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List Price: $27.95 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 143032
Released: October 7, 1997 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial 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.
Description of Bram Stoker's Dracula:
Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 Bram Stoker's Dracula is a feverishly inventive movie that often overwhelms its own narrative flow, yet proves irresistible to watch. Coppola's baroque, operatic set design, costumes, and cinematography look as lavish as they did on the film's first release. The director's grab-bag of visual effects are still bold and unabashed, if often over-the-top, and the actors still appear caught up in a certain hysterical pitch that feels a little forced but can be a lot of fun to watch. Gary Oldman's imaginative performance as the titular vampire carries the weight of Coppola's vision of Count Dracula as a tragic-romantic hero with Christ-like overtones. Keanu Reeves still looks a little lost in the pivotal role of Jonathan Harker, the London clerk who finds himself a prisoner in a Transylvanian castle while a 400-year-old vampire makes a play for his fiancée back home (Winona Ryder). Anthony Hopkins is fearless as a daft Von Helsing, and Sadie Frost is very good as the doomed Lucy. --Tom Keogh
Bram Stoker's Dracula Reviews:
Slightly Dark Blu Ray Transfer 
2009-01-07 - I will refrain reviewing the film here (as obviously it's one of my favorites or I wouldn't have purchased it on Blu Ray) but instead concentrate on the transfer and content, which I found satisfactory but not exceptional.
Firstly, the deleted scenes were a great addition to the Blu Ray disc. I only wish there were more! Being the nerd that I am, I had purchased a companion book to the film back in 1992 that had the whole script and now finally I get to see those scenes I had only previously been able to imagine.
The transfer was decent, but honestly I would have wished for a little more in the way of brightness. I ran this simultaneously with my old Superbit DVD and kept switching back and forth to compare. Now while the obvious clarity and sharpness of HD, along with greater color depth was apparent, I did notice that the Blu Ray was markedly darker. Some shadow detail was lost as a result, and oddly enough I found myself seeing small details in the DVD that were rather obscured on the Blu Ray. Somewhat disappointing.
The other thing was odd - the English subtitles that are displayed in the opening sequences had changed in font from the original. On this version they are in a very standard looking font, whereas the old VHS and DVD versions had a more old fashioned style font that I personally feel matched the look of the film more effectively. A very minor gripe but still, stylistically speaking it seems a little incongruous and unnecessary on the whole.
Part of me hopes that perhaps a special edition or director's cut may lie in the future. I'd love to see the deleted scenes restored, a slightly brighter transfer, and those original subtitles back in action.
Superb! 
2008-12-25 -
If you're a vampire legend fan this is a must see. With an all star cast, sets, music, direction and costumes to boot, this is about a close as you're going to get to the real tale of the Prince of Darkness.
Gary Oldman is outstanding as the old and young Vlad Tepes III (Dracula) and Sir Anthony Hopkins is at his usual best as Professor Van Helsing. Keano reeves and Winona Ryder are great as the two lovers stalked by the count...
What makes this DVD set even more fantastic is the bonus DVD that take you behind the scenes and into the making of this epic historical and fictional account of how love can transcend good and evil...Francis Ford Coppola and his son explain in great detail how many of the visual effects but more importantly the thinking, skill and artistry behind the making of this classic. What most of us would pass off as computer generated effects were, in fact, painstakingy crafted actual set pieces and old fashioned film making techniques applied to modern day cinematography of a centuries old tale. The result is visually breathtaking, errie, sensual and often terrifying scenes that bring you right into the world of the living battling among the undead.
Once you see the behind the scenes DVD you'll appreciate even more the true artistry that went into the realism of this classic.
PN
2.5 stars out of 4 
2008-12-18 - The Bottom Line:
This version of Dracula is stylishly put-together but marred by poor performances (Reeves and an over-the-top Hopkins) and the lack of a soul beneath its slick interior.
worst blu ray transfer ever 
2008-12-15 - Good film but it is a shoe in for the prize of worst blu-ray transfer ever.
Total garbage picture quality. If you have the dvd you don't need this. Whoever was in charge of transfering this to blu-ray should never be allowed to do so again.
Colors are off, image detail is non existant and blacks are crushed to the point they have little to do with actually being black.
Best Film made from a novel ever!
2008-12-09 - I love the novel Bram Stoker's Dracula. I have read it more than any other book in my collection, and in fact have a leather bound gold gilded pages version of the classic.
FFC does a brilliant job with bringing the written word to life. Each paragraph in each chapter is brought to stunning reality by this visual masterpiece of a translation. My favorite aspect of the novel is the voyeuristic feeling the reader gets from reading all of the accounts of the count....Copalla manages to bring the same feeling to the viewer...without being obvious...a brilliant job!
