History Film / BramStokersDracula

The film opens in Transylvania (Romania), 1462, after Constantinople was captured by the Turks in 1453. Prince Vlad III Draculea (Creator/GaryOldman) successfully defends Christian civilization from the Eastern threat, but the Turks take revenge by sending a false message of his death to his wife, Elisabeta, whom he loves dearly. In her despair, she throws herself from the castle's walls to her death. Vlad's priests declare that, as her death was a suicide, she is now damned to Hell. Enraged, Vlad [[FaithHeelTurn renounces God]] and vows to drink the blood of men.

* VillainousCrush: Dracula for Mina.

* VampireHickey: We see Drac first bite Lucy in werewolf form earlier in the movie. Later when Lucy's suitors (Seward, Quincy and Holmwood) come to visit her and leave her to rest, she undoes the collar around her neck and we see the puncture wounds from where she was bitten.

** Mina here is a schoolmistress, who uses typewriter, fiancee of Jonathan Harker and is the second victim of Dracula in England. Lucy here is a wealthy socialite, Mina's childhood friend and the one who becomes first victim of Dracula in England and turns into vampire.
** Jonathan Harker is the one who goes to Transylvania to Dracula and survives to the end of the film.

** The film version largely does follow the general plot outline and story dynamic of the novel. It's portrayal of Dracula restores most of the UnbuiltTrope from the original book, and most importantly just like the novel, it doesn't fully give Dracula a single final form, allowing him to take multiple shapes like wolf, mist or bat, as well as travel in sunlight without withering like paper (a motif introduced by Murnau). Though the movie shortens the ship massacre sequence that was an iconic part of the novel in Murnau's film, Coppola did this out of love for the Murnau film and a desire to not repeat or compete with it.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: While there is still an excerpt from the ApocalypticLog of the ships captain form the book indicating Dracula did cause trouble and kill crew members, here it's implied that he didn't kill all of them before leaving the ship.

* PrematurelyGreyHaired: Happens to Jonathan after he escapes the castle, presumably as an effect of being used as a food source for a prolonged period by the brides.

* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: A classic Coppola tradition, this time emblazoned into the very title itself, similar to Mario Puzo's ''Film/TheGodfather'' (1972) and ''John Grisham's The Rainmaker'' (1997), albeit on the posters rather than the credits itself. Others have claimed, however, that Stoker's name was included in the title to avoid legal action from Universal Studios, who claimed to own the rights to the simple title ''Dracula'' (1931). Some critics noting how Coppola wanted to explore the subtext and the UnbuiltTrope of the book was emphasizing the literary nature of the original to distinguish his film.

* YourCheatingHeart: Mina finds herself torn between staying true to Johnathan or being with Dracula. Even finding out that the latter's the monster who killed Lucy doesn't seem to sway her, so much so that she nearly becomes a vampire herself...''willingly''.

* FreudianExcuse: The reason Dracula went from Christian Crusader to vampire was because of the unfairness of his wife's death. She only committed suicide because of a false message that her husband had died. Yet suicide is suicide, and she was deemed [[BarredFromTheAfterlife unworthy of going to Heaven]]. Thus, Dracula renounced the Cross and became the monster he is today.

* EvilPlan: Dracula is buying real property around London in order to move to England and spread vampirism there. Then he sees photo of Harker's fiancee...

* DeathBySex: Subverted. Lucy is very flirty and likes to make risky jokes. Yet she never actually has sex with anyone before Dracula comes and turns her into vampire. Mina, on the other hand, gets married, basically commits adultery with Dracula, thus breaking Victorian conventional norms, yet survives and doesn’t become vampire in the end.

* ComicBookAdaptation: ''Topps'' released a four-issue comic and 100 trading cards. The comic was scripted by Roy Thomas and had art by Mike Mignola. Creator/IDWPublishing collected in a trade paperback in 2018.

* ByronicHero: Count Dracula goes from being a Holy Warrior of Christianity to a Demonic servant upon the death, and supposed damnation of his beloved wife, believing that God forsaked and punished him simply because he was acting as the culture and society of his time expected a good Christian King should have behaved. In the late 19th Century, he's a decadent aristocrat living a cursed, desperate, existence simply for the chance to reunite with his beloved with his magic rituals competing, poorly, against the scientific, modern, advanced world of London in the British Empire. It's been noted by many critics that had Dracula been written in the early [=1800s=] during the Romantic era, he would undoubtedly be made sympathetic by the likes of Byron and Shelley (Percy and Mary), and Coppola is very much a Romantic in the same mould.

