Rating: 
Summary: Do you like vampire movies?
Review: Here's the rub: If you like vampire movies, watch it. If you don't, don't watch it.
I watched this movie, all the way through and was confused as heck as to what was going on! I then watched the deleted scenes on the DVD.
The fools! They should have left the deleted scenes in! When "The Ancients" showed up I had no idea who they were.
Here's the deal. The gentleman they had play Lestat was actually quite good. He is no Tom Hanks or a Tom Cruise for that matter, but he did a serviceable job. He was believable.
The young deceased singer who played the queen of the damned did fairly well too...the problem? The plot stank!
It was so cut up and incongruous that it was nearly impossible to follow! The problem was, they followed Anne Rice's book probably a little too close. If you want to know how one of her books reads, then by gum, watch this train wreck. Or you could watch a good vamp movie like Lost Boys, or heck even Blade!
Rating: 
Summary: Energetic horror film has little to do with Anne Rice
Review: What you think of "Queen of the Damned" may depend on your opinion of author Anne Rice, two of whose "Vampire Chronicles" novels ["The Vampire Lestat", "Queen of the Damned"] are allegedly the basis for the movie. If you are a fan of Rice's work, then the movie is a travesty. If you aren't a fan, you might think it's no sillier then the books. If you've never read her or never heard of her, then it should be a treat - an inventive, if a bit cheesy, horror movie.Whatever your opinion, it's hard to argue that the film has much of anything to do with the books, outside of the fact that the main characters are vampires. It also has little in common with "Interview With the Vampire" [1994], the first movie based on a "Vampire Chronicle" book. That film, to me, was a grand, glorious, big budget, star-filled [Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Kirsten Dunst] Hollywood epic. "Queen of the Damned" is a modest affair. The cast is not all that famous. The story omits most of the important elements and themes of the books. The special effects are obviously computer generated. The songs performed by Lestat and his rock group are surprisingly good and are one of the movie's highlights. The plot has to do with Lestat's waking up after a hundred year nap. He finds the modern world much to his liking. Tired of being anonymous, he starts his band, openly proclaims himself a vampire, and dares the other blood drinkers to come and get him. They do, of course. Among them is that damned queen, Akasha, an ancient Egyptian who is the mother of all vampires. She makes Mommie Dearest look like a saint. To make matters worse, Lestat is also pursued by a fanatical female mortal who's in love with him. Stuart Townsend is decent enough as Lestat. While his performance palls in comparison to Cruise's version, it should be noted that Townsend didn't have much material to work with. The late Aaliyah obviously had a blast playing Akasha; in fact, every time she and Townsend look at each other, they appear to be in danger of bursting out laughing. I AM an Anne Rice fan, so you can guess where I stand on this movie. I tell myself that she's just one in a long list of novelists whose books [or some of them] have been trashed on film. Still, if you can forget the movie's source, it will probably seem as good as most recent horror flicks.
Rating: 
Summary: Butchery!!!
Review: I would agree with most that it is difficult to make any novel into a film. But the elements which are essential to develop a story are missing altogether here. First, the characters in the film are shallow and empty, totally straying from what makes Anne Rice's books so interesting. The surface of internal conflict is scratched, but vainly. The characters don't even follow physical descriptions given in the series. Acting in the film was HORRIBLE! Special effects were cheap and embarrassing. Overall, a poor adaptation that leaves you wondering what book the producers read. Too bad , so many good things could have been done with this film.
Rating:
Summary: More of a disappointment and a complete insult...
Review: While Anne Rice's style does (traditionally) lend itself to very rich prose, the adaptation named after her third Vampire Chronicle seemed to ignore the book completely, especially in matters concerning characters, settings, and plot. A paltry few of the discrepancies: Marius did not make Lestat, Magnus did. Lestat did not kill Akasha, Mekare did. Who's Mekare? Good question. Read the book. I have adored Anne Rice's books for over a decade, and eagerly anticipate each one's release. QOTD is by far one of my favorite from the vampire series, with a rich historical plot as well as sumptous characters. From the opening sequence where Lestat rises from the grave (which he didn't) to the final moment of Jesse and Lestat moving off into the crowd of London (which they don't), the movie was a disgrace and a travesty. I sometimes wonder if the screenwriter's actually read the book. Anne Rice should really consider legal action. We know that books can be made into movies. Peter Jackson has done/is doing a wonderful job with the Lord of the Rings, another series steeped in rich dialogue and verbose descriptions. We know the movie had a decent budget, because we saw the effects and the costumes. Apparently, the producers were more concerned with regaining those revenues rather than staying true to the story. There was one shining moment in all the gloom: Lena Olin never looked better.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was very disappointed by this movie. Interview With a Vamppire was fantastic... so when I saw Queen of the Damned I was more than disappointed at the poor interpretation. Please do not misunderstand me. I think the acting and casting were beautifully done. If you have read the book, and want to look for similarities, I dont suggest trying. However, as a movie ( looking at it without prior knowledge) I would say it was a bit slow moving at first and too fast at the end. Two sequences were not introduced properly and may cause confusion. Also, this is not a movie you would want to view on family night if you want to desensitize your children.
Rating: 
Summary: Damned if you do, Damned if you don't!
