Rating: 
Summary: It's Okay
Review: I've read the vampire chronicles and I was a little upset with the way that this movie turned out. They changed a lot of things as far as the plot goes, and I can understand that because of how much content that they had to put into a movie. I don't, however, understand why they completely changed Lestat as a character. In the movie, Lestat is portrayed as being almost completely evil with a good side deep down. I think that in the book, it is the complete opposite. In the books, Lestat is portrayed as almost human. He feels guilt for his actions, and in the books, he mostly feeds on criminals and cutthroats. They sort of made that point in the movie, but I think that the only people who would have noticed that are the people that read the books. They could have made things more clear when they were making the movie. I think that this is a good movie, it's definately a favorite, but I try not to associate the books and the movie. That seems to help with my dissatisfaction in comparing them. I recommend the books to anyone who liked the movie, even though they are very different, you may like both!
Rating: 
Summary: Eye Candy Galore
Review: This film was fantastic! The choreography and musical scores couldn't have been more accurate to the themes. Aaliyah and Stuart Townsend are two of the most beautiful people I've ever seen on film. They absolutely entrance with their performances. The supporting actors are also superb. This movie, coupled with the earlier Interview With the Vampire, has gotten me reading the whole Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. This is truly a must see movie!!
Rating: 
Summary: There's just something about it...
Review: Sure, characters come out of nowhere now and then, leaving you wondering who they are and what they're supposed to do. Sure, the part with the Queen of the Damned herself feels very short, and she leaves just a little bit to be desired. And sure, it's all about the Underground and maybe more likely to appeal to that crowd. Put those things together, and you have a pretty mediocre movie, as far as I'm concerned. But there's something about it that just pulls you in......oh, right, I remember. It's because the whole thing is carried off with a mix of otherworldly drama and sexual tension (which, in a world of vampires, who don't have sex, is pretty damn cool). It's because this movie is sexy. As one friend put it, "I walked out of the theatre feeling as if I had just had an orgasm." I didn't go quite that far, but I can't deny this movie turned me on. It's the atmosphere that does that part, but the two leading characters (Lestat and Jesse) have a lot to do with that. Stuart Townsend as Lestat is undeniably sexy, and a great pick (far better than the wishy-washy Tom Cruise) for the role. It's the part that carries the film, and he does it VERY well. Jesse (can't remember the actress' name) is also good, playing the part of an innocent soul with a hidden past even she doesn't know, and courage that both contrasts and plays oddly well with her sweet face and quiet demeanor. Some of her lines feel a bit strained, but over all she's well done, and most importantly, she contributes to the atmosphere. It takes a special talent to make blood, death, and gothic rock into an incredibly sexy mix. I wouldn't have thought it could be done, but these people have pulled it off with style.
Rating: 
Summary: Pure Swill, Waste of Money, 0 stars
Review: This movie is the poorest movie i've ever seen, besides anything ed wood directed. but anyways, this movie was horrible, the lip syncing was hilariously made, you could tell that he lip synced every single time he sang in the movie. in fact the only parts that are worth watching are when jonathan davis does a cameo, and pretty much any part that involves the music (besides the concerts, they ...). the soundtrack was awesome though, buy the soundtrack, forget the movie. i found the quality funnier than almost anything i've ever seen. it's terrible, don't buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Delusions of grandeur - but what grandeur!!
