Bram Stoker's Dracula

Rating:
Summary: Superb Entertainment
Review: I have always loved the story of dracula with its gothic mysticism and romantic intrigue. Have recently bought a dvd player and the Bram Stokers Dracula DVD was a 'must have' for my collection as i have seen it a dozen times and intend on seeing it a dozen more. With the ability to select my fav scenes and the added features it makes it that much more special.

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Summary: Special features DO exist but sadly absent from this dvd...
Review: I love this movie but I refuse to buy the current dvd. Why? It contains NONE of the special features, which DO exist. If you really love this movie, I advise you to wait for the Criterion Collection to put out their version. Criterion put out an incredible edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula on Laser Disc back in the early ninties, and it included TONS of special features - commentary tracks, cast & crew interviews, special effects featurettes, and scene comparisons to all the old black and white movies that inspired Coppola's visual approach. It was a really beautiful laser disc, loaded with REALLY in-depth extras. Since the dvd revolution began, the Criterion folks have been (very slowly, very gradually) re-releasing all of their classic laser disc editions on dvd, one by one. So if you are thinking about buying this product I advise you to hold out. It's only a matter of time before Criterion unleashes their version on dvd, and I can tell you (from having watched the laser disc many times) that it will be well worth the wait. You will get so much more for your money than this dvd, which yes, may look nice but really has nothing more to offer than the old widescreen video tape copy you probably already own.

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Summary: Dracula: A Love Story
Review: Over the years, there have been countless film adaptions of Bram Stoker's classic novel, the most popular of which is probably the original 1931 film (which was, in fact, based on a play which was based on Stoker's book). Out of all these adaptions, though, I must say Bram Stoker's Dracula is very likely the best. The film begins with a flashback that informs us that Dracula was originally a grand Christian warrior deeply
in love with Elisabeta. When Elisabeta receives false notice of Dracula's death, she commits suicide, and so when Dracula returns home he finds his love dead. He renounces God, staking the cross, and as the blood begins to flow from the walls, we find ourselves transported to 1897 London. Young lawyer Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to close a deal made by Count Dracula that involves a series of houses in London. Soon after he arrives, however, he learns that there is something evil lurking in the Count's Transylvanian estate, and soon after that, Jonathan is a prisoner. Meanwhile, in London, Jonathan's love Mina (who bears an exact resemblance to Dracula's Elisabeta) is going through a series of difficulties when her friend mysteriously dies and she meets a charming stranger - who is none other than the Count himself. Torn between her love for Jonathan and her enchantment by this Prince, Mina must confront the centuries-old vampyr with the aid of Professor Abraham Van Helsing and his accomplices. Bram Stoker's Dracula is unlike any other vampire movie you shall ever see. While most - in fact, almost all - of the vampire movies made deal with the horror of the creature, this film goes for the romantic aspect of Stoker's novel, and from there, it builds into a sort of dark, Gothic romance. The film begins very erotically, and continues so until about mid-way through the film. Dark, horrific production design gives the film a positively eerie, creepy atmosphere; the costume design is very extravagant, perfectly capturing the times. The special effects are terrific. The Count's transforms from frightening old man to charming young Prince, from a monstrous man-bat to a gigantic bat. These effects are very good, especially the man-bat. The scene in the garden with Dracula's seduction of Lucy is chilling. The score, by Polish composer Wojciech Kilar, is great. It works very well during the nighttime scenes and
the sundown chase sequence. The end title song, "Love Song for a Vampire" by Annie Lennox, is excellent, and perfect song for the film. Coppola's direction is very good, especially towards the second-half of the film. The cast is terrific; Gary Oldman is an outstanding Dracula, and Anthony Hopkins is flawless (as always). Mr. Hopkins also has some very funny scenes. Bram Stoker's Dracula is as unique a look at vampirism as you'll ever see. It is, possibly, even the greatest vampire movie I've ever seen. The romantic aspect of Stoker's novel had yet to be examined, and I can't think of any film better to do it than this.

