The Nightmare Before Christmas [Blu-ray] + Digital Copy

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1. Anniqa Bucheger

   October 13, 2010 at 10:25 pm

   Review by Anniqa Bucheger for The Nightmare Before Christmas [Blu-ray] + Digital Copy
   Rating:
   It’s “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas,” of course. It was the movie that made the record of the first stop motion animated film. The story is of a character who has never heard of Christmas before and somehow “discovers” it. I think it is always worth view, unless your one of those… individuals who doesn’t appreciate Tim Burton’s “dark humor.” The story is of Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon), the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, but lately, he’s pretty much grown tired of the same old tricks and treats, deep in lamentation. (Hence the name of the song, “Jack’s Lament.”) One night, while he’s wandering around in a forest, head filled with his thoughts of misery and woe, he finds a clearing where every tree is decorated with some holiday symbol. They all seem to interest him, but what fascinates Jack the most is none other than the Christmas tree. Danny Elfman, who provides Jack’s gorgeous singing voice, is a master with “Nightmare’s” music and songs. Who wouldn’t mind going out on Halloween night, singing “This is Halloween” at the top of their lungs? (That’s what my friends and I did last Halloween.) Anyway, you have ten songs to choose from. The cast of characters is awesome too. Sally (Catherine O’Hara) is sweet and sensitive and is always willing to help Jack, even it means literally risking an arm and a leg. Lock, Shock, and Barrel (Paul Rubeuns, Catherine O’Hara, and Danny Elfman) help make up “Nightmare’s” interesting plot. Without this terrible threesome, Santa Claus (Ed Ivory) would have no place in the story. Now, every movie needs a villain, and who would be better than the notorious Oogie Boogie (Ken Page)? Overall, I think this movie deserves all five stars. One for animation, one for music, one for charcters, one for the story, and one for everone who pitched in and worked on this movie for three years.

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2. Anonymous

   October 13, 2010 at 8:43 pm

   Review by for The Nightmare Before Christmas [Blu-ray] + Digital Copy
   Rating:
   This is my favorite animated film and in my opinion the best to come out of the Burton/Elfman team. The plot is… well… “different”: The denizens of Halloween Town kidnap Santa Claus and have their way with Christmas. i.e. make a complete mess out of it. The visuals are spectacular (if a little dark) and the music and songs are wonderful and fit right in with the action. Regarding the “family appeal” of this movie: just keep in mind that this is a Tim Burton creation (Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow) and therefore it is dark, a little scary and the humor is on the sarcastic side. Oh, and if you absolutely can’t stand musicals, then this movie will either make you a believer (like it did to me) or will put you off.About the DVD edition: I’ve seen this movie in the theater, on TV, on VHS and now on DVD and I must say that the DVD edition had the best sound quality. They could have included some bonuses (a “the making of…” type of feature is really missing) but the excellent sound and decent picture quality was good enough for me.Go ahead and give it a try, especially if you’re a Burton/Elfman fan!

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3. J. Michael Click

   October 13, 2010 at 8:22 pm

   Review by J. Michael Click for The Nightmare Before Christmas [Blu-ray] + Digital Copy
   Rating:
   If you think the best movies are the ones that show you a world you’ve never envisioned before, then you will LOVE Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. A benchmark in stop-motion animation, this incredibly difficult-to-make film (24 individually posed frames were needed to produce ONE SECONDS’s worth of action) is a masterpiece of art direction, set design, and good old-fashioned storytelling. The plot revolves around Jack, the Pumpkin King of Halloween, and his attempt to run Christmas in place of Santa Claus. “Sleigh” becomes confused with “slay”; “stockings” become “stalkings”; and spirits go from joyous to ghostly as the two holidays clash together like oil and water, or fire and ice. One of the great surprises of the movie is that although it dances around material that could easily careen into cynicism, it remains refreshingly sweet and light throughout. Which is not to say that some of the comedy isn’t a little dark and perhaps geared more towards older children and adults; for example, the brief scene in which a python puppet is shown swallowing a Christmas tree whole is hysterically funny, but not especially appropriate for the very young.The special edition DVD is unquestionably the version of this classic to buy. Included are a wealth of extras: the teaser and theatrical trailers; a documentary on “The Making of …”; deleted scenes and storyboards, etc, etc. The best bonuses are two short films by Burton: “Vincent”, a poetic tribute to the magnificent Vincent Price, narrated by the subject himself; and “Frankenweenie”, a canine send-up of “Frankenstein”, starring Shelley Duvall, Daniel Stern, and a cast of talented character actors. This DVD is one that you can spend HOURS exploring happily! Highly recommended as both a Halloween and Christmas treat.

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