Review of Ed Wood (1994) by John P — 19 Nov 2013

Whether you admire or hate his work, you have to admit one thing about Ed Wood and that he had a pure passion in making movies. During my first day in Radio & Television class at Delta College, my teacher at the time Mr. Atwood said something that I will never forget. "There are many types of directors when it comes to making film and the lowest of the low are the Ed Wood types." From that moment on I had to find out who he was and what kind of movies he made. Sure enough I was in for quite the surprise when I saw his movies. Ed Wood had been labeled as the worst director of all time, but I think he was certainly the most eccentric. This guy was a rebel who made movies in Hollywood, but outside of the Hollywood making establishment. He independently produced his own movies, wrote, directed, and sometimes even starred in them. His methods were always making movies that were super fast and super cheap resulting in some of the worst movies ever made. I will admit that his movies are bad, and sometimes even bizarre, but they are not THE WORST movies of all time and believe me I have seen some pretty awful films that were a lot worse than his. Because of his work, future filmmakers have admired Ed Wood's work making him and his movies cult classics. So when I heard that one of his biggest fans, Tim Burton, decided to make a movie about him I had to see. Sadly I never got around to watching it until a couple of days ago. I can see why someone like Tim Burton would make a movie about Ed wood because he is an eccentric person as well who always liked making films about a rebel.

Tim Burton was the perfect choice to do a biopic on Ed Wood mostly because these two have a lot in common and that Burton understands Wood's work. The movie chronicles around making Glen or Glenda, Bride of the Monster, and Plan 9 from Outer Space. It showcases the struggles that he had to go through and his persistence to get these movies made despite the terrible odds against him. It is a perfect balance of how they make fun of him and celebrate him which balances the line between comedy and drama. Johnny Depp plays Ed Wood and is absolutely fantastic as being both funny and sympathetic. Martin Landau plays Bela Lugosi and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in this movie and it is rightfully so. He was absolutely flawless as the character and you start to forget that he isn't Bela Lugosi, but it is also out of character when he spews out curses. The production design was brilliant and the black & white is gorgeous. The opening movie begins with a lot of homages to Ed Wood's work with a creepy old house, to a cemetery that has the cast names are etched into cheap gravestones from Plan 9, and even stock footages of octopuses and flying saucers. It is one of the best opening scenes ever. The music in here is pretty well done capturing that 1950's theme. The movie scenes go to perfectly replicating the exact same scenes from the Ed Wood movies and it is affectionly done with perfect detail. It also has hauntingly great music motifs like every time they show a sad Lugosi scene you hear Swan Lake which was used in the opening of the original Dracula movie. Overall, this is an uplifting movie that makes you feel good in the end. However it may not be a perfect factual movie, but it is mostly true to Ed Wood and it is inspirational to anyone who wants to go into film making as their life's ambition. Not only do I give this a perfect five star rating, but I will declare that this is one of my Top Ten Movies of all time.