Rating: 
Summary: The Movie is Never as Good as the Book...
Review: While quite openly bashed during its release, QotD is a good film. Yes, it is a combination of The Vampire Lestat and the novel Queen of the Damned, but it produced an entertaining visual product.
The story follows Lestat's rise to rock stardom while at the same time, Akasha (Aaliyah) is awakened by his music and becomes intent on ruling the world once again before she became one of "Those Who Must Be Kept." Of course, both characters' sensuality causes them to cross and soon Akasha's will overpowers Lestat. They want to rule the world together.
Of course, I have only read half of The Vampire Lestat, and do have a copy of QotD, but overall, the film did stay true to the nature of the characters. Stuart Townsend's French accent did take me by surprise at first, probably because I never really read the book with his accent in mind. (I HATED Tom Cruise's portrayal of Lestat, so I just made up my own accent.)
Of course, the film did have it's flaws, like a seemingly
"quickie" ending. However, this came from the hype of Aaliyah's part in the film. Because of that, I thought that she had an equaly large role as Townsend's. My focus was shifted on to waiting to see her, that when I saw how few times she was on screen, it seemed like I was being shafted. Then again, I wonder if Aaliyah were not dead, would there have been so much hype? Mind you, I loved her performance, and it is a terrible shame that she died so early on in a budding career, but I doubt the movie would be as heavily pushed.
There is also a character flaw that would go unnoticed unless one has read Rice's vampire novels. There is a love scene between Lestat and Akasha, but according to the books, the vampires cannot couple due to the death of their human bodies. It was still beautifuly presented, but I would substitute the background song, Change (In the House of Flies) by the Deftones to Tainted Love by Marilyn Manson, simply because I'm sick of Change...
The cinematography was exquisite. The bath scenes and tower scenes respectively are the absolute best. The looming dark aspects to these scenes wasn't blatant or stupid; rather, they 'brought' me in.
Bash it all you like, it's a beautiful film
Rating: 
Summary: I can't tell if I liked it or not
Review: As a huge fan of Anne Rice's Vampire books I was kinda dissappointed to see a few major plot variations in this books translation to film. The whole Lestat/Marius relatioship was a complete muff and that whole part of the film was some of the corniest stuff I have seen in a long time. Sitting thru that introduction to Lestat and his creation almost made me leave the theatre in disgust! I decided to stick it out tho and after getting over the initial shock that I wasn't being treated to a true representation of the book I began to enjoy it a little more. I really wanted to see something that followed on from Interview with the Vampire in style and direction. That movie reflected the feeling in the novel really well yet in this adaptation they kinda did to Anne Rice what they did to Shakespeare with that Romeo+Juliet thing. Kind of an alternative take on the book. At any rate, I will take any opportunity to see Anne Rice's vampires come to life and can definitely say that this movie has one of the best soundtracks in the history of the universe.
Rating:
Summary: Less a sequel and more of a reimagining...
Review: Anyone who is a fan of Rice's "Vampire Chronicles" knows that the author herself oversaw much of the script writing of "Interviw with the Vampire." Thus, aside from a few alterations (the most traumatic being the drastic changes to Armand's character), "Interview" followed as close to it's literary predecessor as most "book movies" can. Not so with the tricky follow-up, "Queen of the Damned." The movie is, at best, a shaky but fun rock'n'roll vampire movie that really has no true resemblance to its original form. The biggest problem facing this interpretation of The Vampire Chronicles is that it attemps to amalgamate two separate books, "The Vampire Lestat" and "Queen of the Damned," both of which are longer than the book "Interview" on their own. Most of the original story, centered around the origin of the vampires and the legend of the twins Mekare and Maharet, is missing. Stuart Townsend is a rather corny and disappointing replacement for Tom Cruise, who, in my opinion, captured the character of Lestat perfectly. The infusion of a pseudo-love story between Lestat and Jesse is also down-right atrocious, especially considering that it is David Talbot who, in the novels, eventally steals Lesat's undead heart. Is there anything good about this movie? Aaliyah. She's beautiful, frightening, and the saving grace of this film. The few scenes she has she performs with magnifiscent screen presence and mastery over her skill. Aaliyah as Akasha is, perhaps, the best casting choice in this series since Kirsten Dunst's performance as Claudia in "Interview." The supporting characters are also, surprisingly, just as wonderful. Marguerite Moreau as Jesse, Paul McGann as David Talbot, and Lena Olin as Maharet are especially entcing. They, along with Aaliyah, rescue what would otherwise be an incredibly disappointing film. Overall, not as intelligent as "Interview," but most of "Queen of the Damned"'s faults lie in the writing and execution of plot. Compared to the novel and the storyline set down in "The Vampire Lestat" and "Queen of the Damned," this movie is nowhere near the level of seductive, masterful writing that Anne Rice pens in her books and the screenplay of "Interview." However, awesome special effects, sharp editing, and a stellar supporting cast lead by Aaliyah make this movie at least worth giving a chance.
