FRANKENSTEIN (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0004Z33DM/qid=1103486887/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/104-7711741-4172733?v=glance&s=dvd)

Just saw this on the shelf at my local Best Buy. Anybody see it?

I am a bit leary of another Frankie/Branagh debacle so I didn't snatch it from the shelf.
Is it worth $20? The reviewers on Amazon are raving about it!

-Leelan

http://imdb.com/title/tt0368730/

FRANKENSTEIN (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0004Z33DM/qid=1103486887/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/104-7711741-4172733?v=glance&s=dvd)

Just saw this on the shelf at my local Best Buy. Anybody see it?

I am a bit leary of another Frankie/Branagh debacle so I didn't snatch it from the shelf.
Is it worth $20? The reviewers on Amazon are raving about it!

-Leelan
It aired several times on the Hallmark Channel around Halloween. It's really quite good from the standpoint of following Mary Shelley's storyline - even though it has been quite sometime since I've read the book, I recognized each sequence and pretty much knew what to expect as the movie unfolded on the screen. The production values are top notch and the cast does a fine job. For me, the weakest point is the characterization of 'the Creature'... that's not to say that the actor's performance was bad - it was just different. He's portrayed more as a victim than a monster. I think it succeeds in it's own way and probably is the one movie that I would point to as being 'truest' to the original manuscript.

I would highly recommend viewing this version of FRANKENSTEIN but, if you are expecting a 'Karloffian' type monster, you'll be disappointed.

- GJS

True, there are some good performances, and it's slightly more faithful to the original novel than the Branagh version, but the pacing is much slower and it was a bit "over long" for my tastes. Frankenstein's creation as played by Luke Goss evokes more sympathy than DeNiro's portrayal, but still doesn't come close to Karloff with regards to making you truly feel for "the monster". (The one thing none of the films has ever captured is that sense of despair that the original novel conveys.) William Hurt as Professor Waldman looks bored, and Donald Sutherland is underused as the Captain of the ice-bound ship. To quote Dennis Miller, "Of course, this is just my opinion, I could be wrong."

I'd suggest trying to rent this one before you buy it.

Many many years ago, a local theater group put on a play written by one of the English professor's at the local university. It was entitled, Victor Frankenstein. It was fantastic! Hopefully it is published somewhere because it boiled the book down to the real meat of the story. (Maybe I will look it up on the Web. John Vance is the man's name...)

Anyway.

They used all the sixty-dollar words and phrasing of the book there on stage. I don't know how the actor's memorized it! My brain would have turned to mush! :freak: I have never seen anything more faithful to Shelley's book!

I had a friend playing the ship's doctor. I was so captivated by the play that I forgot who he was!

Several scenes almost had me in tears.

There was one scene in particular after Frankenstein swears vengeance over the dead body of his fiance that still stays with me after all these years.

The actress playing dead is left on stage alone after Victor leaves her to search for his creature and destroy him.

Quiet moments pass.

Then the creature comes back on stage and tenderly picks her up in his arms.

With Mozart's "Confutatis" playing on the speakers, the creature cradles her like a baby and weeps, heartbroken, until the curtain falls.

Man, was that a great play! :thumbsup:

-Leelan

The monster from Frankenstein "Unbound" scared the b geebys out of me. those eyes with the stitch marks and different colors freaked me out.

The funniest version I think is Young Frankenstein. The one in Van Helsing is pretty interesting as well.

Haven't seen the Hallmark version yet, but will keep an unstitched eye out for it.