Vampire films are a dime a dozen. Good vampire films are few and far between. And extraordinary vampire films are about as rare as your average vampire. When Francis Ford Coppola and James V. Hart decided to tackle the most famous of all bloodsuckers, they created a classic film as well as a fine example of what Columbia’s Superbit DVD treatment can achieve. For a "bit" more info regarding the Superbit process you can reference Doug Blackburn’s review of The Fifth Element.

Adapted from the original Bram Stoker narrative, Coppola’s Dracula is a feast for the senses. With the aid of his son Roman and master-cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (Goodfellas, The Legend of Bagger Vance), Coppola endeavored to create all the film’s visual effects on camera or via film-processing techniques rather than depend on CGI-created elements. He felt this approach was poetic considering the story took place during the infancy of moving filmed images. Whether CGI would have compromised the visual richness of Coppola’s vision or the film’s mood is questionable -- after all CGI technology did give us very realistic dinosaurs a year later. My gut tells me, though, that it was these raw moments that served the film’s creepy atmosphere best. Instances where the film’s direction was reversed as Jonathan Harker is seduced by Dracula’s concubine (chapter 4) and when the undead Lucy retreats into her coffin (chapter 16) may have not played as well as they did, had the effect been created artificially. I also doubt that CGI would have been as convincing mimicking the richness and depth of Dracula’s shadow. At the very least Coppola proves himself the consummate filmmaker by working his camera to the limit of its capabilities.

The benefits of a higher bit rate are easily apparent, although like an analog audio recording remastered to digital, Superbit does betray some of the shortcomings of the film’s print. But the good far outweighs the bad -- even the unforgivable sin of an extra-less DVD! Most impressive are the saturated colors and deep blacks contained in Michael Ballhaus’ palette, which have more room to stretch between their hues. The shadows in particular exhibit better definition while the copious reds are clean, sharp, and never runny. Chapters 6, 8, and 16 are especially brilliant. Lucy’s garden shimmers with color and life while the completely drained look of austere grays and pure whites give her undead existence a wonderfully ethereal look. On the downside, one could pickup slight changes and defects in the film stock. Chapter 4, in particular, exhibits subtle lighting changes as well as some scratches and reel-change markers.

Though its sumptuous visuals are fantastic, it’s Dracula’s sound that captured two Oscars. A densely edited sound design coupled with Wojciech Kilar’s incredibly original and moving score just about outdoes any film soundtrack in recent memory. Forget the compressed dynamics and limited sparkle of the Dolby Digital mix, the added DTS-encoded track on the Superbit version is the only way to experience the considerable dynamic range, delicate shadings, and tightly packed, enveloping surround image this film has to offer.

Alas, all is not perfect.

How Keanu Reeves managed to secure a place on an otherwise superb cast, proves that Coppola can make the same mistake twice. As if casting his daughter in a pivotal Godfather role wasn’t enough to question his sanity, Keanu Reeves’ Jonathan Harker was the single glaring flaw in this first-class production. Not since Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood has one butchered a brogue so badly! I’m convinced that Gary Sinise, Eric Stoltz, or, better yet, Johnny Depp would have been a superior choice. Fortunately the balance of the performances is excellent. Gary Oldman’s rendition of the morally conflicted count is among his most colorful and compelling, while Sir Anthony Hopkins’ take on Van Helsing strikes the right balance of mad scientist and deranged cowboy. Watching such talent chew up scenes so well made me forget the film’s few flaws.