Edward Scissorhands, 1990
Directed by Tim Burton.
Starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker, Vincent Price, and Alan Arkin.
SYNOPSIS:
In honor of the film’s 35th anniversary, Edward Scissorhands arrives in 4K Ultra HD from Disney. You can pick it up in a nice new Steelbook package, which also includes a Blu-ray and a code for a digital copy. Disney sent me the latter, so that’s what I’ll address here.
Maybe, as humanity lurches forward through these trying times, we need more fairy tales. That was my thought as I revisited Tim Burton’s 1990 classic Edward Scissorhands, out now on 4K Ultra HD courtesy of Disney, which sent me a digital code for this review.
Taking place in an unnamed suburban neighborhood full of pastel-colored homes, cars, and clothing, this fairy tale concerns a young man, Edward Scissorhands (Johnny Depp) who was left to fend for himself in a castle on a hill after the death of his creator, known only as The Inventor (Vincent Price, in his final film role).
Avon saleswoman Peg Boggs (Dianne Wiest) has a difficult time hawking her wares around the neighborhood, so she decides to try her luck with the castle. There she comes upon Edward and brings him home, where she and her husband Bill (Alan Arkin) accept him as one of the family.
Their son, Kevin (Rovert Oliveri), is fascinated with Edward’s scissorhands, and their daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder), grows to like him, much to the consternation of her boyfriend, Jim (Anthony Michael Hall). The neighbors are equally interested in Edward, especially Joyce Monroe (Kathy Baker), who’s not afraid to seduce any man who interests her.
Much like Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, however, Edward soon draws the ire of the local community, and Jim hatches a plot that ends up with Edward arrested. From there, his time in the neighborhood begins to spiral downward, with only Kim trying to save him from becoming an outcast.
Edward Scissorhands remains a lovely little tale with a bittersweet ending. Like I said in the beginning of this review, maybe we need these kinds of stories these days, to help take our minds off so much turmoil and trouble. Guillermo del Toro is one director trying to do that, but his tales, as great as they are, often unspool with darkness that creeps around the edges before engulfing the story. I’d like to see someone try to recapture what Tim Burton brought to life here.
In honor of this film’s 35th anniversary, Disney has reuissed it in Steelbook packaging, with the previously released Blu-ray included too. I can’t judge the picture quality here by the streaming version, of course, but my understanding is that the new 4K Ultra HD disc serves up solid image quality that should satisfy fans of this movie.
Unfortunately, no new bonus features were commissioned here, leaving us with a paltry 4.5-minute old school featurette and a pair of commentary tracks, one with Burton and one with his frequent collaborator, composer Danny Elfman. Edward Scissorhands seems like a movie that’s perfect for a little retrospective, even if it’s only around half an hour, but maybe something like that will come along for the next anniversary divisible by five.
In the meantime, while the featurette only offers a cursory view of the making of the film, of course, the commentaries fill in a lot of supplemental information, especially Burton’s track. I think it would have made more sense to record the two of them together, since Elfman clearly only has so much to say about the movie, whereas this one was deeply personal for Burton, for various reasons, but both tracks are still worthwhile listens for fans.
A pair of trailers round this one out.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
