Sweeney Todd
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2-Disc Special Edition
Directed by Tim Burton
Musical by Stephen Sondheim
Starring Johnny Depp, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall
Paramount Home Video
Release date: April 1, 2008

There was a barber and his wife, and she was beautiful…

And thus begins the tale of a talented barber named Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp), who lived a blissful existence in Victorian London with his pretty young wife Lucy and their infant daughter Johanna. Unbeknownst to the naive barber, the local Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman has a lustful eye for Lucy. In an effort to have Lucy for himself, Turpin frames the naive barber for a crime he didn’t commit, delivering him a life sentence away from his home and family.

Fifteen years after his sentencing, a weathered and jaded Barker secretly makes his way back to his London home, finding little left of his old life. Leaving behind his Benjamin Barker identity, the vengeance-fuel man adopts the persona Sweeney Todd and converts his old apartment above Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop into a barber shop. In his plot for revenge, the crazed barber systematically slits the throats of his customers, who are then ground into baked goods by Todd’s accomplice, the delusional Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who dreams that one day Todd will love her.

But love is far from Todd’s mind, as is everything besides his obsession with getting Judge Turpin into his barber’s chair so he can enact the ultimate revenge.

While a Broadway-style thriller might not seem like the usual Tim Burton project, the director does a wonderful job bringing the popular 1979 Stephen Sondheim musical to the big screen with his adaptation, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Part of what made this movie so successful was Sondheim’s addition musical contributions, as well as his involvement in the film’s casting (he had final approval).

Sondheim’s tunes for this tale are amazing, not to mention extremely difficult for a non-trained vocalist to pull off. Unfortunately, not all of the other actors’ vocals were as pleasant. Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin and Timothy Spall as the Beadle are both fine actors and definitely had the look for their despicable characters, so had this not been a musical, they’d have been perfectly cast. But the singing is a crucial element; they did managed to pull it off, but it did come off like they were struggling.

Luckily, Burton regulars Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter do their material justice. Carter’s rendition of “The Worst Pies In London,” where she laments of her disgusting pies while whipping up a fresh batch, is delightful and funny, as is her seaside daydream of a happily ever after life with Todd in “By The Sea.” Lovett’s comic relief is a clever juxtaposition to Todd’s brooding madman who loves not the enamored Mrs. Lovett, but rather the shiny silver razors he sings to in “My Friends.”

In this bleak tale, humor keeps the audiences uplifted and Borat‘s Sasha Baron Cohen does the trick in the unlikely role of rival barber Pirelli. While Cohen is always good for a laugh, it was surprising how well he could sing and in the short amount of time he’s on-screen, he totally steals the show. That’s quite difficult to do considering that Depp and Carter — a perfect on-screen match here — managed to give a captivating performance throughout the entire film.

DVD Bonus Features

DISC 1

Burton + Depp + Carter = Todd
Director Tim Burton talks about his vision for this film adaptation of the 1970s musical and his choices for Johnny Depp as the title character and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett. The actors talk about having to learn to sing for the film, and how their songs were recorded before the filming began.

DISC 2

Sweeney Todd Press Conference, November 2007 [20 min]
A press conference with the cast and filmmakers, reiterating much of what they said in the other features, about casting of the actors, preparation for the singing, reasoning behind creating the big-screen version, and Johnny Depp’s initial apprehension about his singing role, as well as how he created his accent for the character. The difference in this feature, is that everyone is interviewed together and are able to riff off each other, making their answers here more humorous.

Sweeney Todd is Alive: The Real History of the Demon Barber [20 min]
A documentary of Sweeney Todd, the legendary serial killer who in the late 18th century England butchered and robbed over 160 unsuspecting victims in his barbershop on Fleet Street. Scholars offer up there assessments of whether Todd was actually real or fictional, and give a detailed history of the legend.

Musical Mayhem: Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd [12 min]
The legend of Sweeney Todd was originally adapted for the stage as a musical with by Stephen Sondheim. In this feature, Sondheim talks about how he wrote the music for play. These same songs were used for the film version and Sondheim worked closely with the filmmakers.

Sweeney’s London [16 min]
A look at the underworld of 18th- and 19th-century London, which is the world of Sweeney Todd.

The Making of Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street [24 min]
The filmmakers talk about the film from how the big-screen version was conceptualized, while the actors describe the motives of their characters. There’s talk about the 1970’s award-winning musical, on which the film is based, along with the reasoning behind some of the changes for the film version.

Grand Guignol: A Theatrical Tradition [19 min]
This is a feature about a Parisian horror theatre called “Grand Guignol”; also explores modern-day horror theater.

Designs for a Demon Barber [9 min]
Costume designer Colleen Atwood, production designer Dante Ferretti, and set decorator Francesca Lo Schiavo talk about how they took director Tim Burton’s ideas for the look of the film and brought it to life. Burton describes how he wanted the film to look and there’s a look at the sets that were built for the movie, as well as the costumes.

A Bloody Business [9 min]
A look at the special make-up effects for the film narrated by prosthetics Neal Scanlan that shows how the effects team did the blood effects as well as the creation of the dummies for each character that dies in the film.

Moviefone Unscripted with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp [11:30 min]
A Q&A session where Internet readers email MovieFone questions for Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. This originally appeared online at Moviefone’s website. The duo answer questions about Sweeney Todd as well as from the other numerous projects they’ve worked on.

The Razor’s Refrain [8:30 min]
A montage of photos taken from the film set to the music from the film.

Photo Gallery
A click-through gallery of on-set photos from the film, as well as behind-the-scenes images and concept art.

Theatrical Trailer