Bram Stoker's Dracula (Superbit) (1992)

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General		Extras
Category	Vampire	Dolby Digital Trailer-City
Rating
Year Of Production	1992
Running Time	122:10
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Francis Ford Coppola
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Gary Oldman Winona Ryder Anthony Hopkins Keanu Reeves Richard E. Grant
Case	Soft Brackley-Opaque
RPI	$49.95	Music	Wojciech Kilar

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Dutch Hindi English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Bram Stoker's Dracula is an absorbing, detailed, and sensuous adaptation of the famous novel which expertly combines the genres of romance and horror. The original DVD was inducted into our Hall Of Fame, and the Superbit DVD manages to be even better.

    "Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of colour about him anywhere. He held in his hand an antique silver lamp, in which the flame burned without a chimney or globe of any kind, throwing long quivering shadows as it flickered in the draught of the open door. The old man motioned me in with his right hand with a courtly gesture, saying in excellent English, but with a strange intonation. 'Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own free will!'"

    The above passage is taken from Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker, and it records the moment in the novel when young Mr. Jonathan Harker meets Count Dracula. I first read Dracula as a child and I was absolutely hooked. The novel is largely presented in a journal format, and the first-person narrative grabs one from the start. I recall, as a child, being absolutely terrified by the story, and the very vivid and powerful images it presented. I even took to sleeping with a crucifix under my pillow for a while, but I could not stop reading it. Every afternoon, after school, that book had its claws in me, and it held me as tightly as Count Dracula would one of his victims. Stoker had twelve novels published, but the one for which he will always be remembered is Dracula (1897).

    As I wrote in my review of The Forsaken, "I generally enjoy vampire movies, and two of my favourites are Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Interview With A Vampire (1994) . . . Vampire myths have been with us for thousands of years and occur in almost every culture around the world. Their variety is almost endless, but movie vampires are largely based on Eastern European myths".

    As with other movies that place the author's name in the title, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, there is an implicit promise that the movie adaptation will be more faithful to the source material than past adaptations. In the case of Dracula, that is very true. Furthermore, despite being a very commercial movie, it is easy to describe this film as art. There is a bold artistic style here, from the shadow puppet style battle scene opening, to the obvious use of surreal miniatures. The movie features wonderfully lavish costumes, sets, visual/sound effects, and make-up. The acting performances by Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins are superb, and the rest of the cast, except for the miscast Keanu Reeves, acquit their roles well. Francis Ford Coppola has directed some of my favourite movies, and this is one of them.

   As for the plot, the bookish schoolmistress Mina Murray (Winona Ryder) is engaged to marry the ambitious law clerk, Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves). Their wedding plans are interrupted when Harker is sent by his firm to Transylvania to assist Count Dracula (Gary Oldman) in his purchase of London property. During Harker's visit, Dracula becomes convinced that Mina is his long-lost love, and Dracula travels to London to find her. After a series of mysterious happenings in London, Professor Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins) is called in to investigate. Van Helsing will lead a small group of dedicated men in their battle to save Mina, and destroy the evil that stalks them.

Video

    I imagine that most readers would like to know how this disc compares to the original release, and if it's worth purchasing? In short, this is better than the original, and if you have a large screen and/or DTS capability, you might consider 'upgrading' to this model.

    I note that the back of this DVD claims that all Superbit DVDs "double the bit rate of the original". This does not appear to be the case. Secondly, the internal packaging claims that Superbit DVDs offer "pure picture and sound with no limitations". Well, considering that the movie is still compressed, and that there is only so much room on a disc, I imagine that there are some limitations.

    In terms of this disc, using DVD software, I examined the two largest files on each disc. I freely admit that this is not a very scientific comparison, as I am not necessarily comparing apples with apples, however it will provide a crude comparison in terms of the average bit rate and compression for those files. Looking at 20,701 frames (very roughly about 14 minutes) from the original DVD, and 19,859 frames from the Superbit version (very roughly about 13 minutes), I found the following: The original had an average (and very impressive) bit rate of 7.965 megabits per second, while the Superbit version averaged 8.733 megabits per second. On average, the level of compression was slightly less on the Superbit version.

