Michaela Bercu
Average customer rating:
- Lush and decadent!
- 95% Excellence; 5% Missed Opportunities
- extremely good movie with a few minor flaws
- Fact, Fiction and My Inspiration!
- Come on you bunch of Siskels!
|
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Starring: Gary Oldman , Winona Ryder , Anthony Hopkins , Keanu Reeves , and Richard E. Grant
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
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| Drama
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General
| Horror
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Vampires
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Erotic
| By Theme
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Gothic
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| ( C )
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Elwes, Cary
| ( E )
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| ( F )
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| ( G )
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| ( H )
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| ( O )
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Similar Items:
- Interview with the Vampire
- Queen of the Damned (Widescreen Edition)
- Devil's Advocate
- Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
- The Lost Boys
ASIN: 0800177177
Release Date: 1997-10-07 |
Amazon.com
With dizzying cinematic tricks and astonishing performances, Francis Coppola's 1992 version of the oft-filmed Dracula story is one of the most exuberant, extravagant films of the 1990s. Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, as the Count and Mina Murray, are quite a pair of star-crossed lovers. She's betrothed to another man; he can't kick the habit of feeding off the living. Anthony Hopkins plays Van Helsing, the vampire slayer, with tongue firmly in cheek. Tom Waits is great fun as Renfield, the hapless slave of Dracula who craves the blood of insects and cats. Sadie Frost is a sexy Lucy Westenra. And poor Keanu Reeves, as Jonathan Harker, has the misfortune to be seduced by Dracula's three half-naked wives. There's a little bit of everything in this version of Dracula: gore, high-speed horseback chases, passion, and longing.
Customer Reviews:
Lush and decadent!.......2007-06-02
Purists might hate this version of Dracula for the liberties it takes but I loved it. Gary Oldman's performance as Dracula was simply amazing...he brings romance to the role, a dark knight who is depicted more as a victim of fate than a true evil creature, and his love for Mina [whom he feels is the reincarnation of his long-dead wife] is altogether real and credible. Anthony Hopkins brings a certain level of zealousness to the role of Van Helsing, but I can't say Iwas very impressed by Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder's performances. Firstly there was no chemistry between them though they were supposed to be engaged, and similarly Winona's Mina seemed like a cold fish to me, especially in her love scenes with the Count [the actress who played Lucy on the other hand was pretty scintillating].But despite some of the flawed performances, the movie on the whole was beautifully filmed. The cinematography was lush and evoked decadent images, especially the seduction scenes, in particular Keanu's seduction by the three wives of Dracula, and also Lucy's seduction and attack by Dracula. The costumes are sumptuous to look at. The use of the color red throughout the movie [Lucy's dress, the scene where Dracula stalks Mina] is vivid and reminds us of the lust for blood. The score is haunting and serves to keep viewers' at the edge of their seats as the story unfolds. Overall, this is one of the best contemporary adaptations of Dracula, and a classic.
95% Excellence; 5% Missed Opportunities.......2007-05-15
The most grandiose retelling of the legendary story, and one that casts one of the world's most famous tales of horror as a love story (although certainly a very dark love story), this 1992 version of Dracula features Gary Oldman turning in probably the greatest portrayal of the Count ever.
Everything in this huge, haunting tale centers around the love story between Dracula (tied in much closer here than in most depictions to his supposed real-life counterpart, Vlad The Impaler) and Mina, the reincarnation of his centuries-ago love, Elisabeta. Beginning with the origin of Dracula's vampirism following Elisabeta's death, the story then flashes forward to late-1800s Transylvania and Johnathan Harker's famous trip to the Count's ancient castle. Having dwelled in and terrorized Transylvania for centuries now, the Prince Of Darkness comes by chance upon Harker's locket, in which is a small picture of Mina, the exact image of Dracula's deceased wife. The passion reawakened in the lord of the vampires, he journeys to London and confirms that Mina and Elisabeta are one and the same. From there the vampire Dracula preys on inhabitants of the city even as the mortal and emotional side of the beast is reawakened by re-discovery of his true love.
On a technical scale, "Bram Stoker's Dracula" is brilliant, with masterful cinematography, an outstanding dark score by Wojciech Kilar, chilling shadow imagery and extraordinary special effects. The romantic angle is also a total success. Where the movie does run into some trouble is here: despite the intensified focus on Dracula and Mina, the Dracula tale is still very much an ensemble piece, and some of the other characters just aren't captured as well as I wished they had been in a movie that was otherwise so great. It's not the performances per se, it's just that things didn't come together for some of the other characters. Dr. Van Helsing (although very well played by the always impressive Anthony Hopkins) comes off cold, arrogant, and curiously unconcerned for the people he's supposedly trying to protect - a far cry from the compassionate, courageous and emminently likable versions of the doctor seen in movies like "Horror Of Dracula" (with Peter Cushing as Van Helsing). I think that they may have been thinking that in presenting some sympathetic aspects to the otherwise evil Dracula, they had to counterbalance it by 'darkening' Van Helsing a bit. I don't think it really worked. Add to this a somewhat wishy-washy Harker and a Mina who wasn't nearly as developed as her pivotal role would have seemed to dictate, and it detracts a bit from the whole. The 'lesser' players - Lucy, her three suitors, and the insane Renfield, were all better done in my opinion. Dracula himself is done to perfection. In spite of the occasional problems with some of the characters, "Bram Stoker's Dracula" keeps coming on strong all the way through - until, tragically, the last five minutes or so. With a kind of anti-climatic (though far from terrible) ending to what was a vibrant and dramatic movie, plus the difficulties with some of the characters, we're left with a great show but one that fell a bit short of the mark it could have hit.
