Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Blu-ray

Paramount
Street: Oct. 21
Prebook: now
> Fine-looking Blu-ray edition of gothic musical adds a lush audio option.

The Broadway musical tale of a 19th century London barber who makes mince meat of his clients (literally!) received a fine cinematic adaptation by director Tim Burton. It pleased critics but didn’t make a substantial a splash at the box office. The Blu-ray version looks stunning, with period London appearing appropriately grimy, foreboding and textured and the demonic hairdresser’s bloody swath looking iridescently bloody. Paramount is pricing its Blu-ray release as a premium item, which is a bit irksome as the title is approaching catalog status, and the supplements in the package are merely high-definition versions of those found in the standard release. But one can hear something new in the Dolby TrueHD audio track, which is a wise and fine-sounding choice for this musical.

Shelf Talk: There’s a lot of fan potential for Sweeney Todd, though not necessarily for its Blu-ray version. Star Johnny Depp, director Burton and composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim all have dedicated followings, most of whom already have the standard DVD. But Burton’s fanbase is likely comprised of early Blu-ray adopters.