Product Details

• Actors: Ben Kingsley, Campbell Scott, Joanna Lumley
• Directors: John Schlesinger
• Format: Color, NTSC, DVD
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001ENEYMW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #399,897 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great movie!, August 20, 2011

By 

Karen Antonucci (West Orange, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Tale of Sweeney Todd (VHS Tape)

Too bad it was a VHS - although in great condition! I'm still hunting for the DVD. This is an excllent movie! Best version!!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars (2.5 STARS) Ben Kingsley Is Sweeney Todd, Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Nothing Special Except the Stars' Acting, April 3, 2007

By 

Tsuyoshi (Kyoto, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: The Tale of Sweeney Todd (VHS Tape)

"The Tale of Sweeney Todd," made-for-TV film made in 1998, narrates the tale of fear, about Sweeney Todd, the "Demon Barber of Fleet Street," who is here played by Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley. He gives rich, unsuspecting customers a haircut and a smooth, close shave before sending their bodies to his accomplice Mrs. Lovett (Joanna Lumley) who is running a popular meat pie bakery shop.

The story of the murderous barber and his partner in crime is very famous, but I am not perfectly sure whether or not Sweeney Todd is a fictional person. Whatever it is, as you know, today his name is most likely to be associated with Stephen Sondheim, but let me tell you first that this film is much different in terms of story and visuals from the hit musical.

In this non-musical "Sweeny Todd," Ben Kingsley plays the titular barber, obviously relishing his villainous role. He is having fun showing Sweeney Todd as oily villain with cunning eyes, bullying the poor orphan boy behind the curtain and robbing rich gentlemen of money and any valuables. It is regrettable that this 92 minute film does not have enough room for him to show his fine performance more.

Because of a missing diamond worth $ 50,000, an American agent Ben Carlyle (Campbell Scott) is sent to London. Ben, handling the matter with delightfully "business-like" attitude, meets a young woman named Alice (Selina Boyack), whose guardian happens to be Sweeney Todd. Alice gives a help to him, only to be implicated in the bloody serial murder cases.

The fast-paced plot has surely potential to become an intriguing story - as horror, thriller, romance, or all rolled in one - but too little care is taken by the writer Peter Shaw and the director to fully develop it. For instance, it is suggested that Sweeney Todd is romantically attached to one character, but it is revealed too late and too suddenly. There is no interesting subtext or subplot behind the main plot, which itself is a familiar one.

This is the last film but one Oscar-winning director John Schlesinger ("Midnight Cowboy") made, but sadly "The Tale of Sweeney Todd" is not up to the mark. Horror film fans in particular would be disappointed for it is neither scary nor gory (it is made for TV, remember), and it does not have any suspense either. Instead of them, the film emphasizes the historical accuracy like mud, filth and stench of the 19th London. The lighting is sometimes very dark and Joanna Lumley wears false teeth. I wish if only they had taken special care to create more detailed characters or achieve a coherent tone.

The story of John Schlesinger's "Sweeney Todd' is closer to that of the British film made in 1936 starring Tod Slaughter, but lacks the quirky humor of the star. This is not a bad film, but I would rather prefer Tod Slaughter version or more recent 2006 version featuring Ray Winston as Sweeney Todd. Or Stephen Sondheim, naturally.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the Christopher Bond/Stephen Sondheim SWEENEY!, January 14, 2007

By 

KerrLines ""Movies,Music,Theatre"" (Baltimore,MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tale of Sweeney Todd (VHS Tape)

Down through the ages there have been SO many versions written of the murderous barber Sweeney Todd and his cohort Mrs.Lovett that if you are familiar with ANY of them,especially the renowned Christopher Bond adaptation that was transformed into tne musical stage production by Hal Prince and Stephen Sondheim, then you may find THIS adaptation rather boring and lacking as I did.The Bond version is SO fleshed-out and developed that other versions of this story just simply are as pale as Sweeney's blood-drained victims.The meat pie shop and the barber chair were interesting as well as Mrs. Lovett's rotted teeth, but Campbell Scott's detective character is a total waste of acting talent.I wonder if he regrets ever taking the role? Kingsley, as always does what he can,but like his portrayal in SILAS MARNER, the material just simply does not suit his superior acting skills.This entire film seemed beneath the actors involved. Look elsewhere for better Sweeneys.