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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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Edward
Scissorhands
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Reviewed
by: |
Rachel
Hughes |
| Genre: |
Sci-Fi |
| Video: |
Anamorphic
Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Audio: |
Dolby
Surround 4.0 |
| Language: |
English,
French |
| Subtitle: |
English,
French |
| Length: |
2hrs |
| Rating: |
PG-13 |
| Release
Date: |
10-31-00 |
| Studio: |
20th
Century Fox |
| Commentary:
|
One
with director Tim Burton, and one with composer Danny Elfman |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
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Yes,
untitled |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
Listed
as soundbites. Features: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Diane Weist,
Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, Vincent Price and Caroline Thompson
(screenwriter) |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Has
two full-length theater trailers, one English television commercial
and two Spanish commercials. |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Concept
Art section containing 6 sketches |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Johnny Depp,
Winona Ryder, Diane Weist Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker
Alan Arkin and Vincent Price |
| Screenplay
by: |
Caroline
Thompson |
| Produced
by: |
Denise Di Novi and Tim
Burton |
| Directed
By: |
Tim Burton |
| Music: |
Danny Elfman |
| The
Review: |
This is
an original fairy tale story from the mind of Tim Burton. There
is a man who was created by an old inventor who dies before
he can finish his project leaving Edward with scissors for hands.
Edward is left all alone in his world until on day a kind-hearted
Avon lady brings him into the outside world. The story is his
journey through that world trying to fit in and how he affects
their existence and how they affect him in return. Everyone
can identify with a character like Edward. We have all tried
to fit in somewhere only to realize that we just don't belong
there. This movie has a lot of heart to it. It is enchanting
while actually being something the whole family can enjoy together.
This is a beautiful movie. Tim Burton continues to impress me
both with his set designs and use of camera work to create mood.
The mansion that Edward lives in is fantastic. There are no
straight lines anywhere. The doors are larger on top than the
bottom. The stairs all curved. It provides a wonderful contrast
to Suburbia. In Suburbia the colors of everything from the houses
to the cars to the clothing people wear are all in beautiful
pastel colors. Everything is crisp clean and wonderfully lit.
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| Image
and Sound |
The colors
are transferred beautifully. The pastel colors of suburbia are
crisp and the darkness of Edward's world comes through without
being overbearing. The sound too is what you expect from DVD.
The dialogue can all be clearly heard. The score comes through
wonderfully. |
| The
Extras |
I was a
bit surprised when I started this DVD up. The first thing you
get is a commercial for upcoming Fox releases. Thankfully you
can fast forward through it, or press the menu key on your remote
and it will take you directly to the main menu. One of the best
things about this DVD is the interactive menu. What first appears
is a beautiful pop-up storybook castle with Danny Elfman's theme
music playing in the background. Each time you select on an
item you get whisked away to another section of castle with
different music for most of them. That unfortunately is where
being impressed ends. With this being a 10th anniversary release
I expected so much more from this DVD. The featurette runs for
a scant 4 mins and 34 secs. It features all the principle actors
though they only get to say a few lines about the working on
the film. The Soundbites should be renamed Soundnibbles. They
too are sadly short. There are soundbites for Depp, Ryder, Weist,
Burton Elfman, Price and Thompson. When you select a name a
screen will appear with the question that was asked and then
how long the response is. They usually run from about 16 secs
to 92 sec. Some of the actors answer two or three question but
most only answer one. To make things even more disappointing
some of bites actually repeats the information seen in the featurette.
The concept art also leaves much to be desired. There are only
six sketches: four of Edward, one of the Inventor, and one set
design idea. Knowing how much Burton relies on sketches it is
unfortunate that more of them were not included. |
| Commentary |
This film
contains two separate commentaries. One is by Director Tim Burton
and one by composer Danny Elfman. Tim Burton's commentary could
be so much more than it is. There are a few tidbits of interesting
information about choosing set design, and inspiration for the
story. The reminiscing about Vincent Price was especially nice.
However through a good part of the movie he didn't say anything.
He is a wonderful director, but seems to have difficulty in
expressing himself verbaly. Danny Elfman's commentary was better
structured. It is an isolated score track. Elfman introduces
different cues, why the music was arranged that way and what
mood he was trying to evoke. He does not talk over the music,
but you have the music to listen and reflect upon with Elfman's
comments so that is nice. Elfman talks a lot about his other
work, his start in the composing business and his relationship
with Tim Burton. The only bad thing is toward the end of the
film he runs out of things to say. Since this is an isolated
score track when he is not talking and there is no music playing
there is nothing to listen to. You can't hear what the actors
are saying. |
| Final
Words: |
For a 10th
anniversary special edition this was disappointing. Just by
looking at the back you would think that you are getting a lot
of extras. While it lists a lot it fails to deliver. The extras
are skimpy and don't add anything to the viewing of the film.
I would only recommend this DVD for people who really loved
the movie, and would buy it just for the sake of owning the
movie. |
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