Nate's DVD Collection ~ Edward Scissorhands

Ah, I love a Tax Free day. In Vermont there's one day out of every year where select stores (major retailers for the most part but there's a few small business that cater to the idea) waive sales tax. Of course if you want to go shopping and not pay taxes you could just drive to New Hampshire, but not everyone has the means nor the will to drive all the way over to the Live Free, or Die state. So Tax Free Day is a blessing for Vermonters and a chance to spend some hard earned cash on those much desired items.

For me, those items are movies. Two new movies to be exact and I have added them to my DVD collection.

This is the story of a man with pasty white skin and jet black hair, who has lived in a large, scary, yet eccentrically decorated mansion. This man never really grew up and while he was initially welcomed by the public at large, the moment he laid his hands on a young boy his life took a drastic turn for the worse. No, this isn't the story of Michael Jackson. It is the story of Edward Scissorhands.

A robot who was never finished, Edward is discovered alone in the factory when warm hearted Avon Representative Peg Boggs stumbles upon the house in the hopes for a lead. Instead she takes Edward home and soon he is the talk of the pastel colored neighborhood.

Starring a young Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder and brought to you by the same “genius” that decided to destroy our childhood memories by presenting us with a remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. (Yeah, guess what Tim Burton fans, I didn't like the remake. So if you've got a problem with that, turn your computer off, break out a copy of the movie and go make superficial cuts down your arm for attention.)

Also starring the wonderfully talented and highly underrated actress Diane Wiest, The Dead Zone's Anthony Michael Hall, Alan Arkin, and Vincent Price as The Inventor.

Audio Commentary with Tim Burton

Audio Commentary with Danny Elfman

Featurette

Concept Art

Original Theatrical Trailer

TV Spots

I was seven years old when I saw this movie. Honestly the only bits I remember from that time were of course, Edward. The major scenes that stick out in my mind are Edward discovering alcohol shortly after meeting Winona Ryder (much like every other man she's ever met I imagine) and the scene where the crazy woman tries to jump Edward in the storage room of the beauty parlor.

The way Depp delivered that line, “And then she took me into the storage room where she took off all her clothes.”

It's amazing to watch a movie that I have literally not seen in twenty years. My perspective has changed, I have greater appreciation of how films are created and of course, my exposure to such great talent like Diane Wiest and the rather sub par talent of Winona “Steal-an-Acting-For-Dummies-Book-Next-Time” Ryder has increased since those days.

What I like most about it is that like K-PAX, Edward Scissorhands is not a movie that readily identifies itself as a particular genre. It's not a straight up romance, or a straight up comedy and it's not really a horror movie.

Edward's youthful innocence and his apparent loneliness are reminiscent of Kate Shelly's Frankenstein and it's sad when his attempts to blend in with the “normal” population go fubar in a matter of moments. You just want the guy to do well, but anyone who has ever been The New Kid, or has ever tried to live in a town where everyone's business is everyone else's knows just how hard that can be when you're even in the slightest bit different from the crowd.

At any rate, it's great to see a movie about a socially isolated, eternally youthful young man named Edward and not have it be about vampires.

I would have preferred a Wide Screen edition of this movie, but unfortunately none was to be found. I don't know if they released a letterbox version of this film when it was originally released to VHS or not. But otherwise, it's not a bad way to spend five bucks.

It was only five bucks out of the bargain bin at K-Mart. If you can fit five dollars into your budget this isn't a bad way to spend it.

This is a very iconic movie for fans of Tim Burton so if the little Goth in your life doesn't have this one yet it would make a great gift.

My brothers and I watched this when we were kids. I was only seven years old and even though I remember Anthony Michael Hall being impaled on Edward's “finger”, I didn't suffer any ill effects from it.

Now where did I leave that knife? Oh, there it is. Here, kitty, kitty...