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Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Deliciously spooky, humorous and beautiful
Review: Tim Burton has spun a deliciously spooky and atmospheric retelling of the classic legend of Sleepy Hollow, complete with flaming pumpkin heads and an underscore of witchcraft. Depp is inspired and comic as the fainthearted investigator Ichabod Crane. (Drawing on adolescent female detectives like Nancy Drew, Depp created the persona of Ichabod from the inside out, relying on inner bouts of squeamishness and timidity to convey his character, rather than adding prosthetic ears and noses to make himself ugly and physically awkward. It is to Depp's credit that he is able to pull this off.) Christina Ricci is radiant in her role of Katrina, a white witch and daughter of privilage who falls for the bumbling Ichabod. Miranda Richardson chews her usual scenery with relish, along with another famous scene stealer (whom I won't mention, lest it ruin his surprize entrance). The supporting cast is quirky and wonderful, capturing the flavor of colonial life in the olde Hudson River Valley - Tim Burton style.

It is the set that steals the show, however. Burton's eye for detail and his uniquely gothic vision has designed a Sleepy Hollow exquisitely beautiful - from the ever invasive fog to the handcrafted western woods, gorgeously spooky with twisted branches and blankets of fallen autumn leaves. This is the dreamilke forest of our collective childhoods, haunting our memory. The art direction is rich and detailed; interiors are museum quality in their authenticity; every scene reveals thought and creativity. This film is a visual joy. I must also mention the sensitive handling of witchcraft in this film. Hollywood almost never gets it right; but Burton obviously has an understanding of the Old Ways. Well done.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Effects, Great Cinemetography, Story...eh....
Review: Though I myself gave this a pretty high rating, I could understand why many wouldn't. My suggestion to you--have you not seen this movie-- is to check it out at your local Blockbuster first. The only people that I could think that would instantly love this movie, are those (Like myself) Who did the same with Beetlejuice, Batman, B2, Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas.....so forth. Do you love these movies? Go for it. The problem with this mainly is the dragging storyline and the ~in opinion~ 'stupid' ending. If you have a big screen and surround sound speakers, and you just love heads rolling, cool sword fighting, and eye candy then this DVD is great. But there isn't much else except Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) keeling over about every two seconds.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A fascinating work of ART
Review: Man, this movie was really wonderful, and it is one of the few movies which I can regard as "a work of art". Briefly, every aspect of this movie was nearly perfect, which is the most distinctive characteristic of Sleepy Hollow. Yes, every aspect! Marvelous costumes; impressive music by Danny Elfman; fascinating cinematography; splendid direction and film editing; excellent art direction, which brought it a well-deserved Oscar; breathtaking plot (Washington Irving- Andrew Kevin Walker: se7en ) and finally great cast-including Christopher Lee and Martin Landau- and awesome acting!I think the cast was the greatest of this year; Burton always works with such cast; e.g. the cast of Mars Attacks was terrific,too. I especially loved Christopher Walken portraying the Hessian Horseman- yelling cruelly and mercilessly all the time- and also his teeth!! He has been my favorite villain since Dart Maul ( Ray Park ) in Star Wars.I also would like to point out that Ray Park also gave a cool portrayal of the headless horseman, swinging the sword and killing people ranging from 6 to 60! Moreover, during the prologue to the film, what a nice surprise was it to see Martin Landau!!!What a nice favor of him! Finally, I would like to express how silly it was to gave the Oscar for the best cinematography to American Beauty instead of Sleepy Hollow. Well, the award went to American Beauty, but certainly, Sleepy Hollow was the one which had really deserved it! I recommend this movie to everyone! Go and see it and do yourself a favor!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Gorgeous-Looking Film, Spooky and Fun!
Review: As with all of Burton's films this one is visually stunning, dark, cartoony and with gothic atmosphere. Burton has certainly proved himself of being an original filmmaker and his films carry his stamp. And with all his visual flair, 'Sleepy Hollow' is one of his best looking films, beautiful costumes and sets are brilliantly captured by truly impressive cinematography. But as a film, it is a lot of fun; spooky, funny and exciting. Johnny Depp, who has collaborated with Burton in many successful films, is excellently cast as the bumbling Ichabod, he is funny, heroic and makes for a very likable hero. Christina Ricci is also great as Ichabod's love interest, a great characterization and a slight change of pace from all the heavy stuff she did on 'The Opposite of Sex' and in 'Buffalo 66'. In fact the casting was impressive all around, but casting Christopher Walken as the headless horseman, that was inspired casting. It's hard to think of anybody else in the role, even if he is only in a few scenes he sure leaves an impact as always. Excellent foggy atmosphere and a truly brilliant score also help. The numerous frightening attacks by the headless horseman are highlights, besides being technical marvels, they are exciting and scary. The only flaw with this film is the ending, Burton made a violent turn from being a fun-house romp to a serious mystery. And the last fight with Ichabod and the headless horseman is a little too action-heavy. That brought down the film a little but not too much, it still remains entertaining and fun. Extras: Martin Landau, who won an Oscar working with Burton in 'Ed Wood', has a cameo at the beginning of the film. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film a 7!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: falls apart fast
Review: It's atmosphere is mesmerizing, but little else is. Not only does it rip apart the original tale, but it does it in a very cliche and disappointing manner by making it "the wicked step-mother/witch" whom was beind it all. I love Tim Burton's films, which is all the more reason this broke my heart. Through my childhood I loved this dark fable, and I could think of no better person to make a film of it then Tim Burton. I guess his heart (or more likely his head... pun slightly intended) wasn't in this.

