I remember when this movie came out. I was maybe 15 years old and I wasn’t in the mood for romantic nonsense. That’s what the movie was being sold as – a movie that you could take your girlfriend to. I purposely skipped this movie over the years and it fell completely off my radar.
Recently, it came up in a Youtube video discussion and they were discussing Gary Oldman’s performance as well as how Francis Ford Coppola (probably my favorite director) used “in-camera” effects for the entire movie. In fact there was only one effect which was done in post-production. So I looked it up on Youtube movies and decided to rent it.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula definitely has the cheesy look of a 90’s made movie which is also a period-piece. One thing which holds true is that no matter which year or era you are trying to capture in your movie, a lot of factors from the actual era in which you are shooting will bleed through. The movies Braveheart and Dances with Wolves come to mind. As brilliant and well made as those movies were, the 80’s and 90’s hair styling made its way into the flick. But I digress.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula was a bit too long. It felt like they could have trimmed it just a little (10-20 minutes). Gary Oldman really was fantastic in this movie and it is really a shame he wasn’t nominated for the Academy Award, which definitely carried more weight then than it does now. Anthony Hopkins was really good as well. He was fully immersed in his role.
Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder definitely felt like kid actors in a play. They were too green and not good enough to be in this movie. Word was that Johnny Depp was passed over for this movie. Boy what a mistake that was.
The effect tricks that F.F. Coppola and his son created (who was in charge of effects) were definitely impressive. They pulled out every trick in the book.
Overall the movie was entertaining. It was not great. It was not bad. If you watch this movie for any reason it has to be that Gary Oldman is so locked in as Dracula and Anthony Hopkins is great as Van Helsing as well. They were surely the highlight of this film. Coppola’s shadow effects are great too.
I give this movie a 65% rating on Baldy Potatoes.