** When Dracula morphs into a werewolf and lures Lucy into the gardens so he can rape and bite her, Lucy tells Mina she was in such a semi-paralyzed state because of him Dracula's apparent hypnosis. She couldn't run away, and she couldn't scream.

** Jonathan, who is held captive in Dracula's castle and Dracula's Brides feed off him, leaving him in a very weakened state. He notes in his letters how Dracula keeps him alive rather than dead so that Jonathan can be food for his brides.
** When Dracula morphs into a werewolf and lures Lucy into the gardens so he could rape heat and bite her, Lucy tells Mina that she was in such a mind-control trance because of him. She couldn't run away, she couldn't scream.

* AdaptationOriginConnection: In the original book, Mina Harker was a major supporting character who became a victim to Dracula before joining the mission to destroy him, but had no connection to the Count's backstory. In this version, she's reimagined as the [[ReincarnationRomance reincarnation of Dracula's former wife]] who was [[LoveMakesYouEvil the cause for his turn to darkness]].

* AdaptationExpansion: Dracula's BackStory as a self-cursed vampire because his wife committed suicide is entirely absent from the original novel. From this BackStory comes Mina's resemblance to his wife, Dracula's pursuit of her because of it, and Mina falling in love with him to the point of nearly sabotaging the heroes' attempts to stop him from completely turning her.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Lucy is an Ingenue in the books. This film portrays her as flirty and promiscuous, as well as slightly ditzy. Of course, given that the novel is an epistolary, and told via multiple characters writing the events in journals, letters and so on, it's possible to interpret some of the book's portrayal of Lucy as Victorian euphemism, especially given Mina's awareness of the InterclassFriendship between her and Lucy, which would prevent people of her generation and background (i.e. upwardly mobile middle-class educated working woman) from being entirely critical of her "social betters".

The 1992 movie adaption of [[Literature/{{Dracula}} the novel]] directed by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola from James V. Hart's script. Even though it follows the book much more closely than previous ''Dracula'' movies, one of its most obvious features is a romance plot that's not in the book.

The film opens in Transylvania (Romania), 1462, after Constantinople was captured by the Turks in 1453. Prince Vlad III Draculea (Creator/GaryOldman) successfully defends Christian civilization from the Eastern threat, but the Turks take revenge by sending a false message of his death to his wife, Elisabeta, whom he loves dearly. In her despair, she throws herself from the castle's walls to her death. Vlad's priests declare that, as her death was a suicide, she is now damned to hell. Enraged, Vlad [[FaithHeelTurn renounces God]] and vows to drink the blood of men.

* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Lucy is an Ingenue, bordering on PuritySue in the books. This film portrays her as flirty and promiscuous, as well as slightly ditzy. Of course, given that the novel is an epistolary, and told via multiple characters writing the events in journals, letters and so on, it's possible to interpret some of the book's portrayal of Lucy as Victorian euphemism, especially given Mina's awareness of the InterclassFriendship between her and Lucy, which would prevent people of her generation and background (i.e. upwardly mobile middle-class educated working woman) from being entirely critical of her "social betters".

* FallenHero: From the perspective of Christianity and the times. Dracula was once a servant of the cross, defending Europe from [[ValuesDissonance Muslim influence]], and then he became a vampire. Van Helsing hangs a {{Lampshade}} later on how he was a terrible person, even by Victorian standards, when he was still a hero as per the norms of his culture.
* {{Fanservice}}: Lots and lots of naked boobies. Also, Creator/GaryOldman in full on [[EvilIsSexy "evil sex demon" ]] mode.

* HauntedCastle: Dracula's of course. WordOfGod is that they imagined it as a place that defies the laws of physics - such as Jonathan opening a perfume bottle where the contents drip ''upward'' into the sky.

** Lucy Westenra, a gorgeous [[HeroesWantRedHeads redhead]] who is [[TheTease dangling three suitors at once]] and who spends her time wearing revealing dresses, getting [[HypnotizeThePrincess hypnotized by Dracula]] and even indulging in a little LesYay with her best friend Mina.

