The best of all Dracula films

Rating: Null/10 (11 October 2004)

Bram Stoker's novel has inspired many adaptations over the years, and F.W.Murnau, Tod Browning ,Terence Fisher and Werner Herzog all made especially fine versions {and even the 1979 John Badham version was pretty good}. However, this superb film tops them all, with Francis Ford Coppola really pulling out the stops to create a wonderfully stylized work which seems to reference it's fore bearers while topping them for horror, eroticism and sheer cinematic skill.
Despite what some have said this IS the closest cinematic version to the book. Amazing scenes from the novel which have either been absent from previous versions or not done to their full potential are present here, such as Dracula climbing down the wall of his castle, or Dracula giving a baby to his brides to feed on so they spare Harker. A great many other scenes are heightened, for instance the werewolf ravaging Lucy. This was only vaguely suggested in the book, so Coppola and his writer James V. Hart do what every good adapter should do and develop and expand the idea to suit their purpose while still being faithful to the feel and intention of the original. Another example of this approach is the extremely erotic sequence with Harker and Dracula's brides.
Of course the 'eternal love' subplot, which seems partially borrowed from some versions of The Mummy, was not in the book at all and does make Dracula a little bit sympathetic, but kudos to the filmmakers for having an emotionally complex Dracula who is not just a bogeyman.
More importantly, Bram Stoker's Dracula is just so stunningly CINEMATIC. From the costumes to the sets to the cinematography, it is amazing to look at, while Coppola uses almost every possibly cinematic tool at his disposal to enrich his story. He crosscuts feverishly during some sequences, achieving an operatic grandeur while on other occasions he is more subtle, such as the opening battle, done brilliantly in silhouette. No shot is uninteresting, and one thinks of Coppola constantly trying to find the most interesting way to show something. Wolliech Kilar's score is extraordinary, often building levels of sound to striking effect while still delivering a poignant love theme.
Some of the acting is a bit hammy, but that was probably the best way to compete with everything else in the picture. Maybe Christopher Lee and Bel Lugosi were scarier than Gary Oldman, but his performance and characteriation of Dracula is more varied. Anthony Hopkins is simply just having fun as Van Helsing ,while Keanu Reeves, well, as with most things this actor does his performance is often criticised, but he doesn't even TRY to compete with Oldman and Hopkins, and that's just fine, Harker should not be that interesting anyway.
This is a stunning piece of cinema, and it's doubtful there'll ever be a better Dracula movie.