5 reviews
A shambles of a medieval castle atop a small but craggy mountain, both of which happen to be chock-a-block adjacent to a faceless 1960s tract-home subdivision -- in which, by the way, all of the homes are uniformly painted in a pink, blue, green, or blue pastel color. And for me, that is where the film's interest begins to wane. Simply put, "Edward Scissorhands" is yet another Spielberg-like tear-jerker, from the oh-so-sensitive (but cardboard) characters on down to the treacly, chorus-tinged music score. If you like this kind of thing (cf. "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial"), you'll probably love this two-hour waste of time as well.
Watching this now..I feel like this movie is straight garbage..maybe in 1990 the world didn't knew anything better..but today this movie is an absolute abomination...I don't recall watching this as a child but somehow I always thought about it that it an old good Christmas movie with Johnny deep,omg I was so wrong..waiste of time .
- herea-34548
- Dec 10, 2020
- Permalink
Everybody gets all excited over this movie...not me. I never liked this movie and for good reasons. The concept is horribly executed. We have a sweet guy with scissors for hands and people take advantage of him in the most cruel ways. If you're going to be mean-spirited about it, have it get resolved in a satisfying way for your audience. How can you have a conflict that makes the experience unwatchable? Not only was this piece of garbage painful to watch, but there is nearly zero redeemable qualities about it.
The overall message is awful and when the guy gets treated like crap, no one does anything to stop it. It basically tells us that if you get mistreated, just kill the jerks and everything will be okay. Seriously, this is one of the most overrated movies ever made and people are oblivious to how unimportant it is. I'm giving it 2/10, because I did like the sets and costume design. Other than that, avoid this like the plague!
The overall message is awful and when the guy gets treated like crap, no one does anything to stop it. It basically tells us that if you get mistreated, just kill the jerks and everything will be okay. Seriously, this is one of the most overrated movies ever made and people are oblivious to how unimportant it is. I'm giving it 2/10, because I did like the sets and costume design. Other than that, avoid this like the plague!
- sethmlanders
- Apr 22, 2014
- Permalink
I hadn't purposely made the decision to neglect the works of Tim Burton, yet I found myself in 2017, despite being a huge cinema fan, without ever seeing a Tim Burton feature before in my life. It was time to rectify this oversight and settle in for Edward Scissorhands. The 1990 film starring Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder exploring the life of an abandoned invention turned man left alone when his inventor passes away before he is finished. Burton had a lot to say in Edward Scissorhands, very obviously, criticizing suburban culture and the social constructs of what constitutes as "normal". His message is clear and nearly overtakes the narrative coming off as an after-school special. Nevertheless, it was time to finally "meet" Tim Burton.
On the edge of the most picturesque suburban town, there is a castle that no one visits, and the neighbors know nothing about. Inside the castle, there lived an inventor (Vincent Price) responsible for elaborate designs taking over the entire castle. His most prized invention is that of Edward (Johnny Depp). He built a man, called Edward, a person made from parts, complete except for that of his hands. His hands were left as scissors before the inventor passed away. Since his inventor's passing, he lived alone in the castle secluded from the world and left to fend for himself. Trying to see Avon products, a kind neighbor named Peg (Dianne Wiest) happened upon the castle, finding Edward. At first, Peg is frightened by Edward and his scissor hands, but she eventually understands that he is a gentle soul yearning for some human interaction. Peg decides that she can't bear to leave Edward behind, so she invites him into her family's home. Initially, her family and neighbors are taken aback at the sight of the pale, scarred, man with scissors for hands. Eventually, though, Peg's friends and family come around, and once they get to know Edward, they realize he is sweet and unique and has talents appreciated by all. After such acceptance, however, things start to go wrong and the easiest person to blame is the different outsider.
Tim Burton obviously hates suburbia, the entirety of Edward Scissorhands is his diatribe of all the problems of suburbia. He was so overt with his message that suburbia traps people, keeping them confined and limited. Burton also clearly illustrates how much being different is looked down upon, to an almost nauseating intensity. The camera angles Burton chose to use, while they were effective in creating the claustrophobic atmosphere he was going for, were uncomfortable to watch. The ratio created with the camera work he chose seemed too manipulative to appreciate. Johnny Depp was overkill with his expressions, taking one out of the film by being so distracting. The standout was the score/sound design, in an otherwise after-school special-like film far too overt with its message and seeming to make color/camera angle decisions for the director's own pleasure rather than for the audience.
On the edge of the most picturesque suburban town, there is a castle that no one visits, and the neighbors know nothing about. Inside the castle, there lived an inventor (Vincent Price) responsible for elaborate designs taking over the entire castle. His most prized invention is that of Edward (Johnny Depp). He built a man, called Edward, a person made from parts, complete except for that of his hands. His hands were left as scissors before the inventor passed away. Since his inventor's passing, he lived alone in the castle secluded from the world and left to fend for himself. Trying to see Avon products, a kind neighbor named Peg (Dianne Wiest) happened upon the castle, finding Edward. At first, Peg is frightened by Edward and his scissor hands, but she eventually understands that he is a gentle soul yearning for some human interaction. Peg decides that she can't bear to leave Edward behind, so she invites him into her family's home. Initially, her family and neighbors are taken aback at the sight of the pale, scarred, man with scissors for hands. Eventually, though, Peg's friends and family come around, and once they get to know Edward, they realize he is sweet and unique and has talents appreciated by all. After such acceptance, however, things start to go wrong and the easiest person to blame is the different outsider.
