Dracula - The Dark Prince [DVD]

Do not let the box cover of this video mislead you. It is much more than some silly blood sucking vampire movie. In fact, there is nothing at all of Vampires. Just the fact that his family's name was Dracul, a name that represented his father's bloodline association with the Order of the Dragons. Personally, I rate this movie high above Bram Strokers Dracula. The simple fact is, they really cannot even be compared. This is a movie that actually tries to understand and show the viewer what motivated the man known as Vlad the Impaler. Having watched the movie, I can state as a personal opinion, that it was not insanity or evil. It was a passion and love for his murdered father, country, his country-men/people and family.Rudolf Martin does an exceptional job depecting the life and mind of Vald Dracula. There is not a single moment in this movie that you do not understand the reasons behind his "perceived" cruelty. There are many who believed him to be a tyrant, but I think it is important to note, as they did at the end of the movie, that he was beloved by his people and there are many in Romania today who pray for his return. I personally adore this man... at least as he was reflected in the film. His passion for revenge and justice; his love for his country, people and wife; and his consistent willingness to fight the people and the establishments that repressed the freedom of Romania and its people.The entire cast plays their role to the hilt, finally giving viewers an opportunity to observe the mental and emotional circumstances that palyed a part in shaping him into the man he became. Some may think that his methods were too harsh. Impaling men on a stake for committing petty crimes. However, his controversial methods of bringing order to his country resulted in the well known "golden goblet at the city square well". What ruler today has brought such order to their country that any person can leave a prized possession out in a public area for days on end and have it never once removed.I know that there are many people who may disagree with that statement as they are well allowed to. Perhaps the idea is to instill in people such morality and ethics that peace will be the natural end result. Well centuries before his time and centuries later, that does not seem to be a possible reality, not even with all the religions and "advancements" that abound.Personally, if chaos can be stilled by inflicting such fear, then that works for me. Honestly, what would anyone have to fear unless they were committing a crime. As seen in this movie, Vlad Dracul was not a tyrant for self serving reasons. He did not personally gain from the punishments he inflicted. The people of his country gained. They gained in being able to walk the streets of their country without worry of being victimized by petty criminals and corrupt, greedy self-serving noblemen. How refreshing to see a leader who is as quick to inflict the same punishment to those of his class as he was to those of the class below him.Based on this movie alone, I personally perceive Vlad Dracul as a man that many leaders and people today can look to as an example of what it means to have integrity, honor, courage and passion in life.

This early-2000's film features the same actor who played - very well - Dracula in an eposide of Buffy the Vampire Slayer around this same time: Rudolf Martin. Handsome? Check. Exotic accent? Check. We have ourselves a vampire.This film, however, is based on the history of the real Vlad Tepes, or Vlad Dracul, who ruled what is now Romania, defended it against the Turks, and was reputed to be a huge fan of impalement (supposedly people feared this punishment so much, goblets of gold and other valuable objects could be left out in public unattended and no one would take them because they dreaded the punishment if they should be caught). He also was reputed to dine among the bodies of his impalement victims and dip his bread in their blood (hence the blood-drinking element).The story begins as the adult Vlad is called to account for his actions before high priests of the Orthodox Church, who are going to determine whether to excommunicate him. In this context, he tells his story from childhood on up, from his captivity in a Turkish camp with his brother, to his freedom returning to his native land, to his rule. Also how he fell in love with a beautiful young nun-to-be, who returned his feelings and forsook her calling to the convent to marry him and give him a son.Spoilers Ahoy: She is finally driven to kill herself as she becomes more aware of the atrocities her husband is committing, despite her own faith's teaching that suicide is the one sin that cannot be forgiven and so her soul will now never find rest.As the story and intrigue ends, Vlad is informed that his Orthodox Church elders have made the decision to excommunicate him, thus, according to their own belief system, dooming his soul to walk the earth for eternity as well. The final scene sees the old priest hearing mysterious noises and going into the cellar where Vlad is buried after his death, only to have Vlad appear to him, very much alive, "thanking" him for giving him eternal life by banishing him from the Church and thus from the only way his soul could have found rest after his passing.The final image is of Vlad and his beloved bride, both now dead, walking hand-in-hand, as the titles inform us of an expedition to Vlad's tomb during which no human remains were found where he was supposedly buried.This well-made, semi-fictional historical drama blends the "true" story of the man, Vlad the Impaler, with vampire imagery and mythology very effectively. Recommended both for fans of historical drama and vampire films.Enjoy.Cheers.

I remember watching this on the Sy-Fy channel back in the mid 2000s when I was in high school. I was nerdy enough about medieval stuff and D&D that I took a liking to it. Years passed. Then I saw it come up in a youtube search a few months ago and decided to watch it again and see if it had faded with time... It's from the year 2000 so it's pretty obvious is was copied straight from a VHS tape. The lighting in scenes with darkness show a lot of 'noise' so don't expect HD quality. The story is good. I'm not sure how much is really known of Vlad Dracul, so I trusted that most of the story is loosely-based on something historical. I just liked that they tried to write a story around the myths surrounding him. There's no nudity in it and no profanity that I remember. It's rated R for violence.