So the DVD for this movie offers an introduction from its director Francis Ford Coppola, which I watched before starting the movie. Yet instead of redirecting to the title screen, after the intro was through the film started automatically with Coppola's commentary playing over it. The point of this story is that I wish I would have watched the film this way instead of restarting and playing it the originally intended way. The legendary director's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" is a glorious looking adaptation that shows a supreme command of the medium. Casting is another story. Aside from Gary Oldman in the lead, who is excellent but not doing anything revelatory, the acting is truly abysmal and hampers the flawless film to a point of near disdain. Keanu Reeves, who God only knows how he broke into the industry let alone has gotten steady work for the last 20 plus years, is horrendous as the real estate agent whom Dracula imprisons. Winona Ryder leaves not the slightest impression in a forgettable role as Reeves' fiance who the Count lusts after. The most disappointing performance is that of Anthony Hopkins who hams it up absurdly playing the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing. "Bram Stoker's Dracula" may be an example of a director so concerned with the look of his film that he forgot to pay any attention to the characters who were inhabiting it.
