Top 5 Tim Burton Movies Ranked

“One person’s crazyness is another person’s reality.”

Tim Burton is well-known for his dark, quirky, and gothic style.

He began his early career as an animator by drawing too much in high school and tinkering with stop-motion films in his parent’s backyard.

He eventually became a writer, director, producer, artist, and consultant on many, many films since his humble beginnings in 1979.Any movie that is presented as “A Tim Burton Film” always draws a crowd, as he has a loyal cult following.

It’s no secret that his more recent films haven’t been as great as his early works — and our review of his latest work,Miss Peregrine’s, followed that critical trend.

This poses a big question – has Tim Burton lost his edge?

While we wait for his latest movie, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children to release in theaters on September 30, 2016, let’s take a look at some classic Tim Burton movies that he actually directed.

On to the top five Tim Burton movies ranked…

Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow is arguably Tim Burtons best supernatural horror film. 

The 1999 movie, loosely based on the short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow written by Washington Irving, is one of the last to have Tim Burton’s distinct gothic tone and feel (due to his split with Helena Bonham Carter)

Sleepy Hollow, set in 1799, follows Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp), a New York City detective sent to the small town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate brutal murders committed by the mysterious and terrifying Headless Horseman.

Blood, gore, witches, and of course scares ensue as Crane gets closer to discovering the truth.

Burton’s usual cast of favorites appear in Sleepy Hollow – Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken, and Christina Ricci.

What more could you want than a killer ghost who brutally chops off his victims heads?

 

 

 

 

 

Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) is another bloody slasher with the eerie addition of Broadway music.

It’s based on the Tony Award winning musical of the same name, and re-tells the Victorian tale of Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp), an English barber turned serial killer who murders his customers with a straight razor across the throat.

Ms. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) processes their corpses into meat pies and then sells them for people to eat. 

While the premise is rather disgusting, it is a smart way to get rid of all the dead bodies – especially corrupt Judge Turpin, an excellent performance by the late Alan Rickman.

Although Depp didn’t shine in the musical department, there was enough in the film to consider it an actual musical.

We were too distracted by the people eating other people aspect to notice any tunes.

 

Batman

Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) is the perfect balance between campy and gritty.

Being a box-office success, the film introduced the darker side of Batman to mainstream audiences, making way for more similar superhero movies.

Although fans initially weren’t happy with the casting of Michael Keaton as Batman or Jack Nicholson as Joker – they both delivered memorable performances.

Tim Burton explains that his inspiration for Batman came from The Killing Joke comic:

“I was never a giant comic book fan, but I’ve always loved the image of Batman and the Joker. The reason I’ve never been a comic book fan – and I think it started when I was a child – is because I could never tell which box I was supposed to read. I don’t know if it was dyslexia or whatever, but that’s why I loved The Killing Joke, because for the first time I could tell which one to read. It’s my favorite. It’s the first comic I’ve ever loved. And the success of those graphic novels made our ideas more acceptable.”

Not a comic book fan, eh? 

 

Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands (1990) which Burton wrote and directed, is said to be an autobiographical take on Burton’s childhood in Burbank, California.

However, Burton clearly does not have scissors for hands, meaning the film was more of a metaphor for being different while struggling to be accepted.

The dark fantasy romance film starred Johnny Depp as Edward, an unfinished artificial creation who was left behind by The Inventor (Vincent Price) in a Gothic mansion. 

He’s taken in by a generic suburban family and eventually falls in love with the daughter Kim, played by Winona Ryder. This leads to a rather devestating battle between Kim’s jealous boyfriend and the ever-so-innocent Edward.

Burton considers Edward Scissorhands his best and most personal work, and so do we.

Now, onto the number one Tim Burton movie on our little list…

 

 

Beetlejuice

It’s showtime!

Beetlejuice is the easily the best Tim Burton film of all time, strictly for it’s originality, obnoxious comedic elements, and overall wierdness that didn’t exist yet in other films.

Beetlejuice (1988) is a supernatural comedy horror about a young couple forced to cope with life after death, and a family of pretentious yuppies who invade their treasured New England home.

Their teenage daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) has an odd obsession with death which allows her to see the deceased couple, who is trying to scare the new owners out of their home with the help of Beetlejuice and his…crazy antics.

The film is stacked with stars in early stages in their careers like Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder, and no Johnny Depp.

And we can’t forget…GO AHEAD, make my millenium!