Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Director Tim Burton once again collaborates with actor Johnny Depp (nominated for an Oscar here) in this flamboyant adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's long-running Broadway musical, based on lurid stories appearing in Britain's “penny dreadful” publications of the 19th century. Sweeney Todd was purportedly a deranged barber who slit the throats of disagreeable customers with a straight razor and delivered the corpses to his landlord and lover, the malevolent Mrs. Lovett, who chopped them up and used the flesh as her principal ingredient in the meat pies she baked for unsuspecting customers in London's filthy Fleet Street. In Sondheim's version, Sweeney's (Depp) murderous rampage is set off by a desire for revenge against the corrupt Judge Turpin (played to perfection by Alan Rickman), who deported Todd on a trumped-up charge, despoiled his wife, and raised his daughter—now a young woman. Burton does a terrific job of “opening up” the play and integrating the music with the visuals, and Depp brings startling intensity to his role, while Helena Bonham Carter is also effective as the slatternly Mrs. Lovett, and Timothy Spall is appropriately oily as the Judge's ruthless right-hand man. Recommended. [Note: Available in both single-disc and two-disc editions, DVD extras on this two-disc set include the behind-the-scenes featurette “Burton + Depp + Carter = Todd” featuring director Tim Burton and costars Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter (26 min.), a 24-minute “making-of” featurette, a 20-minute “Press Conference” segment from November 2007, “Sweeney is Alive: The Real History of the Demon Barber” (20 min.), “Grand Guignol: A Theatrical Tradition” on the famed horror theater (19 min.), “Sweeney's London” set design featurette (16 min.), a 12-minute “Musical Mayhem: Sondheim's Sweeney Todd” soundtrack featurette, a “Moviefone Unscripted” segment with Depp and Burton (12 min.), nine minutes of “Designs for a Demon Barber” on costumes and set design, “A Bloody Business” about the gore and props used in the film (9 min.), “The Razor's Refrain” photo montage (9 min.), a photo gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for one of 2007's more colorful (as in blood red) films.] (E. Hulse)[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 14, 2008—DreamWorks, 116 min., R, $39.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2007's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street boasts a great transfer and a 5.1 Dolby True HD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are identical to the previous DVD release, including the behind-the-scenes featurette “Burton + Depp + Carter = Todd” featuring director Tim Burton and costars Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter (26 min.), a 24-minute “making-of” featurette, a 20-minute “Press Conference” segment from November 2007, “Sweeney is Alive: The Real History of the Demon Barber” (20 min.), “Grand Guignol: A Theatrical Tradition” on the famed horror theater (19 min.), “Sweeney's London” set design featurette (16 min.), a 12-minute “Musical Mayhem: Sondheim's Sweeney Todd” soundtrack featurette, a “Moviefone Unscripted” segment with Depp and Burton (12 min.), nine minutes of “Designs for a Demon Barber” on costumes and set design, “A Bloody Business” about the gore and props used in the film (9 min.), “The Razor's Refrain” photo montage (9 min.), a photo gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: not surprisingly, Tim Burton's blood-drenched musical looks very nice in Blu.]