Review(s): DVD Queen of the Damned (Full Screen Edition)
Horrid
This movie would have been a mediocre silent film.
Instead it's a holocaust of brain cells.
I don't know where you get an MTV music video lacking plot or cohesion from possibly one of the most complex and entertaining books of all time.
They Made A Creative And Well- Written Story Nothing But A Cheesy Fang Thriller For Teens
I have met up with a lot of cheesy fang thrillers and hated them. They always made vampires out to be jokes when I always considered them to be very serious creatures. Yet with Anne Rice's stories I thought no way they would ever do that to her material. I mean, look how well they did on Interview with the Vampire. It was done very beautifully and the actors themselves were strong and serious about their material and most importantly it was very faithful to the book with only one or two things changed, but nothing important enough for me to complain.
Then Damned came out. I watched it, and at the end of the film I was lost for words. My friends knew how strong of a fan I was of Anne Rice and obviously knew how crappy the film was to a Rice fan. I was really just adding up all the mistakes in the film, and boy were there A LOT.
Like, for one thing, why did they make it where Marius made Lestat? Why did they throw that in there? Just to speed up time, even though it is so wrong? They cut out a lot of the reunions the vampires made in Damned and that upset me.
And let's reflect on the makeup and costume. Marius and Lestat are blondes people in the book. Even Tom Cruise knew that and made enough time to color his hair- would it really have killed them to color their hair? None of the actors looked anything like the characters except for Akasha herself.
And I don't care what anyone says the man who played Lestat looked nothing like Lestat in the book and where was the Lestat charm? Tom Cruise played it as thick as honey and this other Lestat in Damned was so distant and dull. Akasha was overdramatic but I really don't have too many complaints about her she was actually all right, or a lot better than the others at least.
Another thing, where were all the characters? Half of them were cut out. Including- gasp- the main essence of the whole story- the other red- haired twin who is actually supposed to kill Akasha. They totally cut out the vital part of the story about the sisters.
Most assume I hate this movie just cause I'm a fan of the book but no it was also the way the movie was played out. The actors were dull and wooden and the movie in itself was turned into nothing but another cheesy vampire thriller with a bunch of fluff and no substance to be moved by. The actors themselves were cheesy. Honstly could they not afford better, more experienced actors like on Interview? Why couldn't they have paid more attention to the book like on Interview? Why couldn't this film have been like Interview, overall? I was really wishing for a whole series of films for Anne Rice's Chronicles, but if they are going to continue on making them as lame as this then I say just cut off all other filming plans.
Anne complained when Interview was being filmed, but she should have saved her hostile words for the near future when Damned would come out.
If you want cheesy teen fluff go on and watch Queen of the Damned. If you want a mature, in- depth and moving film on Anne Rice's actual vampires get Interview. And read Queen of the Damned of the book, for it is a good story- on paper.
I Guess It Just Depends On Your Point Of View, But I Didn't Like It!
Lestat (Stuart Townsend) is the bad boy of vampires. Tired of living in the shadows, he becomes a rock star and publicly announces he is a vampire. This ticks off many of the others, who don't appreciate their secrets being turned into goth rock. But Lestat gets rave review from the resurrected Akasha (Aaliyah), the evil and powerful Mother of All Vampires. The goth look, the romantic angst, the faux-cool: there's a lot here that typifies everything that is wrong about the vampire genre today. (A minor effort like The Forsaken is more satisfying than this.) And let's not forget the terrible dialogue and a script that wouldn't make sense if you held a gun to its head. Only once or twice does the film come close to achieving the mad grandeur it aspires to, and in the final confrontation, the regal and imposing Lena Olin is much more convincingly powerful than the tiny Aaliyah.
A surprisingly basic menu here (only the main page is scored) for a disc that is quite rich in extras. The commentary by director Michael Rymer, producer Jorge Saralegui and composer Richard Gibbs is informative and well-expressed. They provide a lot of necessary explanations as to what in heaven's name is going on in this film. Further (brief) print explanations are provided with each of the 13 deleted scenes (one of which appears to reveal that one of the nameless vampires who shows up at the end is actually Jim Morrison). There is more extra footage in the two extended concert sequences. There are three featurettes: "Creating the Vampires" and "The Music of Lestat" are both about 10 minutes long and fairly interesting; "Remembering Aaliyah" is 3 minutes long and rather tacky. There are also 4 music videos (3 featuring Lestat, 1 by Static X), a scored gag reel, a montage of production stills, the trailer, a credits listing, and a brief essay summarizing the Rice novels.
Deeply stupid and extra heavy on the cheese (with plenty of dopey-looking special FX to boot), this is not for anyone who takes their vampires seriously or is hoping for something scary. Consumers of high camp, however, should take note.
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