BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring: Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder,  Anthony Hopkins

Coppola’s ravishing 1992 adaptation of Stoker’s novel upset many purists - it claimed to be a faithful adaptation, but strays from the book in many key respects - but remains a potent and robust version with many attractive qualities, including superb production design captured by Michael Ballhaus’ vibrant cinematography.

Columbia’s Region 2 DVD is luminous, presenting the film in 1.85:1 ratio and enhanced for 16:9 TVs. It also boasts a rich Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix, which adds significantly to the atmosphere. The Region 2 disc scores over the US disc for including the oft-seen half-hour documentary Dracula - The Man, The Myth, The Legend, a trailer and a handful of costume sketches.

Columbia have subsequently issued a Superbit version of the film, dropping the documentary to allow the space to be allocated to a better transfer, and a DTS audio track. What would be more welcome is a Special Edition disc that presented some more supplemental material (not least of which would be the material contained on Criterion's excellent NTSC laserdisc release).