Dracula
1992 Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Synopsis
Love never dies.
When Dracula leaves the captive Jonathan Harker and Transylvania for London in search of Mina Harker -- the spitting image of Dracula's long-dead wife, Elisabeta -- obsessed vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing sets out to end the madness.
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Bram Stoker's Dracula is a superb Gothic love story. Stoker's novel is a beautifully written epic tale that cleverly uses religion, mythology and folklore to create one of the most iconic monsters ever. Now there have been many films inspired by this novel, but there aren't that many that follow the book very well. I'd wager that Coppola's film is one of the most faithful adaptations ever made. Even though it takes a few liberties, it understands what the story at its heart is about and manages to tell it without diminishing it to a cheap horror story.
This is perhaps the last 'good' film Coppola made. It on more than one occasion showcases his talent for structuring a narrative…
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I once told someone that Keanu Reeves was so bad in Bram Stoker's Dracula that it was "like Ted took a bogus journey to Transylvania."
I love this movie despite him and not just because of the extreme hotness of Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder.
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Here's a bit of personal trivia for you: I once played Dracula on stage. I studied Drama as a teenager and my dulcet tones delivered a crisp, Slavic accent my teacher enjoyed and so he gave me the part. He didn't know but I based my performance on that of Gary Oldman's in this movie, Francis Ford Coppola's memorable take on Bram Stoker's Dracula, perhaps the most iconic book in all of modern literature. For a long time I've regarded his version highly, as a quite beautiful, erotic Gothic horror shot with a sumptuous atmosphere. I do still believe that, though my tolerance for it has waned somewhat; now I can recognise better the shocking miscasting at its heart leading…
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My heart broke a little when I read in an interview a few years ago that Coppola wanted Winona Ryder's then-boyfriend Johnny Depp to play Harker, but the studio insisted on Keanu Reeves (I like Keanu in a lot of other movies, he just shouldn't ever be in period pieces). Imagine Depp in the role, and Dracula becomes a pulpy masterpiece - every other aspect of this movie represents Coppola firing on all cylinders for the last time until Youth Without Youth. It's an adaptation of the Stoker novel that retains all the idiosyncracies of the vampire myth that the movies usually streamline - my girlfriend had a lot of questions during the movie like "Dracula controls the weather? He's…
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Fact: For every ounce of awesome that is Gary Oldman in this film; Keanu Reeves is the polar opposite. He's painfully bad in this. Oldman though is on such fine form that he's like pure electricity when on screen. Whether he's slaughtering Turks or licking cut throat razors he's just all kinds of amazing.
I've had a massive crush on Winona Ryder for as long as I can remember. Even as the, on the surface, uptight Mina she is irresistible. Perfect casting in my opinion.
There's a delightfully theatrical feel across this movie, sets are grandiose and stylised.
I just enjoy watching this. -
Don't worry Keanu Reeves, one day you will learn how to act...
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Fact: For every ounce of awesome that is Gary Oldman in this film; Keanu Reeves is the polar opposite. He's painfully bad in this. Oldman though is on such fine form that he's like pure electricity when on screen. Whether he's slaughtering Turks or licking cut throat razors he's just all kinds of amazing.
I've had a massive crush on Winona Ryder for as long as I can remember. Even as the, on the surface, uptight Mina she is irresistible. Perfect casting in my opinion.
There's a delightfully theatrical feel across this movie, sets are grandiose and stylised.
I just enjoy watching this. -
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If I had to describe this film with a single word, I think that word would be: excessive. And I mean that in the best way possible.
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I loved this movie as a young teen but my appreciation has decreased as I've grown. I'm still fascinated by Coppola's choice to use old-school theatre trick special effects. It makes the overall look of the movie in keeping with its time period. I could have done without Keanu or Winona but I love Sadie Frost in this (and that is the last time you will ever hear me say that).
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Weird and fun
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Flawed genius. Proper film-making.
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This is probably one of the most beautiful movies ever made. Every shot looks amazing. The sets are beautiful. The make up is absolutely astounding. If this movie were made five years later, the film would probably have a lot of cg effects and look dated now, but being made in 92, when practical effects in films were at their pinnacle, the creature effects are amazing. If Dracula in his bat/human form doesn't knock your socks off and give you nightmares, you're probably a robot or something.
That being said, a lot of the character-driven stuff borders on mindless melodrama. Outside of Dracula, the characters are all pretty one dimensional. Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves are pretty awful and with the evil Dracula basically being the protagonist, it's hard to get emotionally invested in the story.
Nonetheless, it's worth watching with your jaw on the floor at the effects and imagery.
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Es excesiva, barroca, pero fascinante. Y tiene una banda sonora genial.
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Coppola's DRACULA is a lavishly produced but woefully misguided film. The production design and attention to detail are outstanding and many of the aesthetic choices - such as old timey footage, in-camera effects, and homages to NOSFERATU - are used well.
However the arrogant self-assertion that this film is in fact BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA is wildly, belligerently inappropriate. Coppola's film completely misfires by making the God-damned villain the lovelorn protagonist. He is not. Nor does he have the tragic romantic back-story fabricated herein, or affections toward Mina. He is fully, irredeemably evil and incapable of love.
Is Stoker's tale a love story? Yes. It's about a group of friends - some of them former rivals - united by burning, vengeful, love for the two women in their lives whom Dracula has violated. To reverse this is to pervert the most fundamental and essential meaning of the story.