Ed Wood (1994) - Burton & Depp - September 18, 2012 Review

[Akijama]

Ed Wood Blu-ray

Ed Wood Blu-ray Review

One of my absolute movie favorites and arguably Tim Burton's best work till date!A wonderful movie.
It's coming on September 18th!

[rickah88]

Rejoining the thread!

[GE Cafe]

Touchstone's finally getting some classics out on Blu. High Fidelity and Ed Wood? Along with all the Disney stuff this Summer and Fall, my wallet's gonna be shattered.

I remember there was a special feature on the original DVD release that they apparently couldn't get clearance for the music, and they had to recall the release at the last minute. Any word if they've managed to clear it in the subsequent 7 years?

[csdot]

day one, cant wait!

[csdot]

Depps great in it, but Martin Landau owns it!

[Shanester]

Originally Posted by csdot

Depps great in it, but Martin Landau owns it!

+1 Oh yeah! He deserved that Oscar no doubt about it!

It's one of my favorite performances from any actor in the 90's

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Akijama

One of my absolute movie favorites and arguably Tim Burton's best work till date!A wonderful movie.

Although you do know the movie is factually a crock, though (and no, I'm not talking about the Orson Welles scene)?

- Wood was not "picked out of the air" for screenplays, "Jail Bait" had already turned a profit, and that gave him an industry reputation for getting Girl-Delinquent/Youth-Warning scripts done quickly (including his uncredited work on "The Violent Years")
- Wood's partner Alex Gordon, who wrote the story for "Bride of the Monster", pitched it to Wood, and first introduced him to Lugosi, never even exists in the movie.
- Lugosi never went into foul-mouthed rants about Boris Karloff; although Bela often told the story about turning down Frankenstein, the two remained friends. (And of course, Bela eventually did play Frankenstein, at the end of "Ghost of".)
- Wood didn't shoot the home-movie footage to make Lugosi "feel better" after coming out of rehab; he already had Lugosi contracted for a new movie ("The Ghoul Goes West", mentioned in the movie about five years earlier than he thought of it), and the test footage was all that was shot before Lugosi's death and the deal fell through.

Basically, the whole movie was a sort of fantasia based on the two pages of description from Medved's Golden Turkey Awards, like a fourth-grader writing his school report out of the World Book Encyclopedia.
(Oh, and it was supposed to be for Michael Lehmann to direct, but Disney had just done Nightmare Before Christmas and though Burton would be "more monster-movie-y".)
Still, I guess that makes it a better example of Golden Turkey Awards on film than "It Came From Hollywood".

[rickah88]

Wow...movies are not always 100% accurate when dealing with real life events? Thanks for clarifying.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Wow...movies are not always 100% accurate when dealing with real life events? Thanks for clarifying.

No, but at least they read MORE THAN ONE BOOK before writing the screenplay!

[CHEЯNOБLY!]

Every Bio-pic has massive historical inaccuracies, so I don't know why that should diminish the enjoyment of this...they are movies.

One of the few Burton films I can tolerate, def picking this up.

[MifuneFan]

Even if Burton knew the real story perfectly well he still wouldn't make it accurate for his film. Taking creative liberties is pretty much his M.O.

[Ariel1]

thumbs UP

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Even if Burton knew the real story perfectly well he still wouldn't make it accurate for his film. Taking creative liberties is pretty much his M.O.

Well, you do have a point there:
When compared to Alice, Chocolate Factory and Dark Shadows, this's a veritable Watchmen of source accuracy by comparison...

[retablo]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Although you do know the movie is factually a crock, though (and no, I'm not talking about the Orson Welles scene)?

- Wood was not "picked out of the air" for screenplays, "Jail Bait" had already turned a profit, and that gave him an industry reputation for getting Girl-Delinquent/Youth-Warning scripts done quickly (including his uncredited work on "The Violent Years")
- Wood's partner Alex Gordon, who wrote the story for "Bride of the Monster", pitched it to Wood, and first introduced him to Lugosi, never even exists in the movie.
- Lugosi never went into foul-mouthed rants about Boris Karloff; although Bela often told the story about turning down Frankenstein, the two remained friends. (And of course, Bela eventually did play Frankenstein, at the end of "Ghost of".)
- Wood didn't shoot the home-movie footage to make Lugosi "feel better" after coming out of rehab; he already had Lugosi contracted for a new movie ("The Ghoul Goes West", mentioned in the movie about five years earlier than he thought of it), and the test footage was all that was shot before Lugosi's death and the deal fell through.

Basically, the whole movie was a sort of fantasia based on the two pages of description from Medved's Golden Turkey Awards, like a fourth-grader writing his school report out of the World Book Encyclopedia.
(Oh, and it was supposed to be for Michael Lehmann to direct, but Disney had just done Nightmare Before Christmas and though Burton would be "more monster-movie-y".)
Still, I guess that makes it a better example of Golden Turkey Awards on film than "It Came From Hollywood".

You should probably blame the WRITERS, not Burton.
Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski... and Rudolph Grey's book "Nightmare of Ecstasy" that it was based on

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Well, you do have a point there:
When compared to Alice, Chocolate Factory and Dark Shadows, this's a veritable Watchmen of source accuracy by comparison...

Hmmm, why bother with paintings, or drawings, when you can just take a photograph.

[dsman71]

Day one pre-order for me. Love this film !

[Tyfighter]

Originally Posted by GE Cafe

I remember there was a special feature on the original DVD release that they apparently couldn't get clearance for the music, and they had to recall the release at the last minute. Any word if they've managed to clear it in the subsequent 7 years?

It's funny you mention that because I had pre ordered the original disc from borders and was shocked when they called me and told me it was in...the missing feature a piece about transvestites....subsequent releases do not have this featurette....

[oemor]

This is one of my favorite films, can't wait to watch it on blu-ray. Will probably still keep my recalled dvds.

[bigshot]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Basically, the whole movie was a sort of fantasia based on the two pages of description from Medved's Golden Turkey Awards, like a fourth-grader writing his school report out of the World Book Encyclopedia

That isn't true. It's based on the book "Nightmare of Ecstasy", a collection of interviews with people who knew and worked with Ed Wood. There are some digressions designed to compress the narrative, give things a happy ending and not leave dangling ends, but the story is basically factual up to the premiere of Plan 9. Nightmare of Ecstasy continues te story into Ed Wood's porn years and ultimate demise. It's logical that the Burton film wouldn't go there.

Squint at the credits. Nightmare of Ecstasy gets a "based on" credit.

[GrailVanGogh]

Day one purchase as well.