Rating: 
Summary: A "Damned" Disappointment
Review: Fans of the book, will be disappointed with this big screen version in the third of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. This had the potential of being a really good movie, but goes down underground faster than a vampire at daybreak. My biggest complainant was the non-existence of the "Redhaired Twins" storyline and the tie in with "The Great Family." It was such an important part of the book, that here gets no screen mention at all. Akasha's death scene in the end is therefore anti-climatic for me and boring. Also you never get a strong sense in the movie of what Akasha's mission is for earth, which she makes a very strong arguement for in the book. While The DVD does pack a few nice extras- A tribute to Aaliyah, behind the scenes, the making of the music for the film (Lestat's band). The "Unseeen" (deleted senes) offer a little more plot line, it is still not enough for any real fan to sink their teeth into. Aaliyah rocks in her screen debut as Akasha, It is sad because she did have great potentail as an actress that we will never see again. Stuart Towsend does a worthy job as Lestat. Hopefully with the next big screen project of an Anne Rice book, Anne will have more creative control.
Rating: 
Summary: How Come there is no zero star choice???
Review: I tried to watch this movie with an open mine. But after the first 10 minutes the only thing that came to mind was "What the H@ll". I am a mainstream teenage american for whom this "film", if i dare call it that, was made and i really didn't like it. The first thing you really notice is that the whole movie should have been on MTV. The movie didn't have a plot what so ever. They could have atleast made on up for gods sake. Why cut out character who were important to only have them in for one minute of the film??? The casting was terrible. Over all it was just a bad movie. Don't waste you time unless you like to self inflict pain towards oneself.
Rating:
Summary: NOT A MOVIE BUT A 100 MINUTE MUSIC VIDEO
Review: If you want to watch a movie don't bother. If your idea of entertainment is watching music videos then this is for you. No plot, no dialog worth mentioning this poor excuse for a movie is merely a collection of quick edits set to loud music, ie. a standard formular music video. Completely dumbed down for the video generation it is possibly the worst piece of trash ever to be called a 'movie'. I noticed most of the reviewers who liked it mentioned 'hot' looking actors. I hate to clue you in kiddies but that's not acting. The one good thing about the DVD (thank god I didn't pay to see this garbage in a theatre) is that you can fast forward through the boring parts. Unfortunately that leaves just the credits to watch. If you want to see a good vampire movie but must have a loud rock and roll sound track to enjoy it, I suggest you revisit the Lost Boys.
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the worst book to movie adaptation ever
Review: This movie is....an abomination. Queen of the Damned is my favorite book of the series. I was greatly anticipating this film until I read about creative conflicts between the movie makers and Anne Rice. That prevented me from shelling out [some money] to see it in the theater. I still reserved some hope that it would be worth a rental. Boy, was I wrong. An insult to anyone who has read and even remotely cared for Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. I can see why she distanced herself from the project almost from the very beginning. I wish I had distanced myself from renting this steaming pile! At least I wasn't fool enough to buy it! Oh where to begin.... My biggest gripe is that Marius, my favorite character, is portrayed by some gimpy balding guy with brown/black hair. My impression of Marius in the novels was a rather large man with long blond hair. That is just one of many casting flubs. I understand the need to make certain changes to a book in order to get it to the big screen, but some of what was done to this great story is simply unforgiveable. They omit vital characters, such as Louis. Other characters are there, but aren't introduced or given any part in the tale other than to stand around looking wise and then to die at the hands of Akasha in the incredibly cheesy final battle. Marius as Lestat's creator?? Did they read the books? There is much more to complain about but I see there are already 300+ reviews saying pretty much the same thing as me so you get the idea. The movie is terrible. I pray to all that is holy that someone competent buys or has already bought the rights to Blood and Gold.
Rating: 
Summary: It rocked!
Review: Contrary to what people say, this was a really entertaining movie! Stuart Townsend was sexy as Lestat and Aaliyah looked beautiful as the Queen. And, yes i have read the Vampire Chronicles, and while it clearly did not stick to the books, it created a new storyline, and it was amusing. While I would have liked Louis to have actually been in the movie, it was still good. The DVD was packed with extras, like the 3 "Lestat" videos, bloopers reel, interviews with cast and crew, and more.
Rating: 
Summary: Give it a chance...
