[Movie] Dracula Untold

[Hammerfest]

Is it any good? It doesn't seem to follow what little of Dracula's past is given to us in Bram Stoker's novel, but then... it doesn't really have to to be good.

[OneSent]

I saw it tonight and I really enjoyed it. It's been awhile since we've had a good old fashioned Dracula film and in my opinion, this one more than delivers to the fans of the genre.

The most fascinating thing about this one is that it is based more on the actual true history of Vlad the Impaler than it is on the character from Bram Stoker's novel. I think IMDB explains it perfectly in their description of the movie:

"Explores the origin of Dracula, weaving vampire mythology with the true history of Prince Vlad the Impaler, depicting Dracula as a flawed hero, set in a dark age of magic and war."

[Stormcall]

The most fascinating thing about this one is that it is based more on the actual true history of Vlad the Impaler than it is on the character from Bram Stoker's novel. I think IMDB explains it perfectly in their description of the movie:

"Explores the origin of Dracula, weaving vampire mythology with the true history of Prince Vlad the Impaler, depicting Dracula as a flawed hero in a tragic love story set in a dark age of magic and war."

That description sounds...nothing like the actual story of Vlad the Impaler?

[Mrbleedinggums]

That description sounds...nothing like the actual story of Vlad the Impaler?

Poetic history. They will give the real story on who he was fighting, his position of power (obviously nothing supernatural), etc etc. They just got a bit creative with the non-fiction part, and very creative with the supernatural.

[Hammerfest]

This is the second time a movie has attempted to incorporate elements of Vlad Tepes Dracul into the Bram Stoker story, that I'm aware of. The first was 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula, made by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gary Oldman.

I find it interesting how Hollywood has bequeathed the powers of shapeshifting, weather control and hypnosis to the vampire. These were abilities Dracula possessed in Bram Stoker's novel, but they weren't vampiric powers. Vampirism was the source of Dracula's weaknesses, primarily. The only pluses he got from vampirism were the situational benefits of being undead (i.e. an increased lifespan, augmented strength). His other powers were the result of the fact that he was also a sorcerer who studied black magic at Scholomance. These extra powers included shape-shifting (both into animals and simple contortion), weather control (creating mists, primarily), hypnosis and not casting a reflection. Dracula also appeared differently to each individual who saw him. None of these powers were vampiric in nature, but Hollywood assigned those abilities to vampires. (Neither Lucy Westenra or Dracula's three daughters possessed these abilities because they were ordinary vampires.)

[Ettan]

It was meh.
Enjoyable but not a good movie. It was simply faar too predictable. The guy pretty much goes god mode.

[Hammerfest]

Movies that depict vampires as evil are something of a rarity these days. I find the idea of showing a him as a relatively good man who turns evil in a sort of Darth Vader way interesting.

[pateuvasiliu]

The good guy gone bad for his people is Vlad Tepes in a nutshell.

The man loved his kingdom and was betrayed at every corner in his life ( seriously, even his brother betrays him ).

The whole piking and torture was just to ensure Wallachia's independence and it would've probably worked if he hadn't been backstabbed so many times.

Wait what.

MFW they made Vlad king of Transylvania.

What.

[Stormcall]

The good guy gone bad for his people is Vlad Tepes in a nutshell.

The man loved his kingdom and was betrayed at every corner in his life ( seriously, even his brother betrays him ).

The whole piking and torture was just to ensure Wallachia's independence and it would've probably worked if he hadn't been backstabbed so many times.

Also worth mentioning is that while the impaling is true, many of the historical records actually don't verify a lot of the tortures he is accused of, report of those coming instead from, well, questionable sources(like, propaganda pamphlets printed by his enemies/rivals).

He's still considered a national hero in Romania(present day Wallachia), as during his rule, the economy prospered, crime was low, and the corrupt barons and nobles, the sort who made peasants lives more miserable in much of Europe, had been killed or driven away. He's also a certifiable badass.

[Frontenac]

I wonder if it would be possible to make a movie about Vlad III Basarab, Prince of Wallachia, without any fantastic and supernatural elements. Only pure history (well, with some realistic poetic liberty to flesh out the character). I mean, it's not like the history of this prince is not full of interesting events. that would be the "true history of Vlad the Impaler."

