For people expecting to see an epic visioning of Bram Stoker's novel, prepare to be disappointed. The film is okay in its own right and I would recommend seeing it but it very loosely follows the novel. Especially since Mina Harker absolutely loaths and despises Dracula in the novel whilst the film presents a love story between her and the Count because of the resemblance Mina has of Dracula's past love. I must also say the ending is very unsatisfying.

Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins are fantastic. Keanu Reeves is not (and very far from it. Very, very far.)

This faithful adaption of the gothic love story is beautiful to look at, the sets are amazing. Gary Oldman is fantastic as the cursed count, and Anthony Hopkins has a great time with his over the top performance as Van Helsing. But the film is let down by some very miss cast actors. Reeves is the worst as Harper. He cannot pull off a convincing English accent, and his acting skills are not good enough for this kind of roll. Ryder is almost as bad.
But the films does stand it's ground when it comes to blood letting, and chilling moments. Dracular's many forms are brilliant as he manifest's from old man, young man, Wolf, mist and best of all is the Bat. Also the brooding music is amazing. Don't watch the film thinking you will be watching a horror. This film is more than that, it's a brilliant tragic love story...with lots of blood.
At the time of release the film got a cold reception, but now the film feels allot more satisfying.
A brilliant bloody treat!

this is a masterpiece hands down!!!!

Gary oldman is the best Dracula I've ever seen he adds a mysterious gothic quality to the character and like the others he's not just after the blood he has emotions and oldman plays him well that i was supporting through the film. Keanu Reeves i thought wasn't that bad in the film and i like Anthony hopkins but i felt he let the film down he doesn't have what Van Helsing requires that's why Hugh Jackman and Peter Cushing were the best Helsing's (and i hope the itv Van helsing in the autumn will be good).

The score and design is just phenominal and i like when Dracula comes into London and sees willimena for the first time it's back and white and grainy a great homage to the also fantastic Nosferatu.

Brilliant, Excellent A must own!!!!!!!!!!!

Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola is a wonderful film. It is filled with beautiful sets, exquisite costumes, excellent make-up effects and brilliantly melodramatic performances.

Gary Oldman stars as the Count, a man who sold his soul to Satan after his wife, Elisabeta, killed herself on receiving false news of his death in battle. He is ultimately made immortal by his Master and years later, meets Jonathan Harker, a younger lawyer who has come to negotiate his buying land in England. It is at this moment that Dracula sees a photograph of Jonathan's betrothed, Mina, who bears a striking resemblance to his own love, Elisabeta. He consequently imprisons Harker and travels to England to wreak havoc and to find the woman he believes to be the reincarnation of his lost wife.

The film remains very faithful to the novel throughout which is refreshing, given the usual Hollywood tendency to "re-imagine" or change the source completely. The performances on the whole are excellent - dodgy accents and Keanu Reeves aside - and are believable in the horrific context of the story, which shocks and seduces in equal measure. Anthony Hopkins' crazed turn as Professor Van Helsing is inspired and Gary Oldman attacks the role of Dracula with great relish and is tremendous in the role.

The film was awarded three Oscars - for Best Costume Design, Best Effects and Best Make-up - and various other accolades, and is easily one of the best films of the 1990s. This film is a must see for any Dracula/vampire fan, any fan of Francis Ford Coppola or anyone who loves a good film.

The rating concerns the whole movie and the packaging as well. The movie is fantastic and it was about time for the fans of this film to own a dignified Dvd.
The fact is that I bought the dvd(one from me and one for a friend of mine) specially from Play because of the referance to the Collector's Booklet(In Greece you may buy a dvd that contains no booklet whereas the international version does) but I was disappointed because once I opened it there was no such booklet.So be warned the referance to the Collector's booklet is unjustified!!!Too bad because there's no return policy for such serious(to my mind)mistake!!!

Having read the novel and being a huge horror movie buff, I'm thrilled to be writing this little review of Coppola's 1992 adaptation of the story, to date being the most faithful to the original.
Although it's often billed as being a "direct" adaptation of the book, it's very clear that Coppola has taken some liberties to make certain aspects of it more suitable for film. The ending as described in the book is lengthened somewhat, so that the ending isn't as abrupt as it would be in a horror flick from the '40s. There is also a completely different storyline included (the love affaire between Dracula and Mina after meeting in the streets of London), to further emphasize the romantic aspect of the story. Which is not as Stoker intended, for his Dracula was an absolutely repulsive, decrepid old man, who only became younger by feasting on the blood of the living.
All in all, choosing Gary Oldman to portray the Count was a good call, due to his mysterious low-pitched voice and sexual charisma. He mixes a lot of the classic film Draculas together, such as the repulsiveness of Count Orlok (Nosferatu, 1922) and the suave gentleman nature of Béla Lugosi in the 1931 original horror "talkie".
The most "controversial" performance (to put it nicely) is that of Keanu Reeves, whose motto towards acting in this film obviously was "if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing". His blatant overacting and terrible English accent pretty much ruin the character of Jonathan Harker.
All of the other characters are very much enjoyable, and besides Gary Oldman the real star of this movie is of course Sir Anthony Hopkins, playing a Van Helsing that we have never seen before in any movie adaption. Instead of being calm, reasonable and collected, this version of the Professor is even scarier and more menacing than Dracula himself (or so Coppola says).
Another thing I am not particularly fond of was the cinematography. Most of the special effects look very cheap (I think I have described them once before as being "Power Ranger-esque"), and seem to come out of a magician's late-night revue instead of being part of a multimillion dollar movie production.
To quote Christopher Lee, Dracula in the Hammer Films series: "Dracula has never been filmed as Bram Stoker wrote it". Maybe it's time for a new big-budget project, featuring Lee as the count, in a production even more faithful to the incredibly well-written novel?
That would be the day...

This is one of the greatest vampire films made. A classic.

Over-ripe but wonderfully rich version of this often told tale. Gary Oldman is quite marvelous as Dracula; especially powerful in the early stages of the film as the aged (600 years old) Count.
As with many previous Dracula films the magic lessens when the action moves from Transylvania to England but there is still enough pure fantasy here to be entertained right to the end when we come full circle and arrive back in Castle Dracula.
Not for everyone, but personally I love this film.