Bram Stoker's Dracula (Superbit Collection) | Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder

Bram Stoker's Dracula (Superbit Collection) | Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder | Superbit vs. Blu-ray

DVDs:

Bram Stoker's Drac...

	Bram Stoker's Dracula (Superbit Collection) Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder Sony Pictures, 2001 average customer review:based on 536 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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.

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Best Vampire Movie Made In Recent Years

I never thought another movie could beat the original Lugosi film, but this movie comes very close. It takes the character of Dracula and makes him a horrible monster, but also sympathetic. You can't help but feel, and maybe understand, somewhat why Dracula does what he does. Gary Oldman is amazing in the title role and makes the character extremely believable. The special effects are incredible, and although it wasn't that long ago, the movie still holds up to this day. This will surely go down as a classic, and that is saying a lot for a remake. This movie brought a lot and delivers. I highly recommend this movie

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Superbit vs. Blu-ray

If you're looking for a brighter, more detailed picture buy the Superbit DVD. I compared it to the Bluray which I rented. The Blu-ray is MUCH darker and much more creepier which is what you want in a horror movie!!! With the extra darkness comes loss of detail however. The contrast is much better though. I believe Coppola did not approve of the Superbit but did approve the Blu-ray. I prefer the Blu-ray version.

Dracula movie

Dracula is a great movie. Gary Oldman is both creepy and seductive. A host of other actors are in this movie--Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins, Winona Ryder and Billy Campbell. This movie sticks closely to the book, which is another reason why I liked it so.

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I am a Dracula collector/fan

I have read just about everything the character or Dracula has ever appeared in from the Bram Stoker's novel to the Marvel Comics adaptation and beyond. Likewise I have seen many Dracula movies from Nosfaratu to Bella Lagosi to the Hammer House films. My favorite adaptation of all the movies is this one.

While it could never live up to the classic Lagosi movie it is it's contemporary equal. Everyone has their take on the legendary blood sucker but this one is at the top.

My favorite scene is when Dracula (Gary Oldman) comes up behind Harker while he is shaving causing Harker to cut himself. Dracula then turns his back to him and while facing the camera, licks the blade and quivers his lip. Truly one of the creepiest moments in filmdom!

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Bram Stoker's Dracula... A Tragic Figure?

Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film, Bram Stoker's Dracula, is a lavish, visually stunning treatment of the Dracula tale. The film features exquisite production design, startling special effects, and one of the best film scores that I've heard in a long time. But the film, which had so much potential, is deeply flawed. Altogether Bram Stoker's Dracula suffers from an excessive amount of visual stimuli, which takes priority over characterization and acting. Much of the cast gives either flat, unconvincing performances or goes to the opposite end of the spectrum, overacting and projecting their own celebrity rather than the persona that they're supposed to be adopting.
The story itself, despite what the film's title implies, is a great departure from Bram Stoker's 1897 horror novel. The screenplay by James V. Hart plucks the characters and events out of Stoker's original story, and then awkwardly attempts to create a gothic romance around them. Anyone who is truly familiar with the novel knows that romance was the furthest thing from Stoker's mind. I am of the opinion that you can tell a Dracula story without directly basing it upon Stoker's novel, or you can take Stoker's initial ideas and alter them for your own purposes, but you should never claim that you're following Stoker's blueprint when you do so.

The story follows young and ambitious solicitor, Jonathan Harker, as he travels to Transylvania to oversee the signing of certain papers, which have to do with the selling of ten very specific houses in London, to the mysterious and eccentric Count Dracula. Harker must leave behind the woman he loves, Mina Murray. After arriving in Transylvania, Harker is taken to Dracula's castle by a dark and ominous coach, whose driver is obscured beneath his gothic armor. When Harker arrives at the castle, he is greeted by the ancient Count himself. The castle is dreary and oppressive, covered with spider webs and barely lit. As Harker and Dracula go over the details of the paperwork he is to sign, Dracula discovers a photograph of Mina, and he becomes convinced that she is his lover, Elisabeta, reincarnated. Dracula insists that Jonathan stay with him for a month, though Jonathan is anxious to return to Mina. He becomes aware that he is not a guest, but a prisoner in Dracula's castle.
Meanwhile Mina is staying with her wealthy friend, Lucy Westenra, who is shamelessly flirtatious and uses her sex appeal to win the hearts of three suitors, Dr. Seward, Quincy P. Morris, and Arthur Holmwood.
Back in Transylvania, Count Dracula prepares for a voyage to London as Jonathan Harker realizes that his captor is an inhuman monster capable of unspeakable evil. Once Dracula arrives in London, he seduces and feeds off of Lucy turning her into an insatiable, damned creature of the darkness. As Lucy's unusual "illness" grows in its severity, Dr. Seward calls upon the brilliant and eccentric Abraham Van Helsing to help diagnose her. At first Van Helsing is perplexed, but quickly he becomes aware that Lucy is the victim of a vampire... and Mina may be next.
Soon Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker, and Lucy's three suitors must exterminate Dracula and his demonic offspring all the while Mina's mind, body, and soul hang in the balance.

Francis Ford Coppola assembled an impressive cast for the film, however none of them seem to be comfortable in their roles. Keanu Reeves plays Jonathan Harker as pompous bore, and Winona Ryder's portrayal of Mina suggests that she was never confident of her ability to produce a believable English accent. Anthony Hopkins hams it up as Professor Van Helsing, turning the beloved character into a drunken raving madman. In fact, the only member of the cast who seems to fit his role, at least partially, is Gary Oldman as Count Dracula. However, the moment he is taken out of his "old man" makeup, he mistakenly changes Stoker's Count from a repulsive, parasitic invader into a tragic and romantic figure.
Arguably the film's greatest strength is the magnificent score by Wojciech Kilar. This score deserves a better film.
As the film progresses it dissolves into a kaleidoscopic menagerie of cavorting half-naked women, melodramatic romance, and some of the most gratuitous bloodletting seen in a mainstream American film. Though, I admire Coppola's tenacity as a filmmaker, this film is a missed opportunity as he dazzles us with eye candy but leaves us craving something more substantial.

Also recommended:
The Essential Dracula by Bram Stoker, edited by Leonard Wolf
Nosferatu- Eine Symphonie des Grauens
Dracula
Horror of Dracula
Count Dracula
Nosferatu: The Vampyre / Phantom Der Nacht
Dracula: Dead and Loving It
Bram Stoker's Dracula and Other Film Music by Wojciech Kilar

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