Customer Reviews

Beetlejuice

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The transition to Blu-ray of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice sets a very high standard for older movies making this move. The colors are eye-popping - while Tim Burton sets are always well envisioned and most often otherworldly, Blu-ray gives the viewer a new visual experience of this movie. Almost every scene is beautifully surreal.

Happily, the sound is equally outstanding. The Danny Elfman soundtrack is better than ever and the scene around the dinner table when the guests are possessed to break out into a Harry Belafonte song reaches a new level of hilarity.

Though this is an older movie it doesn't look it (other than a few dated special effects). It remains a superior effort for both Burton and Michael Keaton who creates a truly unforgettable character in the title role. If you liked this movie, you'll love the Blu-ray.

An excellent movie and one that you see something new everytime ... and now even better on Blu-ray!

Of all the movies that Tim Burton did, there are three names that come out a lot during discussions. Of course his two Batmans, then his masterpiece Edward Scissorhands, but most of all his excellent comedy Beetlejuice. Why's that? Because as a society where we usually consider the after-life as a dark and depressing world, Tim Burton presents death in a different perspective. He represents it as an extremely funny world where people become ghosts stuck in their own houses and are haunted by the living, a world where death is a huge bureaucracy, and a world where there are bio-exorcists, like the one and only Mr. Beetlejuice. Although this is a movie where the main characters are Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, and they do an excellent job as a recently dead-couple, it's Michael Keaton who deserves the spotlight. For each time he appears on the screen, he just makes you laugh with his funny one-liners (excellent improvisation from Michael Keaton) and his perfect interactions with his co-stars such as Sylvia Sidney, Winona Ryder, Glenn Shaddix, Jeffrey Jones, and Catherine O`Hara, all future collaborators during Tim Burton`s career. Everyone, and I mean everyone, delivers a perfect performance.

Not only that it is a movie that has excellent visual effects, both traditional and with the computer. Also, I loved how they were able to integrate gorgeous stop-motion animations during the movie. They were well integrated in the movie and are a proof that this kind of animation can really bring great possibilities to a movie, though there are certain limits to it of course. But hey, that also counts for CGI too.

Finally, a great cheer to Danny Elfman, whose soundtrack really gave him the popularity and respect he deserved. A great idea from the makers of this DVD to integrate the soundtrack as a separate audio track.

In the end, a great classic that should be listened over and over again and being considered a classic of modern american cinema.

Ok I was never a big fan of Michael Keaton until they brought out this movie. He is absolutely brilliant in this along with the other stars in this ghostly comedy. Very strange in parts but that adds to our own unknow thinking of what actually happens when we die. Great music that you can sing a long to. So go out and buy this movie, you won't be disappointed!

a couple dies.they live in a house as spirits and then some people move in.the dad is a dork.the mom is a control freak,crazy women who sculpts.she is a similar character in home alone but in that one shes a unbelivably terrible and neglectful psycho mom.the daughter is a dark depressed girl played by wyona ryder.she looks very sexy in thisone.a cool line is:my whole life is a dark room.one big dark room.they get constant visits from other weirdos also.the 2 dead people-some dork and a belive it or not somewhat sexy geena davis play them.they spirits try to scare the living out but are too good natured to suceed.so they hire michael keaton-beetlejuice-to get rid of them.he is more forceful.it is a tim burton movie which of course means its awesome.most everyone could like this.wyona ryder looks awesome in a red wedding dress late in the film.that stupid child hater of a mom lady is this movies only flaw.shes such a bitch.this movie is full of well written mastery and great special effects.it is great!

this movie was really good, it was so creative, like edward scissorhands. i loved the story and the underworld scenes were great. i think that winona ryder did an excellent job as Lydia, the troubled daughter. betelguese was hilarious! this is not your mainstream kid movie, be aware of that if if you plan on showing it to your kids.

