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Dracula 2000
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"Dracula 2000", a film that at this point is already dated, was really a rather desperate choice to begin with. As if the genre hasn't been gone to enough, Dimension films (the studio that certainly milked the genre for all its worth during the past few years) has brought the team of Wes Craven (producing here) and his usual editor, Patrick Lussier (directing here), but neither one of them can bring anything new to the proceedings.
After a prologue in the 1800's that's so minor as to be unneeded, we skip right forward to present day. Professor Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer) is having his mansion broken into. The idiotic thieves (Jennifer Esposito, Danny Masterson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Omar Epps) aren't aware that Dracula is sealed in the coffin and further tragedy occurs when they stupidly release him. These are all fine actors, and it's really depressing to see them play such moronic characters.
Anyways, followed by his assistant Simon (Johnny Lee Miller) they head off to New Orleans, where Van Helsing's daughter Mary (Justine Waddell) lives with roommate Lucy(Colleen Fitzpatrick, better known as singer Vitamin C). Dracula himself (Gerard Butler, in a bland performance) is also after Mary, for reasons I won't reveal. It's the kind of film that has Mary working at the Virgin Megastore.
There's litterally nothing new here and even so, there's no effort to bring some sort of fear or entertainment out of the "usual" material from the story. There's some good performers involved - I've liked Fitzpatrick even in smaller roles and she's fine again here. Patrick Thomas has shown he's capable of better in "Save The Last Dance" and Epps as well as Esposito have done better in the past. Newcomers Waddell and Butler don't fare as well. "Star Trek"'s Jeri Ryan, in a little performance, makes a joke about what apparently she thinks her success is due to.
Who knows, maybe there is something left to do with the tale, such as "Shadow Of The Vampire" was able to find, but "Dracula 2000" doesn't find anything - it's simply dull and completely forgettable.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Dracula 2000" gets a very strong, but not quite outstanding 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer from Disney. I was interested in learning who did the cinematography for the film after finding it fairly enjoyable, and was suprised to find that it was none other than Peter Pau, the award-winning cinematographer from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Not exactly the best choice for his next project, he still does fine work here and the transfer does justice to his work. Sharpness and detail are strong, although there were a few darker sequences throughout the movie that seemed a little too murky.
I noticed few problems throughout the presentation. A slight bit of edge enhancement was apparent at a few points throughout the movie, but this really didn't cause much of a distraction at all, nor did a couple of tiny traces of pixelation. Print flaws in terms of marks or scratches weren't noticed, but I was suprised to see a couple of scenes looking very lightly grainy.
Colors were nicely saturated and bold, with rich tones. Flesh tones also looked natural and accurate, as well. A very nice transfer, with the exception of a few minor problems.
SOUND: "Dracula 2000" is presented in an electrifying Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. It's not going to quite rival the sound design of Jan De Bont's "The Haunting", but nonetheless it's still a very impressive display of audio creativity as surround use is entertainingly agressive throughout many scenes of the film as creepy sound effects envelop the viewer and ambient sounds are nicely eerie, as well. Look for a scene in chapter 10 with voices coming from all around the room.
The movie isn't a constant audio-fest, but usually, when the action and effects stop, the music enters into the proceedings and has some very solid presence. Audio quality is strong, with very good fidelity and some occasionally good low bass. Dialogue sounded clear and natural throughout, as well.
MENUS:: The main menu is basic and non-animated, but I liked the TV-themed background.
EXTRAS::
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Patrick Lussier and writer Joel Soisson. I knew I was in for some trouble when the commentary starts off with one of them talking (even if it was jokingly) about the movie that's about to begin as their "97 minutes of glory". The commentary does pick up though as it goes along, though, with the two providing some mildly interesting information about the history of the production, as well as what it was like to work with some of the actors. Overall, I found it to be a decent track and the two were able to keep things going for the most part, if I didn't really find their insights on the movie to be that interesting. An odd piece of information is that, in the menus, when choosing the commentary on either the main film or for the deleted scenes, a screen pops up that talks about the opinions of the speakers not being the options of Miramax Films, etc. Some sort of legal mumbo-jumbo, I suppose.
Deleted/Extended Scenes: Presented are three extended sequences and four deleted scenes, thankfully grouped in their own sections and offering optional commentary. Most of the scenes seemed rightly deleted, but a deleted scene with Fitzpatrick and Waddell kissing might be of some interest, though.
Featurette: A short promotional featurette, with interviews from the main cast and crew that are decently interesting and occasionally amusing (Masterson offers, "Dracula's a pimp, you know what I mean?").
Audition Tapes: Clips of the audition tapes for Gerard Butler, Colleen Fitzpatrick and Justine Waddell.
Also: Trailer (full-frame/2.0) and storyboards for 8 scenes.
Final Thoughts: "Dracula 2000" was a bore with little (if anything) that I found remotely entertaining. The studio has put together a fine DVD, but the movie is simply not worth a look. If you're seeking horror, rent "Shadow Of The Vampire" instead.
