Bram Stoker's Dracula (Blu-ray SteelBook) [Germany]
- Thread starter snooloui
- Start date
Or it's a really weird looking vagina.
Alright, let's move on from that topic... Actually this is the first PopArt steelbook that I think suits the movie perfectly.
I like some other PopArt steels too, but this is just brilliant, I'll have to see it in hand though. Anyway I really need a Bram Stoker's Dracula steelbook and my prayers have finally been answered! 
That image, though, has nothing to do with the movie. I mean, maybe that is Carfax Abbey, but this image is just some random sh*t they came up with... Dracula=castle. Brilliant.
Its not Carfax Abbey. Its Bran Castle. Google it. It has heavy connections to Bram Stoker's Dracula.
This has been on my own personnal list of films I want in a Steelbook for a while, shame it ends up in a pop art wave, I don't mind it but personally I always thought the original poster with a high gloss black finish and deep red embossed text would look really nice, just my opinion.
Hopefully we will get that too at some point.
Looking at the others in this wave, this got let off lightly, I'm sure there will have been someone somewhere pushing for this to be pink and gold.
At the very least, it's on the radar now. So now someone else might have the presence of mind to do a REAL one!
Strangely- the only listed SPOKEN language is German.
(So they just have the dub?)
Technical specifications
Characteristics
(So they just have the dub?)
Technical specifications
Characteristics
Title:
Bram Stoker's Dracula (Steelbook)
Original title:
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Genre:
Horror
Type of film:
Motion Picture (Actor)
Directed by:
Francis Ford Coppola
Starring:
Gary Oldman Winona Ryder Sir Anthony Hopkins Keanu Reeves
Production Country:
USA
Production Year:
1992
Image Format:
16: 9 widescreen (1.85: 1) HIGH DEFINITION 1920 x 1080p
Manufacturer:
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Total runtime:
127 Min.
Age rating (FSK):
From 16 years
Media:
Blu-ray
Disk Number:
1
Languages (Audio):
German
Subtitles included:
German, English, Turkish
Article number:
2029430
Bram Stoker's Dracula (Steelbook)
Original title:
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Genre:
Horror
Type of film:
Motion Picture (Actor)
Directed by:
Francis Ford Coppola
Starring:
Gary Oldman Winona Ryder Sir Anthony Hopkins Keanu Reeves
Production Country:
USA
Production Year:
1992
Image Format:
16: 9 widescreen (1.85: 1) HIGH DEFINITION 1920 x 1080p
Manufacturer:
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Total runtime:
127 Min.
Age rating (FSK):
From 16 years
Media:
Blu-ray
Disk Number:
1
Languages (Audio):
German
Subtitles included:
German, English, Turkish
Article number:
2029430
Strangely- the only listed SPOKEN language is German.
(So they just have the dub?)
Technical specifications
Characteristics
Title:
Bram Stoker's Dracula (Steelbook)
Original title:
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Genre:
Horror
Type of film:
Motion Picture (Actor)
Directed by:
Francis Ford Coppola
Starring:
Gary Oldman Winona Ryder Sir Anthony Hopkins Keanu Reeves
Production Country:
USA
Production Year:
1992
Image Format:
16: 9 widescreen (1.85: 1) HIGH DEFINITION 1920 x 1080p
Manufacturer:
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Total runtime:
127 Min.
Age rating (FSK):
From 16 years
Media:
Blu-ray
Disk Number:
1
Languages (Audio):
German
Subtitles included:
German, English, Turkish
Article number:
2029430
@C.C. 95 Those are from the specifications of the existing German Blu-ray released in 2007.
German PCM 5.1, German DD 5.1 & English DD 5.1.
At that time, Sony tended to release different discs in different territories, with the principal language soundtrack being that of the country in which it was being released. Fortunately, that policy has subsequently changed but those older discs are still in circulation.
Germany is also getting a release of the new 4k remaster on the 8th October 2015. More information here.
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B01328FO98/?tag=hidefnin0d-21
Given the close proximity of the release dates, it's possible that the Steelbook may also contain the new disc. Conversely, it may simply be an opportunity for Sony to clear some of its stocks of the earlier disc. I'm sure Sony is aware that a lot of Steelbook collectors don't care about the quality of the disc, as long as it comes in a nice shiny metal case.
Thanks, @augustus! The U.S. Is getting the 4K on October 6, and curiously, no word about that pop art steelbook.
