Sleepy Hollow

Video:

"Sleepy Hollow" is a visual film, as most Tim Burton films are. The director has an eye for visuals and a special knack for creepy and spooky. Much of "Sleepy Hollow" happens either in night or under a gray haze. The sun isn´t much welcome in this picture and bright colors stay clear as well. Yes, there are very orange jack-o-lanterns and very red blood, but much of the film features dark and subdued colors to help with the creepy quotient for visuals. The sets are stupendous and perfectly accentuate the story. A Tim Burton film is typically as much fun to watch for the look and feel of the film as it is to enjoy for the story. "Sleepy Hollow" is no exception to this rule and this is about as good as any Halloween film will every look.

The costumes and sets are amazing. The town lacks that ´authentic´ feel as period-related films "The Village" or even "The Patriot," but you can easily believe that the town of Sleepy Hollow exists in the very same universe as "Beetlejuice" or "Tim Burton´s The Nightmare Before Christmas." The buildings, props, horses and costumes look authentic enough, but they are stylized with enough creepiness to be very much at home in a town that is under siege by a supernatural horseman who has nothing better to do than chop off a couple of heads.

Presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and mastered at 1080p, "Sleepy Hollow" looks pretty good in HD-DVD. The film has a dark and morose visual appeal to it that does not translate to the most stunning images you´ll see in high definition, but compared to the standard DVD release, it is quite an improvement and aside from a few scenes that are slightly on the soft side, there are no complaints with the picture quality. I didn´t find this to be nearly as head-lopping stunning as "Sahara," but it was far better than "Tomb Raider." Shadow detail and black levels are very important to this picture and they fit right at home here. A few scenes do come across as soft, but one has to think that the camera filters, constant fog elements and other tricks of cinematography are at play here. The film is not intended to be perfectly sharp and well defined. It is to be hazy, dreamy and spooky. I would have liked for a bit more detail in the image, but I was more than satisfied with the transfer when it was compared with the older DVD release.

Audio:

Danny Elfman continues his long-standing partnership with Tim Burton and "Sleepy Hollow" fortunately, sounds extremely well. Paramount has shipped all of their first cinematic releases with English, French and Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and English DTS 5.1. The Dolby Digital Plus multi-channel surround mixes have thus far proven to be slightly superior to the DTS mix and this film is no exception. "Sleepy Hollow" is a great sounding film with a lively soundtrack that is not as aggressive as most action films, but is quite atmospheric and eerie. First of all, Elfman´s score is deliciously chilling. It perfectly fits the storyline and certainly adds emotion, fright and feeling to the scenes. Sound effects are also nicely done. The sword sounds very sharp as it cuts through a victims neck and the clanking of metal as the townsfolk attempt to fight back against the Horseman sound as if they are fighting in the same room as you. Bass is deep and pronounced throughout the film. Dialogue is very clear. "Sleepy Hollow" is not a film that is going to excite you for its technical merit, as the soundtrack is not that terribly aggressive. It will, however, give you a few good goosebumps.

Extras:

Paramount has done a commendable job thus far on HD-DVD when it comes to extras. At bare minimum, they have provided the same features found on the standard definition releases and as a small added bonus, the theatrical trailers and teaser trailers have been remastered in high definition. "Sleepy Hollow" is no exception and contains a decent amount of bonus materials to keep us Tim Burton fans more than content. First and certainly most important is the Commentary by Director Tim Burton. Burton has never offered much support in providing DVD supplements. He helped out a great deal on the "Tim Burton´s A Nightmare Before Christmas" CAV LaserDisc set, but that was about the end of his support until about the time this DVD was released. Mr. Burton comes across as one who loves filmmaking and has a lot to offer in the knowledge of filmmaking. From listening to his commentary, you get an appreciation for the deep layers he tries to weave into his films and you get a good insight into the making of "Sleepy Hollow." I´ll admit that the commentary was not the most upbeat and there were long silences, but Burton´s commentary is a must listen for fans.

In addition to the exquisite commentary, you get a thirty minute making of documentary, Behind Sleepy Hollow that comes right from the EPK cookie cutter, but I found it tremendously interesting. And again, I´m heavily biased. Tim Burton, Christopher Lee, Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp and a number of others offer their time for the on-screen interviews. There is a lively musical score and that voice that I hear on a third of all theatrical trailers is there (I really need to find out his name). Burton discusses the reasoning for making this film the way he did. I found it very interesting as they showed a great deal of footage on the making of the film. You get to see how different the finished product looked after post-production for a few scenes. Good stuff. Reflections on Sleepy Hollow is a little eleven minute featurette which has Tim Burton in some really odd eyeglasses and other members of the cast discussing more about the history of the story and his enjoyment of brining the story to the big screen. Aside from these two features, there is a high definition theatrical trailer and teaser.

Closing Comments:

I love the Tim Burton film "Sleepy Hollow," but I am biased and can´t see how somebody else would possibly not like the movie. I feel this is a wonderful adaptation of Washington Irving´s short story. It is a deep and modern retelling of the classic Halloween horror tale. Burton surrounded himself with a great cast and they all put forth solid performances for their director. The sets, costumes and props are wonderful and the film certainly has that "Tim Burton Look." The DVD features a nice image and good sound, though this is hardly a stand out technical title on the HD-DVD format. The number of supplements are a bit thin, but the commentary track is great. The making of feature is one of the better electronic press kit documentaries I´ve seen in a while. Other than a second smaller featurette and some trailers, the rest of the supplements are quite thin. The commentary is worth listening to and is the best bit of value-added content on the disc. This is a perfect film to watch with friends around Halloween. It is also a good film to watch any other time of the year, but Burton is the pumpkin king.

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