Topic: Favorite Dracula movie?

[Beaumont_Belmont]

Now this can be explained in several different methods (if we care to discuss it). First and foremost Dracula loves Mina. Well, not really Mina but Elisabeta, the love he lost in the beginning of the film and denounced God over her loss, etc. To Dracula, Mina is his victory, and to have her love him as he loves her will show that all the evil he has succumbed to will of been worth it. The denouncement of his faith, sacrificial babies, roofies in champaign, ALL of it will have been for a purpose if he can have his Elisabeta back.

Just wanted to note he was dissolving sugar cubes in absinthe, not roofies in champagn-ya.

Also, just due to his look in the film, I had trouble taking Gary Oldman's performance seriously. First there was the ridiculous red getup with the rats-ass wig and the kabuki makeup. I find through most of the movie his high forehead and scrawny mustache are really distracting. I don't mind the idea of Dracula with a mustache, but I feel it should be a bushy one like the one we see in the famous image of Vlad the Impaler. Oldman looks like he should be driving in the Daytona 500 or playing bass for Kansas. Or...designing Anachronox. Seriously, does no one else think of (the great) Tom Hall when they see Oldman in Dracula?

[Inccubus]

Ah, Hellsing. <3 it! Never saw past the very first anime. Kinda decided to wait a while for them to make more and sort of forgot to check back. Now I have something nice and appropriate to watch throughout October. Wee!

[Abnormal Freak]

 FUNimation will be releasing Hellsing Ultimate Stateside. A Blu-ray set containing the first four episodes is out this month, and another four eps next month.

[Ratty]

FUNimation will be releasing Hellsing Ultimate Stateside. A Blu-ray set containing the first four episodes is out this month, and another four eps next month.

Awesome! I'll skip the rerelease since I have the limited edition dvds for all of the volumes that were released in the states (and have somehow managed to keep the steelbooks from getting crushed, scratched or dented to hell) but I see it was announced just last month that the voice cast would be returning to finish out the series.

Trailer for the new boxset, NSFW due to violence. Also since it starts at volume 5, copious spoilers.
Hellsing OVA V-VIII - FUNimation English Box Set Trailer
Sweet. I had basically stopped looking for news since Funimation got the rights like, 2 or 3 years ago wasn't it? And never did anything with it. Thanks for the great news.

[Flame]

Wait, so will Funi be dubbing it, or...?

[Ratty]

Wait, so will Funi be dubbing it, or...?

Short Answer: The original English voice cast has returned to finish the series of "Hellsing Ultimate" OVAs.

Long answer AKA backstory AKA More than you probably wanted to know: Hellsing is, along with Cowboy Bebop, one of the few anime that I know of where fans pretty consistently prefer or at the least don't mind the English dub. When the celebrated English dubcast for the old 13 episode Hellsing TV series were reassembled sometime later to voice the Hellsing Ultimate OVAs, that in itself was a cause for celebration and note in the anime fandom at large. And it's no wonder with the great talent the series brought. Victoria Harwood is the voice of Integra Hellsing as far as I'm concerned.
 
But then after the release of the first 4 OVA volumes the North American distribution wing of Geneon Entertainment was shut down. This left the dubwork for the later OVA episodes unfinished and in a state of limbo. Since the rights to the dub were a bit of a mess (or so I've heard) and no one was going to pay to dub an anime without a distributor. So Hellsing Ultimate sat on a shelf for a long time until Funimation bought the rights to a chunk of Geneon's anime titles which included it. There wasn't much news after that for a while and it seemed doubtful that Funimation was going to dish out the cash to finish the dubwork with the original English cast and director. So this is the second time they've managed to assemble all of the actors (and I assume the director) after a break of years.

[Abnormal Freak]

Thanks for the great news.

Yeah, I'm excited as all get-out. I don't like the OVA (based on the first four eps) as much as the TV series, despite it being a bit more close to the manga, but it's still really cool.

I only own the first DVD, so I'll be all over the Blu-ray sets. Right Stuf has them pretty cheap, so I'll place an order sometime after I get my car fixed up.

[Lashen]

My closet door.

[Ratty]

Yeah, I'm excited as all get-out. I don't like the OVA (based on the first four eps) as much as the TV series, despite it being a bit more close to the manga, but it's still really cool.

I only own the first DVD, so I'll be all over the Blu-ray sets. Right Stuf has them pretty cheap, so I'll place an order sometime after I get my car fixed up.

Yeah I think for a lot of people it depends on which one you saw first. Whether you prefer the at least Half-Cthulhu Dracula of the manga and OVA or the emphasis on creepiness (and Seras Victoria) in the TV show. I can't remember clearly which one I saw/read first though (they were all owned by an Otaku roommate I had) but the manga is by far my favorite. The TV series always felt kind of overly subdued to me, partly because of the TV budget, partly because the manga was nowhere near finished so they had to make up the ending, and partly because of censorship (What is that, ash? Sand? Not blood anyway.) But the OVA isn't perfect, it sacrifices pacing for the sake of constant action. Which leaves you less invested in the characters.