Rating:
Summary: Queen of the Damned ROCKS!!!!!!!
Review: Well, since the video has not yet been released, I really can't say much on it. But I did see this movie in the theater and it was AWSOME!!! Stuart Townsend is great playing Lestat and they couldn't have picked a better person to play Akasha!! The whole cast was wonderful!!!
Now I know there are many things that are different from the book in this film, but on the whole, it followed the story pretty well. I do believe however, that it may be casier for those who have never read Anne Rice or have never seen "Interview with the Vampire" (1994), to go and read The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned so you can keep the movie straight. It kind of goes fast, and there isn't much explanation as to how all this fits toether. So I do recommend reading those two books before seeing it.
But if you want to just see a great movie and not really worry about that, then I do encourage you to rent or buy this one!! It is full of things to get your brain working (hehehe), a little bit of romance (makes you say, "Aww...isnt' that sweet?"), and all the vampires and blood you need to keep anyone hooked!!
Plus having a very HOT man to play the lead, it is an all around great film, and I definately recommend it to ALL the Anne Rice fans as well as anyone else who is looking for a film you can really sink your fangs into!! :) :) **If anyone has questions about the film, feel free to e-mail me at ...the subject must read "A Question about the Film" or I will not read it. (Sorry but I get A LOT of junk mail)
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie!!!
Review: "Queen of the Damned" I believe that this Film goes deep into the meanings and stories in "The Vampire Chronicles". It is my opinion that the subject of this fill was mostly on Lestat played by the talented and sexy Australian actor Stuart Townsend the main character even though the Media portrayed that the main character was in fact Akasha the queen of the damned herself portrayed by Aaliyah. It tells the story of the Lonely and brooding vampire Lestat after he has gone to sleep as vampires do, trying to drown out the sound of the growing world around him when something wakes him... music. He becomes a Rock star with his mortal band and "lives in the light" in a sense. But he still finds this life or un-life boring unfulfilling he wants someone to share eternity with a companion (Louis original position). The theme of the movie is simple the fight to stay interested in life or what is left of it on the earth so one is not to drive themselves insane with immortality. All the vampires in this adaptation are trying to fight and find a way to deal with eternity. Actors and Actresses in the Roles they play are very well chosen. The movie being a low-budget fill compared to films in the U.S. today the maker's or Queen of the Damned actually spent about half the normal movie budget. Most of the actors were in fact from Australia and movies are made for smaller amounts of money there. The acting was wonderful all characters fit their roles perfectly the accents for the origins were better then in Interview with the vampire. Exception for the accent of Akasha who sounded very Hungarian or Slavic, but as is the world has yet to discover what Ancient Egyptians sounded like. The Dialogue from the fill followed the books actually story line. This time around Anne Rice did not write the script as it was in Interview with a vampire. There were some minor changes make but they were insignificant to the movie it self. The Changes were mostly made because like all good books that are made into movies some corners have to be cut and since this movie was a combination of two books "The Vampire Lestat" & "The Queen of the Damned". There were a lot of details simple left out to simplify the story. The setting for the movie was the modern day gothic scene. The locations for the movie were all around a Desert, Death Valley, Hollywood, and England. The scenes also surprisingly go along with the story and since Vampires can Travel very quickly there were no long and drawn out travel scenes. The Lighting as in all Vampire movies was dark and reflected the mood of the entire movie... Dark. The movie was meant to be this way I don't think it is meant to scare but let the imagination run wild with the possibilities of things going bump in the night and maybe that shadow did move while you were walking to your care in a very "dark" parking lot. I found the sound to set the moods of the movie when the big concert scene was coming up the sound gradually became louder. But to get the full affect of this movie you defiantly have to see it in surround sound. The music for this movie was gothic and Rock bands such as
