Beautiful, Romantic Interpretation of Bram Stoker

Rating: 9/10 (18 June 2008)

Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) is an Englishman and a real estate agent who has procured some land for his client, Count Dracula of Romania (Gary Oldman). But the Count (who, as the audience knows, is really a bloodthirsty vampire) has his sights set not only on land but also Harker's fiancé, Mina (Winona Ryder). Rounding out the cast is Anthony Hopkins as VanHelsing, Cary Elwes as a suitor to Mina's friend Lucy, and Tom Waits as the psychotic Renfield.
This is an astoundingly amazing film. It's told in such an epic fashion, and I really wish they had made the movie longer. Hopkins as VanHelsing is as good or better than any Peter Cushing interpretation (this VanHelsing is darkly comic, which works great). More of the story could have been told or secondary characters may have been developed more. The Texan, for example, seems incredibly out of place and could have used some background... and Hopkins doesn't enter the movie until the second half.
The deviation from the book is slight in some places and greater in others. For the most part, the diary entries were kept to move the plot along, which pleases me greatly. But there also seems to be an unusual obsession with making this a romance, which is somewhat unnecessary. There are romantic elements in the book (and my high school English teacher always stressed the symbolism of penetration in "Dracula"), but it goes to a new level in the film that seems designed to draw in a wider audience. Whether this is good or bad, I'm not entirely sure.
The special effects deserve praise. Compared to today (2008), I found the effects here far more convincing. The shadows that have their own minds, the count's transformations (powered by Oldman, the best actor in Hollywood today) and more. Other films of the era (most notably "Jurassic Park") also pushed the limits of effects for the time, but "Dracula" shouldn't be under-rated in this department. Many today could take a lesson from this playbook.
I made a bigger deal of the cast in my plot summary than usual, but this is with good reason: the casting of this film is highly peculiar, and even more peculiar is how successful the combination of actors comes across. Keanu Reeves is not known as a great leading man, still fresh from "Bill and Ted", but he does a decent enough job here. Winona Ryder is also somewhat of a lightweight, but pulls it off. But, countering this, Hopkins is amazing (as already noted), Oldman is the most perfect character actor for villains... and who would have thought to consider Tom Waits as a madman? It seems so obvious once you think about it.
I watched this film on a DVD I purchased from a chain store for five bucks. It was worth this much and more. I am not aware if a special edition exists, but with this film's great cast, awesome plots, awards won and wide appeal, a good edition should. There is very little that could make the actual film better, but a solid audio commentary, 20-year retrospective and any deleted scenes would really provide the consumer with a worthwhile package.