There is no question what DVD you should snatch up this week. It's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The Two-Disc Special Edition is that rare DVD package that actually deserves to be called "special." This is one of the best DVDs of the year, packed with juicy bonus features and showcasing sound and image that set a new gold standard. Directed by Tim Burton and starring his muse, Johnny Depp, the film version of Stephen Sondheim's Broadway classic is a bloody wonder, intimate and epic, horrific and heart-rending. Depp received an Oscar nomination as Best Actor and he deserved to win if Daniel Day Lewis hadn't blown the category away in There Will Be Blood (a title that could fit this movie as well).
Depp plays Sweeney Todd, the serial-killing barber who slits the throats of his customers and then, with the help of bake-shop owner Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), grinds up the corpses and serves them as meat pies to a salivating if unsuspecting public. You want social commentary, listen to Sweeney's logic: "It's man devouring man, my dear/and who are we to deny it in here?" Depp doesn't just say this line, he sings it. Yup, if you haven't caught on by now, Sweeney Todd, set in nineteenth-century London, is a musical. Flying on the wings of Sondheim's most thunderously exciting score, the movie is ninety percent sung. No less a music critic than Anthony Tommassini in The New York Times praised the actor's attack on the role: "In Mr. Depp’s portrayal, words come first in the shaping of a phrase. Expression, nuance, intention and controlled intensity matter more than vocal richness and sustaining power." Amen to that brother. The unique and surprising recording sessions are featured on Disc One, and supplemented on Disc Two by an interview with Sondheim himself. I'd place Depp along with James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy, Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, and Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line as the best performances ever by non-singers in a musical.
If there's an unsung hero in this enterprise, it's Tim Burton, who deserved the Oscar nomination for Best Director that went to Jason Reitman for Juno. Burton is a true visionary, and with the help of cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, costume whiz Colleen Atwood and production designer Dante Ferretti he has created a musical worthy of mad respect and repeated viewings. The prudes still whine about the R-rated violence. But Burton's use of blood is impressionistic, not realistic. When did we become a nation of wimps? It's significant that Sweeney's foreign grosses doubled it's mild U.S. take of $50 million. Brit actor Alan Rickman, indelibly creepy as the film's Judge Turpin, asked me what there was about America that made women hate blood and men despise musicals. Maybe you know. But I can attest that the brilliantly conceived and executed Sweeney Todd marks the sixth and arguably most exciting collaboration yet between Burton and Depp. I'd also argue for the two Eds—Wood and Scissorhands. But I'd like to hear your vote for the best of the half dozen Burton-Depp pairings:
Edward Scissorhands 1990
Ed Wood 1994
Sleepy Hollow 1999
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2003
Corpse Bride 2005
Sweeney Todd 2007
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Alex | April 9, 2008 9:16 AM
Okay, Ed Wood is Burton's best film, but the argument against Sweeney Todd that the ending was bad is foolish. It is an adapted screenplay. Complain all you want about how he represents the story, (although i will certainly take you to task) but dont complain about the ending of a story that he didn't write. He can't change the story, especially the ending.
vincent price | April 5, 2008 9:45 PM
Ed Wood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but the first is always special
marlon brando | April 5, 2008 9:43 PM
Simply Brilliant!!!! Johnny
JxSxPx | April 3, 2008 5:30 PM
1. Ed Wood
2. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
3. Edward Scissorhands
4. Sleepy Hollow
5. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
6. Corpse Bride
in a perfect world Depp and Burton would've gotten nominations for Ed Wood. and Burton would've gotten one for Todd.
Cat | April 3, 2008 8:28 AM
1. Sweeney Todd
2. Edward Scissorhands
3. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
4. Ed Wood
5. Sleepy Hallow
6. Corpse Bride
Savon | April 2, 2008 7:05 PM
Great to see the support for Ed Wood! I too go with Ed Wood as my top choice. Martin Landau's Oscar winning performance as Bela Lugosi in addition to the Depp/Burton brilliance makes this one the winner for me. Cheers as well to Vincent D'Onofrio for his brief appearance as Orson Welles.