Review: In the past few months since the release of QOTD I have heard a lot of critical comments made about the movie and the book. The bottom line is the movies are NEVER as good as the book so get that straight! And you knew this script was going to marry two books together to make one movie so that was going to be double trouble. You will have to accept the movie for what it is and it while it is not the greatest piece of cinema I've ever witnessed, it is pretty good for the vampire genre. This DVD is much more worth buying than the moving was seeing initially. If you are a fan of "extras" you certainly get them along with a far too brief tribute to the late star, Aaliyah. I am a huge fan of hers so anything containing her is of interest to me. The soundtrack and score were largely underrated by the public and fortunately you get the opportunity to here from Jonathan Davis and Richard Gibbs as to how they came up with the music for the film. I don't think QOTD received as much credit as it should have and I think part of it was because people were afraid of the fact that there was a dead actress attached to the project. She loved her work and wanted it released. This is what her family wanted, this is what the studio wanted, and Aaliyah wouldn't have had it any other way! All hail the Queen!
Rating:
Summary: Akasha (Countess Dracula-Carmilla in one)
Review: Anne Rice's talented story creates a definite "Queen " of all vampires in this tale that reunites all the notable characters from her wonderful Vampire Chronicles. I can think back to the old days with movie icons such as Ingrid Pitt(Carmilla) and Gloria Holden (Dracula's Daughter) portraying powerful vamps on screen. However, this film allows a new generation of fans to witness how down right controlling a female vampire can be and should be. Queen of the Damned is fun and original. This shall be a classic. I can only fathom what Anne Rice will allow to come to life next. Sandra
Rating:
Summary: Rice Fans Whine, but Film is Fine.
Review: It may not be as faithful an adaptation as fans of the book might like, and the plot of the movie is difficult to follow in places given the amount of material that had to be excised in order to make these two sprawling books (The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned) into a two hour film, but this newest Anne Ricke movie sure has bite. The raw touch the film seems to have--it's sound, look, and general attack are perfectly in synch with Rice's world. In many cases, the approach is better than the previous Interview with the Vampire. The actors generally are closer to the ages the characters are in the books and in many ways bring a physical style absent in the first film (look for the character of Armand in the final scenes--golden haired and cherub-faced as in the books, totally unlike the dark and older character Antonio Banderas played). Certainly, the epic structure of these two books and, in fact, the real story they tell, is pretty much totally lost. Gone are the story of the twins, of the orgins of Vampires, and explanations surrounding characters' histories are often vague at best. The character of Jesse is given a strikingly different plot line. And yet, from the moment Aliayah appears alive on the screen, the movie has a thrilling dark touch which has the ancient and epic feel of the Rice books. Disappointing in its inability to do real justice to the narratives of the books, but still excellent in its attack on the material, The Queen of The Damned is an often surprising and refreshing take on the material.
Rating:
Summary: Where's Tom Cruise When You Need Him?
Review: This is utter TRASH! I truly challenge Hollywood to make a decent vampire film, because so far they haven't been able to do so. This movie is like a bad music video that goes on waaaay to long. If you're a fan of the book, forget it. There is nothing here that is remotely true to the wonderful novel. If you're a fan of the first film, Interview With the Vampire, then ABSOLUTELY avoid this one! Lestat now has the appearance of a heroin addicted Calvin Klein model, Jesse has somehow lost 10 years of her life, and Louis is nowhere to be seen! Movies take liberties, of course, but this is bordering on the ridiculous! Huge parts of the plotline are cut out (we hear nothing of the Armand/Daniel story, the dream of the twins, Gabrielle, and pretty much all of the ancients are MIA) and the casting is so bad it's funny! Vincent Perez destroys Marius with that thick accent (what did he say? Hmmm?) let alone that he is out of character. And then we get slapped with Lestat & Jesse walking into the sunset like this is Disney's Snow White. Typical cowardly Hollywood ending considering that at the end of the novel it was Louis and Lestat who were finally together. Let alone the fact that Lestat generally prefers men, but what about Jesse? Why is she a teeny-bopper with bad hair throughout the entire film? That character is horribly reduced to an obnoxious shadow of what she truly is. Lestat has none of the presence he did when Tom Cruise portrayed him. They actually put him in yellow "leggins" at one point in the film which is laugh out loud hilarious! Aailyah is good as Akasha even though she is mis-cast. Akasha, after centuries of being a vampire has ivory pale skin. Too bad Aailyah picked this stinker as her last movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Stop complaining!
Review: Ok, i'm not actually 13 but i can't be bothered to sign up. ok, firstly to all the people who feel the need to point out that the movie wasn't perfectly accurate or that Akasha didn't actually look anything like Aaliya and that she should have been black. This is a MOVIE! it's not meant to be a perfect adaptation of Anne Rice's novel, i for one thought that the movie itself was excellent. you can't go into a movie based on a book and expect it to be true to every single detail in the actual story, so deal with it and quit whining.
in my opinion, Queen of the Damned is a great movie just to sit back and watch. sure it'll leave you guessing on occasion but most movies do. It revolves around the vampire Lestat who wakes up during the 1980's after being asleep for what we can only assume to be about 200 years. hearing the music of todays metal bands he decides to join them and cast himself into the open, declaring the the world that he is a vampire and breaking just about every vamp rule doing it. meanwhile, he catches the attention of Jesse, a member of the Talamascan, a paranormal research group or something along those lines. these two have an interesting chemistry in the movie and bring more depth of feeling to Lestats character. unfortunately, Lestat's music awakens Akasha, the mother of all vampires, who wants to kill all of humanity and have Lestat as her king. needless to say this causes some conflict.
i say watch the movie and see what you think of it without believing all the negative things that you may have read, judge it for yourself.
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