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Ed Wood
EMAILPRINTBuena Vista Pictures
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 18 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Rudolph Grey (book Nightmare of Ecstasy)
Scott Alexander
Larry Karaszewski
Directed by: Tim Burton
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 28, 1994
DVD: October 19, 2004
Running Time: 127 minutes, BW
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for some strong language
Starring Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, and Bill Murray
Portrait of a young man (Depp) trying to claw his way up into Hollywood from the bottom.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Batman Beetlejuice Big Fish Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Edward Scissorhands Mars Attacks! Pee-wee's Big Adventure Planet of the Apes Sleepy Hollow Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street The Nightmare Before Christmas
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
A comedy of the ridiculous in which the ridiculous turns unexpectedly sublime.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Gene Siskel
One of those rare films that communicates the exquisite joy of the moviemaking process. [7 October 1994, Friday, p.B]
USA Today Mike Clark
Half-factual, half-fanciful and all funny, this labor of love is also unexpectedly touching. [28 September 1994, Life, p.5D]
Film.com John Hartl
In his finest, funniest, most poignant film to date, Tim Burton plays cinematic alchemist, turning drive-in schlock into movie gold.
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
What Burton has made is a film which celebrates Wood more than it mocks him, and which celebrates, too, the zany spirit of 1950s exploitation films - in which a great title, a has-been star and a lurid ad campaign were enough to get bookings for some of the oddest films ever made.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Hal Hinson
Making a movie about the life of Ed Wood certainly qualifies as an impossible dream, but Burton has pulled it off with wit, imagination and something amazingly close to grace.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Turns out to be a thoroughly entertaining if eccentric piece of business, wacky and amusing in a cheerfully preposterous way. [28 September 1994, Calendar, p.F-1]
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
The strangest biographical film ever made is also one of the most charming, melancholy and quirkily humorous films of the year.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
Burton has trouble sustaining the briskness of the first half. But the brilliance of many individual scenes, and the extraordinary performance by Landau, are more than enough to justify this goofy, tender ode to eccentricity. [7 October 1994, Daily Notebook, p.C1]
The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
If Ed Wood has a major failing, it's the lack of momentum. Wood's career had nowhere to go, and to some extent the film has the same problem. [23 September 1994, p.C34]
Variety Staff [not credited]
Always engaging to watch and often dazzling in its imagination and technique, picture is also a bit distended, and lacking in weight at its center.
Read Full Review >Film.com Lucy Mohl
What we remember are the visions of genius and the total turkeys. Rarely do you get both in the same movie, but director Tim Burton pulls it off in this oddly affectionate bio-pic of Ed Wood.
ReelViews James Berardinelli
The most interesting personality in Ed Wood is not the title character, but Bela Lugosi. So covered up with makeup that he's barely recognizable, Martin Landau gives a deeply-felt performance -- a eerie and stunning recreation of a man haunted by lost fame.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
If, like the filmmakers, you're willing to settle for a myth that flatters your sensibilities and shortchanges the past, you're likely to find some agreeable kicks here.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
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.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday
Fails to go into the one realm that would make it worthwhile, which is Ed Wood's brain.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
A cinematic homage as flawed as its subject. Flawed, yet with a peculiar fascination of its own -- what we have is a genuine artist paying sincere tribute to an unapologetic mediocrity, and stooping awkwardly to the task.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
This Ed Wood is dead wood.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 18 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
C T gave it a10:
Wow, I just watched this again after several years (2007). The first time I just smiled or chuckled, this time I was ROTFLMAO. I rented Plan 9 as well and watched it *before* watching Ed Wood - it made all the difference in the world! The one thing I had to keep saying to myself while watching Plan 9 was, "This guy was dead serious! This isn't a movie parody!" Watching Ed Wood gave me a psuedo-peek behind the camera so to speak. I recommend it to anyone; it is a very entertaining film, but greatly enhanced if you watch Wood's film(s) beforehand. I can't wait to get my hand's on Glen or Glenda and Bride of the Monster. "Pull the string! Pull the string!"
R D. gave it a10:
Fantastic movie. Never bores you. And the best performances are given by Martin landau as Lugosi and Johnny Depp as Wood. Also Bill Murray is hilarious. This film should have been a hit. But it is sad. You feel pity for the characters in this movie--mainly for Lugosi as Landau performs him fantastically.
James M gave it a10:
Both the best Tim Burton and Johnny Depp movies of all time. It's in my top 20, undoubtably.
armando s. gave it a10:
My favorite Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie of all time. The contrast between the reality of Ed Wood's life and the fantasy he creates in his mind is truly endearing-if you love great irony. Landau's performance is awe inspiring. A great flick.
Mitch M. gave it an 8:
A classic! I can watch it over and over, just like PLAN NINE!
Decepticon P. gave it a 10:
A marvellous, stylish, comedic tragedy. Depp and Burton are a phenominal team who deliver with great affection a tale of the biggest movie loser of all time. In Australia, many of Wood's movies are available for a piffling $5 so check them out and you will see this movie does NOT over-exagerrate how awful his work was. Nor how much he believed in it.
Lemuel S. gave it a 9:
This is one of my all-time favorite movies, so much so that I just bought the DVD, and I never buy DVDs of movies. I like the subject because I enjoy his bad movies. I expected the movie to be mean, but Tim Burton doesn't take any cheap shots. I think what I like is Ed Woods unbounded optimism.
