Rating: 
Summary: Great cast!
Review: My family really likes horror movies like Frankestein but I could never stand them, well I was practically sucked into this one. In many ways it is a sad movie, as is the first one. Elsa Lanchester is a great actress and Boris Karloff does a superb job. The only movie I've seen that I like him better in is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Do not watch this movie if you want a good night's sleep, because that is one thing you won't get. I just can't decide on a rating, so I gave it four stars, had to pick something.
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Summary: Fascinating Commentary
Review: Well-produced DVD's like this have elevated "home video" to a new level. Not only can we watch classic films at any time, we are also offered fascinating new information. I found the most interesting parts of Scott McQueen's commentary track to be discussions on the varied and bizarre original story proposals for the sequel to "Frankenstein" and the alterations to "Bride of Frankenstein" forced by the censors. The documentary, "She's Alive" was also enjoyable, but I found the commentary track to have more in-depth information. I found the narration of the documentary feature to be distracting, because it was read so rapidly, in a monotone fashion.
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Summary: JAMES WHALE
Review: Perhaps most of you know that the story of Jmes Whale is the crux of "Gods and Monster." Gods also depicts a recreation of Bride
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Summary: Excellent package marred by poor transfer
Review: As mentioned by many others, the film, commentary, documentary etc are all excellent. No need to repeat. But a major flaw in the film transfer itself is the amount of information removed at the top. The tops of heads are chopped and the glowing crudifix at the climax of the blind hermit scene is cropped so much you cannot tell it is a cross. I have compared the laser and vhs copies of this film to the dvd. The laser and vhs crop information from the bottom, a FAR better choice. I consider the cropping on the dvd so bad as to make the film almost unwatchable. I'll be keeping my laserdisc and videotape.
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Summary: NO PRAISE IS ENOUGH FOR THIS FILM
Review: Is there too much praise for this masterpiece? There's not enough, as far as I'm concerned! True,the story is "silly"; the idea of a last reel tidy upper such as a self destructive lever is about as silly as a southern belle marrying every man she ever meets, or a giant ape rampaging New York. These things never happen, but that is the magic of the movies. Also, the commentary by Scott MacQueen on this DVD is well above average. What should he have done, described each shot as they happen, as many of these commentaries do? Better to give information that is not attainable by simply viewing the film than to ramble on about what is already obvious to the viewer. "Bride" is by far the greatest film of it's genre, and modern trash can't touch it.
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Summary: a very silly classic
Review: This is a worthy addition to a dvd library devoted to film classics, but let's not go overboard with praise. It is a very silly story: why is there a giant lever designed to destroy the building? why say to the destructive monster, "don't touch that lever, it will destroy the entire building" or something to that effect? Why let the monster stroll out of one place after another and why linger in front of an unlocked glass door when the monster is on the premises? why isn't the female monster ugly? why didn't anyone think that the woman would not be inclined to become the monster's sexual partner? (Oh, yeah, she finds him ugly too!) Well, we know from "Gods and Monsters" that Whale meant it to be a big hoot. Too bad the commentary track on the dvd can't have a sense of humor. Instead, we get the deadly "Criterion Collection" style introduction of all the actors. Put the actor's bios in a special extra text somewhere and comment about what is on screen. Say interesting things. The presence of a commentary track is often the deciding factor for me buying dvds, but the film historian ones are sometimes good and sometimes tedious. This one is a bit tedious. Nice documentary! It incorporates material from Gods and Monsters and shows the homage to BOF in Bride of Chucky, which I would not have encountered otherwise.
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Summary: THE CROWN JEWEL OF THE UNIVERSAL HORROR FILMS
Review: "Bride of Frankenstein" is not only the greatest film of its genre, it is also one of the finest films ever produced in Hollywood. The acting, lighting, sets and direction are all in a class of their own. The mix of horror and humor has never been so well accomplished as it is in this film. Director James Whale's sardonic sense of humor is in full view here, so much so that audiences of 1935 were unsure as to the intent of the film, especially after the all out horror that was on display in the original "Frankenstein". Karloff gives the performance of his career as the misshapen but strangely loveable monster, and Ernest Thesiger is astounding as the effete Dr. Pretorious. Elsa Lanchester is stunning as the Bride, and Colin Clive is at his nerve frayed best as Baron Henry Frankenstein. Franz Waxman's score, an inspiration for Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific(believe it or not, is perhaps the finest in the history of motion picture scoring. The DVD is a mixed blessing. The washed out quality of the previous video incarnations gives way here to a much darker film, ccloser in intent to Whale's vision. But the film stock used is slightly grainy, and the sound has ssome deficiencies. Also, the darker print makes it more difficult to see details in the many low lit situations. No doubt a major restoration of this film is in order, similiar to what was done to "Vertigo" and "My Fair LAdy". The extras-the documentary and audio commentary are superb, as is a rarely seen trailer and a great archive of rare stills. The minor visual and aural shortcomings are forgivable; you must own this DVD.
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Summary: A horror classic!
Review: No, Bride of Frankenstein did NOT win the academy award for best picture, though it was nominated for best sound...However, it is one of the greatest Universal horror classics of alltime...and surely the best of the 3 original Frankenstein series...It's more fun than the original Frankenstein...the movie itself is a timeless reminder of when Hollywood WAS great...Look at the sets, the costumes, the period pieces...they can't make em as good as they once did...this movie is proof...a 5 star classic!
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Summary: "Digitally Enhanced" VHS Re-Release Offers Precious Little
Review: These comments pertain to the VHS re-release only. After having seen various incarnations on VHS of "The Bride of Frankenstein", it seems as though precious little has been changed, save for the packaging. Although the soundtrack is a bit brighter and cleaner, the picture material is that of all past video releases: a somewhat worn print with much visible grain and an overall grey "wash" to it all. When compared to the new companion re-releases of "Frankenstein" and "Dracula", the shortcomings are quite noticable. Sadly, it appears that Universal simply hasn't any improved pre-print material for this title other than what's been in circulation for decades. A terrible shame, considering that this title is certainly the most visually stunning, even in it's present forlorn condition. So then, without the addition of the supplementary material on the DVD, this VHS version is best avoided if you already own one of the previous releases. Still, the box >is< quite lovely.
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Summary: The greatest (so-called) horror film of all time.
Review: The other comments here have already said how much fun this movie is; I'd like to point out something else. Director Whale was under much pressure from the censors while making it, and he made every pretense of cooperating and even pointing things out to them. But in a classic case of not seeing the forest for the trees, he compromised on details while successfully ensuring that the most subversive (for the time) ideas remained intact. The glaring example is Dr. Pretorius, a gay stereotype nicely overplayed by Ernest Thesiger, marching into Dr. Frankenstein's bedchamber to expel the latter's wife and lure Frankenstein away with the promise of a better form of procreation. Hard to believe they got away with this in 1935! But anyway this is only one of many, many reasons why Bride is such a lasting treasure, and why its designation as "horror" is not quite right.
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