Still highly recommended; the weaker parts wouldn't have been so noticeable if 95% of the movie wasn't so awesome. A very, very good version of the Dracula tale despite a few chinks in the armor.
extremely good movie with a few minor flaws.......2007-05-15
A good film that for me sums up alot of what was good about early 1990s cinema. Oldman as dracula, Hopkins as van hellsing, Richard E Grant as Dr Seward, Carey Elwes as Arthur Holmwood and country legend Tom Waits as renfield make this film an extremely well acted peice. It is an alternative take on the book, much like the last temptation of christ was a different take on the life of christ. The bones of the story are there but some characters are more realistic and different. Van helsing is a pompus , lecherous alchoholic with a good heart, Seward is addicted to morphine and dracula was actually a victim of life but nevertheless a creature of darkness.
This movies best feature was that it showed vampires in an extremely unique and interesting way, they are not just normal guys with fangs and charisma like in the christopher lee draculas, but are powerfull creatures of the night, capable of flight, shape changing, mind manipulation and telekinesis. all together a fantastic romp.
Fact, Fiction and My Inspiration!.......2007-05-11
1462, Transylvania, Vlad the Impaler leaves his wife to fight the Turks. Out of malice, The Turks send her a letter telling her that her husband is dead. She is so distraught over his death and terrified at being captured that she throws herself from the castle turrets. When Vlad returns, he is told that his wife may not enter the Kingdom of Heaven as she has killed herself, which is a mortal sin. Vlad immediately renounces God and then he himself is condemned.
400 years later, Jonathon Harker leaves London and his fiancée Mina to travel to Transylvania. He has been assigned to help Count Dracula acquire property in England. Jonathon may never return...
This film, despite its flaws, will always hold a place in my heart as it inspired me to write my novel, Vrolok. I have always loved horror movies so when I heard that Francis Ford Coppola was making a new Dracula film, I could not wait to see it. I remember eagerly anticipating the announcement of who was to play Dracula, and when I found out that it was Gary Oldman, I was not happy! The only thing I had seen him in was JFK, and I was not very impressed (I was too young to have appreciated Sid and Nancy). However, I still decided it was worth going to the cinema to see the movie as Keanu Reeves, Cary Elwes and Bill Campbell were also in it. From the moment Gary Oldman appears on screen, he captivates his audience. His performance is camp, overdone, and at times preposterous, yet it is still somehow seductive, mesmerizing, and sublime. (Bram Stoker would have been proud!). He even utters the line "The children of the night. What sweet music they make" with a thick Romanian accent and gets away with it. I saw this film when I was fifteen and was immediately converted into a life long Gary Oldman fan.
As previously stated, and despite Oldman's performance, the film does have its flaws. Keanu Reeves is about as wooden as a stake and the rest of the cast seem to, just like Gary Oldman, overdo the accents and this is a strategy that doesn't quite work for the rest of the cast. In addition, Sadie Frost and Wynona Ryder running around in the rain in see-through outfits is clichéd and slightly annoying (I am sure most boys who see this film love that bit). Apart from Oldman's performance, there is one other thing that has to be commended - the soundtrack - both Wojciech Kilar's score and Annie Lennox's theme are dark, chilling, and poignant.
All in all a great movie - it inspired me to write a book that may or may not make me a million but will always be something that I am proud to have completed.
Come on you bunch of Siskels!.......2007-04-11
Ok you bunch of no taste bums! lol! First, the only word I could have ever associated with Dracula before I watched this movie was TACKY. The big capes, the really bad accents and the bats on a string, were all so overtly horrid, I could never bear to watch those movies. This movie was a dark love story with superb special effects and a truly superior performance by Gary Oldman as Dracula. I swear, I think that man can be anyone! I grant you, Keanu did have a poor grasp of the Brittish accent and Winona struggled a bit in the passion area, but their performances were above adequate and Winona was a perfect straight man to Oldman's lavish Dracula performance. Anyone who could insinuate that Anthony hopkins was even capable of a bad performance, should be strung up in the town square and tickled mercilessly until unconscious! lol!!
All the world is a critic and for my money, as long as I enjoyed a movie, the whys and wherefores aren't really that important. Maybe this kind of movie is not your cup of tea. If not, don't ruin it for the rest of us by your crude and mellow dramatic reviews. Take my advice, buy this movie! If you want to see the real love story behind the Dracula myth, without all the "bluck bluck, I come to bite your neck" stuff, then this movie is for you. If you want "Blade" in the 1800's, this is probably not for you.