[RoKPaNda]

Anything that involves Dracula where he doesn't sparkle is refreshing and welcome thing imo.

[Toosdey]

It looks... glorified.

To the best of my knowledge, Vlad the Impaler was not a very charismatic person. His name was quite literal, he liked to impale people, brought on from trauma as a political prisoner for most his childhood. He was considered a 'hero' for wiping poverty out of his city, though he did so by killing all the homeless. He drove off an army of Janissary by impaling an entire city of people and letting them stumble upon it.

This movie previews makes him look like a D&D Hero, and kinda puts me off.

SIDE NOTE - Am I crazy or does anyone else ever get bothered when movies during these time periods have everyone with perfect fucking teeth.

[Osoroshii]

It looks... glorified.

To the best of my knowledge, Vlad the Impaler was not a very charismatic person. His name was quite literal, he liked to impale people, brought on from trauma as a political prisoner for most his childhood. He was considered a 'hero' for wiping poverty out of his city, though he did so by killing all the homeless. He drove off an army of Janissary by impaling an entire city of people and letting them stumble upon it.

This movie previews makes him look like a D&D Hero, and kinda puts me off.

SIDE NOTE - Am I crazy or does anyone else ever get bothered when movies during these time periods have everyone with perfect fucking teeth.

I don't typically pay attention to a person's teeth in a movie, but I can see how it could throw off the immersion factor for a period piece.

I can't decide if I want to go watch this movie or not... It's not really the horror Dracula I know and love/loathe, but at the same time, the options for a good Halloween movie this year are pretty slim.

[Deleted]

Anything that involves Dracula where he doesn't sparkle is refreshing and welcome thing imo.

this lol. glad he's not another pretty boy vampire

[Stormcall]

this lol. glad he's not another pretty boy vampire

He may not sparkle, but he certainly looks like a pretty boy to me. Several girls I know even referred to him as like "a vampire Orlando Bloom".

[Hammerfest]

this lol. glad he's not another pretty boy vampire

The current state of horror is very sad to me. With only a few rare exceptions lately, anything involving vampires and werewolves has been reclassified as "dark fantasy" (like TWILIGHT and VAN HELSING) and not actual horror. What we have for horror lately has been "torture porn" like the HOSTEL and SAW movies. Attempts at making horror films featuring classic Hollywood monsters (like the remake of THE WOLFMAN, which I actually liked) have failed. It kinda bums me out.

[Anonymous Coward]

I just watched this last night...it's OK but has a few plot holes that don't make sense....some serious "god-moding" going on very early into the movie, which kind of kills any suspense...it's still worth a watch but they just could have done a better job fleshing out some of the side characters. perhaps the sequel will be better, if they do make one

[fwc577]

Saw it a couple of weeks ago and I enjoyed it. If you like movies such as Underworld, you will probably enjoy this film. Vampire movies are almost always fun unless they do something gay like make them sparkle.

- - - Updated - - -

The current state of horror is very sad to me. With only a few rare exceptions lately, anything involving vampires and werewolves has been reclassified as "dark fantasy" (like TWILIGHT and VAN HELSING) and not actual horror. What we have for horror lately has been "torture porn" like the HOSTEL and SAW movies. Attempts at making horror films featuring classic Hollywood monsters (like the remake of THE WOLFMAN, which I actually liked) have failed. It kinda bums me out.

Totally agree. Torture Porn is not horror.

Another problem I have with current horror movies are the ones that go for cheap scares. Think of stuff like Paranormal where the film is all gimmick from start to finish. I think the days of true horror films are gone.

[Osoroshii]

The current state of horror is very sad to me. With only a few rare exceptions lately, anything involving vampires and werewolves has been reclassified as "dark fantasy" (like TWILIGHT and VAN HELSING) and not actual horror. What we have for horror lately has been "torture porn" like the HOSTEL and SAW movies. Attempts at making horror films featuring classic Hollywood monsters (like the remake of THE WOLFMAN, which I actually liked) have failed. It kinda bums me out.

A couple of years ago, I heard somewhere that there was a big-budget remake/reboot/whatever of The Howling in the works. That's what I really want to see, assuming it can be done correctly.

[Njtobknets]

I thought it was awesome. I get sick of people critiquing a movie on every little thing and comparing it to A+ movies. It's an enjoyable and fun film, I just wish I would have seen it in 3D.