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The Frankenstein movies - a mad scientist experiment ?


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#1 TechnoWolf

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Posted 19 November 2010 - 01:43 AM

Hello people and greetings all who loved Shelley's book just like I did !


For those who know me I might have already told you that back in highschool, there were two books I particularly had affection for :

first one is Dracula, by Bram Stocker, which I already discussed about (and it's sequel whose alternative title must be "Dracula on crack")

and the second one is : Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley.

Of course, everybody know what's it all about : a scientist trying to create a human being, turns out that he will create something not really human that will become someone to fear. This a story about science, love, religion, and of course it holds a very important message : "stop messing around with nature or you will face something that goes way beyond your own capacities" (and especially today, some men SHOULD BE knowing that !)

the book is awesome, it's simple, well written, there's action, there's passion, and more than one time you'll find yourself shivering in your room (even with Kate Perry turned on at full volume....... in fact... I would be too scared to continue in this situation...)

So, as a lover of this book (who not only enlightened me but also switched on my love for british literature of the XIXth century) I tried to watch films that was made out of it !

first thing I have to say is that nowadays Frankenstein and his creature are not fashion, vampires are, not scientist. So there wouldn't be blockbusters on the story for now... but that might change.

I couldn't have my hands on the classic movie in black and white, but that's something I swear I'll fix one day ! so I'm just gonna focus on the both version I saw : Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, with Kenneth Branagh, and Frankenstein with... er... Luke Goss


Well the first movie I saw was the one with Kenneth and Robert de Niro, and I must confess that I really enjoyed it, what made the book great was there , but maybe sometimes the movie was going to far from the original book

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WOW ! that's not Frankenstein's creature ! he looks more like the Nemesis from Resident Evil 3

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Of course, the most common face of the creature we know is this one :

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but I don't remember this from the book. As far as I recall, the book mention the creature as "anormally large, with long black hairs and yellow eyes". Why did they make this ? this is not even close to what the book told ? plus, as a kid, I was a big fan of the castlevania games, and as you all know, frankenstein's creature makes very often an appearance... and this is the same design... so I really thought Shelley described it like that.

Well, after this shock, there are others minor differences, like after the creature killed Frankenstein's wife, the good doctor tries to revive her and makes her become like the first creature... shocked by that, the poor woman burns herself a life after a small beating between the two men (and yes, it was for the lady...) ... a very famous (I didn't say "good") Canadian singer would say : "...Aouch ?"

the movie was satisfying but the end is maybe a bit too fast... the race between Frankenstein and his creature last for about 1 minute, in the movie, and, from what I remember, it's like the last important scene of the book. Even if I liked the movie, I was still disappointed with the looks and behaviour of the creature, so the search for a good Frankenstein movie was still on...

Check in for part II we'll see the other Frankenstein movie

(I would have written it right now if I had the time, but I'm out of time. "I'll be back !")

Edited by TechnoWolf, 19 November 2010 - 07:40 AM.

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#2 TechnoWolf

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Posted 29 December 2010 - 12:38 PM

Part 2 :

I'm sorry it took so long but I was stuck with business that appeared important back there

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in fact, I didn't think much of this movie when I bought it, the previous version satisfied me, in spite of everything I said. But, if I was going to have more than one DVD on Dracula, then why not doing the same to Frankenstein (and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, now that I have the awful "Ms Hyde" in my collection)

then I put the DVD in my PS2 (yeah, for some reason, I'm used to the ps2 as a DVD player)

and then... OMG !

this movie was really what I expected from a Frankenstein movie ! it took every part that seemed necessary to show and put it on screen with great actors (even for minor role, the most striking example to me is the blind old man, played by Jean Rochefort, one of my favorite french actors)

and the creature... at last we're far away from this monster

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Understand me : the previous appearance of the creature has proved a good idea at its time, and it has become a classic of the horror films I wouldn't dare to attack. But nowadays it's different : we seek for the closest possible to the reality (or, here, the book) : if there was a Lord of the Ring made in the 30s (which is completely impossible since it wasn't written in this time, but anyway let's consider this...) you can bet the film would not have focus on the book but rather on some characters, monsters, places, interpreting Tolkien's story and putting features that would have becomed cliches of adventure movie.

back to Frankenstein, now that we are in an era of "most realistic possible", it was time we saw the creature as what it does really look like. And I wasn't disappoint by that, it was even the biggest surprise I had with this movie

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You see ? yes it is not as ugly as Boris Karloff or De Niro...yes the creature seems less frightening or threatening... but don't you find it still creepy ?

it's even one the most badass guy I have seen in my whole collection... maybe I should make a top ten of the best bad guys I saw in movies...

anyway, what could I say about this movie in addition to what I've already discussed ? the movie's well made, the plot is very close to Shelley's novel, the actors are making a very good job, and the environment is stunning.

To anyone who like movies, start a collection or anything like that : I recommand this movie in your collection. And if you want to explore other interpretations of the story, then try Brannagh's version.
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