    The real test, however, is how it looks. There are a few DVDs with relatively low bit rates, such as the single-layered original version of The 5th Element, which are demonstration discs.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, which is very close to its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1.

    The image is sharp and detailed throughout, with some occasional graininess or softness due to the source material, for example Mina's face at 39:05. However, it is the increased detail that separates the Superbit from the original. For example, at least five scenes looked better to me in the Superbit version: When Lucy descends the stairs in the background (35:10), the crowded street scene (46:06), the university lecture scene (54:23), the church interior (75:43), and the scene in which two strands of hair hang off Mina's forehead (115:20). With all these scenes, the background seemed to exhibit greater detail, except for the last scene, in which the two hairs are much more clearly defined in the Superbit version.

    Generally, the shadow detail is brilliant. For example, consider the shadowy scene in the asylum at 5:54. The black level is excellent.

    A rich palette of well saturated colours are on display, which is important, as colour is an integral part of the story-telling. The skin tones are accurate.

    As expected with Superbit, there are no problems with MPEG or film-to-video artefacts.

    Film artefacts appear throughout, but they are tiny black or white flecks. Examples can be seen at 9:28, and a smattering from 18:16 to 18:18. As these same artefacts appear at the same time in the original DVD, I assume that the same print was used for both versions.

    Four sets of subtitles are present on the DVD, and the English subtitles are accurate.

    This is an RSDL disc, but with the superior authoring of Superbit discs neither I, nor my software, could find the layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The original DVD contained six audio tracks: English Dolby Digital 2.0, surround-encoded, English Dolby Digital 5.1, and French, German, Italian and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded soundtracks. The Superbit DVD offers English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 KBPS), and DTS (768 KBPS). As I've found with other discs, listening to both tracks I did prefer the DTS track for what appeared to be a wider range and deeper bass. Of course the fidelity and quality of both audio options are excellent. Interestingly, the DTS audio is the default option. The disappointing feature is the compromise made with the DTS audio. Any home theatre buff, (the Superbit market) knows that DTS is capable of being encoded at 1509 KBPS. As an aside, I own the R1 edition of Twister SE, which has 1509 KBPS DTS audio, and it remains one of my favourite 'demo discs'. Considering the Superbit promise (see above), this is a sad compromise.

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are generally excellent on both audio tracks. Very occasionally, some lines were slightly out of sync, such as at 38:01, but this could be me being very, very picky. There were also a few drop-outs, but I sense that this was due to the source material.

    The musical score is credited to Woiciech Kilar, and it is a suitably dramatic and passionate sweeping orchestral score.

    The surround presence and activity is very aggressive and immersive. The rear speakers are used throughout to help carry the score, such as at 5:22 and 36:33, and to provide ambience, such as the train at 7:56 and the sea storm at 37:37. There are also some great split rear directional effects, for example at 26:25.

    The subwoofer is also utilized very effectively to support both the score and the effects, such as the thunder at 10:10.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    As a Superbit title, there are no extras.

Menu

    A very simple menu, presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, it is static and silent.

    The R1 and R4 Superbit versions of this movie are the same, except for the NTSC/PAL difference, and the packaging. I would favour the R4 release due to the superior PAL transfer.

    Bram Stoker's Dracula is a great Superbit DVD. I really like the Superbit concept -- use all the disc space for the movie, and for DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. If you want extras, well there can always be a bonus disc of extras. As I wrote earlier, if you have DTS capability, and/or a larger screen, then the Superbit option is well worth considering. I hope a number of other titles become available as Superbit releases, and that the other distributors start providing their own versions of the Superbit concept.

    The video quality is sublime.

    The audio quality is also sublime

    There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall