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Movies / On DVD / Ed Wood
Ed Wood

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Ed Wood (1994)

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Reviews Counted:55

Fresh:50

Rotten:5

Average Rating:7.9/10

Consensus: Tim Burton and Johnny Depp team up to fete the life and work of cult hero Ed Wood, with typically strange and wonderful results.

Runtime: 2 hrs 7 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: A stranger-than-fiction true story of the early career of Edward D. Wood, Jr., the undisputed "worst movie director of all time," Tim Burton's ED WOOD is nevertheless a delightful, zany, and... A stranger-than-fiction true story of the early career of Edward D. Wood, Jr., the undisputed "worst movie director of all time," Tim Burton's ED WOOD is nevertheless a delightful, zany, and ultimately moving film. Wood was the auteur behind GLEN OR GLENDA? (1953) and PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959), and it is during the making of these two no-budget flicks that Wood is profiled. His friendship with the aging, drug-addicted, former film star Bela Lugosi--who he cast in his movies--is one of the most poignant characters ever portrayed on film. Wood had an infectious enthusiasm which inspired his cohorts, including transsexual wannabe Bunny (Bill Murray), the psychic Criswell (Jeffrey Jones), and behemoth wrestler Tor Johnson (George "The Animal" Steele). To a large extent, ED WOOD celebrates bad filmmaking raised to the level of a fine art form. With his fetishistic style of dressing in for pumps, narrow skirts and angora sweaters, Ed Wood was as much of an outsider as his actors. Perhaps the final irony is that ED WOOD may be one of the best films of all time about one of the worst filmmakers of all time. [More]

Starring: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Bill Murray

Starring: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, G.D. Spradlin, Vincent D'Onofrio, Mike Starr, Max Casella, Lisa Marie, Juliet Landau, Clive Rosengren, Ned Bellamy, Danny Dayton, Bill Cusack, Biff Yeager, Joseph R. Gannascoli, Melora Walters, Conrad Brooks

Director: Tim Burton

Director: Tim Burton
Producer: Denise Di Novi, Tim Burton

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Ed Wood

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The film's greatest achievement is to avoid the easy, patronizing laughs and instead see the near heroic qualities of a patently untalented artist.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
10/05/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A glorious homage to the power of film in general and one of Burton's finest moments.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob McCabe
Bob McCabe
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It certainly succeeds as a funny, touching tribute to tenacity, energy, ambition and friendship.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This Ed Wood is dead wood.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment 3 Comments
01/01/00
Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Given the finished film, one also has to wonder if Ed Wood was interesting enough to base a two- hour movie on.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment 2 Comments
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Typically, Burton's storytelling is sometimes erratic, but his emphasis on humanizing marginal characters -- a project that seems central to his artistic agenda -- is as strong as ever.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
10/05/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Depp's magnificent performance, plus Burton's love of his subject make for a wonderful film. Landau is magnificent as Bela Lugosi. A great film that celebrates the little filmmakers who dreamed big.

comment Comment
09/21/04
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

No review available.

comment Comment
04/07/03
Brian J. Arthurs
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

Landau's Lugosi is an alternately amusing and heartbreaking character who is given one last taste of life while in orbit around Wood's infectious mania

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
03/02/04
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

Ed Wood is truly wacky with a weird sensibility that only becomes more amazing with the knowledge that just about everything in the film is true.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Bizarrely amusing.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Johnny Depp is a master of his craft...Burton's film lacks nothing

comment Comment
04/27/03
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

Burton has evoked the surface of Ed Wood’s life, but in a story about a man who loves angora and frilly panties, he has barely unbuttoned Wood's uniform.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

Audiences these days need to be reminded that the road to the worst films is often paved with noble ambitions.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
05/30/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

An entertaining, oddly affectionate look at the cross-dressing grade-Z moviemaker.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Edward Guthmann
Edward Guthmann
San Francisco Chronicle

Tim Burton at his best, with great work by Johnny Depp & Martin Landau.

comment Comment
03/12/03
Edward Johnson-Ott
Edward Johnson-Ott
NUVO Newsweekly

Droll and witty, Burton's tribute evokes the career of Hollywood's "worst" director by making a most stylishly polished production

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
06/27/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

This delightful film focuses on the more telling years when Edward D. Wood did what he did to become who he is...

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
10/30/04
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

Vastly entertaining biopic on one of the great directors of trash films.

comment Comment
10/11/02
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
03/22/04
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for Ed Wood

August 17, 2006: Burton & Depp Together for the 6th Time: Sweeney Todd
When Tim Burton and Johnny Depp get together, pretty wild movies tend to happen. Frankly I think all five of their previous collaborations have been darn fine films, and here's... More...

June 13, 2006: Burton Moves to "Sweeney Todd" and Bumps "Ripley," Believe It or Not
If you were eagerly anticipating the Tim Burton/Jim Carrey collaboration called "Ripley's Believe It or Not!," then you might have an extra year or two to wait,... More...

March 09, 2006: Cusack Checks In to King's "1408"
Popular actor John Cusack has signed on to star in the movie adaptation of Stephen King's short story "1408," says Variety. The story, which is available on King's... More...

January 09, 2006: Burton & Depp Together Again for "Sweeney"?
Andrew Hartman of MovieMusicals.net looks to have snagged quite the impressive scoop ... provided it turns out to be accurate, of course. Word is that insane filmmaker Tim... More...

See All

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