Rating:
Summary: greatest dracula film alltime
Review: the amazon review is putting it mildly this is the greatest horror film alltime never again will u see so many top stars in a horror film with such a big budget and top director gary oldman wynona ryder anthony hopkins keanu reeves etc this film is such artistic beauty its required u watch it at the berkely film institute this movies a textbook lesson in film tricks and the most beautiful costumes and settings youve ever seen basically wynona ryder came to francis ford coppola with a script explaining why dracula became a vampire they used real historical facts about vlad the impalers princess elizabeths suicide and made that out to be why dracula turned against god then a 1000 years later he sees her in the form of mina walking on the london streets so the dark princes goes to win her back from the effects like shadows that move opposite of the person moving or water dripping upwards to the settings and beautiful green and blues and award winning soundtrack this is 1 of the few films i payed more to get the superbit version it looks like the action will come out of the tv on this version and the sounds incredible now before u and your friends go watch interview nexttime pop this movie in and youll see how much better it is

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but . . .
Review: When I first saw this film in high school I loved it! Now as I am older I can still enjoy it and not take it so seriously. I can appreciate the artsy feel to it but the eroticism was too much. It was as if the director really wanted to make sure you understood it was erotic. To date it is the best adaption to the novel, excluding the love story graft that reminds me of the soap Dark Shadows (vampire finds his reincarnated lost love). (...)

But to answer some questions mentioned in earlier reviews (...), Dracula in the novel DOES WALK IN THE DAYLIGHT!!!! In the novel as in folklore, vampires are NOT HARMED BY SUNLIGHT. Sunlight as sudden death for vampires was invented for Hollywood and adapted in novels ever since. So Dracula walking the streets of London by day fits with the novel. He is just weaken and volnerable in daylight.

So I like the film. I no longer love it now that I am older. I enjoy vampire novels but never seem statisfied with any of the movies ("Interview With A Vampire" was good though). So if you are into artsy films with over the top romance this movie is for you . . . Just watch out for ape/wolf man thing sowing his wild oaks.

Rating:
Summary: fair retelling of the tale
Review: Coppola's telling of Bram Stoker's classic tale is a rather good one, at least compared to many of the vampire movies out there. It does have a gothic or romantic feel to it. Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Tom Waits all put in great performances (especially Waits). Not surprisingly Keanu Reeves puts in a particularly dismal performance. He has that tendancy. What was surprising was Cary Elwes performance. Elwes is a wonderful actor, but his work in this film was sub par. What I found particularly disapointing was that there were no special features on this dvd. It would have been nice for Coppola to have had a commentary track. But there is still the film.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: This is a great movie. Gary Oldman is so sexy, when he's not "Dracula" and so scary when he is. Wynnona's performance is superb. The effects are great!.This should be in your video library. Story plot is one of the best.

Rating:
Summary: "They Say You Are a Man of Good...Taste"
Review: This 1992 adaptation of Bram Stoker's magnum opus is fairly faithful to the source, though there are a few noticeable changes, not the least of which is a blatant depiction of the sex and eroticism that are only tacit elements of the Victorian novel. Another obvious change is the addition of a prologue in which it is revealed how, as his punishment for blaspheming God and cursing the church, the Turk known as Vlad the Impaler was transformed into Dracula the vampire (Gary Oldman). The real purpose of this scene is to set up a later plot point--also an augmentation of the original story--in which Dracula, now residing in England, learns that Mina (Winona Ryder) is the reincarnation of his true love from his previous mortal life and subsequently becomes obsessed with re-acquiring her. This, of course, becomes the underlying impetus behind all of his later actions. (At the time of this film's release, many film critics pointed out that this reincarnation concept is lifted directly from Dan Curtis' 1973 TV-movie adaptation of the novel, which was scripted by the venerable genre writer Richard Matheson.)

Still, BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA does, overall, return to the novel's gothic roots. A lot of the action takes place in crumbling old Carpathian castles, filthy Victorian insane asylums, or dusky English manor houses, and most scenes are played out dramatically in the usual operatic style of a period piece. Director Francis Ford Coppola skillfully layers nearly every shot with rich detail, and often the foreground action is in danger of being upstaged by spooky little events or eerie bits of scenery in the background. (A prime example of this is the now-famous shadow imagery in Dracula's castle, which moves independently of the people or objects casting those shadows.) And aesthetes and art historians are often quick to point out that some of the more lavish costumes, especially some of those worn by Dracula himself, are directly inspired by the ornate artwork of Gustav Klimt, a Viennese artist who was a contemporary of writer Stoker.

