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Ed Wood

  • 1994
  • R
  • 2h 7m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
188K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,672
229
Patricia Arquette, Johnny Depp, Bill Murray, Jeffrey Jones, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Landau, Lisa Marie, and George 'The Animal' Steele in Ed Wood (1994)
Theatrical Trailer from Touchstone Pictures
Play trailer0:32
5 Videos
99+ Photos
Dark ComedyDocudramaPeriod DramaQuirky ComedyShowbiz DramaBiographyComedyDrama

Ambitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams despite his lack of talent.Ambitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams despite his lack of talent.Ambitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams despite his lack of talent.

  • Director
    • Tim Burton
  • Writers
    • Rudolph Grey
    • Scott Alexander
    • Larry Karaszewski
  • Stars
    • Johnny Depp
    • Martin Landau
    • Sarah Jessica Parker
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.8/10
    188K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    3,672
    229
    • Director
      • Tim Burton
    • Writers
      • Rudolph Grey
      • Scott Alexander
      • Larry Karaszewski
    • Stars
      • Johnny Depp
      • Martin Landau
      • Sarah Jessica Parker
    • 508User reviews
    • 120Critic reviews
    • 71Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 2 Oscars
      • 27 wins & 33 nominations total

    Videos5

    Ed Wood
    Trailer 0:32
    Ed Wood
    Cowboys! Detectives! Giant Bugs! B-Movie History!
    Clip 5:23
    Cowboys! Detectives! Giant Bugs! B-Movie History!
    Cowboys! Detectives! Giant Bugs! B-Movie History!
    Clip 5:23
    Cowboys! Detectives! Giant Bugs! B-Movie History!
    A Guide to the Films of Tim Burton
    Clip 2:11
    A Guide to the Films of Tim Burton
    Ed Wood
    Clip 1:28
    Ed Wood
    Ed Wood
    Clip 1:44
    Ed Wood

    Photos223

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    + 218
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    Top cast99+

    Edit
    Johnny Depp
    Johnny Depp
    • Ed Wood
    Martin Landau
    Martin Landau
    • Bela Lugosi
    Sarah Jessica Parker
    Sarah Jessica Parker
    • Dolores Fuller
    Patricia Arquette
    Patricia Arquette
    • Kathy O'Hara
    Jeffrey Jones
    Jeffrey Jones
    • Criswell
    G.D. Spradlin
    G.D. Spradlin
    • Reverend Lemon
    Vincent D'Onofrio
    Vincent D'Onofrio
    • Orson Welles
    Bill Murray
    Bill Murray
    • Bunny Breckinridge
    Mike Starr
    Mike Starr
    • Georgie Weiss
    Max Casella
    Max Casella
    • Paul Marco
    Brent Hinkley
    Brent Hinkley
    • Conrad Brooks
    Lisa Marie
    Lisa Marie
    • Vampira
    George 'The Animal' Steele
    George 'The Animal' Steele
    • Tor Johnson
    Juliet Landau
    Juliet Landau
    • Loretta King
    Clive Rosengren
    Clive Rosengren
    • Ed Reynolds
    Norman Alden
    Norman Alden
    • Cameraman Bill
    Leonard Termo
    Leonard Termo
    • Makeup Man Harry
    Ned Bellamy
    Ned Bellamy
    • Dr. Tom Mason
    • Director
      • Tim Burton
    • Writers
      • Rudolph Grey
      • Scott Alexander
      • Larry Karaszewski
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews508

    7.8188.2K
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    Featured reviews

    10axlgarland

    Nice to meet you Mr. Wood

    It is a well known fact by now that Johnny Depp is a subtle, tender, beautiful force of nature. Tim Burton has been able to create universes that Johnny Depp can inhabit with the strange naturalness of someone who belongs. "Ed Wood" is the ultimate demonstration of that theory. You're introduced to the world of someone who appears almost a figment of someone's imagination to realise that there is something of him in you and me. What is incredible is that the realisation comes hand in hand with a personal discovery. That funny weird kid represents more than something but the best of you and me. Angora sweaters and childish dreams. The purity of an artist with a talent that is concentrated in his heart. Remember the Salieri of "Amadeus" torturing himself cursing God for giving him the gift of recognising the talent in others without having any of his own. Ed Wood, as told by Burton and Depp, is so far away from that pathology that to watch his films after having met him with Johnny's face is an entirely different experience. Everything makes sense. Strangely enough (or not) "Ed Wood" died at the box office but as it happens more often than not, "Ed Wood" is more alive today than many of the greatest moneymakers of all time. Yes, that business of time never fails. Greatness prevails.
    9oshram-3

    The one he'll be remembered for

    It's sort of embarrassing to admit it took me ten years to see this film. I'm not really a big fan of Tim Burton, and while I never had anything against him, I've only recently started to enjoy Johnny Depp's work. Given the subject matter, this just wasn't a movie I was interested in for a long time. But sometimes good things really are worth the wait.

