The Underworld universe is much like our own, but there is a secret war that has been raging for 1000 years between vampires and lycans (werewolves). The first movie, Underworld, not only introduces us to this world, but also to the main character, a vampire Death Dealer (basically a werewolf hunter) named Selene (Kate Beckinsale). She spends all her time tracking down what remains of the lycan race. But when she finds out that they seem to be tracking a human named Michael (Scott Speedman), she grabs him herself in order to figure out exactly what is going on.
Of course, Michael, a lowly human, doesn't know what's going on at all, and his sudden thrust into this strange, monster-filled world is a bit shocking. As Selene digs deeper into the werewolves' plot, she begins to uncover some unsettling facts. First of all, the leader of the Lycans, Lucian (Michael Sheen), doesn't appear to be dead after all. Could this mean that her fellow vampire who claimed to kill him centuries ago, Kraven (Shane Brolly), might be lying about more than just the creature's death?
It isn't long before Selene decides to wake up one of the elders, Viktor (Bill Nighy), from his century-long slumber to ask his advice. But the revelations are more than she bargained for. Between learning about the true start of the Vampire-Lycan war and a bit of knowledge about her own transformation into a vampire, she might not have any allies other than Michael, who due to circumstances, should be her enemy.
Now comes the tough part. It's hard to describe the events of the second movie without giving away how the first one ends. Underworld: Evolution takes place immediately after the first film. Michael and Selene are basically all alone, and their quest for survival and knowledge continues. To top things off, another elder, Marcus (Tony Curran), has awakened. Actually, we learn fairly early in this film that Marcus isn't just an elder, he is actually the first vampire. Both he and his brother, William (Brian Steele) were fathered by a man who became immortal. At some point, Marcus was bitten by a bat and William was bitten by a wolf, and the two became the first vampire and werewolf.
In the movie's opening sequence (which takes place in 1200 A.D.), we learn that the vampires have finally hunted down William and, much to Marcus' chagrin, have decided to lock him up for all eternity. Now that Marcus is awake again and has learned the truth of things (thanks to the events of Underworld), he is bent on finding his brother's prison and freeing him.
If you've already picked up the movies, don't expect anything new with this release. Both discs are the same as the previous DVD releases (right down to old previews). The only really interesting feature on the Underworld disc is a made-for-TV documentary on the vampire and werewolf myth, while Underworld: Evolution contains many featurettes on everything from music and visual effects to making the wolf costumes and doing big sequences like the final showdown. There is also a good number of interviews in these featurettes with the various cast members and how their experience working on the previous movie helped make this one easier.
The featurette I found the best was the one that focused on how the visual effects company used all types of media (CG, miniatures, animatronics, etc.) throughout the movie to get the best effects for the job. A good example of this is Marcus' wings. There are times when the wings are CG and times when they are animatronic, and it is really hard to tell the difference sometimes.
If you are jonesing to see the new movie and need a refresher on the universe, then the Underworld/Underworld: Evolution Double Feature is a great deal. However, it doesn't really offer anything new, so if you already have one of the movies, you should probably just pick up the other instead of getting this set.
