellboy fans.