Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Bride Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson November 16, 2018

When Columbia Pictures agreed to finance The Bride, it counted on the tandem of a budding rock superstar and the star of a pop movie musical sensation to carry the load. British director Franc Roddam (The Lords of Discipline; K2) had already worked with Sting on Quadrophenia (1979) and planned to have the crossover artist play the secondary role of Captain Josef Schoden. However, Columbia dictated that he portray the central part of Baron Frankenstein. Josef was instead offered to a boyish Cary Elwes, who was coming off the period drama Another Country (1984). Sting had stepped away from The Police to produce his debut solo album The Dream of the Blue Turtles, which was released the same time as when The Bride opened in theaters. Columbia was smitten with Jennifer Beals in Flashdance (1983) and cast her in the titular role of Eva.

Roddam reunited with screenwriter Lloyd Fonvielle whom we'd worked with on The Lords of Discipline. Roddam and Fonvielle decided to take The Bride in a completely different direction than its classic antecedents, James Whale's Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Yet The Bride seems to leave off where Whale's 1935 sequel ended, with Dr. Frankenstein and his assistant Dr. Zahlus (Quentin Crisp) preparing to bring the Baron's latest creation to life. In a spectacular f/x laden opening, the creature waits to be operated on, bandaged in white gauze. Lightning strikes it and objects throughout the capacious laboratory. When she's brought to life, Frankenstein's first monster (played by Clancy Brown) is struck by her beauty and takes her as his bride. However, his creator wants Eva (Jennifer Beals) to be his so he may teach her the ways of Victorian life. The monster snarls at this and wreaks havoc on the lab. As pandemonium ensues, Frankenstein and the monster go their separate ways.

I present you with the bride.

The Bride splits into two sections. The monster roams the forest until stumbling upon Rinaldo (David Rappaport from Time Bandits), a benevolent dwarf who becomes his brother in arms. It is here where Roddam's film digresses markedly from The Bride of Frankenstein. In the latter, the monster (Boris Barloff) is taken in by a very kind blind man who becomes his friend. In The Bride, Rinaldo and Viktor (as Rinaldo affectionately calls him) travel to Budapest where they join a circus troupe. There they clash with the avaricious circus manager Magar (Alexei Sayle) and his henchman Bela (Phil Daniels). Roddam and his editor Michael Ellis cut back and forth in a leisurely manner from Rinaldo and Viktor's travails to Frankenstein's castle. The Baron teaches Eva everything from table-side manners to Shakespeare and horseback riding. Critics found this bifurcated approach dull and tedious but I think it creates two well-crafted symmetrical movements with characters bound for a collision course. Cinematographer Stephen Burum's lensing of the enchanted forest exudes such a rapturous beauty that makes me savor the longer takes.

The Bride delves more into the fantastical than it does horror, which is something that Roddam somewhat regrets but I like how the film distinguishes itself in style and tone from the one hundred other Shelley adaptations. Sting is very good in conveying the Baron's fluctuating feelings of love and jealousy for Eva. The Bride is not so much a remake but a reworking and modern re-imagining of Whale's The Bride of Frankenstein.

The Bride Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Bride makes its long awaited premiere on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. Roddam's third film appears in the aspect ratio of 1.78:1 which is slightly opened up from the original theatrical framing of 1.85:1. This is an HD master from Sony and it looks exquisite. There are some very small white nicks on the print but it's pristine otherwise. Grain is fairly thick and textured during darker scenes: e.g., shots containing mostly black with a little candlelight. Also, see the shots where Frankenstein and Eva visit the mausoleum that are bathed in a moonlit blue. Skin tones look natural without any traces of post-processing. The greenery outside the castle appears dense, rich, and solid. Trees in the forest are nicely sun-dappled. Patrick Taggart of the Austin American-Statesman summed up the film's aesthetics: "interiors are ablaze in warm candlelight, the exteriors work their magic with cool greens and blues." The transfer sports an average video bitrate of 29998 kbps.

The two-hour feature has been given the usual twelve chapter breaks.

The Bride Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout! has supplied the movie's original Dolby 2.0 Surround, rendered here as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1670 kbps, 24-bit). The dialogue is sparse and minimal but the track picks up utterances with aplomb. Special effects and action scenes bookend the film. They sound crisp and solid but limited in range. There are no serious source flaws with this mix. Composer Maurice Jarre's score shows good pitch and oscillates between the two front channels. The soundtrack album released by Varèse Sarabande was a "Limited Collector's Edition" of only 1,000 copies and has become super rare (I'm lucky to own a copy).

Optional English SDH are available through the main menu or via remote control.

The Bride Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Director Franc Roddam

• NEW Interview with Director Franc Roddam (30:06, 1080p)

• NEW Interview with Actor Clancy Brown (40:50, 1080p)

• TV Spot (0:31)

The Bride Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I love The Bride and am very pleased that Shout! Factory has given it the fine treatment on Blu-ray that it deserves. Sure, the film is slow at times but the viewer is rewarded with some terrific performances by the leads, a master class by DP Stephen Burum, and a lush and grand score from late maestro Maurice Jarre. Classicists who grew up watching and admiring Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein may be off-put by Sting's interpretation of the character and the fact that's he not likeable. If you liked him in Roddam's Quadrophenia, however, you'll appreciate his work here too. Shout! has provided a near-mint transfer that shines. The extras port over the Roddam's commentary track from the 2001 Sony DVD. Shout!'s new interviews with Roddam and Clancy Brown (a two-parter) cover a lot of ground. A VERY SOLID RECOMMENDATION.