Intro
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the first Horror/Suspense film to hit the SuperBit Circuit. This film is quite good, and the disc is another great release.
Synopsis
“Sumptuous retelling of the Dracula legend as originally conceived by Stoker in his 1897 novel. Avenging the death of his beloved wife, a 15th-century Romanian warrior lives on through the ages… and sets his sights on Victorian London. Sexual, sinuous, exquisitely realized (using every movie artifice imaginable); o…casionally let down by story lags… but always has one more goodie up its sleeve. Written by James Victor Hart. Kudos to Thomas Sanders’ production design, Michael Ballhaus’ cinematography, and Wojciech Kilar’s powerful music. Won Oscars for makeup, sound effects editing, and costume design.” – Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide
Audio
I wish that every DVD sounded this good. The surround activity is amazing, the bass is deep, and the speakers are all used very effectively. The soundstage is full of energy, and the score is portrayed wonderfully. I must recommend that you choose the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio over the DTS track. Reason being that the DD 5.1 track is recorded at full bit-rate, while the more encryption based DTS track is recorded in half bit-rate. Usually the DTS track will sound better and be more impressive, but this is not the case on SuperBit titles.
Video
This Film can not look much better on DVD. Sure, the transfer could have been touched up a little better (there were occasional specs of dust and scratches to the print), but the overall look of the film was marvelous. The colors were very nice, and the darks were maintained nicely as well. Another beautiful job by Columbia-Tristar!
Features
The one downfall with the SuperBit series is that they include NO special features.
Closing Thoughts
Another wonderful SuperBit release. I was somewhat skeptical about the choice of Dracula as a SuperBit title, but I was happily surprised by this release. Columbia-Tristar will continue to impress DVD enthusiasts if they continue to release SuperBit titles such as this.
Special Features List
- None