Review: Okay, first of all, I rather enjoyed this movie without reading the book first. To me, it was a good story if you had nothing to compare it to. After I read the book, I did think that there were a few things that could've been in the movie. Of course, when I see a movie I really enjoy, I have to make a big deal out of it and do my research. If you want your explanations as to why some things were done the way they were done, take a peek at the "QotD" Warner Bros. website ... When I reviewed what the producer had to say, it made more sense to me. If they had used everything out of the book exactly the way it was, the movie would've been as long (and maybe even boring) as "The Lord of the Rings". Some of you may say to yourselves 'So? I'm a die-hard Anne Rice fan. I wouldn't be bored!', but that's not how Hollywood thinks. They want to please EVERYONE. I also want to mention that the movie is BASED on the book. Which means, Hollywood took the story and characters from the book and basically made a story of their own. I've also seen a lot of people say that Tom Cruise was a better Lestat that Stuart Townsend could ever be. You guys have to remember that in "IwtV", the story was being told by Louis, not Lestat. The story was in his point-of-view and Louis thought that was the way Lestat acted, so that's how Tom Cruise acted. Stuart Townsend had to play a whole different character. He really played Lestat in first-person-point-of-view. Even if you still think Stuart Townsend did an awful job, remember that he did what the director told him to. It wasn't his choice to act that way. Also, the accent thing isn't entirely that bad. If you just get into the movie and stop paying attention to the smallest details, you won't mind the Irish sound of it. Although, I thought Stuart Townsend did a superb job protraying Lestat as a sexy rockstar. On the subject of Aaliyah, even if she wasn't the right skin-tone (which doesn't entirely matter), I thought her performance was amazing. The basic story tells of The Vamire Lestat (Townsend) awaking from over 200 years of sleep to find the world he left changed. Rockstars, or gods as he calls them, had taken over the world and he believes if he becomes one, he can "live in the light". And low and behold, he becomes a "god" managing to enrage the entire vampiric world along with awaking Akasha (Aaliyah), The Queen of the Damned. Akasha wants Lestat as her king so she can bring hell to all of the earth and Lestat has a VERY big descision to make. Will he submit the earth to Akasha, or help the ancients kill Akasha and protect the mortal ancestry? It can be a movie most people would either hate or love, so before you go and buy it, I would suggest renting it first. If you do decide to buy the movie, I recommend getting the DVD as it has tons of extra features (such as Lestat's music videos). All in all, I really did think this movie was an excellent addition to my collection. I also will tell you to check out the soundtrack. Great music.
Rating:
Summary: Stuart Townsend IS Lestat!
Review: This will be a little long but hopefully will help people make an educated choice as to whether this film will be one they will enjoy. The first thing to understand is that the movie combined both books two and three of Anne Rice's vampire chronicles "The Vampire Lestat" and "Queen of the Damned". This means that the moviemakers did not attempt to capture every little nuance of the novels. Realistically, they rarely do...What the filmmakers have done here is plucked out the intent of the stories, the part that would appeal to the mass audience. It shows Lestat as the irrepressible vampire that he is, doing as he pleases without concern for the consequences. In order to tie the story together the filmmakers used a little artistic license... The intent of the story remains intact. Lastly, the filmmakers have taken some artistic license with the other characters. They eliminated the character Maharet's mad sister. They do not actually tell you in the movie the names of the vampires that band against Akasha, Queen of the Damned, other than Maharet and Marius. The decision to de-emphasize the ancient vampires was a good idea because their own stories are irrelevant to this movie. It doesn't affect the outcome of the story. They destroy Akasha less brutally than in the book but again, the outcome is basically the same. Then there is the character of Jesse, Maharet's human descendant. Jesse becomes Lestat's love interest in the movie whereas in the book she ended up with a broken neck at the rock concert and Maharet is the one who turns her into a vampire. This piece of artistic license is an interesting twist and works quite well. Lestat in Anne Rice's novels does have a tendency to become enamoured of an individual for a variety of reasons and the way they weave Jesse into this slightly different role for the movie is not out of keeping with the characters. One last thing people may find criticism in is the filmmakers did not attempt to make Stuart Townsend a blonde for his role as Lestat. It doesn't matter. Townsend BECOMES Lestat for this film and it beats the heck out of the horrible dye job they did on Tom Cruise. Townsend has the delicate, aristocratic features Lestat is supposed to have and emanates the raw physical attractiveness that the "Brat Prince" Lestat is supposed to possess. I would personally love to see him play Lestat opposite Brad Pitt as Louis. He is the first actor in a long time I've seen that could hold his own next to Pitt. Having established what somebody who has read Anne Rice's books may notice or even find to be