Review: Whereas INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES (1994) was undoubtedly a grade-A blockbuster - helmed by a red-hot director (Neil Jordan) and toplined by two of contemporary Hollywood's most bankable stars (Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise) - QUEEN OF THE DAMNED (2002) has the look and feel of a B-movie with delusions of grandeur. But what grandeur! Combining elements from two of Anne Rice's celebrated Vampire Chronicles ('The Vampire Lestat' and 'Queen of the Damned'), the movie finds Lestat (Stuart Townsend, ABOUT ADAM) rising from his grave at the end of the 20th century, where he adopts the mantle of a rock star and 'reveals' his vampirism to a disbelieving world, thereby luring other vampires out of their hiding places to destroy Lestat for placing them at risk of discovery. But his revelations also attract the attentions of a secret society - the Talamasca - which has been chronicling the supernatural for centuries, and an inquisitive Talamascan agent (Marguerite Moreau) is both entranced and horrified by what she finds. And then there's the Queen of the Damned herself (Aaliyah), who believes Lestat may be a formidable ally in her plot to conquer the world... Spanning several centuries and filmed with appropriate Gothic flair, the movie is anchored by Townsend's ultra-sexy turn as anti-hero Lestat. Flamboyant without ever seeming camp, he strikes a more dynamic figure than Tom Cruise's foppish blade in the previous film, and it's all too appropriate that Townsend's vampire should locate himself within the modern music industry, with its outlandish characters and overzealous visual style (several of Lestat's music videos - inspired by German expressionist cinema of the 1920's - are reproduced in their entirety in the supplemental section of this DVD, and they're convincing down to the last detail). In fact, the entire movie forsakes the introsepctive melancholy of its highbrow predecessor and plays instead like a Gothic MTV fantasy, losing a degree of emotional resonance in the process. During an audio commentary with several key personnel, director Michael Rymer (IN TOO DEEP) points out some of the changes he was forced to make in adapting Rice's work for the screen, though predictably, he doesn't address the homoerotic undercurrent which forms a significant part of the author's literary style. Nevertheless, the script - written by Scott Abbott (INTRODUCING DOROTHY DANDRIDGE) and Michael Petroni (THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS) - actively celebrates the 'outsider' lifestyle (vampires, Goths, rock fans, members of secret societies, etc.) and tips a knowing wink to the initiated when Lestat exhorts his fellow vampires to: "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" As with the untimely death of River Phoenix during production of the first film, QUEEN OF THE DAMNED suffered a similar loss with the tragic death of co-star Aaliyah, a beautiful singer-actress who died in a plane crash shortly after completion of principal photography. Though her role is somewhat limited, she manages to steal some of Townsend's erotic thunder, and her final sequence includes one of the most visually stunning vampire disintegrations ever captured on film. Also starring Vincent Perez (THE CROW CITY OF ANGELS) and Lena Olin (ROMEO IS BLEEDING) in secondary roles. Photographed in widescreen Panavision, Warner Bros.' Region 1 DVD - which runs 101m 19s - is letterboxed at 2.35:1, anamorphically enhanced. A full-screen, pan-scan version is also available separately for those who like that sort of thing. As expected, picture quality is stunning, and the Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is both enveloping and thunderous. Despite the undoubted quality of the songs which dominate the film's soundtrack, Lestat's musical style may alienate a number of viewers, and while most of the tunes (co-written by Richard Gibbs and KoRn vocalist Jonathan Davis) encapsulate the spirit of Lestat's heartbroken worldview, their aggressive fatalism will date the movie pretty quickly. Aside from the aforementioned audio commentary, there's also a series of trailers and documentary extras, including an examination of the all-important music score, a delightful gag reel, and a couple of extended concert sequences featuring an ultra-convincing 'rock star' performance by Stuart Townsend (miming to vocals by Davis). On a more sombre note, there's also a tribute to Aaliyah, who appears to have been much-loved by those who knew her. Closed captions are also provided.
Rating:
Summary: No Anne Rice Feel
Review: If anyone has read any of my reviews they know I am a huge vampire movie fan. This movie is very fun to watch and has many cool aspects to it. The only problem I have with it is that it just doesn't have the same Anne Rice feel as did Interview With A Vampire. "The Vampire Chronicles" by Anne Rice have a certain feel about them. I didn't feel that Lestat was played to perfection or that the Queen could show exactly how powerful she was on screen. This is the only down side I can see to reading a book then seeing the movie afterword. Books always have more to work with and then leave it up to the imagination of the reader. If you haven't read the book this movie will be awesome to have in your collection. If you have read the book, and are a vampire movie freak like myself, then this movie would also need to be in your collection.
Rating:
Summary: Review of reviews reviewing reviewers reviews
Review: Can we even look at the movie? WOW such extremes of adulation and vituperation.
Some people (including many professional film critics, judging from the imdb links) found Queen incoherent, hard to follow, hard to understand.
Fuddie Duddies. Were they even paying attention? Its been decades since I read the books and my Korean girlfriend, who saw it with me, hadn't read them at all. We had no trouble following plot, text, or subtext. We were/are In Love. And this is a pretty keen love story.
