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Sweeney Todd - The Director's Cut | 
 enlarge | Director: Dave Moore
Actor: Ray Winstone; David Warner; Essie Davis; Gabriel Spahiu; Anthony O'donnell; Zoltan Butuc; Radu Andrei Micu; David Bradley (iv); David Foxxe; Roger Frost; Ingo Gottwald; Ben Walker (ix); Jessica Hooker; Tom Hardy; Ray Winstone; Paul Currier
Studio: ACORN MEDIA
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $11.90
You Save: $13.09 (52%)
New (47) Used (11) from $8.40
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 33570
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: ACRDAMP9225D
UPC: 054961922598
EAN: 0054961922598
ASIN: B000MR9CXW
Theatrical Release Date: 2005
Release Date: April 10, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW AND FACTORY SEALED
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Product Description
Trying to carve out a quiet life for himself in 18th century london expert barber ex-con sweeney todd befriends mrs lovett a lusty young woman who runs the pie shop next door. But when carved-up bodies start turning up - mrs lovetts meat pies turn even more delectable - the police get suspicious. Studio: Acorn Media Release Date: 04/10/2007 Starring: Ray Winstone Run time: 95 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
This gripping version of the notorious legend of a murderous barber throws out all the melodrama of the popular Sondheim musical. Instead, this BBC drama of ISweeney Todd/I treats the antihero as realistically as possible, with compelling results. After spending most of his childhood in the brutal Newgate prison, Sweeney Todd (Ray Winstone, ISexy Beast/I) becomes a reputable barber--but when he finds a vicious prison guard in his barber's chair, Todd can't keep himself from slitting the man's throat. From there, his bloodthirst grows compulsive, particularly after his life becomes entangled with a younger married woman, Mrs. Lovett (buxom Essie Davis, IGirl with a Pearl Earring/I), whose pie shop begins receiving gifts of unspecified meat... ISweeney Todd/I skillfully weaves the most popular elements of the legend into a plausible story, adding in sardonic humor, nihilistic philosophy, and a few gruesome twists that will be appreciated by anyone with a taste for the macabre. Winstone's performance turns Todd into a sympathetic figure--without excusing or lessening his crimes. All in all, an excellent version of the story, well-produced, cleverly written, and cleanly directed. (The Director's Cut apparently includes a bit more gore than was in the original broadcast.) Also featuring David Warner (who played Jack the Ripper in ITime After Time/I). I--Bret Fetzer/I
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 An Engrossing Variation on a Dark Legend of Love and Murder August 1, 2008
Stephanie DePue (Carolina Beach, NC USA)
"Sweeney Todd: The Director's Cut," a 2006 television production of the classic horror story for the British Broadcasting Corporation, reached these shores as a DVD in 2007. It stars Ray Winstone in the title role; was written by Joshua St. Johnston and directed by David Moore. As a director's cut, it includes footage not seen in the broadcast - beware, sensitive souls, it's intensely violent. It also boasts a Sweeney Todd background essay, cast filmographies, and, thank goodness, unadvertised closed captioning: characters in this movie are doing their best to speak early London English. The movie is set in eighteenth century London, where the first, Victorian treatment of this famous horror tale placed it; it runs about an hour and a half. br / br /The award-winning actor Ray Winstone, ("Sexy Beast," "The Departed"), who is of cockney origins himself, and a former boxer, succeeds in making the demon barber of Fleet Street a believable human being. Essie Davis ("Girl with a Pearl Earring") makes Mrs. Lovett into a lusty young woman, more sinned-against than sinning. And the veteran David Warner ("Titanic") makes his blind police chief Fielding quite credible, and moving. br / br /The basic plot, of course, is known to all: in filthy, teeming, unsanitary, unhealthy eighteenth century London, Todd, the expert barber, murders the odd customer, whose flesh turns up in his neighbor Mrs. Lovett's meat pies, making them the delicious toast of London. In this treatment of the material, a substantial backstory has been given Todd, making his actions more explicable: he works and lives in the shadow of the hellhole London prison Newgate, where he grew up as a child, spending twenty years of his life there for a murder committed by his father - it's where he learned his trade. Upon his release, the advent of a brutal Newgate prison guard in his barber's chair sets loose his anger, and murderous impulses. And soon carved up bodies begin appearing in what remains of the once sparkling, pristine Fleet River, now known as the Fleet Ditch. Another quite interesting innovation of the script is to remind us that, in those days, barbers doubled as surgeons: the blood of that trade is what the red stood for in all those old-fashioned barber's red and white striped poles that we occasionally see. As