Re-watching Beetlejuice more than a decade after it thrilled, frightened and enthralled me as a child makes me sad about Mr. Tim Burton's transformation into a Hollywood favorite semi-quirky remake-director (Planet Of The Apes, Sleepy Hollow) in recent years (Big Fish indeed signals a hopeful recovery - if only Charlie And The Chocolate Factory doesn't spoil it...!) At the young age of thirty, and in only his second full length feature, Burton created a cult favorite that is one for the ages. In this bizarre, off-beat script by Michael McDowell (who collaborated with him before on an episode of the 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' television series) he found the ideal vehicle for his unique and strange imagination - and indeed, Burton's unique vision is more apparent here than in any of his movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas being the happy exception. Though it's true that it's not as personal a creation as 'Nightmare' or Edward Scissorhands, this is the movie that would place Burton on the map as a major director, and would earn him his breakthrough job - directing the first Batman feature film. It is on Beetlejuice that he would also start several long-time collaborations with actors who would work with him again in the future - Michael Keaton (Batman & Batman Returns), Winona Ryder (Edward Scissorhands), Jeffrey Jones (Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow), Glenn Shadix and Catherine O'Hara (both of whom did voiceovers for Nightmare Before Christmas).

So, again, while Beetlejuice isn't as deep and personal film as we would see in Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood or Big Fish, Beetlejuice is an incredibly imaginative and captivating film and is a perfect black comedy. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin are both more than adequate, but Michael Keaton in the title part is of course the real star of the show - although in reality his part is much smaller than those of Davis and Baldwin. Keaton is electric and mesmerizing as the bio-exorcist or 'the Ghost with the Most', Beetlejuice (spelled BETELGEUSE!), probably the greatest and most memorable performance of his career (with the possible exception of the part of Batman). Keaton really let loose in Beetlejuice, and he and Burton were seemingly having a blast - they created one of the most memorable horror and comedy characters on the big screen. Seventeen year old Winona is also terrific as Goth-girl Lydia, fascinated and repulsed by Betelgeuse's extreme personality. Similarities between her character here and the one in Edward Scissorhands are easy to find, but for my money her performance as Lydia is the better one.

And in conclusion, if there's any movie that I'd recommend to own on VCR or DVD, it's Beetlejuice; because Burton at his best made films that are well rewarding in repeated viewing, and Beetlejuice is Burton at his very, very best, even if it's not his best film. So even if it's not an essential masterpiece like Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice is one of the classic cult films of all time, and I can't imagine going through life without it - that is, if you have the tiniest bit of a sense of fun and humor.

I can't see why so many people liked this movie. I think it stinks. It has no script, Burton's story telling is lost in bad effects and cheesy dialoge and Keaton gets to act like a goofball. These two were no way the right ones to make Batman.

This is one of my most favorite movies. I'm ashamed at my self. Because it took me so long to finally get it on DVD. This is truly one of the most funniest movies about being dead.
Barbara and Adam, are a young couple who die in an accident. Their house is bought by another couple whom they have nothing in common with.
But when Barbara and Adam start to like the father's daughter Lydia. They start to question wither or not scaring the family off, is really what they want.

Tim Burton had come off the blockbuster success of his first feature film PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE (1985) when he was greenlighted by Warner Bros. to direct the project he REALLY wanted to make. It was the picture that would define the rest of his career to this day: the supernaturally weird black comedy (and weirdly-titled) BEETLEJUICE (1988). It was so unique, so strange to me that I didn't know what to make of it when I first saw it on video in 1989. I remember from that first time liking parts of it, but not liking the picture as a whole. The movie was so frenetic, so odd in its mixture of Goth Horror, Comedy, gruesome visual effects (I'm still kind of amazed that it got a PG rating instead of PG-13) and cartoonish slapstick that I really didn't know what to make if it. Well, now that I've seen it at least a half-dozen times since (three of them in the past year alone), I can say that it has held up better than many of the most popular 80's films (TOP GUN, etc) and has become a classic all unto itself.

