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I don’t know why, but the DVD release of Ed Wood was delayed several times. Finally it came out and I had to get it since I loved the film when it first came out. I think that it’s probably one of Tim Burton’s best films as it combines comedy and drama all within the context of a black and white film with (intentionally) bad acting. It’s a “B” movie that understands and loves the characters so well that it becomes more than what it appears to be on the surface. The heart of the movie is within the characters and the relationship between Wood and Bela Lugosi. Johnny Depp as Wood and Martin Landau as Lugosi move beyond caricature and create characters that we care about who are struggling to fit in and be themselves with a group of other people who just don’t fit in. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also moving at times and it helps move things along in a film that is over 2 hours long, but doesn’t feel it. With Ed Wood, Tim Burton gets the balance just right in how he slips drama within a “B” movie context. The DVD also features a loose “making-of” with much of that shot on black and white film. What I like about it is that it isn’t a smoothly polished marketing package, but a glimpse into the shooting of a few scenes. It looks like it was a lot of fun to make.
