Bram Stoker's Dracula: Standard and Limited Edition (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

I saw it at a revival screening at moma many years after it was on home video and it looked the same. The very expensive Criterion LD was also Coppola approved.

But don't forget that Coppola also approved the bastardized Vittorio Storraro 2.00:1 Univisum format for all but the latest video release of APOCALYPSE NOW.

 

[Mark-W]

I am red/green colorblind, so I have no business commenting on the colors, but I will say I listened to the commentary track that has not be available since the 1993 laserdisc and I really enjoyed it.

 

[Steen DK]

Ok, so I had a look at the new BD a few days ago, and it is... weird.


Like, this infamous scene (well, infamous on the old BD):

... has been fixed, right? You can now see the superimposed words, as you are surely supposed to. But then the very next shot, which had visible writing on the DVD, looks almost exactly like the old BD:


Why create a special effect that can't be seen? It makes no sense.


And in this scene the set is still obscured by darkness:

Why build a set and then hide it?


This one is not quite as green as it was on the old BD, but still...:


This is pretty much like the old BD:


Slightly better, I guess - the old one had massively crushed blacks:



The colours are very similar to the old BD:


... But at least they fixed those weird splotchy blacks:


This shot has some of the old colour back (it was practically shades of grey on the old BD) and no longer has crushed blacks:



So, you know, some improvements, some things are still problematic. Oh, a massive uptick in detail all around; the old BD practically looks like a DVD in comparison. Check out Caps-a-holic too.



PS. The movie is awful.

 

[Michel_Hafner]

PS. The movie is awful.

Why spend so much time with something you consider "awful".

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

So, do I have this right...the only difference between the "Limited Edition" and the regular release is the Limited comes in a clear case with a booklet...is that it? The price difference for a case and a little booklet seems out of line and where is the incentive to buy the Limited Edition if this is all the extra $17.00 gets you?

 

[Steen DK]

Why spend so much time with something you consider "awful".

Oh I think it's quite beautiful. I should probably watch it with the sound turned off.

 

[Michel_Hafner]

Oh I think it's quite beautiful. I should probably watch it with the sound turned off.

Oh well, Kilar's score is one of the highlights for me...

 

[Dr Griffin]

PS. The movie is awful.

Roger Ebert had a similar, though less harsh opinion, and found he enjoyed the film for its atmosphere and production.


http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bram-stokers-dracula-1992

 

[Steen DK]

Oh well, Kilar's score is one of the highlights for me...

Oh yeah, the music's good too. I need an isolated score/sound effects track.

 

[davidmatychuk]

Oh yeah, the music's good too. I need an isolated score/sound effects track.

Then you need the Criterion laserdisc. It's a mono audio track, mixed as in the movie, but it's a lot of fun. All these Sony 5" discs, and nobody ever thought to include an isolated score/sound effects track to showcase one of the most impressive genre scores in film history?

 

[Dr Griffin]

The video looks very good. Black/shadow detail is more evident. Didn't think once about framing, while some elsewhere are pulling their hair out over it. Sound is more active, even in 5.1 (my 7.1 is down now due to HT renovations), with surround activity seeming to move around more, and I have a non-Atmos processor. I like the limited edition packaging, it is a different type of digi-book with the clear glass-like plastic covers and high quality glossy paper stock.

 

[DalekFlay]

The video looks very good. Black/shadow detail is more evident. Didn't think once about framing, while some elsewhere are pulling their hair out over it.

To be fair there's like 3 people complaining about the framing, they're just very loud and repetitive about it. Personally I thought it was framed very well and only saw one scene where it might have felt a little low in the frame (one of the train loading scenes where the top of a steeple is cut off). For the most part it looks more correct than previous framings, especially the title card.

 

[Dave H]

Why spend so much time with something you consider "awful".

It certainly makes one wonder.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I'd love to report back on the new edition vs the old edition, but I'm having some issue getting a good copy shipped to me. Amazon sent the first one and the case was smashed, with the disc very scratched up. It may or may not have played but considering it's a movie I've bought a zillion times, I felt like if I was paying for it again, I'd at least like the case to not be in pieces. My replacement arrived today, and the packaging and disc were damaged in the exact same way. I'm wondering if Amazon just has a box full of these that got damaged on the way to their warehouse. I requested a replacement again today, hopefully the third time will be the charm.