With BEETLEJUICE, Tim Burton showed not only that he could direct effective comedy and illicit inspired performances from his actors, but also bring a true artist's touch to the big screen. Of course, the film won the Oscar for Best Makeup (as if there was any real question about it), but I also think that it should have also been at least nominated for Visual Effects and Art Direction, as those truly mesmerizing aspects all come together to create a product that is so unique. Not only that, but this film helped make the careers of several actors who would go on to major success soon after.

Two of those actors are Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, as the ill-fated newlyweds Adam and Barbara Maitland who, after buying a big Victorian dream house at the film's outset, die in a bizarre car accident soon after. Slowly realizing that they've passed on to the next world, they don't want to give up their house to the pathetically bourgeois Charles & Delia Deetz (Jeffrey Jones & Catherine O'Hara), who along with their chubby, effete chauffeur Otho (Glenn Shadix) have already moved in, and inspire true disgust in the newly-dead couple. However, they seem to have an ally in the older couple's death-obsessed Goth daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) see an afterlife advertisement for a "Bio-Exorcist" named Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) and decide that their only hope in driving out the destestable Charles, Delia, and Otho is in using the wild, unpredictable Betelgeuse. Of course, good ol' Betelgeuse will gladly provide his unique brand of service, but at a very high price.

Alec Baldwin & Geena Davis fill their roles very well. The ironic thing is that this was the first film I'd ever seen Alec Baldwin in, so my first impression of him as the nerdy, good-natured Adam ended up being turned around by 180 degrees by the psychotic, tough-guy roles that would define the rest of his career. That turnabout came pretty quickly, actually, as the very next film I would see him in was MARRIED TO THE MOB (1988), in which he was a mobster unbeknownst to his wife who gets offed early on, but it was his psychotic turn in the extremely quirky and violent MIAMI BLUES (1989) that really shocked me and made me realize that Alec really had some range to him (unfortunately, he would be end up being typecast as psychos for the rest of his career). However, Geena Davis, herself at the cusp of stardom (and Oscar acclaim) is playing pretty much the quirky kind of character that would eventually define her career. In fact, it was just the following year that she would win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for playing the truly quirky and inspired Muriel Pritchett in the otherwise uninspired THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST (1989). This film, of course, also boosted the career of the now-infamous Winona Ryder, who quickly became the hot new "it" girl in the late 80's with this movie and with others soon to follow: 1969 (1988), HEATHERS (1989), GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! (also 1989), EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990, and another Tim Burton film) and MERMAIDS (also 1990). Of course, former AMADEUS (1984) emperor and FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF (1986) principal Jeffrey Jones, now infamous for his own reasons, is also terrific here, as is former "SC-TV" alumnus Catherine O'Hara. We also get a welcome supporting performance from the great old character actress, Sylvia Sidney, as the chain-smoking receptionist Juno!

But it was Michael Keaton, who was already an up-and-coming comedic actor known for quirky hit comedies such as the Ron Howard-directed NIGHT SHIFT (1982), MR. MOM (1983), JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY (1984) and GUNG HO (1986), who really stole the show and hit paydirt in the process. He would immediately be elevated to "A" list status with his truly brilliant, maniacal and hilarious performance as the titular Betelgeuse, going immediately on to bigger & better things with Tim Burton himself, starring soon after as BATMAN (1989)! It's funny; I think that in 1988, Keaton was robbed of Oscar nominations not only for this truly unique comedic role, but for also his surprising dramatic turn as a recovering alcoholic in CLEAN AND SOBER. It just shows that, for whatever reason, comedians just don't get recognized enough for their acting ability.

BEETLEJUICE is a lot of fun. It looks like it must have been a lot of fun to make. Despite the liberal PG rating, I would recommend it only for ages 9 & up, as the humor is quite adult and the rather gruesome visuals are likely to give any young child nightmares. It is still a truly unique movie with incredible special effects, and it still makes me laugh to this day. Oddly enough, whenever I see it, it makes me that much less afraid to die!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED