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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | 
| Director: Tim Burton
Actor: Johnny Depp
Studio: Dreamworks/Universal
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 37.99
Buy Used: CDN$ 6.99
You Save: CDN$ 31.00 (82%)
New (6) Used (12) from CDN$ 6.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 560
Format: Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
UPC: 097363500667
EAN: 0097363500667
ASIN: B0011GDFPE
Release Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Un style musical bien plaisant... April 12, 2008
Une belle façon original de présenter une vengeance, c'est bien orchestré et on apprécie le petit côté machiavélique des deux êtres qui sont de vrais écologique à leurs manière... rien ne se perd, tout est utilisé jusqu'à la fin pour le plus grand bonheur de tous...
Je trouve dommage par contre que l'on n'exploite pas à sa juste valeur le désir de faire souffrir ceux qui l'ont fait souffert, on dirait qu'il tue des gens par dizaines comme si cela n'était qu'une tâche banale un peu comme raser une barbe (sic !) et pourtant toute l'essence du film aurait tellement pu être encore plus savoureuse si on avait exploité ce filon il me semble...
Le film reste toutefois un bon divertissement malgré quelques petites détails qui me tracassent comme les mauvais effets spéciaux utilisé pour le sang... malgré tout le film m'aura tenu captivé jusqu'à sa final qui par contre elle m'aura déçue, il aurait tellement eu plus à faire avec que de la terminé de cette si mauvaise manière... Il est triste de ne pas avoir exploité le filon de l'amour "naïf" des deux jeunes tourtereaux plus en profondeur entre autre...
 The years have changed him February 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Murder. Cannibalism. Death. Obsession. Revenge. Blood. Goth makeup. And lots of razors -- "at last, my arm is complete again!" Sweeney Todd exults.
Somehow it doesn't come as a shock to me that Tim Burton adapted Stephen Sondheim's musical "Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" -- or that he somehow spun it into something so delicious. That dark, grotesque, hilariously melodramatic story is perfectly suited to Burton's style, and Johnny Depp is absolutely stunning as the titular bloody barber.
The malignant Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) lusts after the wife of Benjamin Barker (Depp), so he convicts Barker of a crime he didn't commit, and enfolds his family into his evil hands.
But fifteen years later, the Barker returns to London and sets up a barber shop over Mrs. Lovett's ghastly meat pie store. Of course, he's enraged when he learns that his wife was raped and since poisoned herself, and that his daughter is the ward of the lecherous Judge. Enraged and maddened, Barker renames himself "Sweeney Todd" and vows revenge.
And he finds that he LOVES using his razors for a far bloodier task than shaving. With the help of Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) -- who finds a thrifty use for those bodies -- Todd cuts a bloody swathe through all who have wronged him. And when his daughter is punished for refusing to marry the cruel Judge, Sweeney closes in to get his revenge at last.
There's always been a gothic look to Burton's movies, and he's always dabbled in very twisted, macabre storylines. And he really tops himself with "Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" -- London is painted in black, white and grey, right down to the ghoulish faces of the characters, and their bleak little dens of horror. And songs -- lots of magnificently horrible songs.
But Burton pretty obviously adores the combination of gory grotesquerie and very, very sick humour ("They don't commit sins of the flesh, so it's pretty fresh"). And he doesn't try to make Sweeney or Mrs. Lovett palatable, thankfully. While we sympathize with Sweeney's losses, and the horrors that have changed him into the Demon Barber, you just can't pass over scenes where they sing, "It's man devouring man, my dear!" "Then who are we to deny it in here?"
There are some moments that relieve this gory gothic parade -- there's a sweet love story between Sweeney's daughter and a young sailor. And the plot becomes progressively darker toward the end (yes, it CAN get worse), when the plot throws us some shocking new twists, resulting in a Grecian-tragedy finale soaked in even more gore.
Oh yes, there's blood. Tons of it. It spurts like Monty Python's bloodier sketches, which ends up being more hilarious than yucky -- as is the casual introduction of cannibal meat pies. And there are some spectacularly gross moments, like a finger found in one of the pies.
Burton uses some of his favorite actors in this one, particularly Depp and Bonham-Carter. Depp is THE perfect ideal Sweeney Todd -- his creepy eyes, pallid face and still, almost seductive manner are perfect for the maddened murderous barber. He goes through the movie slashing his razors at the world, and injects a real creepiness into scenes like Sweeney cooing at his "friends."
While she's only a passable singer, Bonham-Carter is eerily wholehearted as Todd's equally amoral partner-in-crime, who is quite happy to assist him.... and make tastier pies in the process. Rickman is wonderfully loathsome as the Judge, and Sacha Baron Cohen has a small but priceless role as Pirello, a huckster acquaintance of Todd's who starts causing trouble. He really steals his scenes.
Most directors would have prettified, sanitized and defanged the grotesque "Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," but Tim Burton and Johnny Depp revel in the gore and madness. Astoundingly great.
