Edward Scissorhands (1990)

One of those films you'll be thinking about for days afterwards

This film is odd. Think of Desperate Housewives. Think of Pinnochio. Think lame love triangle. Think tortured genious. Then mix in Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, and you've got yourself an incrediby moving film you just won't be able to get out of your head for days afterwards. I don't know enough about this film to give it full justice in a review, but I will say that I put off watching this film for many years, and probably would have for many years more had my friend not leant me the DVD, and that's a choice I highly regret. A must see film for everybody, yes it's odd, quirky + off-beat but it's humour and heart and also undeniable. Excellent. August 28, 2008

Despite my love for Depp and Burton

...I just don't care for this production as much. I do give in props from being a stunning visual spectacle, but that's just about it. I wanted a little more depth and I found Edward and Kim's love story too weak by half. The suburbanites were funny and how society tends to lift things up only to tear them down was a nice touch. Still, overall I thought it was just okay. August 20, 2008

Cute!

Bought this for my niece. I really haven't had a chance to watch the whole movie but what I saw of it was cute. Johnny Depp, as always, plays a strange character but seems to do a good job of it. August 4, 2008

Soup's on! I thought this was shish kabob?

Edward Scissorhands is an example of the magic that can happen when story, director, cast and crew all come together to create a classic. Tim Burton has created an alternative universe that is at once reassuringly strange and oddly familiar. It is Suburbia as seen through the eyes of an outsider: bland and identical but for their different shades of pastel tract homes. From the first frame onward I was hooked on this strange tale. On paper, who would think the idea would work? A strange boy created by a mad inventor (Vincent Price) who dies before finishing his creation and leaves him with scissors instead of hands? I was totally willing to suspend my disbelief and revel in the superb performance of John Christopher Depp II as Edward Scissorhands, and marvel at the exquisite direction of director Tim Burton. Burton really has a great visual sense, especially when he puts it in the service of his inner child. I would really like to meet his imaginary friend, but feel like I already have, and his name is Edward Scissorhands, alias Johnny Depp.

What a way to kick off the decade of the 90's and bid adieu to the 80's with a character who would make the ultimate punk rocker, or is he more Goth? The pale white make-up and asymmetrical fright wig bring to mind Robert Smith of The Cure, but the black leather bondage garb is oh so punk rock. And what could be more punk than scissors for hands and the resultant facial scars? Depp conveys the naive innocence deep within this scary package. He is the ultimate lost soul who deep down inside just wants to be loved. When asked if he is a romantic Depp replied "Am I a romantic? I've seen Wuthering Heights (1939) ten times. I'm a romantic." What is his method, his process when acting? "I don't pretend to be captain weird. I just do what I do."

[On Vincent Price] "One of the most incredible moments I've ever had was sitting in Vincent's trailer . . . I was showing him this first-edition book I have of the complete works of [Edgar Allan Poe], with really amazing illustrations. Vincent was going nuts over the drawings, and he started talking about The Tomb of Ligeia (1964). Then he closed the book and began to recite it to me in this beautiful voice, filling the room with huge sounds. Such passion! I looked in the book later, and it was verbatim. Word perfect. It was a great moment. I'll never forget that."

[On the Edward Scissorhands experience] I can remember when I finished Edward Scissorhands (1990), looking in the mirror as the girl was doing my make-up for the last time and thinking -- it was like the 90th or 89th day of shooting -- and I remember looking and going, "Wow, this is it. I'm saying goodbye to this guy, I'm saying goodbye to Edward Scissorhands". You know, it was kind of sad. But in fact, I think they're all still somehow in there.

After Edward is found and brought home by Avon saleslady Peg (Diane Wiest), he falls hard for her daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder). Winona Ryder is stunningly beautiful as the young Kim. The only thing she steals here is Edward's (and my) heart. At first she is frightened and repulsed but she eventually does grow to love the strange hedge clipper. In real life she dated Johnny Depp for many years. He had a tattoo that said "Winona Forever" and after they broke up, he had it reduced to "Wino forever."

The rest of the cast is great as well. Diane Wiest (pronounced Wee-st) is great as Avon representative Peg Boggs. Alan Arkin is great as her husband. Anthony Michael Hall has come a long way from either 16 Candles or Six Degrees of Separation. Here he plays Jim, Kim's boyfriend, who is a bully, a downright brutish thug, even. The housewives of the town are a little too desperate to fit in on Wisteria Lane, but perfect for Burton's suburban milieu. Stand outs among them are Kathy Baker as red headed hot tomato Joyce, and Conchata Ferrell as hard hearted Helen. She is now familiar as the housekeeper Berta from the television program Two and a Half Men, with Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer; still filming new episodes while also seen daily in syndication.