For the most part, the acting in the film is excellent. Gary Oldman's portrayal of Dracula is superb. Through the course of the film, he skillfully segues from a Turkish warrior to a centuries-old bloodsucker, and he is especially effective (i.e., downright scary!) when his character assumes the form of a giant, gargoyle-like bat. Master thespian Anthony Hopkins appears as Dracula's primary nemesis, Professor Abraham Van Helsing, and his eccentric characterization of the enigmatic occultist is delightfully over the top. Hopkins often nibbles playfully on the scenery, nearly upstaging his co-stars. Though her British accent is sometimes obviously phony, pretty Winona Ryder does an excellent job as the object of Dracula's romantic interests, and the casting of Tom Waits as Renfield is a master stroke, as his bizarre but affecting performance so suits the mentally deranged character that it rivals Dwight Frye's much-lauded and equally outré portrayal in the classic 1931 Universal film. The only real weak link in the cast is Keanu Reeves. Though he tries hard, he just can't entirely shake off that surfer-dude posture that has become his trademark, and it takes a little effort on the part of the audience to accept him as a (whoa!) Victorian-era solicitor like Jonathan Harker.

All in all, 1992's BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA is a very satisfying horror film that, though not a stringent interpretation of Stoker's famous novel, is nonetheless loyal to the book's gothic ambiance and Victorian roots. In fact, fans of Stoker's literary opus will be delighted to see that, unlike the more famous 1931 version starring Bela Lugosi, this film keeps the book's primary plotline more or less intact. True, the pursuing-lost-love graft is a bit distracting at times, and it really doesn't work all that well, but it's only a minor flaw in the film's overall scope.

Columbia/Tristar's basic DVD release of BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA is a no-frills disc, the only bonus (?) being the option to view the film in either 16:9 anamorphic widescreen format or 4:3 pan-and-scan. Picture quality--at least on the widescreen side--is very good and the retail price of the disc is reasonable. But Columbia/Tristar also offers a SuperBit edition, and as with most of their SuperBit offerings, the picture quality is superior, especially when viewed on a widescreen HDTV. Though it is a bit pricier than the standard edition, videophiles in the horror-fan crown will think it well worth the additional cost.

Rating:
Summary: some things are better left unsaid
Review: This film,although true to the stoker novel, was extremely boring and morbid. It was truly sickening when Dracula hands his female concubines an infant that they devour alive. Was this scene truly needed? It made me sick! Other scenes that seemed closer to softcore porn was when Keanu is in bed with draculas concubines ... truly not needed and disgusting.

Rating:
Summary: Dragula
Review: This had to be, without question, the worst version of Dracula I've ever seen, and that even includes the Jesus Franco version and the Cliffhanger episodes in the '80's. Oldman's performance was a bad joke, and he looked like a Carnaby Mod Rocker of the mid 60's as Dracula. The Dracula of the book wanted to be able to lose himself into the anonymity of a big town, no way would Oldman's Dracula be able to do that. The movie used techniques, like a rushing forward of the camera at ground level, that seemed more appropriate for a MTV video, when they were still doing that sort of thing. I honestly hoped Anthony Hopkins would make a good Van Helsing, but it turned out he played a dissipated Captain Kronos. Keanu Reaves was more wooden than the stakes you kill vampires with as Johnathan Harker. Winona Ryder could've been good but they took the level head heroine of the book and made her all to girlish, and they took they more dreamy Lucy and made her more like Mae West. On top of that, Coppola practically plagarized the Dan Curtis TV version of Dracula (1973), as scripted by Richard Matheson, and starring Jack Palance as the Count. That's where they originally linked the historical Voivode to the fictional Count, and had all that tripe about him looking for his reincarnated wife. Curtis used that angle earlier in Dark Shadows, and was probably inspired by the Karloff movie The Mummy. That's just how derivative this film was, and it had virtually no suspense or true horror to break this reviewers annoyance.