Unashamedly epic, but it's the details which make the film, particularly vampire-killing Anthony Hopkins and Tom Waits as insect-gobbling Renfield.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Runtime: 2 hrs 44 mins
Synopsis: A seductive retelling of the legendary tale, BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA is Francis Ford Coppola's opulent, erotic, blood-filled feast. Count Dracula (played with irresistible intensity by Gary Oldman) reunites with his soul mate, Mina (Winona Ryder), after four centuries. Mina's friend... A seductive retelling of the legendary tale, BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA is Francis Ford Coppola's opulent, erotic, blood-filled feast. Count Dracula (played with irresistible intensity by Gary Oldman) reunites with his soul mate, Mina (Winona Ryder), after four centuries. Mina's friend Lucy (Sadie Frost) succumbs to the deadly bite of Dracula while Renfield (Tom Waits), locked in an asylum, eagerly waits for his master's return. Mina's fiancé, Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves), with the help of the eccentric Professor Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins), attempts to save Mina's life and soul before she can become Dracula's eternal bride. After Dracula attacks Mina's friend Lucy (Sadie Frost), Dr. Jack Seward (Richard E. Grant) calls in the legendary Professor Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins) to cure Lucy's "disease of the blood." Jonathan escapes from the castle and he and Mina are married while Lucy dies and is resurrected as a vampire. When Dracula appears to Mina in her sleep, she declares her undying love for him. Professor Van Helsing, Jack Seward, and Lucy's fiancé, Arthur Holmwood (Cary Elwes), join Jonathan and travel to Transylvania to destroy Dracula, but Mina tries to save her tortured lover. Musician Tom Waits appears in the film as Renfield, a Victorian lunatic singing the praises of Dracula. Ornate costume design and lighting awash in shades of blood make this film a seductive and scary must-see. In his version of the oft-told tale, Francis Ford Coppola takes Bram Stoker's archetypical horror story and accentuates the romantic angle. Blood still flows in large amounts, and Coppola opted to do all the eye-pleasing visual effects in-camera, utilizing shadow puppets, smoke, miniatures, and other time-honored tricks of the trade--creating a visual style not unlike that of a storybook come to life. [More]
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Starring: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Cary Elwes
Screenwriter: James V. Hart
Producer: Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Fuchs, Charles Mulvehill
Composer: Wojciech Kilar
DVD Info
Release:
Feb 10, 2007
DVD Features:
- 2-Disc Set
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
- Subtitles - English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish - Optional
- Subtitles - English - Closed Captioned
Reviews
This lack of a convincing central dynamic leads to the occasional sense that the film is little more than a spectacular edifice, but you'll be too spellbound to resist seduction.
Fighting against pop culture expectations and a century of vampire cliché, Coppola's approach is unique. Like it or not, no one had ever seen a "Dracula" quite like this.
Francis Ford Coppola's lavish version of Bram Stoker's classic novel is a visual cornucopia, overstuffed with images of both beauty and grotesque horror.
Overall, this Dracula could have been less heavy and more deliciously evil than it is, but it does offer a sumptuous engorgement of the senses.
A somewhat dispersed and overcrowded story line that remains fascinating and often affecting thanks to all its visual and conceptual energy.
Coppola never stops putting on his own showboat performance. His Dracula isn't like anything else around.
I was still thoroughly impressed with Coppola's style, his exciting camerawork and the great effects.
Stressing the erotic aspets of Stoker's book with graphic depictions of sexual fantasies and nightmares, the story line and characters sometimes get lost, but the sumptuously mounted film is always a visual treat for the eye.
Suffers from several severe cases of miscasting, but there's still some good gothic gravy to be found.
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