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Robert De Niro, Kenneth Bramagh, Tom Hulee, Helena Bonham Carter, Aidan Quinn, Ian Holm and John Cleese star in Branagh's acclaimed adaptation of Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN. True ot the original, here is the story of a young doctor whose obsession with death leads him to create a life. But his "creature," crafted from the bodies of convicts and the brain of a brilliant scientist, is a hideous mockery of humanity. When the creature realizes he will never be accepted by men, he seeks revenge on Dr. Frankenstein and his family. An inspired adaptation thats emotionally complex and truly terrifying, Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN is 100% pure excitement. Visually stunning adn refreshingly different.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1998, DVD) The one where all the critics "Rubbished" ken Branagh. Yes he can be a bit driven, yes maybe he likes himself but he does make bloody good films considering the amount of tasks he takes on in movies. I sometimes feel he even makes the tea. I haven't read the book but am told it is more akin to it than the usual green Herman munster with neck bolts type of portrayal. I liked it. I was pulled into the dark world but even I wondered at the ever present lightening. surely even bad things can happen when the sun shines? Still it is a horror-esque movie so who are we to begrudge the Kenster a bit of crackle and pop. I thought the eels quite a good idea....it wasn't like you could plug in to the electric socket after all and one couldn't wait all day for a lightening storm to power-up now could you LOL!. A good tale which shows that just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should! Makes you consider a lot of "If onlys" in your own life. JPGRead full review
During the Romantic Period of writing, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron were leading writers. During the earlier women's rights movement, of the 1800's, Mary Wollstonecraft wrote the famous, "A Vindication for the Rights of Women." She was married to Godwin, a writer in his own right. Mary Shelly was Wollstonecraft's daughter, who survived her mother at childbirth. Godwin raised her to be a writer. Mary Godwin contemplated her ideas while laying on her mother's grave. She fell in love with P.B. Shelley and they were married. Shortly thereafter she lost their first child. One October in Germany, P.B. Shelley, Lord Byron, and Mary Shelley entered into a bet: who could compose the best ghost story? Guess who won? The 19 yo Mary. "Frankenstein" is all hers. Do we even know what theirs were? I don't. Among literary critics Mary's has been read in numerous ways: as a personal grief story of loss and death; of feeling herself to be some sort of unspeakable, unsociable creature; and as a scathing social critique of the god-complexes men had in hers and her mother's times. I will go with the latter god-complexes of men thesis. Making Mary's horror story "Frankenstein" into a film with De Niro playing the "monster" and Branagh playing Victor Frankenstein, the mad scientist is a stroke of genius. But it cannot touch the ingenuity and courage it took for Mary Shelley to compete with and win writing the timeless classic horror story that rivaled with two of the greatest Romantic era writers of her time. How intimidating that might have been for a 19yo young woman, who had never been published! We can only imagine what was on Mary's mind, even though she tells us frankly in the foreword of the text. When I think that a 19yo young woman invented "Frankenstein," and all of the renditions that have captured producers and directors minds, and actors have attempted to portray, I am finally pleased with this screen version, and to know it is preserved now on DVD. It is well worth reading Mary Shelley's book in order to understand the social contexts of the screen versions, and why this one is the one I prefer as truest to the text~Read full review
Good movie, but as usual once you read the book the movie does not cut it. Every movie I ever saw of Frankenstein never told the real story. It is not about a monster.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
To tell you the truth I haven't even watched the whole film yet-- it's that bad. Kenneth Branagh misses so horribly with this adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel that you can't believe this is the same guy who did that amazing version of Hamlet. His Frankenstein is faithful to the plot of the novel (a rarity among Frankenstein films) but terribly wrongheaded in the portrayal of the story-- A buffoonish, bombastic score that makes John Williams seem like minimalist composer Phillip Glass, big, macho, rock and roll acting that totally kills the sentimentality and passion of Shelley's writing, and show-off sets that just distract from the drama serve to make this film an unwatchable shame. Nevertheless, for you English teachers who are teaching the novel, it makes a nice contrast... but instead I would highly recommend Terror of Frankenstein by Calvin Floyd, a film adaptation that is both faithful and understated, and easily overcomes its humble resources with a truly artistic and baturalistic retelling of the tale of a monster that, contrary to popular misconception, is truly eloquent.Read full review
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