Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie, Great DVD!
Review: Near Dark is one of those great movies that it seems no one has seen. I hope this deluxe DVD will change that. Near Dark suffered in it's initial theatrical release due to it's resemblance to The Lost Boys. They share a storyline (Hapless young man falls for a girl who turns him into a Vampire, and he's forced to deal with her crazy running buddies.), and even a release date; Lost Boys blew Near Dark right out of theaters, but Near Dark found an appreciative audience on video, and deservedly so. The cast is uniformly great, especially Lance Henrikson and Bill Paxton as the lead Vamps. The script, by Director Kathryn and Eric Red, is perfect- we learn little tidbits about the history of the Vampires, but we're always kept at arms length from them. We see them as alien and threatening, and they see us a food. Bigelow does a great job, especially considering it was her solo directorial debut. The only gripe I had is the Vampirism "Cure" which seems like a Deus Ex Machina, but that's a small quibble. The Tangerine Dream score also made some scenes seem really cheesy...FAR from their best work. I think an orchestral score would have been much better, but budget constraints.... The 2-DVD set is beautifully packaged, with a die-cut inner package inside the box, and a great looking (and informative!) booklet. The film looks great; As usual, Anchor Bay does great work on their DVD transfers. It also has a commentary track from Director Bigelow, which is kinda dry and technical. Disc 2 has tons of storyboards, a weak deleted scene, a new 47-minute documentary, cast & crew bios (Very extensive!), still & ad galleries, and tons more. Near Dark is one of those films that has flown under the radar for FAR too long, and I can't recommend it highly enough!
Rating: 
Summary: Near Perfect and Finger Licking Good.
Review: Before Kathryn Bigelow got hitched to James Cameron, she was making films that you would swear where by the hand of her future hubby. Near Dark happens to look like a James Cameron horror movie, and saying this should not discredit Bigelow because here we see a female director on flying form. Near Dark not only has Bigelow at the helm, but Eric Red produced and wrote it. The cinematographer is Adam Greenberg who got the Terminator into the film can and we also have two other Cameron favorites in the mix - Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen. So if 1980s are early 1990s Cameron is your cup of blood then Near Dark is exactly what you want to see. This movie is dirt cheap but done so well that it can only be described as a very beautiful motion picture film to look at even though it is set in the dusty mid-west. Basically it is an amalgamation of cowboys, vampires, rockers, bikers, vampire sickness and love. This could have been a really cheesy B-Movie if it wasn't for such a catchy script, set design, LIGHTING!, special effects, acting and direction. The music is the kind of early synthesizer stuff that John Carpenter would play until the wee hours of the dawn. Basically the story revolves around a farm hand that gets bit, but not bleed, and ends up bonding with a small family gang of vampires until he can prove that he can make that first kill. In meantime his dad and younger sister are combing the state looking for him. The film is not so quickly moving but like Bigelow's "Point Break" there is enough substance and action here to keep you going with several extremely memorable scenes - namely the bar slaughter, a shoot out involving daylight penetrating bullet holes in the walls and the ending with a kid bursting into flames as the sun comes up. For 1987 this horror packs a punch and deserves its cult status. Bill Paxton's character is a riot and Lance Henriksen has never looked more disfigured. The film may falter at times into very weird love scenes and some strange exsanguinations finales, but for all intensive purposes this is really a superb horror movie that is certainly worthy of repeat viewings. It is also pretty bloody at times and not for the squeamish. Near Dark gets a really big thumb up from this reviewer who has seen it plenty of times since the somewhat unnoticed cinema release. If you have not seen Near Dark and are anyway interested in the horror genre then go now to the DVD store and do not look back. Its hits that 80s horror era very nicely and you can be proud of it in your collection. A cult classic if there ever was one.
Rating:
Summary: Vampire White Trash
Review: A film like this only comes once. Yes, I might agree that it has similarities with other movies but it is a great ride.
Young modern cowboy Caleb meet young vampire girl Mae and is introduced into the fold. To stay he must kill.