    Ed Wood, of course, chronicles the Hollywood career of its eponymous subject, truly one screwed up individual; a cross-dresser with a fetish for angora, Wood churned out one horrifically bad film after another, culminating with Plan Nine From Outer Space, before descending into crappy porn films toward the end of his life. It isn't necessarily a happy story, and Burton wisely only tells a small sliver of it, from Ed's first movie, Glen or Glenda, through the premiere of Plan Nine.

    But the love that Burton has for Wood and his movies shines through in every frame. Though I find Burton needlessly artsy as a director, here that tendency serves him frightfully well, as he manages to do the near-impossible; make a film about someone that plays like one of their films (the abysmal Dragon is a shining example of how NOT to do this). Shot entirely in black and white, we see all of Wood's weirdos not as they were, but rather as Ed probably saw them, through the bizarre filter he must have viewed life with.

    Depp is simply brilliant here, probably even better than he was in Pirates of the Caribbean. He captures Wood's enthusiasm and slanted viewpoint, but he does so in a loving, positive way. Wood accepts, as we must, that he was a screwed-up hack, but it never drags him down; in fact, Depp has him reveling in it, and it is that very passion that buoys up the movie. It doesn't hurt that nearly everyone else is very strong too, from Jeffrey Jones' crank 'psychic' Criswell to Bill Murray's Bunny Breckenridge, who often talks about having a sex change but never goes through with it. George 'The Animal' Steele captures Tor Johnson perfectly, and even Lisa Marie is excellent as Vampira. But the true great performance of the film, outshining even Depp, is Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi. He won the Oscar for this, and deservedly so; he presents Lugosi at the end of his life, a washed-up has been, a shell of a man who was once a great star but is now no more than an addict. Landau virtually disappears in the role, and all you get is Lugosi, every tragic inch of him. Again, we see him not only as he was, but how Wood and even Burton see him, and the effect is masterful. One speech in particular, where Lugosi repeats a speech that Wood wrote for him about once being the master of the world but now on the verge of coming back is particularly haunting, and Landau is simply riveting.

    Ed Wood is a rare beast – it's a Tim Burton film that doesn't go overboard, it's a movie about Hollywood (sort of) that isn't self-indulgent, it's a nostalgia trip that manages not to be sappy but is still very warm and caring, and overall it's just a strikingly well-done film. I was impressed on many levels, most particularly with Depp and Landau, but really with the whole movie, that such a truly screwed-up human being could be shown in such a positive, indeed, loving way. Ed Wood is nothing less than a tribute to its subject, and in that, as in many other ways, it succeeds marvelously. If somehow you've missed this film, as I had until recently, you owe it to yourself to see it. It's simply a wonderful piece of film-making that should not be missed.
    7CptPtnia

    Enjoyable, but not terribly accurate

    As a big fan of Ed Wood's work, (more specifically: as a BAD movie buff), I must say it is great to see Edward D Wood, Jr. get some recognition for his hard (bad) work.

    The movie has many inaccuracies, things such as the sequence of Wood's films, and other details of the movies. But in my mind the real life of Wood would not have made for a very good movie, so Tim Burton took some liberties. For a change this does not destroy a historical representation, but rather makes it easier to follow.

    Last of all, the cast was excellent. Johnny Depp is one of the finest character actors in Hollywood today, and he managed to bring a warmth to a man who was, in real life, deeply, deeply disturbed. Depp was surrounded by many other fine actors, and the cameos by some of Wood's real life friends were a delight!
    pkendell

    An Unlikely Masterpiece

    I hear that ED WOOD took just $6,000,000 on its initial cinematic release in the USA. I'm not surprised. The extraordinary thing is that the film was financed and released at all. Had it not been for the prestige that Tim Burton had already earned from his previous projects, ED WOOD would no doubt have foundered long before the cameras began to roll. The result could have been another 1941 – but it wasn't. What came out of Tim Burton's fascination with the `Worst Director of All Time' was something very rich and strange – perhaps the most un-Hollywood Hollywood picture of the 90s.

    I see two main themes in ED WOOD. The first is the dreadful fear that hovers over everyone who enters the creative arts – `Am I any good?' `Is my work any good?' `How do I know if it's any good?' `What if I think it's good, but everybody else thinks it's rubbish?' Artists use all kinds of strategies to deal with these fears – some become eccentric, others arrogant, others diffident. Without the right to fail, no artist is likely to take the sort of risk that sometimes, just sometimes, leads to great work. Tim Burton knew this.

    Edward D Wood Jnr believed himself to be a creative artist. Oh, how he believed. But he still failed to create anything worthwhile. And this leads to what I believe to be the second theme of the movie, and the reason why I think it failed commercially.