Stick to BATMAN RETURNS, ED WOOD, and BEETLEJUICE.

READ THEDA MORGANS REVIEW, it was right on the nose.

"It looks good, but not much else."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Deliciously atmospheric
Review: "Sleepy Hollow" is a movie custom made for people who like atmosphere in their films. The dark, brooding feel of this film is well placed for a story such as this. And, surprisingly I think, Johnny Depp is just right for the part of Ichabod Crane.

Although the movie could certainly be billed as a horror movie, there is no real horror. What there is are moments of suspense, sprinkled with an occasional good scare. But, again, it is the overall feel of the movie made possible by just-right cinematography and the Gothic, old-world setting that raise this movie to a higher level. It certainly deserves better than it got in its theatrical run.

So, sit back, get some popcorn and a soft drink, and enjoy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Movie
Review: This movie is awesome, nice and dark the way it should be made.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Scary but Good
Review: First of all, let me just say that just because I gave this movie four stars, doesn't mean it isn't a five star movie. Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci compliment each other beautifully on the screen, and I think that Tim Burton does a brilliant portrayal of the headless horseman and Ichabod Crane. But I was really hoping for more of Christopher Walken in this movie as he is one of my favorite actors. But other than that I think that this was a great movie and unlike a lot of horror movies this is one that you can watch again and again.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A failure, albeit a beautifully shot one.
Review: Sigh ... this film was a disappointment. Tim Burton is one of the few big name directors who can be counted on to deliver movies rife with black humour, offbeat perspectives, and dark atmosphere. Unfortunately, "Sleepy Hollow" is a flop -- the victim of Burton's unfocused vision. He seems to have been indecisive about the kind of movie he wanted to make. This is not a comedy -- there are only a few gentle laughs to be found here, unless you find it hilarious to witness a foppish Johnny Depp recoil from cadavers in disgust. It is not a drama -- even the main characters are left under-developed, and their scenes are so bereft of passion and legitimate emotion that I was unable to muster up the energy to care about their dilemmas. Finally, it is NOT a horror movie. There are teenage pranks involving jack'o'lanterns (ooh!), but NO frightening moments.

The movie is poorly paced ... it plods along until the end, when all questions which have been posed about the Headless Horseman are speedily given pat answers. All loose ends are tied up so quickly -- and so unconvincingly -- that I was left feeling cheated. I can only imagine one LAMER ending -- and that would have involved the phrase "Thank God it was all a dream!"

"Sleepy Hollow"'s virtues -- heavily atmospheric, Gothic settings and gorgeous, lush cinematography -- were over-shadowed by its flaws. Virtually all of the minor characters engaged in MUCH scenery-chewing, while female lead Christina Ricci was reduced to a role as "the sweet blonde." A paper-white Johnny Depp looked pretty in a succession of severe black waistcoats, but his performance as Ichabod Crane was shallow and uninspired. The same statement could be said about both Depp's perfomance AND "Sleepy Hollow" -- "It LOOKS good, but that's about it."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautiful film, good features
Review: This film is just what you want on DVD- a visual work of art with a good story. It's a Tim Burton film so it's very stylized- a type of film making which not everyone appreciates. Here, however, Burton evokes the haunting atmosphere of classic black and white, sound stage horror films and, generally tends much more toward beautiful imagery than in his other films- picturesque gothic settings, the porcelain skin on Depp, Ricci and Richardson etc. This makes this film likely more accessible to people who are not Burton fans. (There's plenty of weird stuff, too- the Hogarth-like town fathers and Icabod Crane's grotesque homemade scientific instruments.)

The story itself expands wildly upon the original Washington Irving tale, departing from it totally at some points. It becomes the story of rationalistic Crane's confrontation with both the unreason of supernatural horror in the form of a marauding headless horseman and with his own emotions. It's a pretty good, intelligent yarn and, although the visuals tend to dominate, strong enough to make the film more than just "pretty pictures". The use of visuals that both horrify and attract supports the story and its themes well. The weak point comes when the film falls into more conventional action sequences near the end- parts seemed to me more appropriate to Westerns than Horror. Still, it's all set in the same darkly enchanted environment and isn't too far out of place.

The DVD has a full array of features- including a behind the scenes documentary, cast interviews AND scene by scene commentary by Burton. Burton chuckles over whimsical features of his work in the commentary but also explains how he made casting choices (Christopher Lee, Martin Landau) to evoke horror classics and even used a cinematographer from "Outer Limits". The behind the scenes material, of course, explains special effects and how they built the town of Sleepy Hollow on location for the film. Standouts there tho were the use of a forty-year-old incredibly realistic mechanical horse from NATIONAL VELVET for some of the horseman's stunts and a view of the stage where much of the film was shot revealing a skylit ceiling which allowed both natural lighting and control of special effects.

I wouldn't advise anyone to buy a DVD of a film they've never seen but this beautiful film is a good title to explore as a possible addition to any collection.


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