Maggie | April 2, 2008 3:17 PM
I thought that the best movie with Burton and Johnny was 'Edward Scissorhands' by far. I saw 'Sweeny Todd' in the theatre and although I generally liked the film, it did not 'wow' me the way that I thought it would. I wish that I had liked it more, but I actually found it a tad boring and too long for a movie of it's nature. I did, however, find the movie to be very well done and the acting was impeccable (although I would vote Viggo Mortensen after Day-Lewis)...
dryer | April 2, 2008 11:07 AM
SWEENEY is certainly Burtons most entertaining since ED. The dry spell from PLANET through CHARLIE certainly almost drove the nail through for a continous career. While I enjoy Depp, Id much rather see Burton re-team with Michael Keaton. The brother needs some box office help.
Nathan T. | April 2, 2008 12:01 AM
I wish I liked "Sweeney Todd" more (I was one of those people who didn't complain about the violence, but merely about how sloppy the last section felt and how awful I felt after the ending), but Depp and Burton might still be the best pairing this side of Scorsese/De Niro. Their best collaboration is clear, it's also not surprisingly Tim Burton's finest film period: "Ed Wood". It made the least money but it also has the tightest narrative, the most heart, the biggest laughs, and doesn't rely on Danny Elfman's composing (which let's face it, has become something of a cliche now). It just edges out the other "Ed" film; a more tragic and more flawed effort.
AJ Bell | April 1, 2008 10:50 PM
for me, it goes in order of being the best overall film, not the most entertaining.
1. Ed Wood - Not only is it the best Depp/Burton collaboration, but it is also one of the best Biopics ever made. Depp deserved an oscar nod(maybe even a win) for his portrayal, and it was much deserving of more oscar love.
2. Edward Scissorhands - One of the most original screenplays of recent times, this also must have been a bitch to pitch. "So its like Frankenstein, but instead this guy has Scissors instead of fingers. Its also a love story, and its made by the guy who made Beetlejuice" haha i can see it now.
3. Sweeney Todd - this one of the most entertaining musicals ever, and being in the play at one point, i can say it was adapted very well. Plus, Depp and Carter were amazing in their lead parts.
Sita | April 1, 2008 10:49 PM
Edward Scissorhands is classic genius film making.
lg jimenez | April 1, 2008 10:23 PM
while i love the richness and humanity of both ed wood and scissorhands, sleepy hollow has been for a while my favorite movie ever, not just from these two. its an intense and unique film that oozes a style of its own, and part of why i love sweeney todd is that it has some af that same spirit. but i still love hollow a little bit more.
as for which of these has the best depp performance, i have to say what he does in todd blew my mind
mich | April 1, 2008 6:11 PM
I think I prefer Sleepy hollow over Edward Scissorhands, but Ed Wood and Sweeney Todd are a must see
Stu | April 1, 2008 6:05 PM
Edward Scissorhands: Still Burton's warmest, most human, film to date.
Cristian | April 1, 2008 6:02 PM
I completely agree: Sweeney Todd is their best collaboration, followed by Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands. Also, I'd like to mention that Ewan McGregor's performance in Moulin Rouge! ranks as one of the best non-singer performances in a film. He has a beautiful, melodic singing voice with range.
jason | April 1, 2008 5:11 PM
i love charlie and the chocolate factory. if it weren't for the fact it was a remake of a beloved kids movie (maybe the toughest to remake, since people really remember it as they perceived it instead of how it was) it would garner a lot more respect. depp is perfect and creepy as a recluse obsessed/repulsed with kiddoes and the children are selfish and manipulative, just like real kids.
Rachel | April 1, 2008 12:15 PM
I'm with you: Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and Sweeney Todd.