Which is weird, because last time they started at Best Buys in the U.S.
I was pretty sure the German disc didn't leave out the English language sountrack on the disc. But it is curious they didn't list it. Very curious about this 4K edition. The previous versions have been very lackluster, especially with sound. The Criterion Collection laserdisc had an amazing sound mix, and I was hoping that eventually we would get a Criterion Blu ray. Well, at least the ball is rolling on BSD releases. A very underrated masterpiece. A flawed masterpiece...but a masterpiece none the less. (IMHO).
@C.C. 95
Appropriately so, since Bram Stoker's novel is equally flawed but a masterpiece notwithstanding. It's surprising that so many fans of the genre haven't actually bothered to read the book. They're certainly depriving themselves of an added dimension to that depicted on film.
As far as screen adaptations are concerned, the most faithful to the original novel is the BBC TV version, "Count Dracula" (1977) which starred Louis Jourdan in the title role. However, there's no denying that Francis Ford Coppola's version is the more stylish and ultimately the more entertaining, in spite of its deviations from the book, and also a badly miscast Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker.
Although I had a LD player back in the mid 90s, "Bram Stoker's Dracula" was not among the titles that I owned. LD releases in the UK were so expensive back then that my collection of films was somewhat limited. It was, however, the first DVD that I ever purchased and also one of my first Blu-rays, once i had made the decision to upgrade.
However, I found the picture quality of the Blu-ray so execrable that I ended up retaining the DVD instead. I know that apologists for that particular HD transfer have cited the fact that it was approved by Coppola but that of the LD also bore his imprimatur, and they're as different from each other as the proverbial chalk and cheese.
The Blu-ray image is so murky and washed out that fine detail is obscured, the most infamous example being the scene where Jonathan Harker searches the castle. On the Blu-ray the overlaid text from his journal is barely visible let alone legible, yet that problem affects neither the DVD nor the LD, both of which are only in SD! I don't accept that Coppola would have included all of these diary entries if he did not intend for them to be both seen and read. Also, what happened to the colour? On the Blu-ray most of the colour has been drained so it looks like it has been hand tinted. Maybe that was the intention but if so, why do the DVD and LD versions have such a vibrant colour palette?
I'm certainly hopeful that the new 4k remaster has resolved all of these issues. Interestingly, this will be the third director approved transfer. Please let it be the definitive one!
Well said @augustus!
Those who have finally read the book will quite surpised at its diary format- and the fact that Dracula himself is mostly talked about rather than seen in the book!
Even when the film was in theaters, I was surprised at how many people missed the banquet before them. BSD was a veritable love letter to every aspect of cinema: from utilizing every old school photographic trick in the book (in camera effects, rear projection, film speeds and dye techniques), to the sets, wardrobe, music, and unapologetic melodrama. It felt like 100 years of cinema crashing together gloriously!
I think we have to sometimes take the 'director approved' tag with a grain of salt- because, as we have seen- sometimes there can just be no way they really thought that the product was OK. Maybe some directors are just too busy and 'rubber stamp' it based on footage that may not reflect what the final product will be.
Or maybe they are directors like William Friedkin, who have no idea how make a proper final print without the Director of Photography there. (The whole French Connection Blu ray debacle).
But, I do hope this one does it right. Because every time a release is less than stellar, you know that reality says that the powers that be, are not going to do it again anytime soon. (Unless a third party like Criterion gets involved)
Personal note- I actually walked the sets of BSD when it was being filmed in Culver Studios and met Michael Ballhaus(the legendary DP)! (My buddy was interning there for producer Lynda Obst, who had her office on the lot). And Gary Oldman was (is) my fav actor before BSD, and I knew he loved Sinatra. So I had his Limo driver give him a mix tape of Sinatra I made for him! (I like to think that he got it, cuz in the BHS footage on BSD he talks some Sinatra!)
Anyway, let's cross our fingers for a great release. A sumptous movie with layers and layers of visual brilliance that deserves the best. And hopefully gets new fans of this great picture! Warts and all...
P.s. The John Dahl story was just that I met him at a indie film convention, and he had just lost the job directing The Punisher (I think it was that film). But he was really bitter, and told all the folks asking him questions that they should never try being in the business because it sucks, and he deserved more respect...blah, blah...he just wasn't very pleasant.
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