Edward Scissorhands (1990)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers (WGA):

Tim Burton (story) &
Caroline Thompson (story) ...

Release Date:

14 December 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

His scars run deep.

Plot:

An uncommonly gentle young man, who happens to have scissors for hands, falls in love with a beautiful teenage girl.

Plot Keywords:

Hand | Scissors | Inventor | Suburb | Love

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Johnny Depp	...	Edward Scissorhands
Winona Ryder	...	Kim
Dianne Wiest	...	Peg
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Jim
Kathy Baker	...	Joyce
Robert Oliveri	...	Kevin
Conchata Ferrell	...	Helen
Caroline Aaron	...	Marge
Dick Anthony Williams	...	Officer Allen
O-Lan Jones	...	Esmeralda
Vincent Price	...	The Inventor
Alan Arkin	...	Bill
Susan Blommaert	...	Tinka (as Susan J. Blommaert)
Linda Perri	...	Cissy (as Linda Perry)
John Davidson	...	Host-TV

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (analog 70 mm prints) | CDS (digital 70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints) | CDS (digital 35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Italy:T | Spain:T | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-10 (cut) (1991) (theater release) | Finland:K-11 (uncut) (2003) (DVD) | Finland:K-12 (cut) (1991) (video) | Ireland:PG | South Korea:12 | UK:12 (re-rating, uncut) (2007) | Brazil:Livre | Germany:6 (f) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | France:U | Israel:PG | Netherlands:MG6 | New Zealand:PG | Norway:10 (cut) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG (cut) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #30658)

Filming Locations:

Dade City, Florida, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Edward Scissorhands is Tim Burton's favourite of all his films.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Peg leaves Edward to answer the phone after she gives him the clothes, she (obviously) leaves the room. Just as she is about to walk back into the room, white cue tape placed right where Peg stands is visible.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Kim: Snuggle in, sweetie. It's cold out there.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in In the Director's Chair: The Man Who Invented Edward Scissorhands (1990) (TV)

Soundtrack:

WITH THESE HANDS

A Classic and Burton's Best

Edward Scissorhands is the magnum opus of Tim Burton's and Danny Elfman's career. Watching this film cross between the perky super-saturated parody of American suburbia to the gray toned shadowy images of Gothic horror come together so well, it's clear that the director had the entire movie plotted out in his mind far before the first scene was shot. If this script was given to another director who didn't absolutely understand it the way Burton did, it could've been a miserable failure.

The lowdown on the film is that Edward is a biological human (not a robot), but his inventor, Vincent Price, died before finishing him, so he's stuck with these razor sharp scissors for hands (not quite human). Little scenes, like the brief flashback to where Edward is sitting on a table legless, listening contently to his inventor read a verse of poetry, is such a stark take on the inventor-creature/father-son relationship, nothing similar has ever appeared in another movie. He lives in the place where he was born, a mansion on a hill, until an Avon lady goes to sell some cosmetics. She discoverers Edward and decides to pull him down into the world he was secluded from.

And what a harsh world it is.

Edward is branded as a 'freak' because he doesn't fit in, simply because he doesn't have real hands. He falls in love but isn't sure if he can experience it because he's different. Everything he does is practically ruined because he can't experience life when everything he touches is sliced into pieces. It's somewhat like a modern Frankenstein, but with Danny Elfman's haunting melodies replacing Victor's curses to the heavens, it's more keen on using subtlety.

This is a classic because Edward just wants to fit in, which is exactly what we all want in life. There's a piece of Edward inside all of us, and we can feel Edward's pain as he struggles to fit in. This is a funny story, with Edward pruning hedges into T-Rexs, turning Husky dogs into poodles, and trimming flat and frizzy hair into works of art. This is a sad story, with Edward experiencing the death of his creator, the pain he's caused to everyone he's ever accidentally cut, and the way he won't be accepted into society. This is a story about love, and the hate that can consume it.