Rating: 
Summary: Lineage Masterpiece
Review: Bram Stoker's most popular novel has been made by the 'Godfather' man and contains the weirdest cast assembled on screen to date. Gary Oldman as the Count and Winona Ryder as the woman. Anthony Hopkins as the Professor Wesling and Keanu Reeves as the woman's fiancee. Oldman makes the weirdest noises when he laughs and Keanu Reeves is comical yelling, "I've been chased by bloody wolves into some blue inferno!" Ability! Anthony Hopkins is always good, but is more gruesome than Hannibal Lector in this movie. He chops off witches' heads and throws them off of a cliff. Grotesque! Gore and more gore in this movie, I was astounded by the performances regardless of the amount of blood shed. I felt like drinking some wine after watching this movie. Oh yeah, did you see the eyes in the sky while Reeves was traveling to Transylvania? Pure delight! The special effects were amazing when the men chased Count Dracula's carriage back to the castle. YES! Then Dracula popped out of the carriage just to get stabbed in the throat. How sneaky of those men! This movie is truly a masterpiece and I wanted to eat some toasted bread after watching it. It reminded me of one breakfast when I was just a toddler, I brought some jelly out of the fridge and started to spread it on my bread, but it spilled on my shirt! That memory was brought back after I saw all of the messes the witches and Dracula had made after attacking their victims. But, seriously, the film was pure maniacal and had an exquisite look which stands out from other versions of this classic novel. Oh, the humanity!
Rating: 
Summary: This could have been great
Review: I'll admit it, I'm a Stoker purist. I think Dracula is the greatest work of vampire fiction in existence. I thought that this was the movie I was waiting for, since so many others had done such a bad job of adapting the book.
When I got to the voice-over line "contrary to popular misconception, the vampire can go about in daylight..." (or something like that) I pretty much knew that the movie had taken a left turn. The addition of Stoker's name to the title, seems a desperate attempt at legitimizing a complete bastardization of an otherwise classic book.
This is Dracula that has been sanitized, prettied up, and produced for all the World of Darkness and Anne Rice groupies who can't stand the thought that vampirism might be a bad thing.
I don't know of too many people who fall into a middle ground, I guess that middle ground is for people who have no affiliation to vampire fiction. On that basis, this is quite an enjoyable movie.
Rating:
Summary: Big-Budget Waste
Review: Francis Ford Coppola's epic adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula is a big waste of time. The movie offers lush settings and an elite cast that seems misplaced, but the never delivers the true horror the novel did. Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder are a mismatch and I hated Keanu Reeves in this film. He has the worst English accent a person can impersonate. Terrifying.
Rating:
Summary: "What is that wolf doing to winonna's friend"?
Review: this movie is so in love with itself
Rating:
Summary: The movie rocks, even though the DVD is kind of lame...
Review: A milestone of film-making, Francis Ford Coppola's version of "Dracula" is more than a horror movie. Is a royal piece of art and a master class of History of Cinema. Coppola uses the novel by Bram Stoker as an excuse to pay homage to horror classics like "Nosferatu", "The Wolfman", "The Mist", and "The Exorcist". The director also wished to give a great amount of dignity to the story, so he filled the screen with excellent performances, and what better way to do it than confronting two great actors like Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins, opposing each other as The Vampire and The Hunter? Both of them are superb in their roles, and both of them surprise you with interesting twists near the film's climax: Dracula, in the beginning seen as a blood-thirsty monster, turns out to be a creature redeemed by love. As for Doctor Van Helsing, there comes a time when we stop seeing him as a rational man of science. The good doctor turns out to be more of a sorcerer than a hero, a madman set on pursuit of the horrible monster that's consumed his whole existence. The final confrontation between these two premises is what gives the film its purpose, and that showdown will take place in the person of Mina Harker, played by a brilliant (and unusually sexy) Wynona Rider. But besides this serious stuff, the movie also includes a very subtle, yet effective, sense of humor, portrayed by the three suitors of Lucy Westenra (I like to call them "The Three Stooges" because I find them so funny!), and a strong sexual content (all the scenes between Dracula and Mina are filled with sexual symbols) that reaches a high peak in the classic scene when Jonathan Harker is seduced by three vampire vixens (look for a pre-"Malena" Monica Bellucci). It's a shame, however, that Keanu Reeves seems a little miscast as Jonathan, since his performance doesn't reach the quality of his costars's. Because of its artistic quality, is a sin to see such a good movie packed in such a... DVD. Image and sound are very good (specially the sound, which is one of the film's best achievements), but the absolute lack of special features and the extremely poor presentation make this a mediocre edition. We could have appreciated some director commentaries, a picture gallery, a making-of documentary or even some bios for the main stars. The subject of Dracula (both the novel and the historical figure) have produced many documentaries, any of which would have made this DVD an excellent acquisition. None of these things are there. Is nice to see Spanish Subtitles (why there were also in Korean, I'll never know), and I must say that ALL Region 1 DVD's should have them! If you loved the movie and wish to see it in its full image and sound splendor, then this is for you. However, you'll be disappointed by the lack of features. I still don't know why they did it like this. Could it be that this was not a popular movie when it came out? I refuse to think so.
