These screencaps are from the film Bram Stokers Dracula on the Blu Ray format.
This is a favourite film of mine and prior to buying this edition i had previously owned a widescreen VHS boxset and the Superbit DVD edition.
I have read various posts on forums declaring the Blu Ray release a botched job because the contrast/brightness/colours have been changed but the changes were made under the supervision of Zoetrope and at the request of the director Francis Ford Coppola.
I always thought the Superbit edition was very good but too bright and they have fixed that particular issue for this release.
The problem with fixing such issues is that people are used to a particular version and will get upset if major changes are made and you also may add problems to the transfer which were not there in the past.
The only problem i have with this transfer is that some onscreen text is now harder to see but i consider this a minor issue because the scene actually works better now.
I believe they should do some more work on this film and fix some of the minor issues which now exist but i also believe this film looks beautiful and has never looked so good, there are some inconsistencies with the transfer and i would suggest renting the film out before you buy.
For me i think this release looks like film and it has a very memorable musical score and i never tire of watching this film.
Keanu Reeves accent was not a problem for me at all even though much has been made of it, i actually felt he did a good job in this movie and i felt the entire cast acted their socks off in this romantic re-telling of the original story.
This was filmed in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and the film has a softer look to it which is intentional, detail levels are good and film grain is visible and intact and looks beautiful when in motion.
Check out frame 3 below and notice how the text has all but vanished but the scene is now much darker and in my opinion works better because of that.
Once you open an image you may need to click again for the full HD image.
