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Edward Scissorhands
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (15th November 2007). |
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The Film
 After his massive success launching the "Batman" (1989) franchise with the first installment, filmmaker Tim Burton could pretty much do whatever he wanted. The gigantic worldwide box office success of "Batman" afforded him carte blanch with just about every major studio (with the exception of Warner Brothers, who actually produced "Batman" and where uninterested in the project), but instead of gambling away his success with another big-budget event picture he decided to make a smaller film. "Edward Scissorhands" was the project (cost at only $20 million, a minor sum by today's standards) the imaginative film would be spawned from Burton's own childhood drawings of the character and his fascination with scissors. The tale's core would incorporate themes of alienation and trying to fit in set amid a framework that takes inspiration from stories such as Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". The film is a modern day fairy tale set in a very bland and conformist neighborhood of California reminiscent of the cookie-cutter subdivisions built up in the 1960's and produced in mass. The exaggerated stereotypical setting can be interpreted as a metaphor for all the things Burton is not and thus makes "Edward Scissorhands" his most personal film. "Edward Scissorhands" tells the story of the title character, created by an Inventor (Vincent Price) with the heart made out of a cookie, Edward (Johnny Depp) is a kind sole whose appearance may be considered threatening and has been living alone atop a mountain at the end of the suburban street since his creator died. One day, Peg (Diane Wiest), an Avon salesperson makes a stop at his house and discovers Edward all on his own. She decides to bring him to her house and look after him, it's here where Edward meets and falls for her daughter Kim (Wynona Ryder) and eventually gains the trust and admiration of the entire neighborhood but Edward soon learns that being different means that this admiration and trust can easily be broken. Burton has carved a career that includes unique films with a strong vision, if anything you can say he is a visionary filmmaker with a broad imagination. His stylized aesthetic is instantly recognizable and this film is no exception. From the production's kitschy design of the neighborhood to Edward's mountain top gothic inspired dilapidated castle/home the film is a treat to look at. What makes the film instantly appealing are the universal themes, the fish out of water tale can be identified with all manner of people, for example teenagers struggling to fit in will find something to relate to in this story. Other themes include isolation and misunderstanding (a recurring theme in many of Burton's films). Despite the film's very fantastical elements and unique, quirky and always interesting visual style the film is very accessible. The film would kick-start a series of successful collaborations, the first and most obvious is with lead actor Johnny Depp who would go on to make another four films with Burton including "Ed Wood" (1994), "Sleepy Hollow" (1999), "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005) and "The Corpse Bride" (2005). But Depp was not the first choice; the filmmakers saw a number of top actors including Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr. and even Jim Carrey before anyone even knew him. But Burton was set on Depp almost instantly. Depp delved into the role eager to shake his teen idol image with a dark project that would allow him to flex some acting chops. His character had to communicate a lot and creating sympathy without saying much and as research he studied silent film acting including that of Charlie Chaplin. As a result his performance is entirely memorable and stands among his finest work (which of course includes Jack Sparrow). Other partnerships would also be made with screenwriter Caroline Thompson who would work with him on two other occasions and costume designer Colleen Atwood how would work with Burton on six other occasions including his latest film "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (2007). Another already establish relationship would be that of composer Danny Elfman who created the moody and melodic score for the film, Elfman has been quoted as saying the score for this film is his favorite and it certainly does lend a magical feel to the film and drives a lot of the themes. "Edward Scissorhands" has become a modern classic 17 years after it was released, although the story borrows from other classic tales the film feels totally original and that's in large part due to Burton's imaginative vision. If you haven't seen this film then it's highly recommended you give it a spin, fans of the film already in the high-definition era are probably eyeing up this release.
Video
Presented in the film's original 1.85:1 theatrical ratio this transfer is presented in 1080p 24/fps high-definition and has been created using MPEG-2 compression. The resulting image is excellent, with sharpness remaining consistent throughout and fine detail appearing clear and noticeable especially in backgrounds and minor details such as the latches on Edward's costume. Colors are nice and vibrant displaying the full range, with accurate skin tones and deep and bold black levels however I did notice that some darker scenes are too dark with limited shadow detail and the print is not 100% clean with as few instances of specks and starches. Although impressed by this transfer this film could use a newly struck transfer undergoing a clean up if necessary (I guess that depends on the shape of the film's original negative). In any case this image is very good but I expect something new and totally impressive for the film's 20th anniversary in three years time.
Audio
Three audio tracks are included in English DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 as well as French and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 surround. For as long as I can remember this film has only been available in 4.0 and that's the track I chose to view the film with, this time in DTS-HD. Previously I'd heard the DVD version as well as the Laserdisc release back in those days. This lossless track is much improved over the Dolby Digital number of years past and feels much more spacious, however it's still limited considering you're effectively missing 1.1 channels worth of audio from completing the 5.1 experience and that bass channel is sorely needed to create further depth and weigh to this track. I'm not entirely sure why a 5.1 or greater mix has not been created for this film as the fantasy elements lends itself perfectly to it. Despite this dialogue is clear and distortion free, ambient sound is subtle and mixed well as are directional effects, special effects sounds and score all breathe life into this sound track. Optional subtitles are included in English, Spanish, Cantonese and Korean.
Extras
Fox has released this film with two audio commentaries, a short featurette, theatrical trailers and a series of bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up is a feature-length audio commentary by the film's director Tim Burton. Burton kicks off the track by commenting on setting the tone of the film through the opening titles, and on creating a fantasy tone and bringing a sense of realism to the fantastic elements of the story. He also comments on the casting of characters and understanding the dynamics of misperception. Other aspects of the production he talks about include his sketches of the character he did when he was younger and how the film is representative of a lot of his own feelings. As well as shooting the film on location in Florida, the use of scissorhands and the challenge of acting in the costume, and how many of the characters that appear in the film are based on people he once knew or were completely fabricated for the story. Burton moves slowly through the film with a somber and dry tone often silent, he's not a talker and as a result there are a few silent gaps in this track. Even die hard fans will have a hard time sitting through this track, perhaps the disc producers who recorded this should have sat the director down with other participants? The second audio commentary is by the film's composer Danny Elfman and features isolated score throughout the rack. If though the first track had silent gaps then this one will be an eye-opener, Elfman stays quiet for a large part of the track as isolated score plays over the rest of the track as he sporadically comments on the score, the development of the music and the use of emotional cues. He talks about establishing a feel for the film as there are three main threads throughout the film. Mildly interesting this track should have been edited in with Burton's to create one track. Following that is "Edward Scissorhands" a making-of featurette that runs a paltry 4 minutes 37 seconds and is a fluff piece created back in 1990 to promote the film, as the cast talk about the production and why it's such a great film. There's no repeat value in this supplement. Also included on this disc are the film's original theatrical trailer "A" which runs for 2 minutes 4 seconds and theatrical trailer "B" which runs for 2 minutes 16 seconds and are both presented in 1080p 24/fps. Rounding out the extras are some bonus trailers for: - "Eragon" which runs for 2 minutes 26 seconds. - "The Fly" which runs for 2 minutes 3 seconds. - "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" which runs for 1 minute 5 seconds. - "Night at the Museum" which runs for 2 minutes 25 seconds.
Overall
"Edward Scissorhands" makes it's debut on high-definition with this Blu-ray release, Burton films lend themselves brilliantly to the 1080p image and this release is a decent example of that with a fine transfer and decent enough audio track, however much like previous DVD releases sorely lacks in the extras department with average commentaries to lackluster video extras, if anything this film deserves a full blown documentary on the making of the film and here's hoping that Fox delivers something special for the 20th anniversary instead of re-releasing the same old stuff.
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