    Look at all the things Ed did right. He believed in himself. He followed his dream. He worked hard. He was an entrepreneur – he did his best to make others believe in his dream and help him to turn it into reality. In short, he did all the things that the self-help books, the daytime TV shows, the junk ballads and the feel-good movies tell us will give you success. Just wish upon a star, work all the hours there are to turn your vision into reality and you will succeed. Ed did all of these things. And still he failed. He died short of his 60th birthday, living in a crime-riddled apartment building, drunk, broke, supporting himself and his loyal wife Kathy by writing formula pornography and making sex instruction flicks on 8mm.

    America doesn't want to hear this. Hollywood doesn't want to tell America this – that you can try and try and try and still get nothing but heartbreak. This is why ED WOOD is such an un-Hollywood film – and why it's one of the best Hollywood films of the 90s.
    9editorbob

    More than merely a biography, or an homage

    I am a Johnny Depp fan, and this film only reinforced my enjoyment of his genuine talent. He's whatcha call a real actor. He's on record ("Inside the Actor's Studio" & elsewhere) as saying that his characterization of Wood was a mixture of "the blind optimism of Ronald Reagan, the enthusiasm of the Tin Man from 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939) and Casey Kasem." Well, I must add that either he left out channeling Jon Lovitz or that's where Lovitz got his inspiration, too. It is at moments positively eerie how well it works, and without feeling like Depp stole Lovitz's act--his overall character is so much more, so much else, that the Lovitz echo becomes a small part of a larger coherent whole, although it never disappears entirely.

    Sarah Jessica Parker and Patricia Arquette as the principal women in Wood's life are each endearing and effective in their own separate ways. Bill Murray is fun as always, and the secondary and bit players are very well cast.

    Martin Landau . . . well . . . Martin Landau simply left me awestruck. Depp is all over the screen doin' his best wacky movie guy and chewing the scenery, Parker, Arquette, Murray, and the rest are obviously having a real fun time backing him up, and Martin Landau is shuffling around in the foreground muttering in Romanian and writing a book called "How to Steal a Movie." Mind boggling performance, and absolutely deserving every award it got him in 1995, which included a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG Awards, and the American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. (Incidentally, his daughter Juliet, better known to millions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans as the vampire Drusilla, is one of the supporting players.)

    If I weren't already a Tim Burton fan this movie would have made me one. He here makes an almost perfectly crafted period piece (anachronisms noted--see the "goofs" page--and dismissed), half cheesy fake scifi B movie and half period noir thriller, as a cinematic biography about the quintessential cheesy fake noir scifi thriller B movie guy. This film goes beyond pastiche, and beyond homage to a genre, although it is both. With this film Burton genuflects--no, prostrates himself--before the gods of 1950s low-budget black and white, and the gods are pleased indeed. It seems like he must have watched every movie made in America for under a million dollars between 1948 and 1962. I lost count of the echoes and parodies and pastiches and mini-homages that fill, I think, every darn frame of the movie, and which by no means are mostly of Wood and his work.

    As with, I think, every movie biography, there's the odd gratuitous fact changing (see the "goofs" page again)--you know, the "Why'd they do that when the truth wouldn't make any difference?" kind of stuff, and as glowing as this review obviously is I must also say that it is in some ways an imperfect film--it glosses over Wood's later career, for example. But it it so obviously a labor of love and joy for all involved that in my opinion its imperfections are inconsequential. Ed Wood stands proudly, with that slightly odd gleam in its eye, with the best movie biographies made.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Unhappy with Vincent D'Onofrio's verbal impersonation of Orson Welles, Tim Burton had his voice dubbed by Maurice LaMarche.
    • Goofs
      According to those who knew him, Bela Lugosi never used profanity.
    • Quotes

      Orson Welles: Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else's dreams?

    • Crazy credits
      The movie ends with the simple line "Filmed in Hollywood, USA", the same way the real Edward D. Wood Jr. did it at the end of his movies.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: The River Wild/Jason's Lyric/Ed Wood/The Scout/Rapa Nui (1994)
    • Soundtracks
      Bunny Hop
      Written by Ray Anthony and Leonard Auletti

      Performed by John Keating

      Courtesy of Gateway Records

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    FAQ24

    • How long is Ed Wood?Powered by Alexa
    • Why did Ed Wood *really* change the name of Grave Robbers From Outer Space?
    • Is 'Ed Wood' based on a book?
    • What was the movie that Ed Wood was filming with Bela Lugosi when Lugosi died?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 7, 1994 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Kẻ Bất Tài
    • Filming locations
      • Hollywood United Methodist Church - North Campus - 4301 Cahuenga Blvd, Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Touchstone Pictures
      • Tim Burton Productions
      • DiNovi Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $18,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $5,887,457
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $71,566
      • Oct 2, 1994
    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,888,242
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 7 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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    Patricia Arquette, Johnny Depp, Bill Murray, Jeffrey Jones, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Landau, Lisa Marie, and George 'The Animal' Steele in Ed Wood (1994)
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