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Interview with the Vampire

Interview with the Vampire

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Guilty Pleasure
Review: I am a huge fan of Anne Rice's work. So, naturally, I was enthused to see this movie, but there are pros and cons. The biggest con I find in this film is the horrible casting job of Antonio Banderas as Armand. Not that Antonio didn't do a great job, but he did not look the part. Anyone who read the book knows of Armand's beautiful youth. Anne's passionate writing style is magnafied when describing the soft, innocent look held in Armand's face. He is the ultimate child vampire, rivaled only by Claudia, who no longer exists. To see Antonio in this role confuses me. How could Anne consent to this? Or did she have a choice?
As far as the pros go, I would have to agree with the fact that Tom Cruise does a fantastic job recreating the lustful, tormenting character of Lestat. The master De Lioncourt springs from the pages and onto the screen when Tom sinks his fangs into an unsuspecting neck.
I also praise Kirsten Dunst for her portrayal of Claudia. Though Claudia was much younger in the book, I do not believe an actress that age would have been able to understand the part. Kirsten was only 11 when she took on the part, but she made Claudia the tormented doll child she was meant to be.
This movie trys to capture the esscence of the book, and does a commendable job, but doesn't match it's literary couterpart. I reccomend to anyone who's seen this movie to read the book, and then read the rest of the series. You'll find that there is much more to Louis, Lestat, Armand, and even Claudia. (Here's a tip, after Queen of the Damned, it falls)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A stunning rendition of Rice's novel
Review: I was a little wary about watching this movie. The book had been amazing, and I didn't want it ruined by a horrible movie. But this movie was perfect; it stayed true to the book, but not so much that it was boring to someone who had read the book. Tom Cruise did an excellent job of playing Lestat. He brought the character to life, from Lestat's mysterious anger at the world right down to his hysterical laughing fits. Brad Pitt also did a great job of portraying the sad and hopeless Louis. The best actor, I think, was the young Kirsten Dunst, who played the child vampire Claudia, a grown woman trapped in the body of a child.
A basic summary of the movie for those of you who haven't read the book:
The movie begins when Louis, a 200 year old vampire, is egged into telling the story before Louis was made a vampire. He recently lost his wife in childbirth, and has no hope left in life. He longs for death, and his wish is granted in a almost sadistically twisted way when a mysterious vampire, Lestat, gives him death by making him one of the undead. The rest of the movie tells Louis's story; the making of the child vampire Claudia, and their quest to Paris to find another of their kind.
A warning: This movie is very graphic, and contains an explicit nudity scene. If you don't like blood, I wouldn't reccomend watching this!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Mm...
Review: This wasn't that interesting to me as the other Vampire Chronicles, but still good. It was told from Louis' point of view, so lestat seemed rather..."bad." I didn't liek Claudia all too much either.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Captivating, Grabs You and Keeps You, The Best Film Ever!.
Review: Tom Cruise is EXCELLENT, this movie tops out at number one for the best performance of Tom Cruise's career. He plays the Vampire Lestat, a vain and ruthless immortal who longs to fill the loneliness of immortality. Lestat comes across Louis de Pointe du lac (preformance by Brad Pitt )in 1791 who is suffering from the death of his wife and child. Louis longing to be released from the pain of living is offered the choice by Lestat to "live forever". This film is the best performance that Brad Pitt has ever given, he plays a convincing Louis de Pointe Du Lac who cannot accept what has became of him and refuses to take human life. Kristen Dunst a marvelous new comer gives an outstanding performance of the Vampire Child "Claudia" who is forever sealed in the body of a 6 year old. Antonio Banderas gives an equally outstanding performance as "Armand" the oldest vampire that Louis comes across during his search for answers to the meaning of his vampire life. This movie is one of the best films since Gone with the Wind or Casablanca, Anne Rice the author of the book Interview with the Vampire is outstanding. Her novels are a breathe of fresh air to the literary community, this is not your everyday vampire novel. Her Vampire Chronicles give depth and meaning to life's age old questions. She makes you think, while taking you into the beautiful centuries of the past. You are sure to come away from this film wanting more.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Could be better, but passable
Review: This movie was initially a disappointment as it deviated quite a bit from the book by Rice. It totally skipped Lestat's tortured, painful childhood, and missed out on much of the other subtleties that Rice created in the character, turning a three-dimensional, very realistic (given that it's a fantasy creature) character into a stereotype vampire. Frankly, Tom Cruise was totally uninspiring in his role as Lestat such that until the closing scene of the movie I didn't even realise that the part had such 'stellar' casting.

Given the nature of the book and plot, with its chronological timeframe spanning hundreds of years, it's impossible for the movie to be fast-paced as an action flick, as criticized by some reviewers, but I think that in its slower pace it has remained true to the book's Gothic, brooding atmosphere.

Although Brad Pitt does /not/ look the part of Louis (at all!), he has managed to do a wonderful job portraying the adolescent, conflicted vampire and Kirsten Dunst shows her talent in her portrayal of a woman trapped in a child's body, two major redeeming points for the movie.

