Hellboy: Sword of Storms

Hellboy: Sword of Storms
DVD cover
Based on	Hellboy by Mike Mignola
Screenplay by	Matt Wayne Tad Stones
Story by	Mike Mignola Tad Stones
Directed by	Phil Weinstein
Starring	Ron Perlman Selma Blair Doug Jones Peri Gilpin
Composer	Christopher Drake
Country of origin	United States Japan
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Madhouse Studios
Original release
Release	October 28, 2006 (2006-10-28)

Hellboy: Sword of Storms is a 2006

Hellboy: Sword of Storms was released on DVD on October 28, 2006, and aired later that year on Cartoon Network. It was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More) at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards. The first installment in the Hellboy Animated series, it was followed by Hellboy: Blood and Iron, released straight-to-DVD in 2007.

Plot

Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien enter a Mayan temple, where they find Hellboy battling a gigantic zombie bat, and engage its zombie followers. The group are eventually able to defeat their opponents when Liz unleashes her pyrokinetic powers, although she is still unsure of her ability to control those powers.

Meanwhile, Japanese folklore expert Professor Mitsuyasu Sakai obtains an ancient scroll. It tells the myth of two demonic brothers, Thunder and Lightning. Hundreds of years ago, the brothers roamed Japan, unleashing storms on the lands of a

Professor Sakai travels to the shrine where the Daimyō killed his daughter, followed by Kate and Russell who have just survived an attack by several objects from Japanese folklore. At the same time, Hellboy is tricked into smashing the sword against the samurai's stone form, which destroys the sword, releases Thunder and Lightning, frees Professor Sakai, and returns Hellboy to the modern-day shrine. Hellboy eventually traps both spirits in the sword again, which reseals the dragons into the underworld. The ghosts of the daughter and the Daimyō possess Kate and Russell, in order to replay the daughter's execution. Hellboy accidentally frees the ghost of the samurai warrior from its stone form and then convinces the Daimyō to forgive his daughter and the warrior, thereby breaking the cycle of their unending deaths. The spirits depart, thankful to Hellboy and the others for helping them.

Cast

• Ron Perlman – Hellboy
• Selma Blair – Liz Sherman
• Doug Jones – Abe Sapien
• Peri Gilpin – Professor Kate Corrigan
• Dee Bradley Baker – Lightning, Kappa, Pilot, Additional voices
• Phil LaMarr – Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense Member, Pilot
• Mitchell Whitfield – Russell Thorn
• Gwendoline Yeo – Kitsune
• Liza del Mundo – Additional voices
• Paul Nakauchi – Additional voices
• James Sie – Additional voices
• Kim Mai Guest – Additional voices
• Michael Hagiwara – Additional voices
• Yuriana Kim – Additional voices
• Clyde Kusatsu – Additional voices
• Keith Ferguson – Additional voices

Crew

• Ginny McSwain – Voice Director
• Stephen R. Brown – Producer

Reception

The reaction to the film was generally positive.^[1][2][3] It scored an 8.7 from IGN,^[4] although a critic for JoBlo.com gave the film one star out of five.^{[citation needed]} The DVD special features, which include several commentaries and documentaries about the making of the film, were roundly praised.^[5] The voiceover work from returning cast members Perlman, Blair, and Jones was well-reviewed, as well as new addition Peri Gilpin as Kate.^[6]

Broadcast dates

Sword of Storms made its U.S. television debut on October 28, 2006 on Cartoon Network's Toonami Saturday action block (and aired again on December 30, 2006) and was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment on February 6, 2007. It aired alongside Hellboy: Blood and Iron on July 19, 2008 to promote the release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

References

External links

• Hellboy: Sword of Storms
• Hellboy: Sword of Storms at AllMovie
• Hellboy: Sword of Storms at
  IMDb
• Hellboy Animated Series Production Diary
• Preview of DVD