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Movies / On DVD / Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

86%
83%
89%
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86 %
Reviews Counted: 191 Fresh: 165  Rotten:26 Average Rating: 7.7/10
 
Consensus: Full of pith and Grand Guignol grossness, this macabre musical is perfectly helmed and highly entertaining. Tim Burton masterfully stages the musical in a way that will make you think he has done this many times before.
 

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The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins

Theatrical Release: Dec 21, 2007 Wide

Box Office: $52,829,046

Synopsis: With its rivers of blood, this adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical isn't for the faint of heart--or stomach. But thanks to the black humor, impeccable production design, and gorgeous music, Tim Burton fans will want to sing after seeing SWEENEY TODD. For his sixth collaboration with... With its rivers of blood, this adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical isn't for the faint of heart--or stomach. But thanks to the black humor, impeccable production design, and gorgeous music, Tim Burton fans will want to sing after seeing SWEENEY TODD. For his sixth collaboration with the director, Johnny Depp stars as Benjamin Barker aka Sweeney Todd, a barber falsely imprisoned by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman). After leaving prison, he comes back to Victorian London to find his wife poisoned and his daughter held captive. As he plots his revenge, Sweeney joins forces with Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), and while he preys on clients asking for a shave, his new partner turns the bodies into baked goods. But the judge still lives, and the razor-wielding madman wants his vengeance. Though it's a musical, SWEENEY TODD has more in common with Italian horror films such as SUSPIRIA than it does with CHICAGO. Even the horror-musical hybrid LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS pales in comparison to the darkness found here. Previous Burton-Depp pairings have veered toward the macabre, but this reaches a glorious new level. Though they've made excellent films apart, their partnership has produced some of their best work, including EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, ED WOOD, and now SWEENEY TODD. Depp demonstrates his rock-band roots as the antihero of the title with another amazing performance, while Bonham Carter is both hilarious and heartbreaking as the eager Mrs. Lovett. But credit also belongs to production designer Dante Ferretti, director of photography Dariusz Wolski, and, of course, Burton, for showing a sooty London that is just as dark as the film's subject matter. Source composer Sondheim should also be recognized for the haunting songs that threaten to stick in viewers' heads, but the film as a whole also deserves to be remembered for its beauty and brutality. [More]

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Jamie Campbell Bower

Director: Tim Burton
Screenwriter: John Logan
Producer: Richard D. Zanuck, Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, John Logan
Composer: Stephen Sondheim

DVD Info

Release:

Apr 1, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case - 2-Disc Set - Sensormatic Packaging
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French, Spanish
  • Subtitled - French, Spanish

Additional Release Material:

  • Featurettes - 1. BURTON + DEPP + CARTER = TODD
  • 2. SWEENEY TODD Press Conference, November 2007
  • 3. SWEENEY TODD IS ALIVE: THE REAL HISTORY OF THE DEMON BARBER
  • 4. MUSICAL MAYHEM: SONDHEIM'S SWEENEY TODD
  • 5. SWEENEY'S LONDON
  • 6. THE MAKING OF SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
  • 7. GRAND GUIGNOL: A THEATRICAL TRADITION
  • 8. DESIGNS FOR A DEMON BARBER
  • 9. A BLOODY BUSINESS
  • 10. THE RAZOR'S REFRAIN
  • Production Interviews - Tim Burton - Director, Johnny Depp - Star
  • Trailer - Original Theatrical Trailer

Text/Photo Galleries:

  • Photo Gallery

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image
N/A

Sweeney Todd is a connoisseur's delight -- an ultra dark tale with little respite, told in true Burtonesque fashion.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/23/08
Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Sweeney Todd is a connoisseur's delight %u2013 an ultra dark tale with little respite, told in true Burtonesque fashion

Full Review | comment Comment
01/17/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

A dark, brooding horror-musical-comedy that hits all the right notes.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/13/08
Steve Biodrowski
ESplatter
Ratings Image
5/5

I cannot wait to go see this film again and I really want to buy the soundtrack.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/01/08
Kevin McCarthy
WJFK-FM (CBS Radio)
Ratings Image
3.5/4

The movie belongs to Depp and Bonham Carter, who dance slowly and seductively against the backdrop of Burton's London until it's time to paint the town red.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/29/08
Rossiter Drake
San Francisco Examiner
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
05/22/08
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times
Ratings Image
2/5

Off the wall is one thing, but Sweeney Todd is plain mental.

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
05/14/08
Chris Laverty
Mansized
Ratings Image
N/A

Burton has done that rare thing -- turned a great play into a great film.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/10/08
Thomas Peyser
Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)
Ratings Image
5/5

Sweeney Todd ranks among this year's most intense, haunting, and startling films; the fact that it also features great songs by Stephen Sondheim is just gravy on the meat pie.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/01/08
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC
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N/A

Another bizarre and beautiful excursion courtesy of one of Hollywood's most creative minds.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/16/08
Ryan Cracknell
Movie Views
Ratings Image
81/100

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
04/16/08
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
Ratings Image
N/A

Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, and Helena Bonham-Carter have made so many films together that they're starting to resemble each other.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/09/08
Brian Holcomb
Beyond Hollywood
Ratings Image
3.5/4

We all knew Johnny Depp could act. The brilliantly imagined Sweeney Todd shows he can sing, too.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/09/08
Christian Toto
Washington Times
Ratings Image
B+

The most accomplished almost-remake of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari since the passing of the silent era.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/01/08
Rob Humanick
Projection Booth
Ratings Image
N/A

Depp as the malevolent, pasty faced serenading barber chopping away at assorted customer throats while in razor rage meltdown, can't seem to carry a tune quite as impressively as a deadly weapon. Could bring beards back into fashion in a jiffy.

Full Review | comment 2 Comments
03/30/08
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze
Ratings Image
B-

It's not a bad film -- grading on a curve, it's actually rather enjoyable. But Burton-Depp devotees salivating for a bleak holiday blockbuster need to dial down their expectations.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/06/08
Tricia Olszewski
Washington City Paper
Ratings Image
B

The difference here is that film audiences are used to blood. So some of the chilling effect is lost...

Full Review | comment Comment
03/04/08
Jeff Bayer
Daily Herald (IL)
Ratings Image
6/10

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a dark and terrifying love story, as much a horror film as a musical extravaganza.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
BrandonFibbs.com
Ratings Image
5/5

Tim Burton delivers his best film yet.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/25/08
Bob Grimm
Reno News and Review
Ratings Image
5/10

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
02/22/08
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
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Around the Network

• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Rotten Tomatoes
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at IGN
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at AskMen
 
 
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