NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Sony 4K UHD (July 2019): We can see from our comparison of the original 2007 and 2015 (Supreme Cinema Series) Blu-rays HERE, that the 4K UHD Bram Stoker's Dracula is from the same 4K source showing a shade more information on the bottom of the frame and a bit less on the top as well as shifting slightly left. It supports the color scheme of the 2015 (Supreme Cinema Series) Blu-ray but there are more subtitles and a slightly brighter image with richer contrast and has the UHD with a HDR10 color grade plus the increased resolution (3840 X 2160) via a 63 Gig file size and over double the bitrate of the Blu-rays . The grain texture is consistent and offers such a film-like image and a highly notable increase in the home theater presentation with deeper black levels more layered contrast. It has an overall increase in detail and depth. The 4K UHD visuals add another layer to the film's historic representation.

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (warmth of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this variance. 

NOTE: 36 more full resolution (3840 X 2160) captures for Patrons are available HERE.

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages to date: Lucy (software uniformly simulated HDR), They Live (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Shutter Island (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Matrix (software uniformly simulated HDR), Alien (software uniformly simulated HDR), Toy Story (software uniformly simulated HDR),  A Few Good Men (software uniformly simulated HDR),  2001: A Space Odyssey (HDR caps udated), Schindler's List (simulated HDR), The Neon Demon (No HDR), Dawn of the Dead (No HDR), Saving Private Ryan (simulated HDR and 'raw' captures), Suspiria (No HDR), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (No HDR), The Big Lebowski, and I Am Legend (simulated and 'raw' HDR captures).

The lush image on the 4K UHD is only one facet of this immersive presentation. Just as we stated about the 2015 (Supreme Cinema Series) Blu-ray (this is the same 2015 remastered audio) if you are fortunate enough to have a setup that allows for Dolby Atmos, (identified as 7.1 Dolby True HD for those without - see below) this clocks in at a robust 5600 kbps / 24-bit. Wojciech Kilar's (award winning music for this film and has done music for Wajda's The Promised Land, as well as Roman Polanski's The Pianist, and composer for other Polanklsi films; The Ninth Gate and Death and the Maiden - to name a few) score is awesome via the lossless - very tight and rich. Effects are beautifully subtle creeping through the soundstage with buoyancy. The non-English in the film (Romanian, Greek, Bulgarian, Latin) is subtitled in English (like the 2015 Blu-ray - no fancy font - see HERE). There are also lossy foreign-language DUBs and subtitles - plus English - and as with all 4K UHD discs, this is Region 'Free'. 

NOTE: For Atmos many non-compliant systems will recognizes it as TrueHD 7.1, but from Wikipedia: "Because of limited bandwidth and lack of processing power, Atmos in home theaters is not a real-time mix rendered the same way as in cinemas. The substream is added to Dolby TrueHD or Dolby Digital Plus. This substream only represents a losslessly encoded fully object-based mix. This substream does not include all 128 objects separated. This is not a matrix-encoded channel, but a spatially-encoded digital channel. Atmos in home theaters can support 24.1.10 channel, but it is not an object-based real-time rendering. Filmmakers need to remix and render the TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks with Dolby Media Producer."

There are no extras on the 4K UHD disc. The included second disc Blu-ray is the exact same 2015 (Supreme Cinema Series) one. On it we get the old commentary and a 'rare' 1993 audio commentary by Director Francis Ford Coppola, Visual Effects Director Roma Coppola and make-up supervisor Greg Cannom and what is cited as an exclusive new intro from director Francis Ford Coppola lasting just shy of 4-minutes. New video featurettes include the 1/2 hour Reflections in Blood: Francis Ford Coppola and Bram Stoker’s Dracula with the director expanding on his love of the film beyond what he says in the introduction. Practical Magicians: A Collaboration between Father and Son is a 20-minute piece with journalist and critic F. X. Feeney talking to the pair about the production with specific details and interpretations of the original story. I believe the 30-minutes worth of Deleted and Extended Scenes are the same as the original release and the 4 Legacy featurettes, about 1 1/4 hours worth are also included. Lastly, is the trailer and shorter 'Beware' Trailer. The package is a digi-book of sorts with a 24-page book with rare and beautiful photos included.

There are certain films you want in the best quality possible and Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula is near the top of that list. It's so rich with visuals that imbue a uniquely haunting atmosphere filled with the genuineness of the original novel and amazing performances. A must-own for the library of 4K adopters.  

Gary Tooze