"Dracula 2000", a film that at this point is already dated, was really a rather desperate choice to begin with. As if the genre hasn't been gone to enough, Dimension films (the studio that certainly milked the genre for all its worth during the past few years) has brought the team of Wes Craven (producing here) and his usual editor, Patrick Lussier (directing here), but neither one of them can bring anything new to the proceedings.
After a prologue in the 1800's that's so minor as to be unneeded, we skip right forward to present day. Professor Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer) is having his mansion broken into. The idiotic thieves (Jennifer Esposito, Danny Masterson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Omar Epps) aren't aware that Dracula is sealed in the coffin and further tragedy occurs when they stupidly release him. These are all fine actors, and it's really depressing to see them play such moronic characters.
Anyways, followed by his assistant Simon (Johnny Lee Miller) they head off to New Orleans, where Van Helsing's daughter Mary (Justine Waddell) lives with roommate Lucy(Colleen Fitzpatrick, better known as singer Vitamin C). Dracula himself (Gerard Butler, in a bland performance) is also after Mary, for reasons I won't reveal. It's the kind of film that has Mary working at the Virgin Megastore.
There's litterally nothing new here and even so, there's no effort to bring some sort of fear or entertainment out of the "usual" material from the story. There's some good performers involved - I've liked Fitzpatrick even in smaller roles and she's fine again here. Patrick Thomas has shown he's capable of better in "Save The Last Dance" and Epps as well as Esposito have done better in the past. Newcomers Waddell and Butler don't fare as well. "Star Trek"'s Jeri Ryan, in a little performance, makes a joke about what apparently she thinks her success is due to.
Who knows, maybe there is something left to do with the tale, such as "Shadow Of The Vampire" was able to find, but "Dracula 2000" doesn't find anything - it's simply dull and completely forgettable.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Dracula 2000" gets a very strong, but not quite outstanding 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer from Disney. I was interested in learning who did the cinematography for the film after finding it fairly enjoyable, and was suprised to find that it was none other than Peter Pau, the award-winning cinematographer from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Not exactly the best choice for his next project, he still does fine work here and the transfer does justice to his work. Sharpness and detail are strong, although there were a few darker sequences throughout the movie that seemed a little too murky.
I noticed few problems throughout the presentation. A slight bit of edge enhancement was apparent at a few points throughout the movie, but this really didn't cause much of a distraction at all, nor did a couple of tiny traces of pixelation. Print flaws in terms of marks or scratches weren't noticed, but I was suprised to see a couple of scenes looking very lightly grainy.
Colors were nicely saturated and bold, with rich tones. Flesh tones also looked natural and accurate, as well. A very nice transfer, with the exception of a few minor problems.
SOUND: "Dracula 2000" is presented in an electrifying Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. It's not going to quite rival the sound design of Jan De Bont's "The Haunting", but nonetheless it's still a very impressive display of audio creativity as surround use is entertainingly agressive throughout many scenes of the film as creepy sound effects envelop the viewer and ambient sounds are nicely eerie, as well. Look for a scene in chapter 10 with voices coming from all around the room.
The movie isn't a constant audio-fest, but usually, when the action and effects stop, the music enters into the proceedings and has some very solid presence. Audio quality is strong, with very good fidelity and some occasionally good low bass. Dialogue sounded clear and natural throughout, as well.
MENUS:: The main menu is basic and non-animated, but I liked the TV-themed background.
EXTRAS::
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Patrick Lussier and writer Joel Soisson. I knew I was in for some trouble when the commentary starts off with one of them talking (even if it was jokingly) about the movie that's about to begin as their "97 minutes of glory". The commentary does pick up though as it goes along, though, with the two providing some mildly interesting information about the history of the production, as well as what it was like to work with some of the actors. Overall, I found it to be a decent track and the two were able to keep things going for the most part, if I didn't really find their insights on the movie to be that interesting. An odd piece of information is that, in the menus, when choosing the commentary on either the main film or for the deleted scenes, a screen pops up that talks about the opinions of the speakers not being the options of Miramax Films, etc. Some sort of legal mumbo-jumbo, I suppose.
Deleted/Extended Scenes: Presented are three extended sequences and four deleted scenes, thankfully grouped in their own sections and offering optional commentary. Most of the scenes seemed rightly deleted, but a deleted scene with Fitzpatrick and Waddell kissing might be of some interest, though.
Featurette: A short promotional featurette, with interviews from the main cast and crew that are decently interesting and occasionally amusing (Masterson offers, "Dracula's a pimp, you know what I mean?").
Audition Tapes: Clips of the audition tapes for Gerard Butler, Colleen Fitzpatrick and Justine Waddell.
Also: Trailer (full-frame/2.0) and storyboards for 8 scenes.
Final Thoughts: "Dracula 2000" was a bore with little (if anything) that I found remotely entertaining. The studio has put together a fine DVD, but the movie is simply not worth a look. If you're seeking horror, rent "Shadow Of The Vampire" instead.
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