a surgeon, Todd does, of course, see plenty of blood; he also must have a rough and ready knowledge of the human body, sufficient to operate, or to butcher. br / br /The plot also gives us a brief homage to the earliest substantial literary treatment of Sweeney Todd, "The String of Pearls," an anonymously authored tale told in serial form in early Victorian days. We have a Mr. Thornhill with a string of beautiful pearls, a major actor in the first treatment. Todd's young boy apprentice continues to be called Tobias, as he first was, and generally still is. Praises be the icky star-crossed young lovers, major, and weakest ingredient of the original tale, are gone. The Sweeney Todd tale may be based on an urban myth, or there may, or may not be a real inspiration to it. Robert L. Mack, in his excellent book on the subject, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," reviewed by me on its subject page, cites to an eighteenth century French newspaper. br / br /What is certainly true is the fascinating, sad history of the Fleet River, treated by me, at greater length, in reviewing the Johnny Depp "Sweeney." We see the river here, narrowed to the width of a street, hemmed in by structures on both sides; and, briefly, at low tide, displaying a filthy, gruesome river bed. It is bridged here, but it was to be entirely bridged over, covered in wood so that it could be built over, and was so polluted it burst into flames, burning all around it. When the area was eventually rebuilt, the river's legacy was to be all those subterranean tunnels that proved so handy to Todd. br / br /Winstone's powerful performance hoists this film well above the ordinary TV movie, though it does lack some of the richness of a film made for theatrical release. But it's an engrossing, and haunting variation on a dark legend of love and murder. br /
Totally Different May 19, 2008
P. Huddleson (Syracuse)
This British version is totally different and not for everybody. No musical score - all drama. It's an extremely well-acted depiction of a descent into madness. Be warned.....it is bloody.
 What about making a shave tonight? March 7, 2008
Luciano Jr. (Sao Paulo, SP Brazil)
Of course, this film made from BBC Television doesn't have the same opulence in comparision with the musical version, starring Johnny Depp. Instead, it has a good cast and it is greatly performed as well. I liked it.
An Interesting But Somewhat Slow Variation On The Famous London Story December 26, 2007
Gary F. Taylor (Biloxi, MS USA)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
Although some have tried to argue that he was an actual person, it seems likely that the story of a throat-cutting barber named Sweeney Todd arose first as a bit of urban myth that was developed into an 1846 story titled THE STRING OF PEARLS by writer Thomas Prest. A year later the story was adapted to the stage as SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. It proved a popular ticket, and in age that knew little of copyright law, versions of the play were soon springing up all over the place, each one tweaking the story a little bit in the process. Consequently, it is almost impossible to say that any one particular version is "more authentic" than any other. br / br /In this particular version, filmed for BBC in 2006, Todd (Ray Winstone)is a barber who spent twenty years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Released, he finds himself shaving a prison guard and on sudden impulse slits the man's throat. One thing leads to another, as you might say, and he soon makes the acquaintance of bake-shop worker Mrs. Lovett (Essie Davis); his fondness for her not only leads him to set her up in her own business, but to supply the occasional cut of meat as well. The twist to this particular version of the story is in the relationship between Todd and Lovett, the latter of whom is more sinned against than sinning. br / br /The script is quite clever, essentially winding most of Todd's motives (including his interest in Mrs. Lovett) around his own mistreatment while an inmate of the notorious Newgate prison, and both Winstone and Davis are extremely impressive in their performances. But for all the blood, and there is aplenty, and for all the sex, and there is some, the film looks exactly like what it is: a made-for-television movie. It is also rather slow and quite often a bit too "stiff upper lip" for its own good. br / br /The DVD release offers a good transfer but, excepting cast credits, nothing in the way of bonus material. Those interested in the various directions the story has taken will find it intriguing, but most others will likely be only mildly interested. br / br /GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Well done. July 17, 2007
T. Gisclair
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The best way I can think of to describe this movie is that it resembles a really good episode of Masterpiece Theater that happens to be rated R for violence, gore, and sexual themes. It does get a little slow at times, but is in general a well done movie with a well-written script.
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