** The film version largely does follow the general plot outline and story dynamic of the novel. It's portrayal of Dracula restores most of the UnbuiltTrope from the original book, and most importantly just like the novel, it doesn't fully give Dracula a single final form, allowing him to take multiple shapes like wolf, mist or bat, as well as travel in sunlight without withering like paper (a motif introduced by Murnau). Though the movie shortens the ship massacre sequence that was an iconic part of the novel and a SignatureScene in Murnau's film, Coppola did this out of love for the Murnau film and a desire to not repeat or compete with it.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Elisabeta kills herself by jumping from a precipice high enough that she falls through clouds/mist. Considering that she probably landed on her front and face, the only sign of the resulting damage is a dainty trickle of blood from her corpse's mouth. She is said to have "flung herself into the river", so there should also be some water damage, depending on how long it took to find and fish her out.

The film opens in 1462, citing the fall of Constantinople (the city actually fell in 1453). Prince Vlad III Draculea (Creator/GaryOldman) successfully defends Christian civilization from the Eastern threat, but the Turks take revenge by sending a false message of his death to his wife, Elisabeta, whom he loves dearly. In her despair, she throws herself from the castle's walls to her death. Vlad's priests declare that, as her death was a suicide, she is now damned to hell. Enraged, Vlad [[FaithHeelTurn renounces God]] and vows to drink the blood of men.

It features Creator/GaryOldman playing Dracula, Creator/WinonaRyder playing Mina Murray, and Creator/KeanuReeves plays Jonathan Harker. Creator/AnthonyHopkins plays Van Helsing.

The film opens in 1462, citing the fall of Constantinople (the city actually fell in 1453). Prince Vlad III Draculea successfully defends Christian civilization from the Eastern threat, but the Turks take revenge by sending a false message of his death to his wife, Elisabeta, whom he loves dearly. In her despair, she throws herself from the castle's walls to her death. Vlad's priests declare that, as her death was a suicide, she is now damned to hell. Enraged, Vlad [[FaithHeelTurn renounces God]] and vows to drink the blood of men.

Flash forward to [[VictorianLondon England]], [[TheGayNineties 1897]]. A clerk named Renfield (Music/TomWaits) is gibbering in his [[BedlamHouse asylum cell]] while his replacement, Jonathan Harker (Creator/KeanuReeves), travels to Transylvania to complete the sale of various properties around London to a certain Count Dracula who is ''extremely'' intrigued when he sees a picture of Harker's bride-to-be, Mina Murray, as she looks ''remarkably'' like a certain lost love...

Other actors in the cast are Creator/RichardEGrant as Seward, Creator/CaryElwes as Arthur, and Creator/MonicaBellucci as one of Dracula's brides.

The film opens with the fall of Constantinople in 1462 (in this, the movie is incorrect; [[ArtisticLicenseHistory the city actually fell in 1453]]). Prince Vlad III Draculea successfully defends Christian civilization from the Eastern threat, but the Turks take revenge by sending a false message of his death to his wife, Elisabeta, whom he loves dearly. In her despair, she throws herself from the castle's walls to her death. Vlad's priests declare that, as her death was a suicide, she is now damned to hell. Enraged, Vlad [[FaithHeelTurn renounces God]] and vows to drink the blood of men.

* ChristianityIsCatholic: Averted, despite the fact that the director came from an Italian-American Catholic background. Most of the Christianity we see is very Orthodox influenced since it's set in Romania, and Mina and Jonathan's wedding is very much an Orthodox-flavored wedding. Count Dracula's castle likewise also has a lot of Byzantine-inspired murals and mosaics, which is ironic considering that the historical Vlad the Impaler was a Catholic in contrast to the Ortodox majority in Romenia.

* ComicBookAdaptation: ''Topps'' released a four-issue comic and 100 trading cards. The comic was scripted bybRoy Tomas and had art by Creator/MikeMignola. Creator/IDWPublishing collected in a trade paperback in 2018.

* SceneryPorn: The studio sets, from rose-filled gardens to Hammer-style taverns. Bound to happen with Creator/MikeMignola involved with the art design.