Tim Burton obviously hates suburbia, the entirety of Edward Scissorhands is his diatribe of all the problems of suburbia. He was so overt with his message that suburbia traps people, keeping them confined and limited. Burton also clearly illustrates how much being different is looked down upon, to an almost nauseating intensity. The camera angles Burton chose to use, while they were effective in creating the claustrophobic atmosphere he was going for, were uncomfortable to watch. The ratio created with the camera work he chose seemed too manipulative to appreciate. Johnny Depp was overkill with his expressions, taking one out of the film by being so distracting. The standout was the score/sound design, in an otherwise after-school special-like film far too overt with its message and seeming to make color/camera angle decisions for the director's own pleasure rather than for the audience.
- oOoBarracuda
- Feb 13, 2017
- Permalink
I hated Edward Scissorhands when I saw it 34 years ago, and having just rewatched the movie for the first time since then, I can say that I still don't like it. It's a treacly, romantic fantasy love story that sees director Tim Burton going overboard with his quirky gothic weirdness. Here's ten things that I hate about the film:
1. Winona Ryder: I never understood the appeal.
2. The scissor hands: why would an inventor give his creation scissors for hands when almost anything, even nothing, would be preferable? Short answer: he wouldn't.
3. Edward's aesthetic: firstly, much of the look of the character is a rip-off of The Tailor from German children's book Struwwelpeter. And then Burton pops him in a leather bondage outfit that wouldn't look out of place in an S&M sex club and gives him his own messy hairstyle (we get it, Tim... you identify as the outcast weirdo).
4. The sickeningly 'haunting' choral score by Danny Elfman. Every time it strikes up, I wanna hurl.
5. The topiary: somehow, Edward shapes small bushes into large sculptures. He actually makes the bushes bigger by cutting them with his scissors. He's Alan Titchmarsh and Paul Daniels all rolled into one.
6. The ice sculptures: where does Edward get the huge blocks of ice from? And how does he get them into the attic?
7. All of the characters: I didn't like any of them. The neighbours were intentionally obnoxious, the inventor was an idiot, and Kim was played by Winona Ryder.
8. Those stupid hairstyles: Edward does one bad haircut, and then they all want one. As if.
9. That stupid cookie machine: the whisk whisks for about 2 seconds and the cookie cutters dangle loosely over the dough but somehow it produces perfectly cut cookies. But it's quirky, so who cares? I do!
10. The ending: Kim tells the angry mob that Edward is dead, so they just turn around and go home. They don't bother to check for themselves. And no-one in the next several decades goes to see why snow pours out of the castle on the hill. Aaargh!
I'm sure there are many more things that I didn't like about this film, but to list them would require me to watch the film again and take notes, and I'm not doing that. I guess the thing that gets my back up the most is the way that many people treat Edward Scissorhands like it's a masterpiece. It's not.
1. Winona Ryder: I never understood the appeal.
2. The scissor hands: why would an inventor give his creation scissors for hands when almost anything, even nothing, would be preferable? Short answer: he wouldn't.
3. Edward's aesthetic: firstly, much of the look of the character is a rip-off of The Tailor from German children's book Struwwelpeter. And then Burton pops him in a leather bondage outfit that wouldn't look out of place in an S&M sex club and gives him his own messy hairstyle (we get it, Tim... you identify as the outcast weirdo).
4. The sickeningly 'haunting' choral score by Danny Elfman. Every time it strikes up, I wanna hurl.
5. The topiary: somehow, Edward shapes small bushes into large sculptures. He actually makes the bushes bigger by cutting them with his scissors. He's Alan Titchmarsh and Paul Daniels all rolled into one.
6. The ice sculptures: where does Edward get the huge blocks of ice from? And how does he get them into the attic?
7. All of the characters: I didn't like any of them. The neighbours were intentionally obnoxious, the inventor was an idiot, and Kim was played by Winona Ryder.
8. Those stupid hairstyles: Edward does one bad haircut, and then they all want one. As if.
9. That stupid cookie machine: the whisk whisks for about 2 seconds and the cookie cutters dangle loosely over the dough but somehow it produces perfectly cut cookies. But it's quirky, so who cares? I do!
10. The ending: Kim tells the angry mob that Edward is dead, so they just turn around and go home. They don't bother to check for themselves. And no-one in the next several decades goes to see why snow pours out of the castle on the hill. Aaargh!
I'm sure there are many more things that I didn't like about this film, but to list them would require me to watch the film again and take notes, and I'm not doing that. I guess the thing that gets my back up the most is the way that many people treat Edward Scissorhands like it's a masterpiece. It's not.
- BA_Harrison
- Nov 5, 2024
- Permalink