DVD Review

Edward Scissorhands (2009)

EW's GRADE
B+

Details Rated: PG-13; Genres: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance; With: Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder; Distributor: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation

All of Tim Burton's films are, in one way or another, ruminations on his own outsiderness, be it the living-people-are-lonelier-than-ghosts vibe of Beetlejuice, or the life-is-better-behind-a-mask aesthetic of Batman, or the misunderstood eccentricity at the center of Ed Wood. For all that, Edward Scissorhands emerges as Burton's most personal movie. From the film's pop-pastel suburbia (the fun-house mirror image of Burbank, Calif., Burton's childhood haunt) to Edward's tempestuous mane (have you ever seen a picture of Tim?), the Frankenstein-like fairy tale of an isolated orphan (Johnny Depp) with blades for fingers plays like a diary chapter with the names changed to protect the innocent. Complete with commentaries from both Burton and composer Danny Elfman, concept art, and a crystalline anamorphic wide-screen transfer, this 10th-anniversary pressing of Edward Scissorhands is a hit of pure digital whimsy. B+

Originally posted Sep 15, 2000 Published in issue #559 Sep 15, 2000 Order article reprints

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