Beetlejuice [Blu-ray] | Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis | ONE OF THE BEST GHOST STORIES I KNOW.....

Beetlejuice [Blu-ray] | Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis | "This is my art, and it's very dangerous!"

DVDs:

Beetlejuice [Blu-ray]

	Beetlejuice [Blu-ray] Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis WARNER HOME VIDEO, 2008 average customer review:based on 180 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Before making Batman, director Tim Burton and star Michael Keaton teamed up for this popular black comedy about a young couple (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) whose premature death leads them to a series of wildly bizarre afterlife exploits. As ghosts in their own New England home, they're faced with the challenge of scaring off the pretentious new owners (Catherine O'Hara and Jeffrey Jones), whose daughter (Winona Ryder) has an affinity for all things morbid. Keaton plays the mischievous Beetlejuice, a freelance "bio-exorcist" who's got an evil agenda behind his plot to help the young undead newlyweds. The film is a perfect vehicle for Burton's visual style and twisted imagination, with clever ideas and gags packed into every scene. Beetlejuice is also a showcase for Keaton, who tackles his title role with maniacal relish and a dark edge of menace. --Jeff Shannon

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ONE OF THE BEST GHOST STORIES I KNOW.....

Here is a movie that is top notch in a lot of ways. It's a great family movie. Some may not agree, but I say it is. Adults will understand it more but kids will love the colorful creatures, even though several aspects of the film will fly right over their heads. Tim Burton really hit the button here on his unique style of filmaking, and really never did it better, even with the number of great films he's waxed his style all over through the years.

The story starts with Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as "The Recently Deceased." They have to learn how to be ghosts, and it's not easy. That is why there is a department dedicated to helping their cause, however, it is as backed up as an inner city welfare office. This is why sleazy swindlers such as the title character come around, dedicated to taking advantage of their delicate situation.

When our ghosts discover that they have to share their small town dream home, with some living artsy-fart aristocrats, it's more then they can bare. SO, as most ghosts would do in this situation, they decide to scare the new tennants away. However, their obvious inexperience proves as a pitfall. Especially since these a*holes get a kick out of it, and start using them as party favors. Enter Michael Keaton as Beedle Geuss (He needs somebody to pronounce his name right). The couple, desperate, go against the wishes of the department and hire him, to give the new tennants a proper scare. Although they soon realize that they may have gotten in too far over their heads with this ghoul.

Lydia, played by Winonna Ryder, is the disillusioned daughter of the artsys and she somehow naturally communicates with the dead, and becomes a friend to the couple. Naturally she becomes the prime target for Beetlejuice also (If I was a sleazy ghoul, I would be all over her too!) and thats when things get ugly. But don't worry too much, because in the end everyone figures out how to compromise, and dance around the house to the tune of Shake Senora. The comedic icing of the whole demented cake.

This movie works just as well as a comedy, as it does a terrific ghost story. The effects are great, and a symbol to what made Tim Burton so cool early in his career (who can forget those claymation sand serpents?) The score is perfectly creepy, and this thing is just an all around great movie. Good stuff for the Halloween film fest peeps. I pull it out all the time!

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"This is my art, and it's very dangerous!"

Review of the Blu-Ray copy (5 stars out of 5)

The Good Things
*Has good video/sound quality. The picture is a bit grainy and fuzzy, but is clearer than the regular DVD. It has good color and some parts are sharp.
*Includes three episodes from the Beetlejuice cartoon show (brings back memories), a music-only track, and a trailer. It is a bummer that there aren't any more features, but this is still better than previous releases, which had practically nothing.
*Includes a CD sampler disc, containing six or so tracks. One of the songs is the "Bannana Boat Song" by Harry Belafonte. The others are pieces of the score by Danny Elfman.
*The movie is great. It is wild, zany, cartoonish, but never overly goofy or childish.
*Filming style and cameramanship is good.
*Production design is great. It is macabre (like any Tim Burton film), but also imaginative, funny, and sometimes really funky.
*Lots of great make-up effects and special effects.
*The characters are great and memorable. The acting is excellent all around. The writing is great, for there are lots of funny memorable lines.
*Excellent sound design.
*Excellent music.
*My copy came with a cool lenticular slipccover.