a shortcoming, let me address the film itself. The story is about the vampire Lestat who decides to become a rock star to stir up the world of the vampires. In the process he awakens Akasha, the "Mother" of all vampires who has been in a trance-like state for centuries. Akasha comes for Lestat, saving him from the angry vampires and it quickly becomes apparent she is completely insane. It is then up to the ancient vampires that know of her existence to destroy her. The actors are wonderful. Aaliyah plays the queen to perfection, evil and immoral. Stuart Townsend IS Lestat in this movie, bold, beautiful and constantly at odds with everything. The movie does the seemingly impossible. It weaves two of Anne Rice's wonderful books together into one visually spectacular piece. The songs written specifically for the soundtrack are exactly what one would imagine Lestat would write, raging against everything while giving away the vampire's deepest secrets. Overall, if you like vampire movies you're going to love this one. If you're an Anne Rice fan with an open mind for some artistic license you should love the film as well. It doesn't follow her books EXACTLY like "Interview With the Vampire" did but the end result is wonderful. While Tom Cruise did a surprisingly good job as Lestat in "Interview" Stuart Townsend BECAME Lestat for "Queen of the Damned". As a writer myself I understand that rarely if ever does an author have any input on a film once the screenplay is sold. If I were Anne Rice, I would be very happy with the way they treated my characters and brought them to life.
Rating: 
Summary: Good movie, bad adaptation
Review: Let me first start out with saying that this was a good movie for a vampire film based in the modern age. it had pounding music, gothic chicks and guys, and a haunting theme. Now as for being true to the book(s)? Hardly! For one the title of the movie is Queen Of The Damned but, in truth it smashes (and badly) two books into one short movie. The whole history part about Lestate is horrible wrong.. marius did not create Lestat. In fact Lestats creator burned himself do death in front of Lestat. Marius though was the keeper of the mom and dad.. Going even further.. what is this jesse part? In the book if memory recalls there is a short chapter in which Jesse ,a red haired girl, goes up in flames as one of the first victims of the Queen.. She was not in love with Lestat. And as for the DVD.. it was chock full of excellent extra footage but, it was also a source of distress on my part when I noticed that some of the deleted scenes where about the elders.. Which play a large part in the books.. along with the Twins.. (Read the book if you have no idea who they are). In the end I give the movie a C.. I would have given it higher if they would have chose to stick to one of the books and stayed more true to the story line.
Rating:
Summary: How to start?
Review: I think I may be one of the dozen people who watched this movie more than once. And, I think, that was the key to liking it for what it was. No, it's definitely not the book, but those who walk into ANY movie adapted from a book is usually going to be sorely disappointed, especially a book as rich as this. Or should I say two books? Hm. But I'm willing to defend it. I agree it's not much; I found myself skipping the more painful scenes after the first view-through. But there's something charming about how Stuart Townsend played Lestat, something in the eyes (which, I agree should have had a different eyeshadow around them), especially when it's just him acting. Something caught me about the movie, about Lestat, though I know better. It was how he finally got to live with someone, no matter who Hollywood chose for his partner. So, give it a try. At the worst, you only lose a couple bucks.
Rating:
Summary: pretty good book HORRIBLE movie
Review: ok, the queen of the damned... the book was really good, and it would have made a very decent movie(if it would have followed closer to the book)and had different actors. I have never understood making a sequel to a movie - or continuing a book series- and not using the same characters that were in the 1st part of the series. and this time its no different. the people and the actors that were in interveiw with the vampire should have also done queen of the damned. The movie would have probably turned out much better... and tom cruise makes a much better lestat than townsend does. Louis, and armand are also in the book, and they were also included in the movie, but they werent even there enough to be acknowledged. People wouldnt even have know that armand and louis were in the movie if they werent a diehard fan of the books also. They played a major role in the plot of the book that in my opinion should have been kept and adapted to the movie. However there are 2 scenes in the movie that i thought were very good, and that was the scene of akasha and lestat in the tub with all the rose petals, and the ending. Neither one are a part of the book, something similar happens in the book, but i think it was adapted rather well... the one thing they left out of the movie was the situation with the "twins" it was a good part of the book, that should have been pursued in the movie.. I overall am not a big fan of the movie... I think that it could have been done alot better. However i must say that i have seen the DVD and if you are a fan of the movie then you should definatly own the dvd... there are alot of extra features on it. that would be worth the time and money if your a big fan of the movie...
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