I think this movie was brilliant, even though it does not strictly follow the story of the novel.

Rating: Null/10 (30 October 2004)

I thought this movie was brilliant. It is a bit different from the book because this picture does not show the life of Lestat before he met Louis, as the book did, but the movie still was very transfixing. Also in the movie Louis does not tell much about his life before becoming a vampire. He only tells that he was depressed and wished for death. In the book he goes into great detail about his life before becoming a vampire.
As for the cast, it could have been better, but it was still more than acceptable. Tom Cruise was not the best choice for Lestat. They needed someone taller, and with a bit more reserve. But Cruise exemplified Lestat's ruthlessness quite well.
Brad Pitt was an excellent choice for Louis. He played the role very well. He captured the charisma and humility of Louis.
Kirsten Dunst was good as the character of Claudia, but she could have done better. In the book, it seemed to me as if she would be older, maybe 16 years old or so. But in the movie she is played out to be no more than 10 or 11 years old.
Antonio Banderas was very good as the character of Armand. He could have been a bit more krass, but he was still very good for the part.
Overall, I would rate this movie as 4 stars. Others may disagree because it does not strictly follow the book, but the movie was excellent. It would have been terrible if Anne Rice had not been supervising and intervening during the production of the film.
~Aaron