Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)

When the brilliant but unorthodox scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein rejects the artificial man that he has created, the Creature escapes and later swears revenge.

Director:

Kenneth Branagh

Writers:

Mary Shelley (novel), Steph Lady (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh, Helena Bonham Carter

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	Creature / Sharp Featured Man
Kenneth Branagh	...	Victor
Tom Hulce	...	Henry
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Elizabeth
Aidan Quinn	...	Walton
Ian Holm	...	Victor's Father
Richard Briers	...	Grandfather
John Cleese	...	Professor Waldman
Robert Hardy	...	Professor Krempe
Cherie Lunghi	...	Victor's Mother
Celia Imrie	...	Mrs. Moritz
Trevyn McDowell	...	Justine
Gerard Horan	...	Claude
Mark Hadfield	...	Felix
Joanna Roth	...	Marie

Storyline

In 1794, in the Arctic Sea, Captain Robert Walton is a man obsessed to reach the North Pole, pushing his crew to exhaustion. When his ship hits an iceberg, it is stranded in the ice. Out of the blue, Captain Walton and his men overhear a dreadful cry and they see a stranger coming to the ship. He introduces himself as Victor Frankenstein and he tells the Captain the story of his life since he was a little boy in Geneva. Victor is a barilliant student, and in love with his stepsister Elizabeth, an orphan that was raised by his father Baron Victor von Frankenstein. In 1793, Victor moves to Ingolstadt to study at the university, and he promises to get married to Elizabeth. At the university, Victor befriends Henry Clerval, who becomes his best friend. Victor gets close to Professor Waldman and decides to create life to cheat death, but Waldman advises him that he should not try this experiment, since the result would be an abomination. When Waldman dies, Victor steals his notes and tries...

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Plot Keywords:

experiment | birth defect | chained | monster | fleeing a city | 

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Taglines:

November Fourth

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horrific images

Details

Country:

USA Japan UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frankenstein de Mary Shelley

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,212,889, 6 November 1994, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$22,006,296

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$112,006,296

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Japan Satellite Broadcasting (JBS), IndieProd Company Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) Dolby SR Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was during the filming of this movie, that Sir Kenneth Branagh, then married to Dame Emma Thompson, fell in love with Helena Bonham Carter.

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Goofs

Just before the big announcement of Victor starting medical school, Victor is dancing with Elizabeth. They stop, and the camera focuses for a few seconds on Baron Frankenstein. It then focuses on the crowd, and Justine is now standing next to Victor and Elizabeth is not near him.

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Quotes

Elizabeth: Promise? Promise? Oh, don't dare use that word to me!

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Alternate Versions

There is a workprint circulating which contains gore which was cut to earn an "R" rating, as well as other scenes, including the Fay Ripley scene and the re-animated dog scene.

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Connections

References Frankenstein (1931)

User Reviews

Underrated masterpiece

One of Branagh's more maligned works, though for the life of me I can't see why. Sticking closer to the book than to any preconcieved notions of Boris Karloff (perhaps that's why), this injects true horror into the story of a medical student who brings a corpse to life. If you don't like melodrama then maybe it's not the thing for you, but this deserves a far better reputation than it has.