Average customer rating:
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Bram Stoker's Dracula (Superbit Collection) [Region 99]
Starring: Gary Oldman , Winona Ryder , Anthony Hopkins , Keanu Reeves , and Richard E. Grant
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
General
| Horror
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Vampires
| Things That Go Bump
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Erotic
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| ( C )
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| ( E )
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Frost, Sadie
| ( F )
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Grant, Richard E
| ( G )
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Hopkins, Anthony
| ( H )
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Oldman, Gary
| ( O )
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| ( R )
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| ( R )
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| ( R )
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Similar Items:
- Interview with the Vampire
- Queen of the Damned (Widescreen Edition)
- Devil's Advocate
- Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
- The Lost Boys
ASIN: B00005R23X
Release Date: 2001-12-11 |
Amazon.com essential video
With dizzying cinematic tricks and astonishing performances, Francis Coppola's 1992 version of the oft-filmed Dracula story is one of the most exuberant, extravagant films of the 1990s. Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, as the Count and Mina Murray, are quite a pair of star-crossed lovers. She's betrothed to another man; he can't kick the habit of feeding off the living. Anthony Hopkins plays Van Helsing, the vampire slayer, with tongue firmly in cheek. Tom Waits is great fun as Renfield, the hapless slave of Dracula who craves the blood of insects and cats. Sadie Frost is a sexy Lucy Westenra. And poor Keanu Reeves, as Jonathan Harker, has the misfortune to be seduced by Dracula's three half-naked wives. There's a little bit of everything in this version of Dracula: gore, high-speed horseback chases, passion, and longing.
Description
The Superbit titles utilize a special high bit rate digital encoding process which optimizes video quality while offering a choice of both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. These titles have been produced by a team of Sony Pictures Digital Studios video, sound and mastering engineers and comes housed in a special package complete with a 4 page booklet that contains technical information on the Superbit process. By reallocating space on the disc normally used for value-added content, Superbit DVDs can be encoded at double their normal bit rate while maintaining full compatibility with the DVD video format.
Average customer rating:
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Bram Stoker's Dracula
Starring: Gary Oldman , Winona Ryder , Anthony Hopkins , Keanu Reeves , and Richard E. Grant
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: Video
Binding: VHS Tape
Campbell, Bill
| ( C )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
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Elwes, Cary
| ( E )
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Frost, Sadie
| ( F )
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Grant, Richard E
| ( G )
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Hopkins, Anthony
| ( H )
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Oldman, Gary
| ( O )
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Reeves, Keanu
| ( R )
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Robinson, Jay
| ( R )
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Ryder, Winona
| ( R )
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Waits, Tom
| ( W )
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Similar Items:
- Interview with the Vampire
- Queen of the Damned (Widescreen Edition)
- Devil's Advocate
- Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
- The Lost Boys
ASIN: 6302759110
Release Date: 1999-08-31 |
Amazon.com essential video
With dizzying cinematic tricks and astonishing performances, Francis Coppola's 1992 version of the oft-filmed Dracula story is one of the most exuberant, extravagant films of the 1990s. Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, as the Count and Mina Murray, are quite a pair of star-crossed lovers. She's betrothed to another man; he can't kick the habit of feeding off the living. Anthony Hopkins plays Van Helsing, the vampire slayer, with tongue firmly in cheek. Tom Waits is great fun as Renfield, the hapless slave of Dracula who craves the blood of insects and cats. Sadie Frost is a sexy Lucy Westenra. And poor Keanu Reeves, as Jonathan Harker, has the misfortune to be seduced by Dracula's three half-naked wives. There's a little bit of everything in this version of Dracula: gore, high-speed horseback chases, passion, and longing.
Average customer rating:
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Bram Stoker's Dracula/Mary Shelly's Frankenstein [Region 99]
Starring: Monica Bellucci , Michaela Bercu , Octavian Cadia , Bill Campbell , and Cary Elwes
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
General
| Horror
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General
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Campbell, Bill
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Elwes, Cary
| ( E )
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Frost, Sadie
| ( F )
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Grant, Richard E
| ( G )
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Hopkins, Anthony
| ( H )
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Oldman, Gary
| ( O )
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Reeves, Keanu
| ( R )
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Robinson, Jay
| ( R )
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| ( R )
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Waits, Tom
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ASIN: B0002IQNHY
Release Date: 2004-09-28 |
Average customer rating:
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Bram Stoker's Dracula/Mary Shelly's Frankenstein
Starring: Monica Bellucci , Michaela Bercu , Octavian Cadia , Bill Campbell , and Cary Elwes
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
General
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Campbell, Bill
| ( C )
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Elwes, Cary
| ( E )
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Frost, Sadie
| ( F )
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Grant, Richard E
| ( G )
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Hopkins, Anthony
| ( H )
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Oldman, Gary
| ( O )
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| ( R )
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| ( R )
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| ( R )
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ASIN: B0002IQNI8
Release Date: 2004-07-20 |
Average customer rating:
- Lush and decadent!