The Bad Things
*Special features are in standard definition.
*Don't know if I'd reccomend it to most young kids. Contains some morbid material (death, ghosts, monsters, etc) and some swearing (including one really bad swear word). Rated PG.
*I imagine that some people may be put off by the craziness.

I might be a bit biased, since I grew up watching this movie (and the cartoon show) relentlessly. Still, it really is great. The story is good, smart, well-written, and has an excellent cast of characters/actors. The dialogue is funny and memorable. Above all, it's highly imaginative, with its fantastic settings, costumes, special effects, and creature effects. Highly reccomended to anybody who is even remotely interested in Tim Burton or horror/comedies in general.

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Great Movie...But NOT Given DELUXE Treatment

Why oh why do studios stamp "Deluxe Edition" on movies and then provide nothing to make it worthy of that title?????? I absolutely LOVE the movie Beetlejuice, and just about anything else Tim Burton has done. The Blu-ray version of this movie looks and sounds better than any version I've seen before. The colors are sharp and the sound is greatly improved over other DVD iterations I have seen before. The movie comes with a nice slipcover featuring the cover art in lenticular motion. That's about the only really special feature you are going to get on this disc. With it being the 20th Anniv. of this film, I thought that surely something would have been included about the making of the film, but there is NOTHING. There is no commentary track, no making of doc., no interviews with the cast.......NOTHING. Oh you do get 3 episodes of the Beetlejuice cartoon.....yaawwwwnn and the original theatrical trailer. I'm not complaining too much, because I do love this movie, and it is worth the price just to see it in High Definition. It just ticks me off a little when studios stamp the "Deluxe Edition" on the cover, when there is nothing Deluxe about it.

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Tim Burton's imagination goes wild!

I'd have to say that this isn't really a top favorite from master filmmaker Tim Burton, but it's not at all horrible. It's a classic display of Burton's wild imagination and clever imagery. It's a great comedy, and it's not only Burton's directing that makes it a laughfest. Michael Keaton is perfect as Beetlejuice; I don't think no one else can equally play the character like he does. But it's too bad he only appears in the film in a total of ten minutes. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis shine as the deceased married couple, who want an eccentric family out of their perfect house. Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones, and Winona Ryder give nice performances, and Robert Goulet's cameo appearance is a treat.

Oh, and let's not forget Danny Elfman's music score. This is awe-inspiring pre-Batman stuff right here; the main theme is VERY catchy. Art direction and costume design are a plus. The only flaw I can find here is the dance sequence in the end of the film. It's pretty corny, and I find it very annoying. But overall, this is a fun film for the older crowd.

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Awesome movie, not very "deluxe" dvd

I must agree with the few people who complained that this dvd was lacking in special features and whatnot. However, if you have never seen the movie at all, or enjoyed the movie but do not already have a copy, it's still a good buy. It's a great movie, no matter how it's presented on the dvd, and you do get a few episodes of the cartoon as well. I watched Beetlejuice as a kid, both the movie and the cartoons, so I probably would've bought it even if it was a poorly recorded VHS :) In short, don't expect it to be "deluxe", but I definitely recommend buying it (unless you already have a standard version of it).

As for the movie itself, if you've never seen it, it's basically a ghost story that is purposely presented in a cheesy manner to be funny. If you're familiar with Tim Burton at all, you'll know he tends to stray from the norm. Don't expect to be scared; that's not what this movie is about. It's basically about a nice couple of ghosts who try to scare away the family who lives in their house, but the family isn't scared; in fact, they invite other people over and try to show off the ghosts - so the ghost couple hires a... rather disgusting guy to help them out, and things pretty much go downhill from there. Definitely and old 80s classic.

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