Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14776 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-06-04
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, German, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Danish, Icelandic, Swedish, Hungarian, Polish, Arabic, Dutch, Finnish, Czech, Greek
• Dubbed in: German, Italian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 122 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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.

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 9
French\German\Italian\Spanish
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English\Dolby Digital Surround English French German Italian Spanish
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Digital Surround
Theatrical Trailer
Filmographies
Arabic\Czech\Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\French\German\Greek\Hebrew\Hindi\Hungarian\Icelandic\Italian\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Spanish\Swedish\Turkish

Synopsis
This sumptuous, erotic film is a faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic novel. In 1897 London, Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) leaves fiancee Mina (Winona Ryder) and journeys to Transylvania to meet Count Dracula (Gary Oldman). While keeping Jonathan a prisoner in his castle, Dracula travels to London to find his reincarnated soul mate Mina.

Customer Reviews

An Opulent Masterpiece
Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola is a wonderful film. It is filled with beautiful sets, exquisite costumes, excellent make-up effects and brilliantly melodramatic performances.

Gary Oldman stars as the Count, a man who sold his soul to Satan after his wife, Elisabeta, killed herself on receiving false news of his death in battle. He is ultimately made immortal by his Master and years later, meets Jonathan Harker, a younger lawyer who has come to negotiate his buying land in England. It is at this moment that Dracula sees a photograph of Jonathan's betrothed, Mina, who bears a striking resemblance to his own love, Elisabeta. He consequently imprisons Harker and travels to England to wreak havoc and to find the woman he believes to be the reincarnation of his lost wife.

The film remains very faithful to the novel throughout which is refreshing, given the usual Hollywood tendency to "re-imagine" or change the source completely. The performances on the whole are excellent - dodgy accents and Keanu Reeves aside - and are believable in the horrific context of the story, which shocks and seduces in equal measure. Anthony Hopkins' crazed turn as Professor Van Helsing is inspired and Gary Oldman attacks the role of Dracula with great relish and is tremendous in the role.

The film was awarded three Oscars - for Best Costume Design, Best Effects and Best Make-up - and various other accolades, and is easily one of the best films of the 1990s. This film is a must see for any Dracula/vampire fan, any fan of Francis Ford Coppola or anyone who loves a good film.

Righting Some Wrongs...
I had not planned to write a review on Bram Stoker's Dracula because I thought that it's quality spoke for itself. However, having read some of the previous reviews I have to make a statement or two! For the benefit of whoever asks 'why call it Bram Stoker's Dracula'... this is not Coppola's claim to absolute unabridgement of the text, but is a copyright issue. You must have permission to use a copyrighted charcater name such as Dracula, so thats that.

Now, I have read some negative reviews that suggest the acting, directing and general authorial nature of Dracula is poor. This is not the case; the acting is not oscar-winning material (except for Oldman who is beyond fantastic) but is well suited to the overall framework of this version of Dracula. In an earlier edition of this DVD a documentary was included about the making of the film and showed that many of the scenes and much of the dialogue was changed to suit what the actors wanted to say and do, which actually works well if you analyse the characters properly.

The effects and atmosphere of this film are not comparable to other versions of Dracula because Coppola's film has a strong element of emotion and psychology that overwrites the stereotypical neck biting, but as an individual film made in 1992 this movie is a great looker. There are some wonderfully atmospheric sequences, an exemplary richness of contrasting colours and fantastic costumes that won the film a deserved Oscar. THE 1 lost star is due to the absence of special features, which were ok on the last edition.

In simple terms, those die-hard fans of Bram Stoker that want every film to conform to every detail of his novel will consider this film a travesty and an injustice, but for the rest of us that recognise the essential differences between the printed and visual arts Bram Stoker's Dracula is an absolute gem of a film in many ways and deserves no less than to be bought, enjoyed and admired for a long time to come.

Spoilt by appauling casting.
Bram Stoker's Dracula should've been a brilliant movie. Unfortunately, the casting director made sure that was not going to happen by employing Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder to take up key roles in the story (both act like amateurs and make one cringe at their laughable attempts at English accents).

When will Hollywood learn? There are no American actors who can do a British accent with any degree of believability.

I also thought that Hopkins was somewhat below par, playing a bluff, brawling, blunderbus - a familiar part for the actor - and managing to turn that role into a chariacature.

Having said all that, Gary Oldman is sublime as the Count and the production and cinematography are extremely good. There is a distinct nod to early 20th Century horror.

The superbit edition is the way to go for the best in sound quality, being in DTS.