- 95% Excellence; 5% Missed Opportunities
- extremely good movie with a few minor flaws
- Fact, Fiction and My Inspiration!
- Come on you bunch of Siskels!
|
Bram Stoker's Dracula (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Gary Oldman , Winona Ryder , Anthony Hopkins , Keanu Reeves , and Richard E. Grant
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: Video
Binding: VHS Tape
Campbell, Bill
| ( C )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
| Video
Elwes, Cary
| ( E )
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| VHS
| Video
Frost, Sadie
| ( F )
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| VHS
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Grant, Richard E
| ( G )
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Hopkins, Anthony
| ( H )
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| ( O )
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Reeves, Keanu
| ( R )
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Robinson, Jay
| ( R )
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Ryder, Winona
| ( R )
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| ( W )
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| ( C )
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Similar Items:
- Interview with the Vampire
- Queen of the Damned (Widescreen Edition)
- Devil's Advocate
- Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
- The Lost Boys
ASIN: 0800137884
Release Date: 1997-06-06 |
Amazon.com essential video
Francis Ford Coppola returns to Stoker's novel for this umpteenth take of the Transylvanian bloodsucker. Gary Oldman plays the vampire, Dracula, doomed to be a creature of the night after forsaking God but aroused by the image of a British woman (Winona Ryder) who resembles his own lost love. Oldman does well by the monster, even if he doesn't register much personality in the process, and Anthony Hopkins is a little overachieving as the vampire killer Van Helsing. The rest of the cast is serviceable, except Keanu Reeves, who--not atypically--is wooden and somehow empty. Coppola seems to approach the film as chunks of experimental opportunity, some of which work out all right while others are mannered or even foolish. What is undeniable is the tremendous buzz of the film's energy, particularly in a fantastic middle sequence that plays like a psychedelic nightmare. The DVD release has optional full-screen and widescreen formats, optional French and Spanish soundtracks, and optional Spanish and Korean subtitles. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews:
Lush and decadent!.......2007-06-02
Purists might hate this version of Dracula for the liberties it takes but I loved it. Gary Oldman's performance as Dracula was simply amazing...he brings romance to the role, a dark knight who is depicted more as a victim of fate than a true evil creature, and his love for Mina [whom he feels is the reincarnation of his long-dead wife] is altogether real and credible. Anthony Hopkins brings a certain level of zealousness to the role of Van Helsing, but I can't say Iwas very impressed by Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder's performances. Firstly there was no chemistry between them though they were supposed to be engaged, and similarly Winona's Mina seemed like a cold fish to me, especially in her love scenes with the Count [the actress who played Lucy on the other hand was pretty scintillating].But despite some of the flawed performances, the movie on the whole was beautifully filmed. The cinematography was lush and evoked decadent images, especially the seduction scenes, in particular Keanu's seduction by the three wives of Dracula, and also Lucy's seduction and attack by Dracula. The costumes are sumptuous to look at. The use of the color red throughout the movie [Lucy's dress, the scene where Dracula stalks Mina] is vivid and reminds us of the lust for blood. The score is haunting and serves to keep viewers' at the edge of their seats as the story unfolds. Overall, this is one of the best contemporary adaptations of Dracula, and a classic.
95% Excellence; 5% Missed Opportunities.......2007-05-15
The most grandiose retelling of the legendary story, and one that casts one of the world's most famous tales of horror as a love story (although certainly a very dark love story), this 1992 version of Dracula features Gary Oldman turning in probably the greatest portrayal of the Count ever.
Everything in this huge, haunting tale centers around the love story between Dracula (tied in much closer here than in most depictions to his supposed real-life counterpart, Vlad The Impaler) and Mina, the reincarnation of his centuries-ago love, Elisabeta. Beginning with the origin of Dracula's vampirism following Elisabeta's death, the story then flashes forward to late-1800s Transylvania and Johnathan Harker's famous trip to the Count's ancient castle. Having dwelled in and terrorized Transylvania for centuries now, the Prince Of Darkness comes by chance upon Harker's locket, in which is a small picture of Mina, the exact image of Dracula's deceased wife. The passion reawakened in the lord of the vampires, he journeys to London and confirms that Mina and Elisabeta are one and the same. From there the vampire Dracula preys on inhabitants of the city even as the mortal and emotional side of the beast is reawakened by re-discovery of his true love.
