DVD Review: Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

DVD Review
Paramount Home Entertainment
Release: April 1, 2008

I will say this right from the get-go, I am a fan of musicals, and I am a fan of Johnny Depp. With that said, needless to say I was pretty excited when I found out that Depp had teamed up with Tim Buruton to bring Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway hit Sweeney Todd to the big screen. I was also a big skeptical though, as I was unsure as to what to expect. All of the skepticism quickly went away once the film began and Depp took over.

The story of Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is certainly a bit down in the dumps, you could say. It is dark, depressing, etc. Tim Burton took this feeling, and made it even darker for the film when it transferred over from Broadway.

Johnny Depp plays the role of Sweeney Todd, who was forced to spend 15 years in exile in Australia for a crime he never committed.

It is a story of revenge in a sense really. Depp was formerly Benjamin Barker, happily married to his wife Lucy, who also just gave birth to their new baby. A corrupt judge, Judge Turpin, decides he wants Lucy, and uses his power to have Benjamin exiled.

The once beloved barber, Benjamin, returns 15-years-later to find his wife had poisoned herself after she was forced to be with Judge Turpin. He also finds out that Tuprin has adopted their daughter, who is now 15-years-old. She has been kept prisoner in his home throughout her life.

Benjamin turns into Sweeney, and all hell breaks loose from here. Sweeney forms a plot with Mrs. Lovett to cook anybody Sweeney murders. She puts the bodies in her pies. It is extremely sick and twisted to be quite honest. He has people come to his barber shop to get a hair cut, gets paid, then kills them. Those people then get cooked in the pies downstairs, and Mrs. Lovett gets paid.

The entire story is really not as simple as it all sounds, as there are many more interwoven twists and plots here to be found. It all plays out extremely nicely with Depp doing a tremendous job per usual as Sweeney Todd. Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter are also great as Judge Turpin and Mrs. Lovett respectively.

I do have to admit, I never thought Captain Jack Sparrow could sing quite like this!

In terms of the video quality of this release on DVD, the transfer is presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The anamorphic widescreen transfer looks near-perfect. The colors and the entire artistic style of the film make this a reference-quality DVD to say the very least.

There are no flaws in the video transfer at all. The colors have a great deal of pop and are vibrant, while black levels are equally as impressive.

The audio quality is extremely important here, simply because the music plays such a huge role in the film. The score sounds fantastic here as the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound track will have your home theater blazing with all of the tunes and excitement the audio mix entails.

Tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1 in French and Spanish are also included.

We were lucky enough to review the two-disc special edition of Sweeney Todd, and needless to say there are tons of extras here to be found.

The first disc contains a behind-the-scenes feature which has Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, and Helena Bonham Carter all rehearsing, going through recording sessions, etc. This feature is almost a half-hour and is very entertaining to watch. It shows just how must preparation had to go into this picture.

Disc two is where all of the real meat of the extras will be found. The first big feature you will find is called Sweeney Todd is Alive – The Real History of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This feature is absolutely fantastic as it shows just how the original legend and the character in the film are related. It looks at how the legend came to be, evidence of how Todd could be real, etc. This is a lot of fun to watch.

Musical Mayhem: Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd features an interview with Stephen Sondheim himself, talking about his Broadway musical and his thoughts on how it ended up on the big screen.

Sweeney’s London is a feature which takes you back to London during the era when Sweeney Todd was running his barber shop. You get to take a very close look at the period of history, how London was set-up, etc.

The Making of Sweeney Todd if your typical making-of feature, nothing too unique, but still fun.

Grand Guignol: A Theatrical Tradition looks back at The Grand Guignol, which was a theater formerly found in France.

Bloody Business is a very enjoyable feature which looks at the special effects of the film. This is interesting because it shows all of the effects that were used to showcase Sweeney Todd killing his victims, etc.

The final two features are called Designs For A Demon Barber and Moviefone Unscripted with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. Designs For A Demon Barber takes a look at the design and look of Sweeney Todd himself, while the other shows the responses of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp to questions posed to them over the internet.

As you can probably tell, Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 2-Disc Special Edition is an absolutely packed DVD release. There is an immense amount of special features included here to satisfy fans of the film, or just those more interested in the legend of Sweeney Todd himself. It may not be for everyone due to the immense amount of gore, but in my mind it is a must-own on DVD.

Film: 8.8 A terrific musical. Sweeney Todd comes to life on the big screen and Johnny Depp steals the show.

Video: 9.5 Near-perfect video quality with great clarity, colors, etc.

Audio: 9.5 The musical score sounds tremendous here. It will immerse you with your surround set-up.

Special Features: 9.5 An absolutely stacked release in terms of DVD extras, more than enough here for everyone!

Final Score: 9.3

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Interested in picking up this release? Head over to Amazon at the link here - Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Two-Disc Special Collector’s Edition)