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Dracula 2000

Dracula 2000

List Price: $14.99
Your Price: $11.24
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wes Craven presents Dracula 2000
Review: Along with John Carpenter's Vampires, this has to be one of my favorite vampire movies, as it goes in depth about Dracula's past and the explanation of his hatred of all things Christian. The e×tra features on the DVD are really good also. It has a few deleted scenes, and it also includes casting scenes, which are really funny, and good at the same time. From one vampire fan to another-buy this DVD. It's well worth [the money]

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A good movie with more than its share of flaws.
Review: A modern-day gothic bloodlust comes to the screen in "Dracula 2000," a movie that has some good ideas but can't seem to put them in the proper place. It has everything you'd expect from a movie about the infamous legend, including a well-suited cast that fits the story, which has its ups and downs. The modernization of the story has aspects that are appealing and appalling, and while I liked the movie, there are a number of things I didn't care for.

Beginning with fantastically foreboding shots of the Demeter, the ship that carried Dracula to England in Bram Stoker's novel, the story immediately segues to the year 2000, in London, where Matthew Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer), a collector and dealer of antiques, is hiding something in a large, heavily guarded vault at his place of business. Not so heavily guarded, though, that a band of techie thieves cannot make their way into the vault, making their way through hallways of fanged skulls and massive collections of antiques, until they reach the end of the path, where a metal coffin lies on a pedestal.

Once on a plane, their efforts to open the coffin result in the reawakening of Dracula (Gerard Butler), who claims them all as the undead and causes the plane to crash in New Orleans just in time for Mardi Gras. But, amongst the festivities, young Mary Heller (Justine Waddell) can't seem to shake the overwhelming sense of fear from her mind, along with intensely haunting dreams involving the handsome yet sinister man.

As all this is happening, Van Helsing, along with his business partner, Simon (Jonny Lee Miller), make their way to New Orleans in hopes of finding Mary and stopping Dracula from making her his own. It is here that the story's better side kicks in, giving us an intricate explanation for Van Helsing's connections to Dracula, as well as his connection to Mary and Dracula's reasons for wanting her. The movie evolves into a race against time ordeal, where the main question is will he or won't he find her and claim her?

There are some good forces at work for the movie, mostly residing in the story, which uses the legend of Dracula as a mere starting point for its own machinations. It lets us know how Dracula came to reside under Van Helsing's watchful eye, but from that point, it gives us new explanations of Dracula's disdain for crosses and silver, relating these hatreds to Biblical times and events. It may seem hokey at first, but upon further thought, it gains credibility.

Casting is also another plus, the kind of cast that is not, for the most part, widely known. Christopher Plummer, in the role of Van Helsing, is everything the original character was, and his ability to keep in touch with that fervor is outstanding. Jonny Lee Miller plays a nice hero as Simon, and is convincing in all the right places, including his loyalty to Van Helsing. Justine Waddell is commendably stable as the unstable Mary, and while he's not show-stopping, Gerard Butler does turn a few heads as the title character.

There are also some genuinely scary moments that stay in the mind, though they tend to degenerate into gory spectacle. There's the beginning heist sequence that takes place in the crypt where Dracula's coffin is kept, which is dark and ominous, while the sequence involving the opening of the coffin is quite suspenseful. Director Patrick Lussier, who takes a backseat to Wes Craven's top billing as producer (an obvious marketing tactic), gives scenes like this a creepy feel, but cheats us out of genuine chills with some excessive bloodletting and dropping bodies.

It is for this reason that the movie is never really scary. Yes, that building suspense is there, but only for seconds at a time. There's also a collection of schlocky thrills intended for quick scares, characters jumping onscreen to a soundtrack pulse, but soon after that, it all dies down again.

Predictability is another factor. The movie gets it right with the unexpected outcome for Van Helsing, but with every other character, we know who's going to live and die. The outcome of the history of Dracula's origins is interesting in itself, but not enough to keep our focus away from who will be left standing at film's end.