On a technical scale, "Bram Stoker's Dracula" is brilliant, with masterful cinematography, an outstanding dark score by Wojciech Kilar, chilling shadow imagery and extraordinary special effects. The romantic angle is also a total success. Where the movie does run into some trouble is here: despite the intensified focus on Dracula and Mina, the Dracula tale is still very much an ensemble piece, and some of the other characters just aren't captured as well as I wished they had been in a movie that was otherwise so great. It's not the performances per se, it's just that things didn't come together for some of the other characters. Dr. Van Helsing (although very well played by the always impressive Anthony Hopkins) comes off cold, arrogant, and curiously unconcerned for the people he's supposedly trying to protect - a far cry from the compassionate, courageous and emminently likable versions of the doctor seen in movies like "Horror Of Dracula" (with Peter Cushing as Van Helsing). I think that they may have been thinking that in presenting some sympathetic aspects to the otherwise evil Dracula, they had to counterbalance it by 'darkening' Van Helsing a bit. I don't think it really worked. Add to this a somewhat wishy-washy Harker and a Mina who wasn't nearly as developed as her pivotal role would have seemed to dictate, and it detracts a bit from the whole. The 'lesser' players - Lucy, her three suitors, and the insane Renfield, were all better done in my opinion. Dracula himself is done to perfection. In spite of the occasional problems with some of the characters, "Bram Stoker's Dracula" keeps coming on strong all the way through - until, tragically, the last five minutes or so. With a kind of anti-climatic (though far from terrible) ending to what was a vibrant and dramatic movie, plus the difficulties with some of the characters, we're left with a great show but one that fell a bit short of the mark it could have hit.
Still highly recommended; the weaker parts wouldn't have been so noticeable if 95% of the movie wasn't so awesome. A very, very good version of the Dracula tale despite a few chinks in the armor.
extremely good movie with a few minor flaws.......2007-05-15
A good film that for me sums up alot of what was good about early 1990s cinema. Oldman as dracula, Hopkins as van hellsing, Richard E Grant as Dr Seward, Carey Elwes as Arthur Holmwood and country legend Tom Waits as renfield make this film an extremely well acted peice. It is an alternative take on the book, much like the last temptation of christ was a different take on the life of christ. The bones of the story are there but some characters are more realistic and different. Van helsing is a pompus , lecherous alchoholic with a good heart, Seward is addicted to morphine and dracula was actually a victim of life but nevertheless a creature of darkness.
This movies best feature was that it showed vampires in an extremely unique and interesting way, they are not just normal guys with fangs and charisma like in the christopher lee draculas, but are powerfull creatures of the night, capable of flight, shape changing, mind manipulation and telekinesis. all together a fantastic romp.
Fact, Fiction and My Inspiration!.......2007-05-11
1462, Transylvania, Vlad the Impaler leaves his wife to fight the Turks. Out of malice, The Turks send her a letter telling her that her husband is dead. She is so distraught over his death and terrified at being captured that she throws herself from the castle turrets. When Vlad returns, he is told that his wife may not enter the Kingdom of Heaven as she has killed herself, which is a mortal sin. Vlad immediately renounces God and then he himself is condemned.
400 years later, Jonathon Harker leaves London and his fiancée Mina to travel to Transylvania. He has been assigned to help Count Dracula acquire property in England. Jonathon may never return...
This film, despite its flaws, will always hold a place in my heart as it inspired me to write my novel, Vrolok. I have always loved horror movies so when I heard that Francis Ford Coppola was making a new Dracula film, I could not wait to see it. I remember eagerly anticipating the announcement of who was to play Dracula, and when I found out that it was Gary Oldman, I was not happy! The only thing I had seen him in was JFK, and I was not very impressed (I was too young to have appreciated Sid and Nancy). However, I still decided it was worth going to the cinema to see the movie as Keanu Reeves, Cary Elwes and Bill Campbell were also in it. From the moment Gary Oldman appears on screen, he captivates his audience. His performance is camp, overdone, and at times preposterous, yet it is still somehow seductive, mesmerizing, and sublime. (Bram Stoker would have been proud!). He even utters the line "The children of the night. What sweet music they make" with a thick Romanian accent and gets away with it. I saw this film when I was fifteen and was immediately converted into a life long Gary Oldman fan.
As previously stated, and despite Oldman's performance, the film does have its flaws. Keanu Reeves is about as wooden as a stake and the rest of the cast seem to, just like Gary Oldman, overdo the accents and this is a strategy that doesn't quite work for the rest of the cast. In addition, Sadie Frost and Wynona Ryder running around in the rain in see-through outfits is clichéd and slightly annoying (I am sure most boys who see this film love that bit). Apart from Oldman's performance, there is one other thing that has to be commended - the soundtrack - both Wojciech Kilar's score and Annie Lennox's theme are dark, chilling, and poignant.
All in all a great movie - it inspired me to write a book that may or may not make me a million but will always be something that I am proud to have completed.
Come on you bunch of Siskels!.......2007-04-11
Ok you bunch of no taste bums! lol! First, the only word I could have ever associated with Dracula before I watched this movie was TACKY. The big capes, the really bad accents and the bats on a string, were all so overtly horrid, I could never bear to watch those movies. This movie was a dark love story with superb special effects and a truly superior performance by Gary Oldman as Dracula. I swear, I think that man can be anyone! I grant you, Keanu did have a poor grasp of the Brittish accent and Winona struggled a bit in the passion area, but their performances were above adequate and Winona was a perfect straight man to Oldman's lavish Dracula performance. Anyone who could insinuate that Anthony hopkins was even capable of a bad performance, should be strung up in the town square and tickled mercilessly until unconscious! lol!!
