The Movie
When young Vlad Dracula, the Prince Romania, and his younger brother
Radu are kidnapped and held hostage by the Turkish Sultan Mohammed, their
father is murdered and the Sultan holds the boys prisoner for many years.
When the grown Vlad is finally released, he vows to avenge his father's
death and to return to liberate his brother from the Sultan. As Vlad wages
a bloody war both within his country and against the Turks, he finds enemies
at every turn, but when he is betrayed by his closest confidants, he wages
is life, and soul, for vengeance.
Review
Sold as the "true story of Vlad the Impaler", this is kind
a prequel to the whole Dracula thing. Trouble is, it's a hodgepodge of
historical fact, fiction, myth and legend, and runs too much like a documentary.
Jane March, as Mrs. Dark Prince, is beautiful, and has her moments; but
Oscar material she ain't. Peter Weller, I am told, is irresistable to
women ... well, that's as maybe, but he's totally - totally - miscast.
Supposed to be a vicious, merciless, committed killer, he plays like a
San Francisco hippy.
But it's not his fault; the plot is rather given away, revealing the
Director's fear that we just wouldn't go along with the silly ending.
Right.
It's not all bad; the gloom and doom atmosphere is seductive, some of
the acting is great (no, not Roger Daltrey), and it is good to take a
look at the 'why' of Dracula. Even though it never quite convinces.
The DVD
- Director: Joe Chappelle
- Encoding: (Read more about DVD formats.)
- Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
- Rated: Not for sale to persons under age 18.
- Studio: Lionsgate/Fox
- Released: August 20, 2002
- Run Time: 89
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