To top it all off, Vincent Price caps off a stunningly illustrious career with this masterpiece that seems tailor made for his unique talent. He has a small but pivotal role as the mad inventor and creator of Edward. It was the omega for Price, but for Depp the alpha of his long strange journey.

Peg Boggs: Why are you hiding back there? You don't have to hide from me - I'm Peg Boggs, your local Avon representative and I'm as harmless as cherry pie...
[Sees Edward come toward her]
Peg Boggs: Oh - I can see that I've disturbed you. I'll just be going now...
Edward: Don't go.
Peg Boggs: [sees his scissor hands] Oh, my. What happened to you?
Edward: I'm not finished.


FILMS AND ROLES OF WINONA RYDER

A Scanner Darkly (2006) .... Donna Hawthorne
Beetlejuice (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) (1988) .... Lydia
Reality Bites (1994) .... Lelaina Pierce
Heathers (1989) .... Veronica Sawyer

FILMS AND ROLES OF JOHNNY DEPP

Cry Baby (Director's Cut) (1990) .... Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker
Benny and Joon (1993) .... Sam
Ed Wood (Special Edition) (1994) .... Ed Wood


FILMS AND ROLES OF ANTHONY MICHAEL HALL

The Breakfast Club (1985) .... Brian Ralph Johnson
Sixteen Candles (1984) .... Farmer Ted, 'The Geek'
Six Degrees of Separation (1993) .... Trent Conway

FILMS AND ROLES OF VINCENT PRICE

Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) .... Dr. Anton Phibes
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) .... Dr. Anton Phibes
The Oblong Box (1969) .... Sir Julian Markham
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) .... Dr. Goldfoot
The Tomb of Ligeia (1964) .... Verden Fell
The Masque of the Red Death (1964) .... Prince Prospero
The Haunted Palace (1963) .... Charles Dexter Ward (Joseph Curwen)
Diary of a Madman (1963) .... Simon Cordier
The Raven (1963) .... Dr. Erasmus Craven
Tales of Terror (1962) .... Fortunato/Valdemar/Locke
Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962) .... Gilbert De Quincey
Pit and the Pendulum (1961) .... Nicholas / Sebastian Medina
House of Usher (1960) .... Roderick Usher
The Bat (1959) .... Dr. Malcolm Wells
Return of the Fly (1959) .... Francois Delambre
The Tingler (1959) .... Dr. Warren Chapin
The Big Circus (1959) .... Hans Hagenfeld
House on Haunted Hill (1959) .... Frederick Loren
The Fly (1958) .... François Delambre
House of Wax (1953) .... Prof. Henry Jarrod
Dragonwyck (1946) .... Nicholas Van Ryn
Shock (1946) .... Dr. Richard Cross
Leave Her to Heaven (1945) .... Russell Quinton
A Royal Scandal (1945) .... Marquis de Fleury
The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) .... Angus Mealey
Laura (1944) .... Shelby Carpenter
Wilson (1944) .... William Gibbs McAdoo
The Eve of St. Mark (1944) .... Pvt. Francis Marion
The Song of Bernadette (1943) .... Prosecutor Vital Dutour
Hudson's Bay (1941) .... King Charles II
Brigham Young (1940) .... Joseph Smith
The House of the Seven Gables (1940) .... Clifford Pyncheon
Green Hell (1940) .... David Richardson
The Invisible Man Returns (1940) .... Geoffrey Radcliffe
Tower of London (1939) .... Duke of Clarence
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) .... Sir Walter Raleigh
Service de Luxe (1938) .... Robert Wade

Bill: Soup's on!
Edward: I thought this was shish kabob.
July 26, 2008

One of my favorite movies

Edward Scissorhands is and has been one of my favorite movies. True, it is not going to be a movie that most people can get into, but this can be said for most of Tim Burton's films. I would not suggest those who have not seen this movie to buy it, but to rent it first... though I can say that for just about any movie.

DO NOT BUY THIS BASED ON 5 STAR REVIEWS - rent it first or buy a cheap used DVD if you must. I've found that most people find this too weird for their taste. Which is expected; not everyone will like the same things.

I will say that I am disappointed in the hype that has surrounded this and many other films in the last few years, endorsed by those who have yet to see the film because they "have to". This will lead to many good reviews and many disappointed buyers. remember - rent first.

That said, this film is one of my favorites. I have always liked the oddity of Tim Burton's work (with the exception of Sweeney Todd, but I never like that musical anyways) and this is one of his early showcases of said odd work. I loved this movie as a child, and can still watch it and be amused. It is a combination of comedy and drama, ending somewhat tragically. I felt the story was complete, having a strongly defined beginning, middle, and end. A good deal of the styling is obviously that of the late 80's and early 90's, but this can be said for many films of the time. This is also Vincent Price's last movie. June 17, 2008

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