Todd's tonsorial tragicomedy February 23, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
There was a young barber who loved his fine wife
His wife and his daughter - well, they were his life
`til one day fair Lucy, Judge Turpin espied
And vowed he would take her and make her his bride
He called up the Beadle, and trumped up a charge
Sent him to Australia on a prison barge
But fifteen years later the barber returned
With revenge in his heart, `cos he really got burned
He found Nellie Lovett, a baker of pies
Who was running real low on her filling supplies
Before long the duo were rolling in dough
He cutting on top, and she cooking below
One day as he practiced tonsorial slaughter
He learned of the fate of his beautiful daughter
He worked out a plan and then stood by his chair
And waited for those who'd wronged him to appear
This movie sure rocks, but it's not for the weak
As blood spurts and gushes, and arteries leak
The Director's amazing, the screenplay surreal
It'll make you think twice on the whole meat pie deal
Cohen, Bonham-Carter and Spall add some zing
While Snape and Jack Sparrow prove that they can sing
This tale of the barber, the baker and judge
Should give the careers of the actors a nudge
I watched it in awe as the ending drew near
And I said "This is my movie choice for the year"
I might be quite biased, I love Johnny Depp
But I give it 5 stars, and a resounding YEP!!!
Short Attention Span Summary (SASS)
1. Don't mess with a guy who wields a razor
2. Revenge is meat
3. There'll be pie from the sky when you die
4. What goes around comes around
Amanda Richards
I want you bleeders February 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Sweeney Todd may seem like a typical revenge story, but there's a lot more to it than that. It combines Stephen Sondheim's original Broadway score with influences from classic Hollywood horror movies. Tim Burton has steeped every ounce of film in dark, Gothic, saturated colors. Victorian London is stripped away of all nobility and becomes "a hole in the world like a great black pit." Pretty much everything in this film is dark, the setting, the people and the plot. Tim Burton is really in his element with this film. But that's perfectly fine, because no other director could do Sweeney Todd justice. This isn't a scary movie, but it is graphic in some parts. Although the "bloody" parts aren't just done for shock value, they have literal and symbolic meaning to them as well.
The characters themselves are complex and intriguing. The main antihero Sweeney Todd is a man who sings to his razor blades "soon you'll drip precious rubies." Mrs. Lovett isn't without her charms as well, coming up with "eminently practical" ideas to save her dismal pie shop. Judge Turpin and Beadle Bamford are the antagonists, and are evil and corrupt as can be. Even during the more graphic scenes I was completely entranced and captivated by these people's behavior motives and the twisting story. Every action serves to further the plot and to further our understanding of the characters. No scene, no song, no razor is wasted.
Unlike a lot of movie musicals that appear to be a filmed version of the stage show, Sweeney Todd is a new breed of movie musical. One that can stand out on its own from the original. The songs were beautiful and complex and the underlying orchestration was gorgeous. Yes some songs from the Broadway show were cut completely; some of the included songs were cut in length. But sacrifices have to be made when adapting a 3 hour show into a 2 hour movie. And the changes that were made don't detract from the story itself. Everything works perfectly together. Even though only a couple members of the cast are professionally trained singers, they all did a fantastic job with the songs. More importantly than singing perfect, complex harmonies in Sondheim's extremely intricate score, the actors bring emotion to the songs. Listen to My Friends, Epiphany, Not While I'm Around (to name a few) and you'll understand what I mean.
The cast of the film was perfect, and made the performances their own. Sweeney Todd could've just been a crazed madman, but Johnny Depp's Oscar worthy performance makes us feel for Sweeney's plight, and (at least in my case) cheer him on. Helena Bonham's Carter didn't copy Angela Lansury's performance of Mrs. Lovett from the original Broadway show, her interpretation is different and very good. Alan Rickman made Judge Turpin into the creepiest, vile man... one who enforces the rules but certainly feels to be above them. Timothy Spall turned Beadle Bamford into an evil henchmen, although not a bumbling one as it usually is. Sacha Baron Cohen brought some hilarity to the movie with his scene in the contest. As well the talented newcomers to the film also did a wonderful job; Edward Sanders as Toby, Jamie Campbell Bower as Anthony, Jayne Wisener as Johanna and Laura Michelle Kelly as the Beggar Woman.
From the first resounding organ chord in the opening credits to the last seconds of the final scene, this movie captivated me like no other. It become more than the sum of its parts. An original and artistic masterpiece, which will be enjoyed for years to come.
"Sweeney's Waiting" February 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
With his latest effort, director Tim Burton gives us an outstanding film adaptation of one of Sondheim's greatest musical creations. Filled with skillfully delivered musical numbers and over the top sequences of bloody violence this is one of of the greatest musical productions ever placed on film and easily one of the best movies of 2007. Perhaps Johnny Depp (as the title character) will finally recieve that well-deserved Oscar.
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