(click to show/hide)

I mean for a series where the final 5 of 10 volumes is a single battle, you really need those first five parts to become attached to the characters and worry about what's going to happen to them. But I guess for the sake of keeping it interesting for a movie watching audience they had to overly emphasize the battles in the OVA.

But all three versions are still awesome. Quite possibly my favorite incarnation of Dracula aside from Castlevania.

I'm a little nervous that Funimation apparently hasn't licensed the final 2 episodes so the dub for those is still vaguely in doubt. Let's just hope strong sales convince them to buy those episodes and finish the dub. Too bad I'm broke, but that 4-8 set has gone just about to the top of my list of non-necessities to get when I can.

[C Belmont]

There is a movie version where Frank Langella plays Dracula which I quite like. It's slightly different to the original Dracula story but I enjoy it far more than Francis Ford Coppola's version.

[X]

Nice closet door  Just make sure the real count Orloc isn't hiding in there. That would just ruin your weekend.

[Flame]

Yeah I think for a lot of people it depends on which one you saw first. Whether you prefer the at least Half-Cthulhu Dracula of the manga and OVA or the emphasis on creepiness (and Seras Victoria) in the TV show. I can't remember clearly which one I saw/read first though (they were all owned by an Otaku roommate I had) but the manga is by far my favorite. The TV series always felt kind of overly subdued to me, partly because of the TV budget, partly because the manga was nowhere near finished so they had to make up the ending, and partly because of censorship (What is that, ash? Sand? Not blood anyway.) But the OVA isn't perfect, it sacrifices pacing for the sake of constant action. Which leaves you less invested in the characters.

(click to show/hide)

I mean for a series where the final 5 of 10 volumes is a single battle, you really need those first five parts to become attached to the characters and worry about what's going to happen to them. But I guess for the sake of keeping it interesting for a movie watching audience they had to overly emphasize the battles in the OVA.

But all three versions are still awesome. Quite possibly my favorite incarnation of Dracula aside from Castlevania.

I'm a little nervous that Funimation apparently hasn't licensed the final 2 episodes so the dub for those is still vaguely in doubt. Let's just hope strong sales convince them to buy those episodes and finish the dub. Too bad I'm broke, but that 4-8 set has gone just about to the top of my list of non-necessities to get when I can.

I think the OVAs are honestly one of those things where it expects you to already be a fan, and have read the manga and maybe the tv show.

[Ratty]

I think the OVAs are honestly one of those things where it expects you to already be a fan, and have read the manga and maybe the tv show.

I would agree with you except that parts 1 and 2 are just about perfect adaptations in terms of pacing and everything else. I've heard rumors that at one point (around the time the manga ended I think) there was a plan to shorten the adaptation to 6 - 8 episodes, and that's why 3 and 4 are severely truncated in terms of story. There's also the fact that the OVA has changed animation studios iirc. I mean certainly they expect most people who are going to go out of their way to buy an expensive OVA to already be series fans, I just don't think that really explains the pacing issues in 3 and 4. Hopefully they've sorted it all out in parts 5 - 10.

Parts 1 and 2 may have just spoiled me, you can't really expect a lot of consistency in a long term serialized adaptation, especially one that changes hands. And if you want to know the characters and story better, the manga is still there. This is all just fan nitpicking I expect.

[TheCruelAngel]

Just wanted to note he was dissolving sugar cubes in absinthe, not roofies in champagn-ya.

The roofies in champagne was my tongue in cheek way to reference rape, I know the sugar cubes in absinthe routine. 

FUNimation will be releasing Hellsing Ultimate Stateside. A Blu-ray set containing the first four episodes is out this month, and another four eps next month.

Also holy cow, way to dictate how I'll be spending my paycheck! That is awesome and exciting news! I love Hellsing, so I'll definitely be sure to pick this up!

[Ratty]

So I dug out and started watching my Hellsing Ultimate limited edition sets and I find a slip in one with "You've found the G-Spot!" (for "Geneon Spot Fanclub") and an ad for Ergo Proxy on the other side. I have to say it's no wonder Geneon's distribution wing fell under with some of these marketing decisions.
I want to know who thought it was a good idea to make the Alucard figurine/wall display only black and grey then call it "US Exclusive coloring!". Seems like one could have easily fit all of the content from the 2 special edition discs on a single DVD as well. That probably would have saved a lot of money. The artbooks are pretty nice though, if a little on the small side. About 200 DVD-dimension sized pages of production sketches compared to the final product on the opposite page. Considering these sets were really expensive at retail at the time (and I mean like, outrageously expensive if you paid full price) I don't think it'll be very hard for Funi to outdo them.