Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd
| 03 January 2006 (USA)
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A BBC adaptation of the Victorian "penny dreadful" tale of 18th century "demon barber" Sweeney Todd, of Fleet Street, who cuts the throats of unsuspecting clients in his London shop.

Reviews
EssenceStory

Well Deserved Praise

Ketrivie

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

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Doomtomylo

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

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Allissa

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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mementovivere2

This is an amazing adaptation of the classic story. Todd is viewed with cold realism as the person that he would have been, had he been real. Great cast and script, always keeps the spectator on the edge. At first you are made to sympathize with Todd, then doubt, then despise him, then understand him (kinda). I know it is just a story, but the police was really terrible at its job, I guess in reality they would have figured it out pretty soon after the first couple of murders. I general, a disturbing story told simply and wonderfully. P.S.1 Makes one wonder if he killed all his customers how he managed to keep himself in business :P P.S.2 I think the greatest loser from this story was the boy he had to help him with the shop :P

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richieandsam

SWEENEY TODD.It's not bad.I have seen the Tim Burton version of this story and absolutely loved it. I am a massive Tim Burton fan, and in fact it is one of my favourite Tim Burton movies.This version of the story was made before Tim's version. It was made for TV apparently and stars Ray Winstone as Sweeney Todd.Ray is alright in this, but there are times where he is not very believable in this film. I like Ray, I think he has made some great films, but maybe this one was not for him. They could have found someone better to play Sweeney.There are some really great supporting cast in this film though... it has got Essie Davis playing Mrs Lovett. Essie does a great job. I felt sorry for her a lot of the time in the movie. It also has David Warner, Tom Hardy and David Bradley in it... David Warner is brilliant as always, Tom Hardy plays a detective really well and David Bradley plays Sweeney's father. David Bradley is great in this... but have you noticed how in every film he looks the same? Haha! He is always gonna be Filch to me. JThe effects were alright in most places, but there were a couple of times where I thought the blood looked too unrealistic. Way too thick, it looked like paint.There were quite a lot of changes in the story in this one compared to the Tim Burton version, but they are both similar also.I will give this movie 7 out of 10...I really enjoyed watching this movie and love the story... but it is not Ray's best work.For more reviews please like my Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ordinary-Person-Movie- Reviews/456572047728204

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Jackson Booth-Millard

This is nowhere close to the spectacle and splendour of the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp horror musical, but it is certainly a good regular, British adaptation. It is pretty much the same story in Burton's version, except he isn't grieving over a dead wife (there's a twist to that in Burton's version), no victims are made into meat pies, and the lead character kills himself in the end instead of someone killing him. Basically Sweeney Todd (Ray Winstone) is your normal everyday surgeon and barber, and having flashes of a horrible childhood past he suddenly starts murdering his male customers. In amongst the slaughter he has a love for pie maker Mrs. Nellie Lovett (Essie Davis), who is okay not too long after finding out Todd's dark secret, and this certainly shows when she is not bothered about the state of her deteriorating face. Eventually he gets to the point where he was bound to be caught, and he is arrested by Sir John Fielding (David Warner), and sentenced to hanging. In the final sequence however, he gives himself a final shave, and then slices. Also starring Harry Potter's David Bradley as Todd's father, Paul Currier as Thornhill, Tom Hardy as Matthew Payne, Jessica Hooker as Polly and Ben Walker as Tobias. Winstone is pretty good, but obviously not more than Depp, the violence obviously is not as graphic and over-the-top as Burton's, but quite fun to watch. Good!

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gftbiloxi

Although some have tried to argue that he was an actual person, it seems likely that the story of a throat-cutting barber named Sweeney Todd arose first as a bit of urban myth that was developed into an 1846 story titled THE STRING OF PEARLS by writer Thomas Prest. A year later the story was adapted to the stage as SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. It proved a popular ticket, and in age that knew little of copyright law, versions of the play were soon springing up all over the place, each one tweaking the story a little bit in the process. Consequently, it is almost impossible to say that any one particular version is "more authentic" than any other.In this particular version, filmed for BBC in 2006, Todd (Ray Winstone)is a barber who spent twenty years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Released, he finds himself shaving a prison guard and on sudden impulse slits the man's throat. One thing leads to another, as you might say, and he soon makes the acquaintance of bake-shop worker Mrs. Lovett (Essie Davis); his fondness for her not only leads him to set her up in her own business, but to supply the occasional cut of meat as well. The twist to this particular version of the story is in the relationship between Todd and Lovett, the latter of whom is more sinned against than sinning.The script is quite clever, essentially winding most of Todd's motives (including his interest in Mrs. Lovett) around his own mistreatment while an inmate of the notorious Newgate prison, and both Winstone and Davis are extremely impressive in their performances. But for all the blood, and there is aplenty, and for all the sex, and there is some, the film looks exactly like what it is: a made-for-television movie. It is also rather slow and quite often a bit too "stiff upper lip" for its own good.The DVD release offers a good transfer but, excepting cast credits, nothing in the way of bonus material. Those interested in the various directions the story has taken will find it intriguing, but most others will likely be only mildly interested.GFT, Amazon Reviewer

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