All the world is a critic and for my money, as long as I enjoyed a movie, the whys and wherefores aren't really that important. Maybe this kind of movie is not your cup of tea. If not, don't ruin it for the rest of us by your crude and mellow dramatic reviews. Take my advice, buy this movie! If you want to see the real love story behind the Dracula myth, without all the "bluck bluck, I come to bite your neck" stuff, then this movie is for you. If you want "Blade" in the 1800's, this is probably not for you.
Average customer rating:
- Lush and decadent!
- 95% Excellence; 5% Missed Opportunities
- extremely good movie with a few minor flaws
- Fact, Fiction and My Inspiration!
- Come on you bunch of Siskels!
|
Dracula
Starring: Gary Oldman , Winona Ryder , Anthony Hopkins , Keanu Reeves , and Richard E. Grant
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
ProductGroup: Video
Binding: VHS Tape
Campbell, Bill
| ( C )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
| Video
Elwes, Cary
| ( E )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
| Video
Frost, Sadie
| ( F )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
| Video
Grant, Richard E
| ( G )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
| Video
Hopkins, Anthony
| ( H )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
| Video
Oldman, Gary
| ( O )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
| Video
Reeves, Keanu
| ( R )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
| Video
Robinson, Jay
| ( R )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
| Video
Ryder, Winona
| ( R )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
| Video
Waits, Tom
| ( W )
| Actors & Actresses
| VHS
| Video
Coppola, Francis Ford
| ( C )
| Directors
| VHS
| Video
General
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Genres
| VHS
| Video
Similar Items:
- Interview with the Vampire
- Queen of the Damned (Widescreen Edition)
- Devil's Advocate
- Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
- The Lost Boys
ASIN: B00004CNVY |
Amazon.com essential video
With dizzying cinematic tricks and astonishing performances, Francis Coppola's 1992 version of the oft-filmed Dracula story is one of the most exuberant, extravagant films of the 1990s. Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, as the Count and Mina Murray, are quite a pair of star-crossed lovers. She's betrothed to another man; he can't kick the habit of feeding off the living. Anthony Hopkins plays Van Helsing, the vampire slayer, with tongue firmly in cheek. Tom Waits is great fun as Renfield, the hapless slave of Dracula who craves the blood of insects and cats. Sadie Frost is a sexy Lucy Westenra. And poor Keanu Reeves, as Jonathan Harker, has the misfortune to be seduced by Dracula's three half-naked wives. There's a little bit of everything in this version of Dracula: gore, high-speed horseback chases, passion, and longing.
Customer Reviews:
Lush and decadent!.......2007-06-02
Purists might hate this version of Dracula for the liberties it takes but I loved it. Gary Oldman's performance as Dracula was simply amazing...he brings romance to the role, a dark knight who is depicted more as a victim of fate than a true evil creature, and his love for Mina [whom he feels is the reincarnation of his long-dead wife] is altogether real and credible. Anthony Hopkins brings a certain level of zealousness to the role of Van Helsing, but I can't say Iwas very impressed by Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder's performances. Firstly there was no chemistry between them though they were supposed to be engaged, and similarly Winona's Mina seemed like a cold fish to me, especially in her love scenes with the Count [the actress who played Lucy on the other hand was pretty scintillating].But despite some of the flawed performances, the movie on the whole was beautifully filmed. The cinematography was lush and evoked decadent images, especially the seduction scenes, in particular Keanu's seduction by the three wives of Dracula, and also Lucy's seduction and attack by Dracula. The costumes are sumptuous to look at. The use of the color red throughout the movie [Lucy's dress, the scene where Dracula stalks Mina] is vivid and reminds us of the lust for blood. The score is haunting and serves to keep viewers' at the edge of their seats as the story unfolds. Overall, this is one of the best contemporary adaptations of Dracula, and a classic.
95% Excellence; 5% Missed Opportunities.......2007-05-15
The most grandiose retelling of the legendary story, and one that casts one of the world's most famous tales of horror as a love story (although certainly a very dark love story), this 1992 version of Dracula features Gary Oldman turning in probably the greatest portrayal of the Count ever.
Everything in this huge, haunting tale centers around the love story between Dracula (tied in much closer here than in most depictions to his supposed real-life counterpart, Vlad The Impaler) and Mina, the reincarnation of his centuries-ago love, Elisabeta. Beginning with the origin of Dracula's vampirism following Elisabeta's death, the story then flashes forward to late-1800s Transylvania and Johnathan Harker's famous trip to the Count's ancient castle. Having dwelled in and terrorized Transylvania for centuries now, the Prince Of Darkness comes by chance upon Harker's locket, in which is a small picture of Mina, the exact image of Dracula's deceased wife. The passion reawakened in the lord of the vampires, he journeys to London and confirms that Mina and Elisabeta are one and the same. From there the vampire Dracula preys on inhabitants of the city even as the mortal and emotional side of the beast is reawakened by re-discovery of his true love.
