Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
by Tim Burton
List Price:
Our Price: $1.96
You Save: $18.03 (90%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alan Rickman, Edward Sanders, Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, Timothy SpallDirector: Tim Burton
Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
Cinematographer: Dariusz Wolski
Composer: Stephen Sondheim
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 116 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-04-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Movie Reviews of Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Movie Review: What's so scary about this????
Summary: 3 Stars
I had heard a great deal about how frightening this movie was. I guess the concept is a bit scary, but in this day and age, it's not nearly as scary as a madman with nuclear weapons, or people walking into shopping centers or classrooms with automatic weapons. I know that the play was a musical, but it would have been a great deal more frightening if the characters hadn't burst into song periodically. On the plus side, this proves that Tim Burton can sing.
Summary of Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Johnny Depp and Tim Burton join forces again in a big-screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's award-winning musical thriller "Sweeney Todd." Depp stars in the title role as a man unjustly sent to prison who vows revenge, not only for that cruel punishment, but for the devastating consequences of what happened to his wife and daughter. When he returns to reopen his barber shop, Sweeney Todd becomes the Demon Barber of Fleet Street who "shaved the heads of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard from again." Joining Depp is Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney's amorous accomplice, who creates diabolical meat pies. The cast also includes Alan Rickman, who portrays the evil Judge Turpin, who sends Sweeney to prison and Timothy Spall as the Judge's wicked associate Beadle Bamford and Sacha Baron Cohen is a rival barber, the flamboyant Signor Adolfo Pirelli.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
Horror DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Daria's Favorite Music-Inspired Movies
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen Special Edition)WILDER,GENE; Release date: 2005-06-21; DVD
Best price: $10.11
Price in other shops:
Velvet GoldmineDisney; Release date: 1999-05-18; DVD
Best price: $5.96
Price in other shops:
Across the UniverseWOOD,EVAN RACHEL; Release date: 2009-09-08; DVD
Best price: $8.96
Price in other shops:
Repo! The Genetic OperaLIONS GATE HOME ENT.; Release date: 2009-01-20; DVD
Best price: $12.85
Price in other shops:
South Park - Bigger, Longer & UncutPARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO; Release date: 1999-11-23; DVD
Best price: $4.59
Price in other shops:
Cannibal! The Musical: 13th Anniversary EditionRelease date: 2008-11-18; DVD
Best price: $14.43
Price in other shops:
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Widescreen Edition)TCFHE; Release date: 2002-09-03; DVD
Best price: $7.47
Price in other shops:
Chicago (Widescreen Edition)Chicago; Release date: 2003-08-19; DVD
Best price: $4.83
Price in other shops:
GypsyWOOD,NATALIE; Release date: 2000-05-02; DVD
Best price: $4.41
Price in other shops:
The Nightmare Before Christmas (2-Disc Collector's Edition + Digital Copy)Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2008-08-26; DVD
Best price: $15.25
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street Deluxe - Complete EditionRelease date: 2007-12-18; Music CD
Best price: $17.51
Price in other shops:
The Mist (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)WELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2008-03-25; DVD
Best price: $4.97
Price in other shops:
Sleepy HollowDEPP,JOHNNY; Release date: 2000-05-23; DVD
Best price: $6.40
Price in other shops:
The Golden Compass (New Line Platinum Series Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-04-29; DVD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
BraveheartParamount; Release date: 2000-08-29; DVD
Best price: $7.70
Price in other shops:
Edward Scissorhands (Widescreen Anniversary Edition)DEPP,JOHNNY; Release date: 2000-09-05; DVD
Best price: $7.71
Price in other shops:
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (Full Screen Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-01-31; DVD
Best price: $1.85
Price in other shops:
Atonement (Widescreen Edition)KNIGHTLEY,KEIRA; Release date: 2008-03-18; DVD
Best price: $4.83
Price in other shops:
Juno (Single-Disc Edition)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-04-15; DVD
Best price: $7.47
Price in other shops:
There Will Be Blood (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)Paramount; Release date: 2008-04-08; DVD
Best price: $10.49
Price in other shops: