Lady Death...
Sunmin Image Pictures, which produced animation for Batman - The Animated Series and Gargoyles, were tapped to animate Lady Death...
My favorite parts of the feature are: Hope's arrival in Hell and Lady Death's climactic battle with the Lord of Lies. The large battle sequences are particularly well done. There is a mix of traditional and CG animation, but, the CG is blended very well. There are scenes where we see huge swarms of arrows flying through the air in perfect formation that are obviously CG, but, they look really, really cool.
Scantily clad babes abound, but, there are no actual naughty bits to speak of. But, if you're looking for red ink and lots of good wholesome gore, there's plenty to be seen. There are severed limbs, more than a few severed heads, smashed bodies, a burning at the stake complete with bubbling skin and even a brief eye munching scene. Lady Death is a bit slow in the beginning (I usually skip over the beginning and go directly to Hope's arrival in Hell), but, all things considered, Lady Death is quite good. I gave Lady Death a 3 our of 5.
According to Wikipedia...A powerful story of innocence lost, savage betrayal and glorious rebirth, Lady Death begins in 15th Century Sweden, where Hope, the beautiful daughter of Matthias - a skilled mercenary who is in actuality Lucifer, the Lord of Lies - is accused of being the devil's consort following a hellish incident witnessed by local villagers.
Sentenced by the town priest to be burned at the stake, Hope is visited by the malevolent Pagan as she writhes in pain. Unable to think clearly, she accepts Lucifer's offer of life in Hell over a hideously painful death... only to discover that there are far worse fates than dying.
Lucifer's grand plan to corrupt a soul of pure innocence meets unanticipated resistance, as Hope rejects Lucifer's scheme and eventually finds herself transformed into the powerful warrior Lady Death, who challenges the Lord of Lies for control of Hell itself.
Many of the events from the comics are altered in the animated film. Instead of summoning a demon with whom she bargains for her life, Hope's spell summons a pair of flying demons that carry her physically to Hell (restoring her badly burned body in the process), dropping her in the court of her father, who intends for her to join him by his side. When she refuses, he casts her out, only for her to side with the master blacksmith Cremator, an escaped slave of his, and to lead an army of hellspawn creatures against him. In this continuity, her curse is to be trapped in Hell for as long as one of Lucifer's allies remains alive. Unlike in the comic, Lady Death is presented as more of a heroine whose goal isn't to destroy all life on earth, but to liberate Hell from Lucifer's tyranny.According to the documentary included with the movie, the American producers were concerned about maintaining the look and feel of the American comic book and they felt that some of the studios that were working on the project were moving too far away from the creator's vision. There was a brief statement that one studio had envisioned Lady Death with "elf ears".
My favorite parts of the feature are: Hope's arrival in Hell and Lady Death's climactic battle with the Lord of Lies. The large battle sequences are particularly well done. There is a mix of traditional and CG animation, but, the CG is blended very well. There are scenes where we see huge swarms of arrows flying through the air in perfect formation that are obviously CG, but, they look really, really cool.
Scantily clad babes abound, but, there are no actual naughty bits to speak of. But, if you're looking for red ink and lots of good wholesome gore, there's plenty to be seen. There are severed limbs, more than a few severed heads, smashed bodies, a burning at the stake complete with bubbling skin and even a brief eye munching scene. Lady Death is a bit slow in the beginning (I usually skip over the beginning and go directly to Hope's arrival in Hell), but, all things considered, Lady Death is quite good. I gave Lady Death a 3 our of 5.
