From: v076r95v@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (The Nature Boy)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Subject: My promise: Brief review of Dracula (possible spoilers)
Date: 13 Nov 92 16:00:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: acsu.BxnwGK.77t
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41


	Well, I went and saw Dracula last night at a sneak preview here at my
school.  Needless to say, it was...umm.."different".  I will say that I thought
it is worth paying $6 to go see.  But, then again, I'm VERY biased to all
Vampire movies. :)  Anyway, if you do not want to know any more..DON'T READ ON!
For those who are interested..keep going. :)

	OK, let me talk a bit about the actors first.  Gary Oldman does a
wonderful job on playing the good ole count.  He was romantic, charming, and
down right nasty when he had to be.  The make up on him was REALLY good.  Trust
me, I can see an Oscar for the make up or costume design.  Anthony Hopkins was
INCREDIBLE as Von Helsing!  Absolutely perfect!  As far as I am concerned, he
was the star of the movie.  Very funny and also very convincing.  Keanu Reeves
was very wishy washy.  Just ignore him. :)  Winoda Ryder was cool.  She played
a good role, but her lines were kind of silly.  Though, the "kiss in the maze"
was interesting.  Just see the movie, you'll see what I mean. :)
	OK, the directing and filming.  It was incredible!  Absolutely amazing. 
The special effects were definitely worth seeing!  This goes along with the
make up and such.  It must have taken forever to film it, but it was worth it. 
Oh, watch for a few things early in the movie: Winoda's eye twitch and watch
the count's shadow when he's walking around.  It's just WEIRD!  The directing
was interesting, but very jumpy.  You REALLY have to follow the movie to
understand certain things.  I did not like the background monologues and diary
entries.  It got annoying after a time.  Also, the number of overlapping scenes
were overdone.  Too many times when you would see two different scenes (i.e.
Winoda's character thinking about Dracula's homeland) at one time.  Though, the
one interesting thing was the "Tolkein like filming" with a battle scene.  In
other word's, puppets were used.  Reminded me of "Lord of the Rings".  You'll
understand what I mean.
	Finally, the actual story.  Not bad, but a lot of inconsistencies. 
They used the original legend of Vlad Tepis, but never called him that.  They
said that his NAME was Dracula, when it fact it was not.  Dracula was derived
from the Rumanian word for dragon, which was the family symbol of Vlad and his
armies.  Otherwise, it stuck pretty much to the story.  It seems to be taken
from MANY people's viewpoint and it was easy to tell when someone was supposed
to be important.  Look for Winoda's green dress to understand this.  The only
thing I did not like was how they changed this from a horror story to a romance
story.  The action was very limited and the ending was absolutely HORRIBLE! 
Just cheezy in my eyes.  
	I think that covers most of it.  In my overall view, it's worth seeing
it for the filming, not the storyline.  Hope you enjoyed this!
					PHOENIX 
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