Some people (many people; many Very Obsessive People) complained about the changes from the books.
So what? These novels weren't great works of art, they're potboilers. Maybe good, entertaining potboilers, but potboilers nonetheless.
Lestat "was blonde." No he wasn't. He was typeface on paper. In the movie he's brunette. OK. In the film of Crash, the Ballard's live in Toronto. OK. And Crash is SO much better literature than The Vampire Chronicles.
Want incoherence? Put in the story of the Twins, put in Magnus, put in all the other plot turns in the book and try to cut it down to a watchable film. (First person who says "They failed anyway" gets sent to the princple's office.)
Anne came close to real literature with Interview With a Vampire. The prose was dense and descriptive. Deeply sensual. A legacy of her writing soft core? Maybe, but that made it the only book of the series I really liked. (I gave up after Tale of the Body Thief.) From The Vampire Lestat on, there was less prose and more plot. Lots of Things Happen. One Damn Thing Right After Another. Not quite to the annoying level of Stephen King, but getting there. Literature isn't about plot. I could claim it is about character, ideas, music with words, many things; but certainly it is not about plot.
Ironically, this particular density, this excess of plot - which bothered me from the beginning of The Vampire Lestat, but which didn't prevent me from making it through two additional volumes, so it must have been at least an effective plot - is what made the movie so much more difficult to make than Interview.
So why was Interview so much more of a failure as a film? Probably (aside from the resolutely Ghastly Casting) because Jordan tried for too much.
Queen tried to be fun. It was fun. It made sense. It was perfectly coherent if you were paying attention. Maybe to Get the story you had to be In Love? You almost certainly had to be alienated. And if you aren't alienated in today's society, you aren't paying attention. Case closed.
It wasn't the books. It didn't have to be. It was fun.
(And it had WONDERFUL music. Which is probably why I liked it so much. Oh well.)
(Oh. And Marguerite was pretty hot. I didn't tell my girlfriend that.)
Rating:
Summary: Where's Tom Cruise?
Review: this was a great movie, great effects and acting. But the only thing missing was Tom Cruise. Lestat did not have brown hair like Stuart Townsend, he was supposed to have beautiful blonde hair. there were other things I found different but I still bought the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Awful Cut-up of a Beautiful Novel, Saved Only By The Music
Review: I am a fan of Anne Rices Vampire Chronicles by way of my mother. She introduced me to her when I was 17 and, instead of starting at the beginning, I started with QOTD. I REALLY loved this book, especially of the twins Maharet and Mekare and how they came to be as they are. It was so beautiful, haunting and sad that I couldn't help but love the book! That book alone interested me enough to voraciously read all the others in the series!(at the time, there was only Interview With The Vampire, The Vampire Lestat and The Tale Of The Body Thief) After seeing how beautifully haunting they made up Interview With The Vampire, I was very excited to hear they were making QOTD. I had been forewarned that it was not going to be as faithful to the novel and I accepted that because to tell it perfectly would be to make it into a 10 hour movie. Anne Rice so intricately weaves her characters and gives them flesh and depth to the point where you almost feel you know these people and you cannot help but feel their emotions because of it. Several people, including my mother, told me NOT to see it after they had seen it themselves, but I felt it my duty since a: I am a fan of Anne Rices and b: I am a fan of the late Aaliyahs music. I was appalled when I saw it..they massacred Annes' MASTERPIECE!!! The only thing that saved the movie , in my eyes, was the wonderful music by Jonathan Davis(KORN), the song at the end by The Kidneythieves "Before I'm Dead" and the beautiful costumes..... most especially on Aaliyah . So, if you are wanting a faithful rendition, skip this movie, but if you want a 2 hour music video with dialogue..then this is it!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Vampire Movie Yet
Review: This is one of the best films I've ever seen yet! It's so cool to finally see a movie without the stereotypes of slaying vampires, throwing holy water at them making them explode, or making crosses just so they won't mess with you! This movie is a very sexy, gothic kind of movie. The story line is terrific! and the DVD is awesome! The only thing is since that was Aaliyahs last movie, they could have shown more of her, that and her also being one of the main characters. Other than that, Excellent!
|
