Sleepy Hollow [2000]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
The secret to "getting" Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow is appreciating that it's the film he's wanted to make his whole life. After the intimately expressive Edward Scissorhands, this is his most personal venture. Burton's Gothic style--apparent through all his work--stems from a childhood misspent watching the horror movies of Roger Corman, Hammer studios, and anything featuring his idol Vincent Price. For Sleepy Hollow Burton surrounded himself with his usual collaborators and friends; the production was almost entirely shot on location outside London to reunite him with key members of the crew he'd used a decade earlier in Batman, and also to capture the atmosphere of Hammer horror on its own turf.

Johnny Depp's Constable Ichabod Crane warmly emulates the mannerisms and enunciation of Peter Cushing. In a prologue scene Burton plays out a long-held fantasy by pitting Depp against Christopher Lee. And it is fantasy that categorises the film throughout, from the mythical fireside telling of the Hessian Horseman's origin (a mesmerising Christopher Walken), to the bright spots of colour saturating Crane's childhood dreams (featuring Burton's real-life love Lisa Marie). These moments literally shine out amid a meticulously crafted look for the film, which underwent a bleaching process to tone things down to an almost monochrome hue. The Scooby Doo-like whodunnit plot, concerning family lineage and petty vengeance, is naturally secondary to what Burton is aiming to achieve through photography and performance, which includes expressive cameos from Michael Gambon, Michael Gough, Jeffrey Jones, and Iain McDiarmid. Yet despite all these subtleties, it's also his best action movie: the swordplay betters anything from his earlier work, while the windmill escape and subsequent coach chase is truly breathtaking in choreography and execution. If you find a cheesy grin on your face for most of the film, you've "got" it. If not, see Hammer's Dracula at once! --Paul Tonks

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Synopsis
A policeman investigates a series of murders in the village of Sleepy Hollow in the 1700s. The victims' bodies have been found without their heads. Legend has it that a headless horseman who roams the woods is responsible...

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From the Back Cover
Johnny Depp stars as Ichabod Crane, a man who has to confront the legend of the axe-wielding headless horseman in order to win the heart of Katrina Van Tassel (Christina Ricci). Set in 1799, Sleepy Hollow is based on Washington Irving's classic tale "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Faithful to the dreamy custom-bound world that Irving paints in his story, the film mixes horror, fantasy and romance and features an extraordinary cast of characters who dabble in the supernatural.

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Customer reviews

review by: iPod? Sure, I'll take two. date: 2007-09-16 rating:
Classic!
This is a classic film, and completely genius! I'm not going to go indepth on the story, but I'll talk about the High-Def aspects:

Visual: Sleepy Hollow is almost ten years old now, and as such it can't really compete with the latest blockbuster high-def releases but this is by no means a bad quality video! The picture is consistent and the atmosphere is enhanced by the desaturated look. Blacks are pitch black and colour rendition is good. Overall it's pretty good, there is some grain yes but this is minor and in my opinion adds to the antiquated feel of the film.

Audio: 5.1 DTS surround is available for the best possible sound short of uncompressed PCM. Overall, the audio is really very good and its hard to rate it badly!

Features: The commentary by Burton is pretty good, and the supplement looking into the legend of Sleepy Hollow is interesting, but really the film is much better than any of the extras.

TO NOTE: Firstly, Sleepy Hollow is REGIONLESS so it'll work in the UK no problems. Secondly, this is a Paramount Blu-Ray and since Paramount have recently stopped supporting Blu-Ray this is officially out of print and will therefore become a collectors item. Get one while you can! Hope this helps.

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review by: kmcva date: 2007-09-09 rating:
Great classic brought to life on the screen: creepy ghost story, but also an oldschool crime-solving story - top notch


What an excellent film this is!!!

The setting is superb, scenery and environment are absolutely beautiful,the camerawork is amazing.


Johnny Depp is playing a cowardly detective set to solve some brutal murders in the village of Sleepy Hollow. It turns out to be a really creepy ghost story, but also an oldschool crime-solving story. He portraits his characters with his very own sloppiness, fun and superb acting skills. Miranda Richardson in a pivotal role was equally superb.


Such movies are rare in these days, but Burton has really succeeded in this.Top notch
through out.

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review by: Gamer date: 2007-05-14 rating:
Brillant !!
I saw this film 3 years ago and it was one of my favourite film's to date, the film aired last night and my wife before the film said she proberly won't like this film but how wrong was she, after the film she asked me to buy her the DVD as she loved it so much she said it was BRILLENT. Burton has really done a great job on this film and giving it a bit of hammer horror style, all the actors were excellent and the plot was outstanding, if your looking for a film that has a ghost story with a bit of love, humour and a scare then this film is for you!!!

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review by: kmcva date: 2007-01-28 rating:
Great classic brought to life on the screen: creepy ghost story, but also an oldschool crime-solving story - top notch
What an excellent film this is!!!

The setting is superb, scenery and environment are absolutely beautiful,the camerawork is amazing.


Johnny Depp is playing a cowardly detective set to solve some brutal
murders in the village of Sleepy Hollow. It turns out to be a really
creepy ghost story, but also an oldschool crime-solving story. He
portraits his characters with his very own sloppiness, fun and superb
acting skills. Miranda Richardson in a pivotal role was equally superb.


Such movies are rare in these days, but Burton has really succeeded in
this.Top notch through out.




review by: kam2peace date: 2006-11-07 rating:
Almost perfect
This is the almost perfect Tim Burton film. He may have longed all his life to make the film, but Tim Burton's ultimate destiny was to make Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which, for me, is THE perfect Tim Burton film. Sleepy Hollow has almost all the ingredients to make it perfect but is let down by a slightly convoluted and confusing plot, a poor script and the inexplicable decision to cast Christina Ricci as the love interest. Sorry Christina, but your career should have finished when you turned 15.

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Similar products

Edward Scissorhands [1991]
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Ed Wood [1994]
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The Mummy [HD DVD] [1999] [US Import]

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Similar categories

Video . Video . Categories . Horror & Suspense . General
Video . Video . Categories . Classic Films . Actors . Burton, Richard
Video . Video . Refinements . Condition (condition-type)
Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Horror
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . BBFC Rating (intended_use_browse-bin) . 15
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 1990 - 1999
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Editions (feature_two_browse-bin) . Standard Edition
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Language (theme_browse-bin) . English
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . VHS

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