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Product Description:
SWEENEY TODD-SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION (DVD MOVIE)

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

Rating : - Closest Shave Ever
The Good Things
*Loads of extreme violence and demented ideas (although this could be a bad thing if you're squeamish; I consider it good because it's a direct contrast with the wonderful music, and makes everything seem freaky).
*Interesting imagery and special effects.
*Pretty good storyline (revenge is always fun).
*Lots of subtle comedy and strong drama throughout.
*Wonderful music throughout.
*Excellent acting.
*Great art design (as usual in a Tim Burton film).

The Bad Things
*Focus is solely on the main characters, who are all killers; there are no good guys in this film. Although their cause is understandable, their actions are repulsive, and makes this whole thing disturbing (it's like Jack the Ripper starring in his own musical!).

Although this is probably the best musical Tim Burton has made, it is also the darkest. Between Tood killing people and his girlfriend cooking their corpses into meat pies (all to the sound of joyous music), it's very disturbing. At the same time, that is what makes the film good. You are made to relate to the characters' plights, before delving into total serial-killer madness. Ultimately, it appeals to the wicked side of your tastes, and sucks you into a realm of grotesque pleasure. This film truly turns violence into an art (and it's about time somebody made a dark and evil musical film!).

Two-disc special edition includes a wealth of information on the making of the film, the history of the original stageplay, and the origins of the story. I'm not sure what the one-disc version has (probably just the film and a 20-minute making-of documentary).