Ed Wood | | Cast : | Johnny Depp, Martin Landau | | Director : | Tim Burton | | Studio : | Buena Vista Home Vid | | Format : | Black & White, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | September 28, 1994 | | DVD Released Date : | October 19, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 22, 2005 | | Summary | Bela's fall | Content
 | This film in my opinion is Tim's best aside from Beetlejuice.It's
funny,dramatic,and best of the best.I especially like the joke of
Ed dressing up in women's clothing and acting like a belly dancer.
The part where Bela calls and no answer replies, and they skipped
to the funeral made me cry. Martin Landau did an excellent performance as Bela Lugosi.Johnny Depp is also excellent portraying
the infamous worst director in history.I reccomend this to anyone of any gender or age |
| Rating | | | Date | July 19, 2005 | | Summary | A Great Picture of a Legend who made unforgotten bad ones | Content
| Famed director Tim Burton directed Johnny Depp in their second collaration, the biographical Oscar winning triumph; "ED WOOD"
the story of a director's unforgettable passion for movies and his dreadful vision on directing movies and how his awful films have still been a inspiration. Martin Landau brilliantly and terrifyingly portrays the legendary Bela Lugosi, which got him the oscar for best supporting actor. Sarah Jessica Parker as Eddie's girlfriend Dolores Fuller. One of the most extrodonary biographical films among "Chaplin", "the Aviator" and "Cinderella Man" Johnny Depp's second best film after "Pirates of the Caribbean" Everyone is very good. Johnny Depp fans see "ED WOOD" if you haven't. A Film of a young man whose has stood the test of time as the worst director of all time, but hes honored for his dreadful filmography with Tim Burton's triumph. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 18, 2005 | | Summary | One of Tim Burton's finest! Very funny!!! | Content
| So many Tim Burton movies have great ideas and beautiful visuals, but somehow go a little flat in the telling. For example, BIG FISH had some great things to look at, along with a some fun performances...but in the end it was too pleased with itself to make an emotional impact and the ending was muddled. BATMAN was a visual and acting delight as well, but had absolutely no suspense because the action sequences were dull...it was clearly not what interested Burton, but it meant the movie never got the pulse racing. SLEEPY HOLLOW, with another quirky Johnny Depp performance, again never achieved any real suspense because it was too busy dwelling on cool sets and sweeping camera angles. Burton is the master of visual flair, but he sometimes lets the "fun" of a good story get forgotten in all the fussiness.
ED WOOD, I'm very happy to say, does not fall into this trap. It's one of his best two or three films (I'm thinking EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and the new CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY belong up there too.) He's got the help of telling a story packed with off-the-wall (but real) characters, just like he loves. Ed Wood, universally acknowledged as the worst director ever, is brilliantly played by Depp. He brings an ebullience to the part, a joyful cluelessness, that really makes it work, and explains how Wood didn't quite get the fact that he had NO TALENT!
We basically follow Wood and his troupe through the making of his three "greatest" films...GLEN OR GLENDA, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER and PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. We see how Wood attracted investors, how every scene only needed to be shot once, because it was "perfect" and how Wood's personal obsession with cross-dressing and Angora sweaters affected his "art." But mostly we see his funny and very touching relationship with Bela Lugosi, a sad old man passed the end of his career and near the end of his life.
Unlike so many Burton films, we actually feel real pain and emotion from the brilliant Martin Landau as Lugosi. His pain at being a "has-been" and a drug addict is palpable. His thick Hungarian accent drips with the pain and the self-awareness. Lugosi is enfeebled, but his mind is always lively enough to appreciate what a wretch he has become. Wood is just so thrilled to be close to a "star" that he creates the most ludicrous dialogue and characters for Lugosi...but eventually we see that Wood truly sees Lugosi as a friend too. A hero. Their scenes together are always interesting...and Landau steals every moment of the film he's in. His Oscar win was richly deserved.
