Universal Classic monsters Disk One: Dracula
I will start with the movie. The restoration is very well done. The clarity is great and looks original. No signs of digital conversions. They also keep the original aspect ratio rather than try for force it to be wide screen. Having not seen this movie in over 30 years I had little recollection. I had also not read the book the last time I saw the movie. I was pleasantly surprised at how true they were to the original story.
Extras: Three documentaries. 1. The Road to Dracula - featured commentary from descendants of the movie. Some interesting tidbits but nothing to write home about. 2. Lugosi: The Dark Prince - At first I was not sure I would like this as it delved into the Lugosi vs Karloff narrative that has been played in my opinion. It did move into Lugosi's career and was pretty interesting. The most interesting point for me was his son explaining the decision to bury him in his cape. I wish they would have given the contributors more time with each piece though. One example was Ramsey Campbell would come on screen and start talking about a point and would get less than a minute. This was repeated several times. I would have preferred fewer contributors for each subject. 3. Dracula The Restoration - talks about the effort to restore the film. It was interesting.
The original trailer for each Universal Dracula film is included as well as a slideshow of Dracula promotion materials. Good stuff.
Content I did not look at:
The 1931 Spanish version of the film.
The film with an alternate score.
Two different versions with commentary.
I enjoyed Disc One. Disc Two is Frankenstein
I will start with the movie. The restoration is very well done. The clarity is great and looks original. No signs of digital conversions. They also keep the original aspect ratio rather than try for force it to be wide screen. Having not seen this movie in over 30 years I had little recollection. I had also not read the book the last time I saw the movie. I was pleasantly surprised at how true they were to the original story.
Extras: Three documentaries. 1. The Road to Dracula - featured commentary from descendants of the movie. Some interesting tidbits but nothing to write home about. 2. Lugosi: The Dark Prince - At first I was not sure I would like this as it delved into the Lugosi vs Karloff narrative that has been played in my opinion. It did move into Lugosi's career and was pretty interesting. The most interesting point for me was his son explaining the decision to bury him in his cape. I wish they would have given the contributors more time with each piece though. One example was Ramsey Campbell would come on screen and start talking about a point and would get less than a minute. This was repeated several times. I would have preferred fewer contributors for each subject. 3. Dracula The Restoration - talks about the effort to restore the film. It was interesting.
The original trailer for each Universal Dracula film is included as well as a slideshow of Dracula promotion materials. Good stuff.
Content I did not look at:
The 1931 Spanish version of the film.
The film with an alternate score.
Two different versions with commentary.
I enjoyed Disc One. Disc Two is Frankenstein
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