Static-x, Disturbed, Linken Park, Marilyn Manson, Orgy, Papa Roach, Deftones, Disturbed, Earshot, Godhead, Kidneythieves, Tricky, and Dry Cell came out for the Queen of the Damned Soundtrack. In the movie the voice of Lestat the Rock star was sang by Jonathan Davis who also makes a cameo appearance as a ticket scalper in the movie for The Vampire Lestat Concert. The music very much fit the movie and the disturbing lyrics sound like the undead actually wrote them. I found that the Cinematography in the movie could have used some work I thought that some of the camera angles should have showed one character so you know what's going on with them while the other characters are the main part of the action at the time. I also found that it seemed to get better thought out the movie so maybe the camera guy took some classes or something. Special effects although they were far and few between brought to the movie never distracting the audience but bringing them more into the film and believing that this could possible happen in the modern world that there is a stranger sitting behind you that could jump out and any second and it frankly frightens you and gives the culture a chance to look into the shadows. Editing now this is something I did not approve of I thought that the movie should have at least introduces that Vampires Armand, Mael, Maharet, Pandora, and Khayman. Two of these Vampires are destroyed in the movie and there parts could have been much greater. But all that got to the cutting room floor before it made it to the can. The over all Directing was wonderful the actors never seemed to be lost in the thought that they didn't know what to do next. They seemed to remain in character at all times never breaking their very distinct accents. Over all I would give this movie an A not an A+ because the lack of other character involvement. I thought The Queen of the Damned lets the normal everyday person rethink there life and what it would be like not to have it. The best way I can some this up is that you have to see this movie it is by far the Best vampire movie I have ever seen and even if you don't enjoy vampire movies, It has something for the everyday person Romance, Small Comedy, Action, and Drama.
Rating:
Summary: NOT EXACTLY THE BOOK BUT STILL GREAT!!!
Review: Granted that QOTD is not totally the same as the book. The movie does not even mention the twins but it is still very good. Townsend makes a great Lestat way better the Cruise. And althought Aaliyah was not the greatest actress in the world she still did a great job playing the role of the Queen of the Damned.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Interview with the Vampire??
Review: I have seen the movie in Theathers and I am anxiously awaiting the release of this movie on DVD. I love all Anne Rice Books in her vampire cronicles. The movie translations normally hold the exact same values as the book. I loved this movie if you haven't seen it I suggest you buy both this and interview with the vampire and watch them both there is no better movie about vampires anywhere! I speak from many years experince with movies. I own over 320 DVD's and have seen just about every movie in the last 20 years I am a HUGE movie buff and this is one to watch out for. :) Thanks for your time
Rating:
Summary: this movie rocks!!!!!!
Review: this the best vampire movie since interview with the vampire! Aaliyah does a good job as Akasha, The Queen of the Damned, and Stuart Townsend is so creapy as Lestat the vampire who became a rock star who has reveald there secrets. Overall, this movie is da bomb! Get this movie! You know I will!
Rating:
Summary: Queen of the Damned
Review: I loved Stuart Townsend, Aliyah, and Margurite Mureau. They all had a senuality about them. Stu made the best Lestat. I've got to say Tom Cruise was funny, but stu is very sexy. Margurite was wonderful. she did Jesse down to a t. Aliyay was phenomenal. I loved the whole movie. the only thing i was upset about was that they had mad two mistakes. One was that marius was not the one that made Lestat, that was Magnus. Marius made Armand and he got killed. So, other than that I loved it. I definitly want to own this. Read the book, the Vampire Lestat and the queen of the Damned. You will be Hooked. Now all of you,(as Lestat would say) come out, come out, whereever you are. Lol! Night Kiddies.
Rating:
Summary: Music VS. Movie
Review: I have read all of the Vampire Chronicals so i am very well read when it comes to story line. This movie was highly dissapointing to me when it came to the story. Everything was switched around. I knew that the movie wasnt going to be anything like the book but it could have come close.The only thing that kept me in my chair was the music..and plus i am a devout Aaliyah fan. The music made the whole movie..Track after track.The casting was very goood. I wouldnt have wanted to see Tom Cruise as Lestat anyway because this part was tooo hip for him to play. Overall the movie was ok Aaliyah gave a phenomenal performace and the others tried. If you havent seen the movie see it (just for the music).
If you havent read the book then READ IT!(wont be dissapointed)
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