Product Details

• Actors: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones
• Directors: Tim Burton
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Touchstone / Disney
• VHS Release Date: August 13, 2002
• Run Time: 127 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (247 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303407188
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,932 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
Edward D. Wood Jr. was an actor writer-director-producer, occasionally in drag, who combined meager bursts of talent with an undying optimism to create some of the most bizarrely memorable "B" movies to ever come out of Tinseltown. Though Wood died in obscurity as an alcoholic in 1978, his films have been considered cult classics for years. He is consistently voted the worst director who ever lived. You would think this an odd subject, but director Tim Burton harnesses the undying hopefulness that made Wood such a character. Shot in black and white, just like Wood's creations, this stylized, witty production captures the poetic absurdity of Wood's films and his unconventional life. Burton's recreation of Wood's wonderfully awful Plan 9 from Outer Space looks much better than the original low-budget quickie. Burton tackled an extremely strange subject matter for a biopic, but Wood is presented as naive almost to the point of delusion, so the story works. The pace sags in the middle, as the weirdness starts to wear thin, but Depp proves himself an adroit actor, even while wearing angora and a blonde wig. Wood's unconventional repertoire company is faithfully reproduced, including an Academy Award-winning Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi. Landau is pathetic, droll, and charismatic as the elderly junkie who made his last screen appearances in Wood's films. --Rochelle O'Gorman

From The New Yorker
Tim Burton's biography of the filmmaker who inflicted "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and "Glen or Glenda" on fifties moviegoers tries to persuade us that its hero is a sort of holy fool of cinema. The picture is superbly shot, in black-and-white, by Stefan Czapsky, and most of the actors-Bill Murray, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jeffrey Jones, and Martin Landau (as Bela Lugosi)-are engaging. But there's a strong whiff of pointlessness to the whole enterprise. Wood (played by Johnny Depp) is depicted as a wide-eyed, boyish innocent, and he simply isn't interesting enough to hold our full attention for two hours. His moviemaking fever doesn't feel like a mad passion; it's more like puppy love. Also with Patricia Arquette and Lisa Marie. Screenplay by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

133 of 140 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Films You've Probably Never Seen, June 8, 2004

By	Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Ed Wood (1924-1978) is generally regarded as the single worst film maker to emerge from Hollywood. This is not really true, for there were and are aplenty worse. But one thing has always set Wood above the pack, and that was his own unshakable faith in his talent. Unfortunately, the faith was misplaced and the talent was nonexistent--and although this Tim Burton film takes a slew of liberties with the facts of Wood's life and career, it does a remarkable job of capturing them as Wood likely saw them through the filter of his own outrageous ego.

The film has two tremendous assets: the performers and its visual style. Johnny Depp leads the cast in the title role, and it is a virtuoso performance, for he entices us to like a man whose self-blindness would normally lead an audience to reject him out of hand; the performance is incredibly witty, wildly over the top, and yet it contains just enough pathos to allow us to relate to Wood on a human level. But the real stunner in the cast is Martin Landau, who picked up a Best Supporting Academy Award for his performance as Bela Lugosi, a legendary actor who was very much a forgotten star (not to mention morphine addict) by the time Wood befriended him in the early 1950s.

As with Wood himself, the film plays fast and loose with the facts of Lugosi's life, but it nonetheless captures something very essential about both Lugosi and the Hollywood that destroyed him, something very elemental that transcends the weird comedy of the piece. And Landau gives the performance of his career; you truly believe that this is Lugosi before you, a strange but appealing mixture of faltering humanity and arrogance desperate for an audience now lost to him. Other memorable performances include Bill Murray as the inept and very la-dee-dah actor Bunny Breckinridge; Jeffrey Jones as The Amazing Criswell, popular "psychic" and occasional Wood actor; Lisa Marie as television's "Vampira;" and Sarah Jessica Parker as Wood's fast wife and occasional actress Dolores Fuller. Indeed, there isn't a false note in the entire cast right down to the bit players and extras.

In terms of visual style, Tim Burton nails the very look of an Ed Wood film in glittering black and white--but working with a budget that Wood never dreamed of he merges it with a series of classic Hollywood idioms that lift the style out of Wood's unfortunately flat style and into the realm of high art. In both look and direction, I strongly feel that this is Burton's single finest film to date.

If the film has a flaw, it is that at times it recreates the flatness of an Ed Wood film a bit too precisely over too long a period--and the result can feel slightly dragged. And it is also a film that will register most clearly with those who have actually seen the films on which the movie focuses, so it may not appeal to the uninitiated. But for those who have the right eye, it is a remarkable film--and a film that desperately needs the DVD release that has been so repeatedly postponed. Wickedly funny, unexpectedly touching, extremely memorable... and strongly recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Loving Tribute to Ineptitude, November 12, 2003

By	Ariel Escasa (the Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ed Wood (Special Edition) (DVD)

Why make a movie about the man universally regarded as the worst filmmaker of all time?

Well, simply because the word "worst" does not even adequately describe Ed Wood. He was the absolute, undisputable worst, unrivalled in his mindless disregard for decent production values, coherent storytelling, credible scriptwriting, and competent acting. If he were just "the worst," he would be no more than a mere footnote in cinematic history. But by single-handedly redefining the standards of ineptitude, Wood achieved that rare status of lovable loser. I mean, really, you have to admire someone who approaches his craft with so much grit and determination and so little talent.

It takes an A-grade cast to bring to life this story of Z-grade moviemaking. And we have one. Johnny Depp delivers a performance of fire in the title role, giving us a lot of insight into the character that Ed Wood was. Martin Landau (in an Oscar-winning performance) doesn't just portray Bela Lugosi. By golly, he becomes Lugosi, almost convincing us that the horror movie legend was resurrected for this project. Sarah Jessica Parker, Jeffrey Jones, Bill Murray, George "The Animal" Steele, and Lisa Marie comprise the ensemble cast that portrays a motley crew of rank amateurs. Think about it, these people had to re-enact the shooting of Wood's movies, looking serious but coming out funny, and doing all that with a straight face.Try that, folks.

Appreciate too, the film's most memorable line. At the premiere night of Plan 9 From Outer Space, Wood declares with unqualified conviction: "This is it. This is the one I'll be remembered for."

Whether you're a fan of bad movies or not, you simply have to see Ed Wood. It's not often that a film comes along that makes you like a man who so admirably succeeded at being a failure.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "You're the ruler of the galaxy! Show a little taste!", January 7, 2003

By	jenbird "book and classic movie fiend" (Havertown, PA) - See all my reviews

At last, the whole (shocking!) story of Edward D. Wood, Jr. I enjoyed everything, from the acting down to the musical score (fans of "Dracula" will notice that movie's opening theme plays in several scenes). Johnny Depp is a hoot as Ed Wood, and Martin Landau absolutely shines as Bela Lugosi---he certainly deserved the Ocsar he won for the role.

The film is by turns hilarious and sad. There are loads of great one-liners ("Yes, but if you take that ... and put a star in it, then you've got something!") and other endearingly funny moments. Landau's portrayal of Lugosi provides most of the pathos, showing us the tragic decline of a man who tried his best to work until the very end.

"Filmmaking is not about the little details. It's all about the big picture!" Tim Burton has done a wonderul job with both in this movie.