Very little even watchable material in this film

Rating: 1/10 (24 January 2006)

There are two good things about "Bram Stoker's Dracula". They are: Gary Oldman (as Dracula) and Anthony Hopkins (as Professor Abraham Van Helsing).
Other than that the negatives regarding this movie are seemingly endless. I'll touch of the main problems.
1. This movie had beautiful costumes and sets, but I was unable to enjoy them with the herky jerky camera editing that the director Francis Ford Coppala decided to go with. I got a headache trying to focus on the action.
2. Many movies have been made based on books. There are varying degrees of staying true to the original story. However, if you title your film "BRAM STOKER'S Dracula", then you better stay true to Bram Stoker's version of the story. I had just read the book, and was eagerly anticipating the film. It didn't take long to see that most of the original story is either simply ignored or actually changed. I'm not talking about minor details. I am talking about major themes in the book that are totally destroyed. The movie should have been named "Coppala's Vampire", then I wouldn't have wasted my money on going to the theater to see it.
3. This movie, in my opinion, has to be one of the worst cast films in the history of movie-making. At least, when you consider that the two main characters are played by Keanu Reeves and Wynona Rider. They are two of the most limited actors in Hollywood, and should never have even been allowed to read the script in the first place. As bad as they are, they do not even give a good performance even by their standards, most likely due to the poor matching of script to abilities.
Watching this movie is literally one of my least favorite movie-going experiences ever. It's basically a case of "three strikes and you're out", because of the poor acting/casting, lack of staying even close to the original story & irritating editing that leaves you straining to focus on what's happening.