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List Price: $34.99Amazon.com's Price: $22.99 You Save: $12.00 (34%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: DEPP,JOHNNY
EAN: 0097361321547
Format: AC-3, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: Dreamworks Video
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Dreamworks Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: April 01, 2008
Running Time: 116 minutes
Sales Rank: 1537
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Theatrical Release Date: December 21, 2007
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Genre: Musicals
Rating: R
Release Date: 1-APR-2008
Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com:
After years of rumors, it turns out that Tim Burton was the perfect visionary to film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Stephen Sondheim's Broadway masterpiece, and the result is a macabre and moving musical movie as enthralling as anything Burton has ever done. The show's mix of gothic horror, Grand Guignol, very dark humor, and witty and beautiful music never was the stuff of traditional musical comedy, but it's a powerful work, and perhaps the richest of the late 20th century. In the movie, Burton's frequent collaborator, Johnny Depp, plays Todd, a wronged man whose lust for revenge drives him to murder (an 19th-century legend who has been traced to a real-life barber). Helena Bonham Carter, another Burton mainstay, is Mrs. Lovett, the barber's partner-in-unspeakable-crime. It's no surprise that Depp is an excellent choice to convey Todd's brooding intensity and volcanic rage, but he can also sing a score that is so challenging it has often played in opera houses (though not with the same style as the Broadway original, Len Cariou, and he occasionally lapses into pop style). Bonham Carter is small of voice and lacks the humor of the original Broadway Lovett, Angela Lansbury, but she sings on pitch, in rhythm, and in character at the same time, which is no small feat for a Sondheim show. Aficionados will regret the loss of certain musical passages--'The Ballad of Sweeney Todd' is just an instrumental overture and the chorus is gone altogether, among others--but the reassuring presence of orchestrator Jonathan Tunick and conductor Paul Gemignani ensures that the music feels right and sounds great. And the film's depiction of a Victorian London hellhole--with cinematography by Dariusz Wolski and costumes by Colleen Atwood--also looks and feels right.
The excellent cast is filled out by Alan Rickman as the villainous Judge Turpin, Timothy Spall as his seedy Beadle, Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) as a rival barber, Jamie Campbell Bower as the young lover Anthony, Jayne Wisener as his object of affection, and Ed Sanders as the young Toby. For fans of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp who don't think they like musicals, Sweeney Todd should be a revelation (though not for the squeamish, as the gore is intense and completely appropriate). For fans of Broadway and Sondheim, it's hard to imagine getting a better adaptation than this. The fact that there's no newly composed Oscar-bait song sung by a Josh Groban-type over the end credits only makes it better. --David Horiuchi
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - A Close Shave To Perfection
The back allies of London have been host to many of the most revered 19th century pieces of literature, spawining some of the greatest stories, protagonists and villians: such as Charlies Dickins' Oliver Twist, H.G. Wells' the Invisible Man, and Sir Arther Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. One of the more underated London-based books "the String of Pearls", or better known to Broadway as Sweeney Todd, has finally joined his brothers of extrodinary literature in the silver screen as the musical "Sweeney ... Read More
Rating:  - What a waste of time and money
The original 1936 black and white making of this film certainly left something for your imagination and leaves Tim Burton's film in the dust. I'm surprised Johnny Depp fell for the discusting and poor taste of the film's direction and it's too bad Mr. Burton doesn't have the film making skills to leave something for your imagination as the original version. Hitchcock would have directed this movie in a way that would have you leaving the theatre feeling better than then when you arrived, not feeling ... Read More
Rating: - Blood and gore and upbeat songs
Johnny Depp certainly got himself another hit on his hands with this one, much to the delight of his considerable fan club and every other Broadway baby out there. While I don't know if Johnny Depp is the world's greatest singer (he won't be doing opera anytime soon) he proves that he can carry a tune well enough to make this a musical worth seeing, and fans of prior versions of the show should be pleased. Helena Bonham Carter keeps up her pace as his consort with that flair of hers we all know and love. ... Read More
Rating:  - Gorgeous - but disappointing storytelling
The desaturated Gothic graphics are stunning. Which they should be, since Tim Burton's been honing his ability to portray them for fifteen years. Perhaps he should try sepia tones instead of desaturation for his next film.
The performances were good - but there were two tragic flaws that kept this from being a good film. The first was the plotting. Although this is supposedly a story about Mr. Todd, his character is stagnant, an iconic force of revenge. All of his change has already taken ... Read More
Rating:  - Love The Movie But The DVD ....
I'm a huge Johnny Depp fan & I had to replace my old copy of Sweeney Todd. So I purchased a new copy. In the description it said DVD was brand new & when I recieved the DVD it was in wrap but the DVD it self had scratches. When I played the DVD it skipped about three times. Thank God I have a DVD scratch cleaner if not I would have sent it back. Shipping was very fast also.
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