Tim Burton (Virgin Film)

Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: As a hardcore, die-hard Tim Burton fan I was very excited to get my hands on this book and start reading. The more I can learn about my favorite film maker -as an artist and person, the better. After reading Ken Hanke's unauthorized biography on Mr. Burton, I had learned so much about the man and his films. Hanke did an amazing job with the book.

When I picked up this book today, and saw that it also contained a foreword by Martin Landau, and an afterword by Rick Heinrichs, I really was excited. Also, after reading on a Tim Burton fan site that this book was the best auto-biography to have been published so far, I was expecting A LOT. Unfortunately, it did not live up to the hype.

Not that Smith and Matthews did not put any effort into the book -I believe they put a lazy effort in cause it just does not deliver. The book is divided into chapters on each Burton film, yet it does not go the traditional route. Each chapter is broken up into categories that the authors feel each Burton film contains: Tagline/Trailer, Title Sequence, Story, Source Material, References, Production, Casting, Burton Regulars, Critics, Music, Cinematography, Plot Problems, Death, Children and Families, Clowns and The Circus, Dogs, Love Triangles, Checks, Stripes, Dots, Autobiography, Just Plain Weird, Dialogue To Skip For/Skip Past, Afterlife, Awards, Expert Witness, Trivia, Analysis, Availability, The Bottom Line.

Are you bored yet? I certaintly was after the first few chapters. Not only did it feel like I was reading a 3rd grade book report -only on films, but every other sentence was a recycled Burton quote from past articles, or quotes from actors involved in the project. This would have been fine if mixed in with a great in-depth analysis of Burton and his films written in an intelligent and thought provoking manner with the authors' individual opinions and analysis (like Ken Hanke did). Not to say that Smith and Matthews are not intelligent writers, they just never display it in this book. They basically let the recycled quotes write the book for them -only occasionally throwing in some in depth analysis.
Yes, Hanke's book was full of Burton quotes from interviews as well, but it was mixed in with great information and analysis of the man and the films, and really got deep into what may or may not have been going on in the artist's life, etc. It had personality behind it -this book does not.

What also bothered me about this book is that there are a few typos -one that especially bothered me is the spelling of the late and great production designer Anton Furst's name. When first discussed, the authors introduce the designer as Anton FIRST, then in the next sentence call him by the correct spelling of FURST.

Also, most of the trivia -like all the information given in the book, is nothing new to the die-hard Burton fans. For example -if they really wanted to impress me they would have talked about the scene in "Batman" where Bruce Wayne is watching The Joker and his henchmen cause chaos in front of City Hall. After The Joker does his "The Pen is truly mightier than the sword" speech and stabs an official with his pen, gun fire takes place. There is a shot of Bruce Wayne walking closer and closer to The Joker and Wayne is hit with a bullet. You see in the frame the bullet-hole appear on Wayne's coat, yet he is not affected and continues walking. This has always bothered/confused me in the film but Smith and Matthews don't even address it even though they have a category for Triva and Plot Problems. This would have been a perfect place to talk about it.

One thing I like about this book is the availability category - that basically vents out at the studios for not putting out special edition DVDs for certain Burton films. Maybe it will wake some of these studios up and make them realize there is a hunger out there for extra features and commentary on many of these Burton classics. Touchstone finally realized it and will finally release the brilliant "Ed Wood" on DVD (with features) in August. Hopefully something good will come out of this book and getting Special Edition DVDs released of Burton films will be it.

Though I believe this book is a total waste of time for a die-hard Burton fan, it is not a total waste if is picked up by someone who is just starting to get into Burton and his films. To me this is like the cliff notes to Ken Hanke's book. This is for someone who has seen every Burton film yet does not know much about the man behind the camera and is slowly becoming a fan or simply wants to know a little bit more about the filmmaker. It will give you a BRIEF glimpse of the man and his art, but will not go into DEEP detail.

So in conclusion, as a die-hard Burton fan I was very disappointed with this read. To me Hanke's book, besides "Burton on Burton" of course, is the best book to read if you really want to dig deep into the mind of Burton and analyze the deeper meanings in his films. So if you're a die-hard like me, don't bother -you won't learn anything new about the man. Just read Hanke's book again, and listen to all of Burton's commentaries on the DVDs -they'll give you more insight into Burton's work and life than this book will.

Rating:
Summary: I found out that I actually like Tim Burton.
Review: I came by this book by accident, and enjoyed it immensely. I have not even known before that my favorite movies had Burton in common.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic and Informative!
Review: I'd recommend this book to anyone.
It is a great analysis of each of Tim Burton's movies. It is written clearly and has information which I haven't read in any other Burton book.
I'm not just becoming a Burton fan, I have every other book on Tim Burton and I believe this one to be the best and most informative.

The book may not have the authors comments, but it is written in so much detail about each Burton movie that it doesn't matter.
If you want to find out more about Burton then this is the book you should get.
The book also includes quotes from people who have worked with Burton and from the man himself.
The length of this book proves that much time and effort went in to write this, and I think it was worth it.
I have found out some new things about some of his movies from reading this book.

So in my opinion I think this book is really worth buying!

Rating:
Summary: By far the best book on Burton
Review: It covers everything you could possibly wish to know about the films, and even provides a summary of one I'd never even heard of - Luau. This isn't even listed on the IMDB, and no other books on Burton mention it, but they've got an interview with Rick Heinrichs (the guy who designed Sleepy Hollow and worked on Luau) about it, so it must be for real!

It's really well written too, and pretty amusing in places - the level of research is amazing - they even give notes showing where they got all their info from, so you can check it out for yourself. The stuff they got from Martin Landau and the two guys who wrote Ed Wood is incredibly interesting - a load of stuff I'd never heard about that film - some that isn't even included on the DVD's commentary.

Basically, this book's great. I'd read Burton on Burton (which is very good), that Pocket Essentials one (which is pretty good), that biography (which is really poor), and the "CHild's Garden of Nightmares" one (which is interesting, but doesn't cover nearly as much detail as this). NOne of these other books on Burton come close to this one.