From the first shot of a mosquito buzzing on Calebs arm towards the end showdown and the last freezeframe, Near Dark is a masterpiece on it's own. Kathryn Bigelow (the director of Point Break and Strange Days) cut her teeth on this vampire-something flick, together with screenwriter/director Eric Red (The Hitcher, Cohen & Tate). In the cast I am with delight able to watch such good and often underrated actors as Lance Henriksen (Millenium), Jeanette Goldstein (Aliens), Bill Paxton (Titanic) as three parts of the vampire family. But I do not forget the two stars, both Jenny Wright and Adrian Pasdar make characters that I really care about.
So, what is Near Dark? A beautiful dark love story.
One of the best things about Near Dark is showing the vampires (if that is what they are? we are not told but they drink blood and they get sunburned.) as pretty normal people (they don't fly around hissing with fanged teeth).
And then it's the music by Tangerine Dreams (Firestarter) which is just perfect.
It's one of my favourites, as a vampire flick and as a film.
Every time I see this film it gives me goosebumps when Jenny Wright says:
"Look, the night, it's so bright that it will blind you."
Rating:
Summary: THE NIGHT'S SO BRIGHT IT WILL BLIND YOU
Review: Near Dark is director's Katheryn Bigalow's best. I honestly cannot put into words how excellent, exciting, fantastic, wonderful, witty, smart, funny, Near Dark is. It is visually stunning, the actors are incredable. Adrian Pasdar as Caleb, Jenny Wright as Mae, Lance Henriksen as Jesse Hooker,Bill Paxton as Severn, Jeanette Goldstein as Diamondback, Joshua Miller as Homer, are purely casted to a T, you can't fault them. The music by tangerine Dream is perfect and complements each scene finely. I cannot say how much Near Dark is enjoyable and the best Vampire film and film around, it really needs to be seen to be believed. The DVD quality is good, the extras are excellent. There's commentary by Katheryn Bigalow, a 47 minute featurette with interviews by cast and crew with the exception of Jenny Wright or Joshua Miller witch is a shame, a deleted scene with commentary, cast bios, story boards. Overall, this is a beautiful buy, and now can be watched many times and enjoyed- I definitley know I will be.
Rating:
Summary: Finger-licking good!
Review: Near Dark, the most underrated vampire film of all time, is also, in my opinion, THE greatest vampire film of all time. Everything about this movie is perfect. A strong story, excellent characters, stylish directing and enough action to keep the story moving. The film's antiheroes are some of the best, especially Bill Paxton's Severen, my favorite character of the film.
The Anchor Bay dvd is also great. It contains a deleted dream sequence that is pretty good, audio commentaries by the filmmakers, and a great documentary on the making of this film. Thank you, Anchor Bay, for returning to us this lost gem. You really are a horror fan's best friend
Rating: 
Summary: TERRIBLE!!!!
Review: I just watched this movie and felt compelled to write a review to save someone from WASTING 1 hour and 1/2 of their time. ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. I watched it based on some of the positive reviews given here, but I can't understand why anyone in their right mind would give this a good review. WHO ARE THEY KIDDING? It was awful, believe me, AWFUL!! I am a big fan of horror movies and Vampire movies. Watch something like "Interview with a Vampire", "The Lost Boys", even "Fright Night" was way better than this crap!!!! There is a reason why "Near Dark" wasn't a popular movie!! Do yourself a favor, otherwise I'll be saying, "I told you so."
Rating:
Summary: Excellent fun
Review: "Near Dark" has only two flaws:
(1) Joshua Miller, the bratty kid you wanted to slap in the face in "River's Edge", plays a bratty vampire, and you want to slap him in the face in this movie, too.
(2) The soundtrack by Tangerine Dream does not hold up well. It stinks. It is almost distractingly bad at times.
That said, the rest of the movie is awesome. Using a great chunk of the cast from "Aliens" (Bill Paxton, Lance Henrickson, and Jeanette Goldstein) was a stroke of genius. Their chemistry together, which was so good in that movie, proves to be even more devilish good fun in "Near Dark", featuring the trio as a nomadic group of dustbowl vampires. Paxton fans in particular will be delighted by his goofy, scenery-chewing character. Adrian Pasdar does a great job too, as a hick named Caleb who is kidnapped by the group after one of its other members, a sweet young thang named Mae (the lovely Jenny Wright), takes a liking to him and nibbles on his neck.