Rating: 
Summary: An extreme dissapointment
Review: I watched this movie with high expectation, partly because of the cast, partly because of the budget, but mostly because the director had indicated that he would stay true to Bram Stoker's book. From the first scene, it is obvious that this was never his intention. He attempted to turn the story into a romance - something that is quite far away from Stoker's novel. Things go downhill from that point very quickly. First of all, we find Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker. Usually, I like Keanu, but here his is totally miscast and the delivery of his lines is painful. Gary Oldman also makes a very poor Dracula. For me, a telling early scene is the famous bit where Dracula refers to the wolves as Children of the Night and their howling as music. Not only does Oldman deliver the line extremely poorly, but Reeves' tacked-on protest seems very out of character for a guest (and a very nervous one, at that).
By the time we get to London to find Lucy...in post-Victorian England and Dracula stalking Mina behind sunglasses, it was clear to me that the movie was hopeless. I did see some very clever camera shots and there were some decent bits on board the ship, but it's not enough for me to give this anything more than the worst rating possible. To be honest, I actually found the movie insulting - a very rare occurrence for me because I have very low standards.
Rating:
Summary: Blown a w a y . . . .
Review: I loved this movie when it was first released and I fell in love with it all over again with this remastered version. What a movie!!! Watching this movie again with the Superbit remaster, I can see it is still better than most movies today and why it is such a timeless piece. The art direction, the costumes, the script, the stellar cast (esp Gary Oldman) and the DVD is absolutley breathtaking as it emphasises the colours and the sound so much more. Bram Stoker's Dracula is an erotic and passionate but gory story about love. It focuses more on the the driving force for Dracula and shows his killings are more about survival than anything else. This movie really has you sympathising for Dracula and you understand his pain - he is driven by love for his Mina. You can really feel his pain and end up wanting Mina to her to choose Dracula over her beloved Jonathon who seems so 2-dimensional next to the mysterious, passionate and charismatic Prince Vlad Dracula. Gary Oldman may not seem a likely candidate to play Dracula but he evokes such passion and torment that you wonder how there was another Dracula. I loved this movie especially with the new remastered edition - if you have 5.1 surround you will be BLOWN AWAY!! The sounds are beautifully dispersed between the fronts and the rears and and the picture quality is superb. They have really taken into account the home theatre setup and have done a fantastic job!! You will love it.
Rating: 
Summary: It's...okay.
Review: Yeah...it was alright. It wasn't really special. Mostly, it is worth watching if you like vampire movies. But if you, like me, have read the book, you will be disappointed by this. Sure, it is a pretty acurate translation of the book to the screen. But when the movie becomes halfway through, it goes sour. Gary Oldman was a TERRIFIC Dracula; before he went 'young'. He did that in the book, but he suposedly looked about 59, not 27. The story was a close translation; until the studio execs decided to add in that trash about Dracula having a lova affair with Mina. That was a complete "OH, FOR THE LOVE OF...!!!!" moment. Also, the scenes on the ship are some of the scariest...in the book. In the movie, it is taken down to about 6 seconds of screen-time. Pathetic. I guess I will close here with my final word: Not bad, but could have been better. Characters were dull, story was painfull. Direction was good, but there was nothing good TO DIRECT. Nice try, though. Coppola, you did good on 'The Godfather', but you falter here.
Rating: 
Summary: 'Superbit'-ten
Review: I bought the Superbit version and I found that the picture and sound quality were superior to the standard DVD. What set me back was the loss of extras due to the disk space needed to store the excellent sound and pictures. The story itself was better than expected and I found Gary Oldman's acting outclassing every other character and made Keanu Reeves look like a novice. Highly recommended, and one to add to yr collection
Rating:
Summary: Synthesis of a Rich Tradition
Review: ...This movie was NOT meant to be a faithful rendition of the original novel by Bram Stoker ("Bram Stoker's Dracula" in the title notwithstanding.) Vampire lore owes a great debt to this...gothic novelist, but the movie had more grandiose goals than mere mimicry. This movie is a synthesis of the various subplots, interpretations, lore and speculation that has flowered AROUND the novel over the years. This is the movie of the Dracula tradition, not a purist's adaption of the novel. The departures from the novel are not mere eye candy meant to appeal to a modern audience. Debates about how effectively the eye candy appeals are irrelevant. This was not their purpose. These "departures" are powerful interpretations that have compelled so many viewers, readers, and thinkers that they have become part of the way we "know" Dracula. People have been thinking about Dracula for years. This movie is a documentation of that thought. Lucy's and Mina's highly sensual encounters with the Count are largely accepted interpretations of the unsupervised and thus highly suspicious encounters in the novel. The addition of "topical" material, like early cinematographs in the background, delve into the social context of the novel. Stoker's characters are fascinated with new technology. This informs their hopes, just as the mysterious villain from the east threatens their civilization. The brief little dance between Mina and Van Helsing represents the valorous love, tinged with barely concealed sensuality and possessiveness, that motivates all the men who fight for "their girls." Dracula himself has had so many romantic and sexual fantasies strung about him over the years that his transformation into a "lover" in this film is hardly suspect. Yes, this is a departure from the text, but certainly not the tradition that has evolved around Stoker's compelling title character. In all, this movie deserves kudos for taking on a rich and complex tradition rather than merely a novel. The fact that it manages to be beautiful and include so many quality performances is simply icing on the cake. The result is perhaps disjointed, but faithful in its goal.
|