On a technical scale, "Bram Stoker's Dracula" is brilliant, with masterful cinematography, an outstanding dark score by Wojciech Kilar, chilling shadow imagery and extraordinary special effects. The romantic angle is also a total success. Where the movie does run into some trouble is here: despite the intensified focus on Dracula and Mina, the Dracula tale is still very much an ensemble piece, and some of the other characters just aren't captured as well as I wished they had been in a movie that was otherwise so great. It's not the performances per se, it's just that things didn't come together for some of the other characters. Dr. Van Helsing (although very well played by the always impressive Anthony Hopkins) comes off cold, arrogant, and curiously unconcerned for the people he's supposedly trying to protect - a far cry from the compassionate, courageous and emminently likable versions of the doctor seen in movies like "Horror Of Dracula" (with Peter Cushing as Van Helsing). I think that they may have been thinking that in presenting some sympathetic aspects to the otherwise evil Dracula, they had to counterbalance it by 'darkening' Van Helsing a bit. I don't think it really worked. Add to this a somewhat wishy-washy Harker and a Mina who wasn't nearly as developed as her pivotal role would have seemed to dictate, and it detracts a bit from the whole. The 'lesser' players - Lucy, her three suitors, and the insane Renfield, were all better done in my opinion. Dracula himself is done to perfection. In spite of the occasional problems with some of the characters, "Bram Stoker's Dracula" keeps coming on strong all the way through - until, tragically, the last five minutes or so. With a kind of anti-climatic (though far from terrible) ending to what was a vibrant and dramatic movie, plus the difficulties with some of the characters, we're left with a great show but one that fell a bit short of the mark it could have hit.
Still highly recommended; the weaker parts wouldn't have been so noticeable if 95% of the movie wasn't so awesome. A very, very good version of the Dracula tale despite a few chinks in the armor.
extremely good movie with a few minor flaws.......2007-05-15
A good film that for me sums up alot of what was good about early 1990s cinema. Oldman as dracula, Hopkins as van hellsing, Richard E Grant as Dr Seward, Carey Elwes as Arthur Holmwood and country legend Tom Waits as renfield make this film an extremely well acted peice. It is an alternative take on the book, much like the last temptation of christ was a different take on the life of christ. The bones of the story are there but some characters are more realistic and different. Van helsing is a pompus , lecherous alchoholic with a good heart, Seward is addicted to morphine and dracula was actually a victim of life but nevertheless a creature of darkness.
This movies best feature was that it showed vampires in an extremely unique and interesting way, they are not just normal guys with fangs and charisma like in the christopher lee draculas, but are powerfull creatures of the night, capable of flight, shape changing, mind manipulation and telekinesis. all together a fantastic romp.
Fact, Fiction and My Inspiration!.......2007-05-11
1462, Transylvania, Vlad the Impaler leaves his wife to fight the Turks. Out of malice, The Turks send her a letter telling her that her husband is dead. She is so distraught over his death and terrified at being captured that she throws herself from the castle turrets. When Vlad returns, he is told that his wife may not enter the Kingdom of Heaven as she has killed herself, which is a mortal sin. Vlad immediately renounces God and then he himself is condemned.
400 years later, Jonathon Harker leaves London and his fiancée Mina to travel to Transylvania. He has been assigned to help Count Dracula acquire property in England. Jonathon may never return...
This film, despite its flaws, will always hold a place in my heart as it inspired me to write my novel, Vrolok. I have always loved horror movies so when I heard that Francis Ford Coppola was making a new Dracula film, I could not wait to see it. I remember eagerly anticipating the announcement of who was to play Dracula, and when I found out that it was Gary Oldman, I was not happy! The only thing I had seen him in was JFK, and I was not very impressed (I was too young to have appreciated Sid and Nancy). However, I still decided it was worth going to the cinema to see the movie as Keanu Reeves, Cary Elwes and Bill Campbell were also in it. From the moment Gary Oldman appears on screen, he captivates his audience. His performance is camp, overdone, and at times preposterous, yet it is still somehow seductive, mesmerizing, and sublime. (Bram Stoker would have been proud!). He even utters the line "The children of the night. What sweet music they make" with a thick Romanian accent and gets away with it. I saw this film when I was fifteen and was immediately converted into a life long Gary Oldman fan.
As previously stated, and despite Oldman's performance, the film does have its flaws. Keanu Reeves is about as wooden as a stake and the rest of the cast seem to, just like Gary Oldman, overdo the accents and this is a strategy that doesn't quite work for the rest of the cast. In addition, Sadie Frost and Wynona Ryder running around in the rain in see-through outfits is clichéd and slightly annoying (I am sure most boys who see this film love that bit). Apart from Oldman's performance, there is one other thing that has to be commended - the soundtrack - both Wojciech Kilar's score and Annie Lennox's theme are dark, chilling, and poignant.
