Plot: What’s it about?
The mid 90’s were very good to Tom Cruise. Ok, well, so were the 80’s. And the 2000’s. Let’s face it, it’s good to be Tom Cruise. When Interview with the Vampire came out, Cruise was smack dab in the middle of an impressive run at the box office. 1992’s A Few Good Men was commercially and critically successful (it was nominated for Best Picture but lost to Unforgiven). Next up was The Firm, in which he played Mitch McDeere – the first of John Grisham’s novels to become a movie. After Vampire, was Mission: Impossible, which is still going as a franchise and then Jerry MaGuire which garnered Cruise a Best Actor nomination. Each one of those films grossed over $100 million at the box office, impressive even by today’s standards. Suffice it to say with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas in the cast – there was no shortage in the looks department. My how time flies…(well, not for vampires, but you get the idea).
Interview With the Vampire covers a broad period of time, yet it “starts” in the 18th century. An interviewer, Daniel Malloy (Christian Slater) has convinced a vampire, Louis (Brad Pitt), to tell him his life story. And so it begins that, in a series of flashbacks, we learn the tale of Louis and Lestat (Tom Cruise). Louis had lost his wife and daughter in childbirth – a common occurrence at the time. Calling out for death to take him, Lestat turns him into a vampire. At first, Louis shuns his new “life” by feeding on the blood of rodents. However, his thirst for human blood deepens and in a fit of rage, he feeds on a young girl – Claudia (Kirsten Dunst). Lestat, sensing Louis’ guilt, turns her into a vampire as well, though she doesn’t share the same compassion for human life as Louis does. The trio become a loose-knit family and we follow them to Europe where they meet more of their kind, led by Armand (Antonio Banderas). I don’t want to give much more away, though there’s more to the movie than meets the eye.
Two decades have now gone by and Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt remain two of the biggest “A” list stars in Hollywood. Who’d have thought that this book, written by Anne Rice in the mid 70’s, would have produced a cast like this? Kirsten Dunst went onto a successful film career as well. Unfortunately, this was the only one of “The Vampire Chronicles” series of books to made into a feature film. I’d have liked to see Cruise continue to portray Lestat, eventually leading to his gig as a 70’s rock star. Now wouldn’t that have been something to behold? The film is very underrated and Brad Pitt was often criticized for his portrayal of Louis. I will say that having read the novel, he actually got it spot on – Louis was a whiner and was never truly happy with his life as a vampire. Still, Pitt was an easy target when the movie didn’t do as well as Warner had hoped. Amid the plethora of vampire movies these days, this one stands out as one of the better adaptations and it’s well worth a look if you’ve not had the chance to see it. Recommended.
Video: How’s it look?
Warner’s 2014 Blu-ray left a lot to be desired with its “remastered” picture, but still using the same VC-1 encode. That’s now a thing of the past and we’ve got this film looking downright proper with its new 4K transfer. It’s a dark movie (as most concerning vampires tend to be), though black levels are on the mark. I did notice that the detail has been improved since the previous DVD edition of this film. Despite the “darkness” of the film, I was impressed at how clear and detailed the film actually looked. When the trio heads to Europe, the streets glisten, the flesh tones (for lack of a better word) look as natural as they can on a vampire – I was impressed.
Audio: How’s it sound?
A lot has happened with audio since the last time this disc came out. We find a new Dolby Atmos mix that replaces the “old” DTS HD Master Audio mix found on the previously-released Blu-ray. While not overblown, this mix has a subtle depth that really surprised me. Vocals are crisp and sharp, Louis’ vocals can even reveal a slight lisp (no doubt due to the fangs Pitt had to wear in some scenes). This alone is worth the price of admission and a welcome addition to this 4K.
Supplements: What are the extras?
As far as new supplements, well we get one as well as the rest that were on the previous Blu-ray. Let’s sink our teeth in and take a look.
- Eternal Night and Deadly Light – New to this 4K edition we find director Neil Jordan and film editor Mick Audsley reveal the approach to the cinematography of Interview with the Vampire with a focus on the gothic romanticism achieved by director of photography Philippe Rousselot.
- Interview with the Vampire: Creating the World – Also new is this feature in which we step inside the darkly beautiful world of Interview with the Vampire with director Neil Jordan and production designer Dante Ferretti as they unveil the art of the detailed sets, the augmented locations and the exquisite costumes of the film.
- Deleted Scenes – Though not many are included, and considering the film’s running time, these were wisely cut.
- Lestat, Louis and the Vampire Phenomenon – The lone new supplement is a retrospective look back at the film, the novel and features some interviews with the stars of the film with Cruise appearing in some archived footage. Running about 25 minutes it’s a noteworthy addition to this disc and only solidifies why this is the Blu-ray to own and not the former.
- Audio Commentary – This is the same commentary that appeared on the DVD from years ago, it’s not a bad track but has some amusing anecdotes and some praise for Anne Rice, the cast of the film and its worldwide appeal.
- In the Shadow of the Vampire – This is more of an EPK with some behind the scenes footage as well as some lip service by the stars of the film. Skip it.
- Introduction by Anne Rice, Neil Jordan and Antonio Banderas – In essence, that’s just it – an introduction to the film by Rice, Banderas and Jordan.
- Theatrical Trailer
The Bottom Line
It took a while for this film to finally come to fruition, and Anne Rice (the author) was initially opposed to the casting of Tom Cruise as Lestat. Her opinion changed once she was shown an early test screening (or perhaps the executives at Warner explained “percentage of the gross” to her). Nevertheless, she was a fan. And, to his credit, Cruise was good in the role. All of the “wrongs” that were present in the 2014 version have been fixed with a new 4K transfer, a new Dolby Atmos mix along with all the legacy supplements and even a few new ones. If you’ve been holding out for the definitive version – it’s here.
