Sleepy Hollow : La Légende du cavalier sans tête

Enjoyable version about known Washington Irving's novel, titled ¨The legend of Sleepy Hollow¨. It concerns on Ichabod Crane(excellently personified by Johnny Depp). He's a N.Y. constable assigned to investigate brutal murders in a little town named Sleepy Hollow. Crane is housed by Balthus Van Tassel(Michael Gambon), whose beautiful daughter(Christina Ricci) falls in love for him. At the beginning Crane denies to believe that a rider without head committing the grisly killings, but he's early convinced when seeing the graphic evidence of his own hands. Meanwhile, wealthy authorities and rich proprietaries (Richard Griffiths,Ian McDiarmid,Michael Gough,Michael Gambon) from village reunite to planning and defending against the amazing beheaded creature.Finally, all it leads to an unexpected twist and breakthrough ending on what's happened before.

This is an agreeable and effective film, still has shock value from grisly killings .It's proceeded with a Burton style and containing colorful images and wonderful dreams with Burtonized narrative. The movie is plenty on suspense, thriller, grisly terror and sensationalistic set pieces horror when the decapitations take place. Wide use of gore and now famous decapitation , for those who like this kind of things. Casting frankly extraordinary with several famous actors and exceptional secondary cast and special cameos by Martin Landau and Christopher Lee .Glimmer cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki and sensational musical score by Danny Elffman, both are Burton's usual. The film is lavishly produced by Francis Ford Coppola-Zeotrope studios- and Kevin Yagher-famous makeup expert- .The motion picture is marvellously directed with visual style and fair-play by the great Tim Burton. Rating : Magnificent flick and better than average.

Tim Burton has brought this timeless classic to life! "Sleepy Hollow" is a very fine film, with horrific delights, a touch of romance, and witty humor. I was very impressed with the cinematography and the elaborate costumes in this film. Also, the music and sound effects complimented this frightening and legendary story of the murderous Headless Horseman. Overall, I believe this is an excellent film and will definitely be remembered as a landmark in the thriller/horror genre of film.

Tim Burton has done it again. It seems he can't really go wrong; especially when he's paired with Johnny Depp. Sleepy Hollow is the most visually stunning movie I have seen this year. The production is gorgeous in every way; the cinematography is hauntingly beautiful, the set design is incredible and the way Burton uses the color red to accentuate the lack of color and dreariness otherwise experienced in Sleepy Hollow is a visual treat. This movie is just absolutely beautiful to watch. The performances are flawless, I have to commend Burton for using such a great array of underappreciated character actors, such as Jeffrey Jones and Michael Gough.. and even poor little Casper Van Dien; the man just can't seem to get any respect (and he doesn't here either). Ricci is wonderful in a role totally against type, and Depp is refreshing as ever. Christopher Walken is just the coolest guy ever, and as the Headless Horseman he's even scarier than normal. The best thing, though, is Danny Elfman's music. Why on earth doesn't the man have an Oscar yet? What is going on?? He should at least get a nomination for this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collaboration between Tim Burton, Andrew Kevin Walker and Washington Irving. Combining such incredible talents as Mr. Burton and Mr. Walker proved quite the appropriate recipe for recreating the Irving classic. I have read may other comments about this movie and I find it very disturbing that most people either compare it to Star Wars: Phantom Menace or complain that it is too far removed from the original story.

For these people I have a few comments. First, the only connections and comparisons to Star Wars are the actor Ian McDiarmid and the actor/stuntman Ray Park. Beyond that there is nothing within this movie that comes remotely close to a comparison to Star Wars. In my opinion this movie was better than that box office behemoth. If *****had spent as much time on his script for ***, perhaps it would have been as intriguing as Sleepy Hollow. Next, for those who were not satisfied with the movie's departure from the Irving classic I have but one piece of advice: read the story again. Washington Irving was masterful at creating scenes and setting atmosphere but The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was a 20 page examination of the little village and the loves of Ichabod Crane (women, food, writings et al) The Horseman, though mentioned a handful of times, did not appear until the last couple pages and then it alluded to the idea that Brom Bones was the culprit, in disguise, to frighten the poor hero Ichabod.

There have been other writings and interpretations of the Sleepy Hollow story that focus more on the spectral form of the Headless Horseman. I believe this movie was done in the spirit of those other works and is among the best. It brings to life the setting of this little valley and attempts to recreate the feeling that Washington Irving described best in his story. It was indicated that Sleepy Hollow was a magical and dream like place, thus the name "Sleepy Hollow." In this little upstate valley the strangest things occur and such ghosts and goblins roam freely if only in the mind of the inhabitants. Tim Burton manages to capture that sensation and allows the audience to feel as if they stepped not into a theater, but another world.

Andrew Kevin Walker's workup and translation of the story also makes for a compelling movie. Allowing the changes for the movie adaptation were a sign of genius. Displacing the hero and introducing him to the Sleepy Hollow atmosphere along with the audience, enhanced the experience. Giving a clear background for the Horseman, which is only briefly provided in the original story, was also an improvement to the movie's story. Let's face it, if they had made a 105 minute movie that tried to replicate the original short story there would have been whole theaters full of "sleepy" patrons.

The acting was also superb giving a hand to Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci for fabulous performances. As for the rest of the cast? Fantastic. To see all of these wonderful actors in secondary roles was a treat. Starting with Christopher Lee as the chief magistrate in New York; Jeffrey Jones, Michael Gough, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson and even Casper Van Dien all did magnificent work.

Though the story lagged at moments, they were few and far between. The editing in the beginning was a bit choppy but ran more fluently after the 20-30 minute point. An excellent adaptation of a great story. This was definitely a movie that Burton was born to make.

Drawing from his Gothic roots (Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas) Burton has created a truly chilling horrific fantasy that keeps you guessing at every turn. The use of special effects is seemless and yet again, as in his other films, Burton excels at creating a whole look and feeling for the piece. He has managed to re-work the classic horror genre staying true to his own highly personal style and catering to post- Wes Craven cinema audiences' cynicism without taking itself too seriously a la Blair Witch. It is so refreshing to see the work of an art-house genius who hasn't let a big hollywood budget get to his head. Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci give charming performances as ever, as do rest of the assembled anglo-Brit. star-studded cast. They all look like they had a ball, as will you!