 | |
List Price: $29.99 | | Label: Touchstone / Disney
Salesrank: 3750
Released: October 19, 2004 |
| Our Price: $9.11 |
| Used Price: $7.97 |
|
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
From Tim Burton, acclaimed director of BIG FISH, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, and BATMAN, and the producer of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, comes the hilarious, true-life story of the wackiest filmmaker in Hollywood history, Ed Wood! Johnny Depp (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, CHOCOLAT, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS) stars as the high-spirited movieman who refuses to let unfinished scenes, terrible reviews, and hostile studio executives derail his big-screen dreams. With an oddball collection of showbiz misfits, Ed takes the art of bad moviemaking to an all-time low! The all-star cast features Bill Murray (LOST IN TRANSLATION, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS), Sarah Jessica Parker (TV's SEX AND THE CITY), Patricia Arquette (STIGMATA, LITTLE NICKY), and an Academy Award(R)-winning performance by Martin Landau (Best Supporting Actor, 1994) as Bela Lugosi. Hailed by critics everywhere, this laugh-packed comedy hit is sure to entertain everyone!
Description of Ed Wood (Special Edition):
Edward D. Wood Jr. was an actor writer-director-producer, occasionally in drag, who combined meager bursts of talent with an undying optimism to create some of the most bizarrely memorable "B" movies to ever come out of Tinseltown. Though Wood died in obscurity as an alcoholic in 1978, his films have been considered cult classics for years. He is consistently voted the worst director who ever lived. You would think this an odd subject, but director Tim Burton harnesses the undying hopefulness that made Wood such a character. Shot in black and white, just like Wood's creations, this stylized, witty production captures the poetic absurdity of Wood's films and his unconventional life. Burton's recreation of Wood's wonderfully awful Plan 9 from Outer Space looks much better than the original low-budget quickie. Burton tackled an extremely strange subject matter for a biopic, but Wood is presented as naive almost to the point of delusion, so the story works. The pace sags in the middle, as the weirdness starts to wear thin, but Depp proves himself an adroit actor, even while wearing angora and a blonde wig. Wood's unconventional repertoire company is faithfully reproduced, including an Academy Award-winning Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi. Landau is pathetic, droll, and charismatic as the elderly junkie who made his last screen appearances in Wood's films. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Ed Wood (Special Edition) Reviews:
A Great Modern Actor and The Worst Movie Maker Ever-A Great Combo 
2009-11-11 - Ed Wood has been voted by his peers of movie producers and directors as the worst movie maker ever. Johnny Depp is arguably one of the best actors of our time. The combination of the two make for a terrific movie. Johnny Depp captures the dreamer, the inner turmoil, and the star-struck awe of Ed Wood and makes him sympathetic, lovable, and laughable. The supporting cast of characters depicts Woods' friends and movie cohorts to a T. In fact, it was Ed Woods bad movies that created some of our most endearing stereotypical characters and scenes. Vampira inspired a young woman to create a character called Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. And, of, course, there are the "amazing" (using the term very loosely) effects of the pie tin tied to the string for the flying saucer. Fantastic, funny, wonderful!! We also get to see how Ed Woods developed a friendship with the aging Bela Lugosi and cast him in what would be the movie giant's last role (with absolutely hilarious results, since Mr. Lugosi died before completing the film). The movie is great. Depp is great. The supporting cast is great. See this movie. Then go out and get "Plan 9 from Outer Space" for a true experience of bad and funny movie making (Ed Woods didn't mean for it to be funny, but he couldn't help it). Enjoy.
Probably Surpasses Every Wood Documentary Made 
2009-09-13 - Ed Wood is notorious everywhere for being the worst directer ever to grace Hollywood. I dont' exactly believe that myself like some others, he actually doesn't seem so, as there are other directors that are worse (such as Uwe Boll, who is not the answer to Ed Wood in the 21st century, by the way). Unlike the aforementioned jerk director, Ed Wood, for all his crappy shortcomings and low budget production values that become strangely hilarious, he becomes are very likeable director, one who loves the movies and loves And while Glen or Glenda is probably a bad movie, the whole aspect of how it's like to hold a secret actually has some weight and seems like Ed Wood, maybe, just maybe, actually had something to say (of course, that movie's message is slathered in a creepy premise, which is why I probably would never watch it even if it was made alright, but that's another story). Ed Wood is a portrayl of all of the above, which makes this biopic very appealing.
Ed Wood's life could easily by split in many parts. Ed Wood spans his life from Glen or Glenda to the premiere of Plan 9 From Outer Space. His homelife, his relationship with Bela, the colorful people he encountered during this time period,and the making of his movies are all portrayed on screen. Ed Wood isn't all the way historically accurate; for example, Ed Wood never met Orson Welles, and Bela was actually married. However, Ed Wood would keep anybody who liked Ed Wood in a way because of the way he's portrayed, and what he was doing that made him likeable is present in the movie. Unless your part of the Golden Rasberry Awards, you'll probably end up liking Ed Wood in the movie.
Ed Wood's life wasn't all fun and games, as many of the grimmer times of his life, such as his later life with ended in death, is not here. And I am not quite sure if the premiere However, Tim Burton and the screenwriters specifically wanted his life to be somewhat sympathetic here, and they do very well. It's also very funny, with outlandish situations to go along with his so bad it's good aura. What also makes the movie is the way he interacts with many of the people, which often ends in hilarity, with some wit to go with it. Bela is also hilarious, especially when he gets ticked off after hearing someone compare him to Boris Karloff.