All in all a great movie - it inspired me to write a book that may or may not make me a million but will always be something that I am proud to have completed.
Come on you bunch of Siskels!.......2007-04-11
Ok you bunch of no taste bums! lol! First, the only word I could have ever associated with Dracula before I watched this movie was TACKY. The big capes, the really bad accents and the bats on a string, were all so overtly horrid, I could never bear to watch those movies. This movie was a dark love story with superb special effects and a truly superior performance by Gary Oldman as Dracula. I swear, I think that man can be anyone! I grant you, Keanu did have a poor grasp of the Brittish accent and Winona struggled a bit in the passion area, but their performances were above adequate and Winona was a perfect straight man to Oldman's lavish Dracula performance. Anyone who could insinuate that Anthony hopkins was even capable of a bad performance, should be strung up in the town square and tickled mercilessly until unconscious! lol!!
All the world is a critic and for my money, as long as I enjoyed a movie, the whys and wherefores aren't really that important. Maybe this kind of movie is not your cup of tea. If not, don't ruin it for the rest of us by your crude and mellow dramatic reviews. Take my advice, buy this movie! If you want to see the real love story behind the Dracula myth, without all the "bluck bluck, I come to bite your neck" stuff, then this movie is for you. If you want "Blade" in the 1800's, this is probably not for you.
Average customer rating:
|
Dracula [Region 2]
Starring: Gary Oldman , Winona Ryder , Anthony Hopkins , Keanu Reeves , and Richard E. Grant
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
General
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Campbell, Bill
| ( C )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Elwes, Cary
| ( E )
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Frost, Sadie
| ( F )
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Grant, Richard E
| ( G )
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Hopkins, Anthony
| ( H )
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Oldman, Gary
| ( O )
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Reeves, Keanu
| ( R )
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| Stores
| DVD
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Robinson, Jay
| ( R )
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| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Ryder, Winona
| ( R )
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| Stores
| DVD
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Waits, Tom
| ( W )
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Coppola, Francis Ford
| ( C )
| Directors
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| DVD
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( D )
| Titles
| Features
| DVD
| Video
ASIN: B00006JNC2 |
Average customer rating:
|
Dracula [Region 2]
Starring: Gary Oldman , Winona Ryder , Anthony Hopkins , Keanu Reeves , and Richard E. Grant
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
General
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Campbell, Bill
| ( C )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Elwes, Cary
| ( E )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Frost, Sadie
| ( F )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
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Grant, Richard E
| ( G )
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Hopkins, Anthony
| ( H )
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Oldman, Gary
| ( O )
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Reeves, Keanu
| ( R )
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Robinson, Jay
| ( R )
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| Stores
| DVD
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Ryder, Winona
| ( R )
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| Stores
| DVD
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Waits, Tom
| ( W )
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| Stores
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Coppola, Francis Ford
| ( C )
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( D )
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ASIN: B00004RYID |
Average customer rating:
|
Dracula [Region 2]
Starring: Gary Oldman , Winona Ryder , Anthony Hopkins , Keanu Reeves , and Richard E. Grant
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
General
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Campbell, Bill
| ( C )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Elwes, Cary
| ( E )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Frost, Sadie
| ( F )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Grant, Richard E
| ( G )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Hopkins, Anthony
| ( H )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Oldman, Gary
| ( O )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Reeves, Keanu
| ( R )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Robinson, Jay
| ( R )
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| Stores
| DVD
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Ryder, Winona
| ( R )
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| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Waits, Tom
| ( W )
| Actors & Actresses
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Coppola, Francis Ford
| ( C )
| Directors
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
( D )
| Titles
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| DVD
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Similar Items:
- Interview with the Vampire
- Queen of the Damned (Widescreen Edition)
- Devil's Advocate
- Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
- The Lost Boys
ASIN: B00004CYNY |
Amazon.com essential video
With dizzying cinematic tricks and astonishing performances, Francis Coppola's 1992 version of the oft-filmed Dracula story is one of the most exuberant, extravagant films of the 1990s. Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, as the Count and Mina Murray, are quite a pair of star-crossed lovers. She's betrothed to another man; he can't kick the habit of feeding off the living. Anthony Hopkins plays Van Helsing, the vampire slayer, with tongue firmly in cheek. Tom Waits is great fun as Renfield, the hapless slave of Dracula who craves the blood of insects and cats. Sadie Frost is a sexy Lucy Westenra. And poor Keanu Reeves, as Jonathan Harker, has the misfortune to be seduced by Dracula's three half-naked wives. There's a little bit of everything in this version of Dracula: gore, high-speed horseback chases, passion, and longing.
Actress:
- Michelle Pfeiffer
- Michelle Rodriguez
- Michelle Williams
- Michelle Yeoh
- Mila Kunis
- Milla Jovovich
- Ming-Na Wen
- Minnie Driver
- Mira Furlan
- Mira Sorvino
Actress
Actress