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7
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7 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Noah
Soudrette |
The
year is 1799. Ichabod Crane is the most controversial police
constable in the state of New York. Crane has a number or
radical ideas on the blossoming science of forensics, taking
every opportunity he can to challenge the system of law and
order. During court, after one of his frequent outbursts on
the subject, he's given a challenge by the Burgomeister to
solve a series of bizarre murders in the upstate town of Sleepy
Hollow. Crane is dispatched quickly, arriving there to meet
the five town elders and the community leader's beautiful
daughter, Katrina Van Tassel. Ichabod publicly announces his
mission to seek out the murderer. The killings continue. Even
after Crane is confronted with the supernatural nature of
his prey, he's resolved to find the person pulling the puppet
strings of the Headless Horseman. Ichabod's persistence pushes
the situation to a fever pitch; as he begins to unravel the
dark conspiracy of the Hollow, the bloody attacks become more
frequent. His discovery of the truth leads toward the furious
final battle between the supernatural killer and the logical
detective.
Tim Burton —
despite
a few slip-ups —
is one
of the most visionary and talented directors working in Hollywood
today. His version of the classic Washington Irving story
is possibly his finest effort as a filmmaker. The thing that
really makes this film a delight for a viewer like myself
is that it's a homage to the great European horror films of
the late '50s and early '60s, particularly those of Terence
Fisher and Mario Bava. With the assistance of cinematographer
Emmanuel Lubezki (Like Water for Chocolate)
Burton crafts what could very well be the kind of movie Hammer
Films would roll out today if the studio were still in existence.
Add to this Ichabod's creepy dream sequences, inspired by
Bava's Black Sunday, and you
have a truly visual feast. Of course, all of these beautiful
visuals would be pointless without the taut, humorous, and
well-crafted screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en).
While a few critics complained about the ending, I found it
kept the energy level high and competently tied the film together.
The other factor, besides visuals, which
makes this film great is the large number of wonderful film/theater
actors taking on some of the more entertaining and colorful
characters to grace the screen of late. First is Johnny Depp's
(From Hell) wonderfully comedic
portrayal of constable Ichabod Crane. Here Depp shows his
amazing talent once again; his performance rivals that of
his earlier role in Burton's Ed Wood.
Christina Ricci's turn as Katrina is well done, even if she
does have a few issues with her accent. The great Michael
Gambon (The
Beast Must Die) fills the shoes of Baltus Van Tassell,
alongside his compatriots: Jeffrey Jones (Beetlejuice)
as the Reverend Steenwyck, Richard Griffiths (Gormenghast)
as Magistrate Philipse, Ian McDiarmid (Return
of the Jedi) as Dr. Lancaster, and the wonderful Michael
Gough (Horror of Dracula)
as Notary Hardenbrook. Rounding out the cast is Casper Van
Dien as Brom, Christopher Walken (A
View to A Kill) —
getting
his Lon Chaney Jr. on —
as the Horseman, and a wonderfully welcome cameo by the great
Christopher Lee. The only member of the cast I had any problem
with was Miranda Richardson as Lady Van Tassel. I found her
performance towards the end of the film severely lacking for
someone who's classically trained in Shakespearean drama.
This quibble aside, Sleepy Hollow
is one of Tim Burton's strongest films and easily challenges
Batman, Ed
Wood, and Edward Scissorhands
for the top spot in his filmography.
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The
Paramount DVD presents Sleepy Hollow
in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, enhanced
for 16x9. The quality of this transfer does the film the justice
it truly deserves. Colors are rendered beautifully here, and
while many were intentionally muted by Burton, no detail is
lost whatsoever. Shadows are a deep black, and reds look great
splattering on Johnny Depp's face. The film print has no defects
naturally, and there are no compression artifacts or grain to
be seen. This is one of the finer and well-balanced DVD transfers
I've seen. The sound is equally excellent, presented in 5.1
Dolby Surround. All the dialogue is clear, the music clashes
like you were there in the recording studio, and the snack of
the blade will resound deliciously from your speakers.
Thankfully, Paramount includes a decent amount
of extras with this release. First up is an audio commentary
with Tim Burton. The big problem with the track is that Burton
isn't the most talkative guy in the world (as least when he's
alone, anyway). There are numerous silent gaps on this track.
However, when he does talk, what he has to say is always interesting.
It's almost as if you were sitting down with a friend, who just
so happens to be the director, watching the movie with him while
he makes the occasional fascinating comment. Overall, its sparseness
aside, I found this track rather entertaining. Next, we have
a 30-minute featurette entitled Behind the Legend which
is thankfully more informative than promotional. The feature
covers details of the production, and gives the viewer a number
of glimpses at the construction of the town, the windmill, the
horseman, and decapitated heads. Overall, an enjoyable half-hour.
Complementing this is an 11-minute interview segment featuring
Burton, Depp, Ricci, and others. Rounding out the features are
a disposable photo gallery and a decent set of cast biographies.
With a nice set of extras to enhance an even
nicer film, Paramount has done a bang-up job with the Sleepy
Hollow DVD. 9/19/02 |
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