Having just watched the DVD set, I'm all the more perturbed by its lack of extras and the hacked aspect ratio because I enjoyed watching the series more than I ever did in the past. I guess the passage of time gave it a somewhat fresher feel, and I really did like the cast and the look of the setting didn't seem as offensively "California" as I remembered. The 1790 scenes are perhaps its shining moment, the characters wonderfully done (except perhaps Cavanaugh's wooden portrayal of Andre, not to mention his dreadful French accent). All in all, I found it a treat to see it start to finish and I -really- wish it had been allowed to continue in its day.

There's only one man who could have possibly fit the bill. This chap:

I've watched part of the first disc, and while I will admit that I'm enjoying seeing the episodes again (I'm finding all kinds of things I appreciate more than I did during the last viewing, several years ago, not to mention more things to groan about), I'm thoroughly nonplused, not just by the artifical widescreen but by the poor video transfer quality. The picture resolution is no better than broadcast TV, and on my set you can tell a -big- difference between broadcast and your typical DVD image. It's murky and the colors are a bit washed out. I don't have any particular issues with the sound, as one of the reviewers did, but the substandard video is a boot to the head to unsuspecting buyers.

To rub salt in the wounds, during the opening credits of the regular episodes, the image goes to its proper aspect ratio -- but shrunk down, apparently for the "benefit" of those with widescreen TVs.

When you put in a DVD, it gives you two options: A) play all episodes or B) show individual episodes. That's it. Period.

I've got bootlegs with better picture quality and more options.

The best thing I can say about the release so far is that I've fallen in love with Joanna Going all over again. And I'm not so sure the missus would necessarily consider that anything to holler about.

Just got word that mine shipped today. Got mixed feelings about it, as I'm happy to have the set on DVD... utterly peeved that it's such an inferior product. Grrr.

"I know I'd be bloody incensed!"

I guess I'm gonna have to stop driving places for a while so I can afford the important things...

This is a pisser. I'll buy the DVDs, but of all media for the extended scenes -plus- whatever other extras the producers could see fit to include, this is really it. What a waste.

The 1978 BBC Dracula, with Louis Jourdan, is easily my favorite production of the novel. While it takes some liberties with the source (most notably, the omission of a couple of key characters from the novel, and the apparently obligatory altering of Mina's maiden name), of all adaptations, it's probably the truest to the novel. The actors are all first rate, especially Frank Finlay as Van Helsing -- who puts Anthony Hopkins to shame, I'm sad to say; he easily rivals Peter Cushing for sheer screen presence. Jourdan probably doesn't jive with most people's mental image of Dracula, but he captures the spirit of the role better than any other actor; it's just a pity that he didn't first appear an old, withered man, as Dracula did in the book -- an aspect that Gary Oldman captured beautifully in Coppla's version, even if his "old man Drac" doesn't quite match Stoker's description.

Each time I've watched Bram Stoker's Dracula, I've come away with a slightly different impression -- which may actually speak to its credit, on some level. When I saw it at the theater during its first run, I was pretty well taken with it, despite its drastic deviations from the novel and its flagrant pilfering of DS's reincarnation theme. On subsequent viewings, though, my reactions have varied from faint admiration of its style to outright loathing of just about everything in it, particularly Keanu Reeves. Without casting aspersions on Anthony Hopkins, who is one of my favorite actors, I despise him as Van Helsing; and I must abashedly admit that my original admiration of Winona Ryder as Mina was based entirely on certain somewhat more, um, physical criteria. The whole production appears to take place on one big optically augmented sound stage, and, especially at the end, the screenplay borders on the outright saccharine.

On the other hand, some of the cinematography is inspired, Wojciech Kilar's score is one of the most dramatically effective works of film music I've ever heard, and Gary Oldman is just irresistible as a bloodsucker. The delivery of his lines, wonderfully Lugosi-affected, couldn't be more apt or expertly delivered. And Tom Waits as Renfield is so engaging that I could probably watch the film several times just to hear him passionately yelling "DOCTOR JAAAACK!!!!" His scene with Mina in the asylum, where he asks the Lord to bless and keep her, is really quite moving.

And that's my tuppence.