But perhaps the best touch to the movie, IMO, is the last scene where Lestat regains life. It was this scene which totally revised my opinion of the movie, though it was not in the book. Perhaps because it was so symbolic of the undead's clasping greed for life that is the core of Anne Rice's vampire, the vitality, exuberance and speed as evinced by Lestat and showed such promise for a movie of the next book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the best vampire movie ever!!!
Review: rarely when a movie is made based on a book does it truly do the book justice. in this instance, it does the book justice. it is so much like the story that i was amazed that it was possible to do so. it has been my favorite movie for about 6 years now and i would recommend this to anyone who likes vampires. i hope that they do more of anne rice's storys on the big screen, but only if they are more like this one than the way that the queen of the damned was done.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Interview With the Vampire
Review: This is undoubtedly the best vampire film in existence. The characters are cast perfectly and the acting is projected beautifully. When watching this film you don't view them as being killers. You will find yourself falling in love with the characters and developing a sense of sympathy and passion for them.

The story is amazing and follows through with the novel by Anne Rice. I tells the story of Louis who is tormented in life from the death of his wife and child. He is then tormented in his immortal life because his mortal soul never really leaves him. Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, and Antonio Banderas make up the powerful cast to this film that no other film about vampires will ever live up to.

I absolutely loved this movie. I love it even more every time I watch it. This is by no means a horror film. It is too beautiful to be included in this genre. If you have not seen this movie yet you are missing out on one of the best films ever created. I highly recommend seeing this film. You will not regret it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sumptuous, magnificent and mournful
Review: INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES (1994) is that rarity in modern Hollywood terms: A star-driven blockbuster which uses the theme of eternal life to explore the meaning of existence and the nature of death and grieving. Based on Anne Rice's bestselling 1976 novel (itself written as a response to the death of a beloved child), the movie features two of contemporary Hollywood's most recognizable stars - Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt (both astonishingly beautiful here) - as vampire and willing victim, remaining eternally young as the world changes around them. Cruise plays a seasoned bloodsucker who revels in his own outrageous decadence, and his wilful excesses are roughly contrasted with Pitt's horror at the necessity of consuming human blood, until Cruise is forced to create another 'companion' for Pitt in the shape of a little girl (Kirsten Dunst) who subsequently refuses to grow old gracefully, leading to betrayal and tragedy. Scored with melancholy grace by composer Elliot Goldenthal (TITUS, FINAL FANTASY THE SPIRITS WITHIN), and beautifully designed (by Dante Ferretti, GANGS OF NEW YORK) and photographed (Philippe Rousselot, A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT), the film's epic sweep carries its central characters through the social upheavals of 17th and 18th century America and the horrors of 19th century Europe, where a nest of ancient vampires (led by scene-stealer Antonio Banderas and a miscast Stephen Rea) wreak terrible revenge on those who transgress against vampire lore. But, for all its spectacle, director Neil Jordan (THE COMPANY OF WOLVES) - working from a script credited to Anne Rice herself - allows the story to unfold at a leisurely pace, providing us with a deliberate insight into the monsters at the heart of the story and the catastrophic events which shape their destinies. The film concludes ironically, with a 20th century invention (motion pictures) which allows Pitt to see his 'beloved sunrise' once more (illustrated with clips from the likes of SUNRISE A SONG OF TWO HUMANS, GONE WITH THE WIND and SUPERMAN!), and there's an incredibly moving sequence involving a once-proud vampire laid low by his own vanity. The mood is somewhat spoiled, however, by a silly trick ending which upsets the delicate balance established during the first half of the film. And, as with the novel, the homoerotic undercurrent is mere window-dressing, an unconsummated tease which the filmmakers (and Rice herself) refuse to explore in any detail, lest it frighten the mainstream crowd. Sadly, the film is dedicated to the memory of the late and much-lamented River Phoenix who died during pre-production, and his role (as the interviewer who provides one half of the film's title) was taken by Christian Slater.

Warner Bros.' Region 1 special edition DVD - which runs 122m 20s - is letterboxed at 1.85:1 (anamorphically enhanced) and features a range of extras, from trailers, commentary, documentaries and an introduction to the film by Jordan, Banderas and Rice. Sound format is Dolby 5.1 (with a DTS option), and English captions and subtitles are provided.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best vampire movies ever!
Review: I love Interveiw with the Vampire! Brad Pitt and TOm Cruise are great in it, and so is kirsten Dunst.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: DOESN'T LIVE UP TO THE HYPE
Review: To begin with, I'm not sure why I expected anything good from this movie, since the novel upon which it is based is itself so overrated. But I guess I keep hoping somebody will recapture the magic of Bela Lugosi's "Dracula" on film. Typically, those hopes were in vain. "Interview" is a pretentious, overblown disappointment from beginning to end, and it's hardly Tom Cruise's fault. The script is unfocused and melodramatic, and the whole vampire-as-tragic-hero concept is ridiculous anyway. The cast is excellent but given their material failure is inevitable. Production values are good and the film looks nice but never goes for the spectacular--this is meant to be a character-driven story, but the characters themselves are too unmoving to carry the unwieldy plot. The best thing about the source novel is the ending, but the movie botches even that. Might be okay if you really think being a vampire would be way cool, but most of us know better than that. Unsatisfying on every level, this is one "Interview" you'll want to miss.


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