Sweeney Todd - DVD or Film

I've just watched both the DVD and film of SWEENEY TODD. I really dislike the film and don't feel that the vocals from non singers aid the score at all. Also I don't like using a young boy for Toby.
I find the DVD with Angela Lansbury really gives everything that the score and story need. The cast on the DVD is far superior to the film. The scene with Sweeney recognizing his wife is 100 times more effective than the film.
For me, Sweeney is a stage work and is not as effective on film.

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The stage perfect is brilliant. The film is brilliant.

They both fit their respective medium perfectly.

The stage version would not work on film. The film version would not work on stage. At least not as well.

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I disagree. Tim Burton's film of SWEENEY TODD is probably the single finest live action musical in the decades since WEST SIDE STORY. The casting is excellent if unconventional, the production is flawless, all in all a masterwork.

The TV version doesn't really work for me at all. I've never liked Hearn's take on the role, and Angela Lansbury pretty much mugs her way through the show. It is at least competently shot and presented on video.

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Updated On: 4/2/08 at 02:22 PM

I thought Helena Bonham Carter's Lovett was heartbreaking. I loved it. And I loved making Toby a little boy. I think it makes him more pure and when he looses it at the end, it just makes it more tragic.

Love it, want it, don't have money to get it hahaha

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They made a film-version of SWEENEY TODD? Is this the same one with Joanna Lumley as Mrs. Lovett? Was this only shown on cable or was it theatrically released? Who played Sweeney? I remember Russell Crowe was in consideration.

Confused here.

Loved the DVD, loved the movie, and the revival was the best Broadway show I have ever seen. Can I like them all? I WONT CHOOSE!!!

I really dislike the stage production DVD. I'm in the minority of people who hates Hearn's performance, I think that Lansbury overacts far too much in it, and Betsy Joslyn is one of the worst Johannas I've ever seen, by far the worst ever captured on film.

I think that Sweeney Todd is a masterpiece of a musical, just that DVD is a real poor presentation of it.

I think that the film is brilliant, though. As close to a perfect adaptation of the musical that we're ever going to get.

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Actually, Toby is the exact age in the film he's supposed to be.

The stage version has always been "Actors putting on a show", hence an older Toby. Burton's choice, as is most of the film, is there because the text calls for a younger Toby if you're going for realism.

Here's the think that bothers me about the "the film is nothing like the stage version" argument. Who cares! It's a film. There are two superb Sweeney stage productions on DVD; the original tour of Prince's staging and the concert. And we have 3 major recordings.

Wanting the film to hold on to every not and idea from the stage production is silly. A direct to film translation of Sondheim's original work would be foolish. Burton's work is original, truthful, and brilliant.

You think you could have made a better film?

I absolutely love the film. I think people have to remember that it isn't suppose or trying to be like the stage production. Sodheim said it best. "The movie isn't the stage show on screen, it a film based on the stage show."

I like 'em both. The DVD of the stage show is great and so is the film. Both are absolutly brilliant in their own respect. Burton and Sondheim repeatedly warned that Sweeney Todd purists would likely be disapointed if they came in expecting to see the stage show on film.

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"Actually, Toby is the exact age in the film he's supposed to be. "

Thank you.

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