The special effects are outstanding. There are some genuine spine-tingling moments that you will remember for a long time. Especially the "roadhouse massacre" scene, which gives us big laughs, gross-out gore, and some good scares as well. This scene alone rightfully earns "Near Dark" its spot (on my list, anyway) as one of the most genre-twisting, intelligent, and all-out entertaining horror flicks of all time. The DVD extras are great, too. You won't be disappointed. "Near Dark" is certainly worth buying for any serious horror film collector.
Rating: 
Summary: This is bad, at best
Review: If you liked 28 Days Later or From Dusk till Dawn, then... do yourself a favor and don't watch this movie.
Rating:
Summary: In my opinion, the finest vampire movie ever made
Review: This might someday be "the" movie classic for vampires. Ignored with the release of THE LOST BOYS, a teeny bopper flick not even in the same class as NEAR DARK, which is so much better. The acting is superb, the story line credible, and it is, overall in my opinion, the finest vampire movie ever made. (My only surprise was realizing Jenette Goldstein is the lady who played Vasquez in Aliens, one of my all time favorite characters.) The one bad point is the vamp cure at the end. Too easy, too fast. Otherwise, this movie is practically flawless. No rich Count living in a castle here. Realistically, they are a group of gypsy-like souls who roam place to place. The scene where Henriksen and Goldstein are riding around in a pickup and are assaulted by two would-be robber/rapists is a kick. I never got a chance to see this movie on the big screen. If I do, I certainly will. Meanwhile, run don't walk to the nearest store and pick this one up. Definitely a 5 Rating.
Rating:
Summary: Vampire Stereotypes Forgotten
Review: Let's get one thing straight, Near Dark is a vampire movie. With that being said, it breaks almost all the rules when it comes to vampire movies.... There is almost no mention of religon (Except a hotel name and a hanging crucifix, both of which have to be pointed out in the extensive booklet that comes with this DVD to even be noticed), the vamps don't sleep in coffins or by hanging upside down, nobody tries to drive a stake through anybody's heart, and you can forget about garlic. Basically the only way to kill these vamps is by sunlight. Oh and boy does sunlight mess them up, unlike other vampire movies just seconds in the light horribly burns these vamps and then they catch fire and quickly explode... no drawn-out deaths as seen in other movies. The story of the movie is as follows, Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) is a southwesterner who hits-on and convinces to take a ride with him, the beautiful Mae (Jenny Wright). Mae you can tell is kinda different, although you get a real vibe that she is lonely (KEY to the story). After attempting to kiss Mae, Mae insists Caleb take her home (To her RV camped out in a local trailer park). Caleb manages to convince her otherwise and things get romantic, in the heat of the moment Mae bites Caleb and then disgusted by herself runs off into the night leaving Calen wondering what's going on... Caleb's truck breaks down forcing him to walk home, yet he begins to feel ill and then gets caught in the sun and his skin starts to burn. Just as Caleb is in sight of his house and his little sister/father (Now staggering/crawling his way home), an RV pulls up and someone pulls him in. The RV drives off leaving Caleb's family wondering what just happened. In the RV you meet the family of vamps... Jesse (Lance Henriksen of later Alien Fame and the father figure), Severen (Bill Paxton, the wild-child of the group, and easily the most entertaining character in the movie), Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein, the mother figure), Homer (Joshua Miller, plays the child role), and of course Mae. What follows is Caleb trying to cope with his new life, the vamps assimilating (Sometimes against their own wishes) Caleb into the clan, Mae caring for/falling in love with Caleb, and Caleb's real family desperatly searching for him. The action is intense, especially the Roadhouse Slaughterhouse... which will give you gore-hounds your fill. Although the word "Vampire" is never mentioned and this movie hardly follows any of the vampire stereotypes it stands as one of the best vampire movies ever made. A fan of vampire movies at all? If so, BUY THIS MOVIE. As for the DVD, it is a Special Edition Anchor Bay... need I say more? Well, I will. It comes 2-Disc with an awesome case and informative booklet. Picture and sound are top notch, and features a "Making of" Documentary, commentary, and the usual added features (Trailers, etc.) Great Flick, Great DVD.
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