If you're a fan of Woods' bad movies, you'll really like the incredibly faithful reproductions of scenes from his films, particularly PLAN 9. It's obvious that while Burton, Depp and the rest certainly realize how bad the movies were, they also understand how making those films was a small break from the sad realities of life for the crew that made them.
As I said...Depp is very good in the film. He's a huge bundle of energy and vocal tics. His head is constantly nodding and shaking at the same time, as he's forced to compromise this "ideals" again and again and again. I've heard it suggested that he should have been nominated for an Oscar for the part...but as much as I like him in the role, I can't quite agree. It's a very mannered performance...trying to be realistic and also evoke some of the bad acting of the films that Woods made. In later life, Woods became a big alcoholic and the maker of soft-core adult movies. He obviously had a dark side, but Depp has pretty much chosen to leave that out. It's not a BAD choice, but it limits our connection with Woods as a real person just a little.
The supporting cast is very good. Bill Murray is droll, and also has the single best line in the movie. That line is the word "Sure." You'll have to see the film to get it, but you'll know just what I mean. Sarah Jessica Parker and Patricia Arquette are quite fine.
The film, in lovely black and white, is a humdinger. It's rated "R" for some outbursts of very coarse language (pretty much from Lugosi) which are very funny, but in general, the movie is not for kids. And if you can possibly see PLAN 9 before ED WOOD, I would recommend it. It gives you all the context you need! Enjoy!!!
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| Rating | | | Date | July 08, 2005 | | Summary | Great Satire about the 'Worst Director in the World' Edward B. Wood | Content
| Johnny Deep gave one of his best preformances in this hilarious and somewhat sad satire about a non-bankable second generation director. The remarkable thing about this movie is not just quick biopic about a person as said by his collegues, but Johnny Depp actually potrays perfectly the role of Ed Wood at play. How he spoke to actors, his craft, and every thing that shed a bit of light on what Ed Wood was thinking when directing his so-called 'masterpiece. I was easily ammused by the black-and white shot of the entire movie and how it gave that feel of Ed Wood's filmmaking era.
The acting was top notch, both from Depp and supporting actor, Bill Murray. I wouldn't call it the greatest movie ever made, but it is one of the best i've seen simply because it goes even deeper into Hollywood and exploits the glitz and glamour for what it is.
This is a potrayal of the man who was actually dubbed Worst Dirctor. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it or rent it. If you like 'Ed Wood', then glance through 'Simone' starring Al Pachino as a failed filmmaker who creates a computerized actress that becomes a box-office smash. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 08, 2005 | | Summary | I ain't knockin' this Wood | Content
| In the mood to watch something cheesy and offbeat, I hit the local rental place, and discovered "Ed Wood", the offbeat biopic of Hollywood's most legendary cheesiest movie director, just waiting for me to snap it up and take it home for a night of viewing. And what a night it was; I loved just about every moment of this little cinematic gem! The big draw for me was Johnny Depp's weirdly optimistic and incredibly sincere portrayal of the title character, who sets out to make the greatest films the world has ever seen... and fails in spectacular fashion.
The next big thing was Martin Landau's Oscar-winning performance as the over-the-hill morphine addict Bela Lugosi. What wonderful mood swings! What a great to-hell-with-it attitude! What a Hungarian accent! And let's not forget the climax as our beloved hero cheerfully realizes that his epic space zombie drama "Plan 9 from Outer Space" will be "the one they'll remember me for!" Too bad he never knew just how right he was-and yet, so wrong...
Also included with the feature presentation are the usual bonus features: trailers, behind-the-scenes/making-of featurettes, and a pretty informative commentary track that lets the viewers know which parts of the movie actually happened, which parts were based on actual events, and which parts were pretty much made up... but seemed to fit right in anyway (like Wood's chance meeting with Orson Welles (played by a dubbed-over Vincent D'Onofrio, AKA "Private Pyle" from "Full Metal Jacket")). And of course they go over how the movie turned the whole "One man's struggle to realize his ultimate dream and be a great success" genre of biopic on its head. You know, in case you couldn't figure it out on your own...
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