There's a lot to admire about the story and execution of "Dracula 2000," though I'm sure it will never surpass some of its predecessors. Unlike previous films, it deals with Dracula's origins rather than with his actions following his reawakening. The modernization of the legend has its ups and downs, trading good suspense for cheap "Scream"-like gore. I was impressed by the movie's guts... when they weren't spilling out on the floor.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This movie was certainly different, but I liked it.
Review: I liked the fresh approach to the age-old Dracula legend. The Biblical twist to this tale was certainly unique. I never thought Jesus was the vindictive type to let Judas walk the Earth as one of the undead. I guess that ties into the Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" throwing a sword at the cross and drinking blood after his wife commits suicide.It is also ironic that Van Helsing used Dracula's blood to keep himself alive long enough to maintain the confinement of Dracula until he was destroyed. His daughter, named Mary, after the Wholly Woman, had vampire blood in her and still walked during daylight hours. Another thing I got a kick out of was to see Dr. Seward wimper and whine when he knew he was about to die. I howled with laughter when Dracula said, "Dignity, Dr. Seward." In all the "Dracula" movies I've seen, Dr. Seward never wines about anything because he gave the punishment all the time. Of course he never faced death by Dracula's hand in any of them either! I got another good laugh from the "God loves you anyway" speech when Van Helsing's assistant shows the male thief the cross with the knife in it after the thief says he's an atheist. Like I said, the different twists and turns is what made the movie unique, despite the absence of Renfield. That's why I liked it enough to rent it again. Oh, I don't recommend eating while this movie is playing because of the gorry parts unless you have a strong stomach.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Save your DVD money for The Godfather.
Review: If you enjoy quality, you will not find it here. I like vampire movies, and I went to the theater wanting to like this one. Unfortunately, the trailers before the movie were much more entertaining than this sorry flick. The acting was bad, but not quite as bad as some of the lines the actors were given to speak. "I do not drink...coffee." Yikes. I think the moment when Dracula sees a Marylin Manson video and is pleased with the direction our modern society is headed in, I was just about ready to walk out on this turkey. And who told the actor playing Dracula that tilting his head forward and making the "evil eyes" was scary. I was more scared that he might rupture a vessel with all that fake menace. Did I hate everything about it? No. There were some decent looking chicks (excuse me, ladies), and some not-too-bad vampire killing action, but not enough to save this one. If you're a die-hard vampire junkie I guess you'll buy this movie anyway, but after watching it you'll feel cheap and used. If you're not a Goth, you would probably get more enjoyment from Meatballs 2. (That's a joke.)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: Very good movie with some great scares. Camera work will remind you of pat Wes Craven's movies. But most importantly the movie has plenty of frights and a modern storyline. Good flick!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a great modern day vampire movie
Review: This movie was great,it has everything in it,great plot,Great cast,lots of action,and who could forget the female vampires!If I had to be bitten by a vampire it would have to be one of those naughty girls.The young vamp hunter simon shoudn't have stabbed jeri ryan in the middle of her [chest].And mary should not have hacked off vitamin c's head its not fair i want a little female vampire before i die.I simply cant belive simon would cut off solenia's head.Well all in all this movie rules

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A solid modern day Dracula film...
Review: Dracula 2000 is a pretty entertaining vampire flick that tries to move the Dracula formula into new directions. I like D2000 a lot but it is not perfect. Some of the dialogue is a little lame and most of the people in the film do stupid horror film things that NO SANE PERSON would do.

If you like Wes Craven's other work (Scream, Nightmare On Elm Street) you should like this movie just fine. Its not too scary and it does a decent job at re-writing the Dracula folklore. Christians may be offended though so beware.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty good vampire movie!
Review: Well, I got the DVD today and thought it pretty damn good. The opening was good and the ending was a great finale for a vampire movie. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that they changed the Dracula story a little bit and it was only 93 minutes without ending credits. If you're a Buffy fan and waiting for season 6 to start in October on UPN this should hold you over a little.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horror-able
Review: This is movie was so stupid. You might like this if your 5 years old. The main Vampire in the film ruins the whole movie. He dosen't even look like a Vampire. At least they could of made him scarey looking. Dont waste your money or your time, wait for it to hit cable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dracula comes back to modern day life!
Review: Its the usual story Dracula is thought to be dead, he then rises, kills a few people and then dies again! The film is set in numerous places all good and very well thought of! Overall a very good film, but you cant seem to put Jerry Ryan in the reporters shoes, seems a bit odd after all those Voyager videos.

Worth 5 starts!


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