The cast and director really shine. The cast, with the offbeat Johnny Depp, very hot Patrica Arquette (though she was hotter in True Romance), Bill Murray as a tranny, Sarah Jessica Parker (she's.....she's, okay, she's not as impressive as the others), and Martin Landau. Martin Landau actually beat out Jules Winfield... errr Samuel L Jackson from Pulp Fiction (QUENTIN TARANTINO RULES! Oh sorry) in the oscars. Actually really well deserved, unlike the best picture of 1994 (REPRESENT! Oh Sorry). These characters are really well portrayed, letting you get involved in the life of Ed Wood and the many people who were around with him. Tim Burton's style of directing (shot in black and white) is suberb, and many artistic flourishes abound. The cheap sets of a low budget movie, the many cheap special effects are on display, and the regular sets and shots are great. The other academy award winner, for best makeup, was well deserved, particulary because it made Landau a great recreation of an old Boris Karloff. And the opening credits are a prime example of Ed Wood's fine artistic quality, with the very campy and infectious theme (which shows up as a music video in the extras) with a Theremin in use.
I really dont' quite understand however, why the film drags. It adds some kind of an insight to the filmmaking process, or something, or at least some humor in it. Eh, I really don't understand that claim. Sure, Ed Wood isn't exactly a knockout (hence why it doesn't get five stars), but Ed Wood is easily my favorite biopic, with a topic that you just can't get enough of, and entertaining with some great laughs. Tim Burton style really cements the movie and makes it a full on fine movie. Highly recommended view of one of Hollywood's most lovable directors (in the Chicago Cubs way), further cemeted by the portrayol of this movie.
B+
Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Bill Murray, and so much more
2009-06-16 - Ed Wood was the worst filmmaker ever and I recommend buyin a few of his films to see what I'm talking about. His enthusiasm is played well by Johnny Depp and he never lets up, just as Ed would have.
Johnny Depp makes an odd role pretty spectacular
2009-03-12 - It's an odd movie, but a well made one. It has that classic black and white movie feel that it strives to achieve while still being on a much more modern topic. I liked it though, an interesting buy. The acting is pretty great in this movie. Johnny Depp has always been good though, so I guess it should be no surprise.
"VISIONS ARE WORTH FIGHTING FOR. WHY SPEND YOUR LIFE MAKING SOMEONE ELSE'S DREAMS?"
2009-02-20 - This is one of the best American movies of the last 50 years, and certainly one of the very best comedies. All the praise given out by the reviewers here and elsewhere is deserved, and I can and do say with certainty that if you aren't made of stone you will laugh your head off.
Granted, the film has been created on Wierdland's back lot -- which Burton has staked out for himself, and which he's resolutely plowed for some years -- it appears, nevertheless, that comparing Burton's wonderful BATMAN and all his other exciting apparitions, this effort comes off best. Why? Complex answer required, but in a word, Humanity.
GENRE STUFF. Everybody loves show-biz flicks, as much as they love movies and talkies themselves; from the Barrymore shows (ROYAL FAMILY) to SINGING IN THE RAIN, to A STAR IS BORN (1 and 2), Garland and Rooney and beyond. It's a category worthy of a book, or even a library or two. And ED WOOD is certainly in that genre. It's the story of a sort of idiot-savant of cinema who managed, somehow, to rise to the negative celebrity of "The Worst Director Of All Time" cult status. That's a campy kind of category, both cloying and redundant. Actually, his movies fit or mis-fit into the category of American non-studio or experimental cinema that sprang up after WW II. Put it somewhere close to Kenneth Anger's films. His time-frame is 50's. That includes not only look -- costumes, sets, cars and props, but language. And I think its here that ED WOOD separates itself from the other Burton films; the writing is just a little bit better. The construction of the movie, scene by scene is good, but the dialogue is fabulous! Crisp, brief, idiomatic without being either cute or campy, it has that Hollywood/USA POP culture sound of the decade. Brilliantly done. Ultimately, the credit for that little bit of extra something that makes this movie so unbelievably fine, belongs to the writers.
HOLLYWIERD DAZE? OK, but whatever the movie appears to be about, the real meaning is layered: it is an expression of Faith; faith in the redemptive and transformational power of the love of the performer's trance, whether on stage or here, on sound stage and for film. (Remember Wood's malapropism, 'Havent' you heard about the suspension of disbelief?') It used to be that in the beginning the saying about Chaplin was, "You take Mable Norman and a stepladder to the park, and you come back with a movie." That's the way it was and is, essentially, in Chaplin's LIMELIGHT or in Allen's PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, or one of the Bergman films about Theatre or Circus. This movie, like those, takes place far beneath the layers of technique that disguise mediocre material and dazzle with tricks, noise and light; the conformist cinema. It takes place in the arena of bare-knuckled, face-to-face human encounter. Freak-to-freak, if you will. And it exhibits a truly religious faith on one's ability to make Magic.
Personally, it ED WOOD resonates with me because I spent some years working in a similar kind of never-land of semi-improvisatory theatre and film in New York, with a director equally as inept as Wood, and equally as driven, though far, far less likeable. The memory of frantic ineptitude overwhelms me! We called the kind of location shooting we did -- streets, interiors -- Guerilla or Hit-And-Run. No permits. Hurry! Hurry! Watch out for the cops! Improvise. Edit in the camera. His career spanned 42nd St. Sexploitation shows to English Spatter Flicks. Ugly junk, mostly. Nothing much came of any of it, though a very few people who went on to have small or minor careers in professional cinema owe their careers largely to that first exposure. Bad movies, but oh! the intoxication of creation without censure!
