[JoeLopp]

I know it's been out for a while, but I just got around to watching it ... and found it somewhat disappointing. It was Tim Burton-esque all right, like Depp, Bonham Cart and especially Alan Rickman, but it just didn't seem to translate well to the screen. I've never seen the stage production, but could well imagine, as I watched the film, that it would have been great fun on stage.
I'm new here, so maybe this has long since been hashed over, but isn't this one piece of work better left to the stage than the silver screen?

[lonewriter]

I have only seen a DVD of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert with Patti LuPone and Neil Patrick Harris and of course it was better than the movie but I did enjoy the movie. I though Depp did a great job.

[dolbinau]

I'd watch the movie any day over the 2000 Concert DVD and most days over the 82 DVD, and after seeing a revolting amateur production recently there seems to be cases I'd take it over a staged version, too.

I believe it transferred excellently to screen, unlike some other recent musicals like High School Musical or Dreamgirls there does not appear to be this awkward/cringeworthy moment where characters break into song. And unlike other musicals e.g. RENT or The Producers it is fresh and new, not some carbon copy. For what it's worth Sondheim (based on this telephone interview I heard) believed the movie transferred much better than any/most (well he strongly implied any but I'll take most) of the previous movie musicals {I wonder if there was a subtle hint at WSS or Night music, not sure}.

I'm not sure what you mean by "would have been great fun on stage", are you saying the movie isn't funny :-/? I can see how it may appear less funny though, but I think it was necessary to prevent the film from becoming ridiculously slapstick:

*cough*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dgdz-XifyU*cough*

That works better on a stage.

[JoeLopp]

I don't know, I guess I would have liked to have seen how the special effects blood-letting worked live, on stage.
I kind of felt the lyrics weren't some of the strongest, either, but they are what they are, since the movie was taken from the '79 prod.
I wonder if Alan Rickman has a background in musical theatre?

[Salome]

Rickman did some musicals in his college days but his theatre work on the pro stage was all drama or comedy.

[ActingDude17]

The movie was great for what it was, but you just can't compare film to live theatre.

[WickedToo]

[dolbinau]

[STRWBRRY]

I loved the movie, I just like Tim Burton's style. But I really prefer seeing this musical on stage. But I think that a stage performance is always way more fun than a film version.

But Tim Burton did a great job in making a film version of Sweeney Todd.

[JoeLopp]

Totally agree about stage over film. I just think for this particular story, a non-lyrical drama would work better on film. Although, I'm not sure how much you can squeeze out of the old Sweeney Todd story/urban legend to make it so. You'd probably have to fudge the timelines a bit and insert Sherlock Holmes, or something...

[LeocadiaBegbick]

There were a lot of interesting things Burton did with it but in the end, it just turned out to be a very good Tim Burton film, not a masterpiece like it originally was. I liked the film--- but I was disappointed because it turned out good, when it could have been brilliant.

[Brock07]

I loved it

[Disney-Bway27]

Definitely one of the best movie musicals to come out recently. I'd say Chicago, Sweeney, and Hairspray were the best adaptations of the decade so far. Here's hoping Nine is added to that list!

[wolfenflautist]

I loved the film. I wasn't expecting Johnny Depp to be able to sing! I thought it was a phenomenal piece of work.

As for Alan Rickman being involved in theatre, he's a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

[Salome]