Seriously, how is there not already a thread for this? Anyway, this is both one of the best movie musicals of the 80s and one of my favorites of all time. Everything just clicks and melds together into a perfect package. Laundry list!:
-Yeah, judging by my above statement, you're probably wondering what I think of the substantially revised ending. Well, I think it works great for the film. The movie is already a little sweeter and not quite as mean as the stage show (which I love too), so I think that pitch-black ending would've jarred tonally.
-Plus, we get the utterly awesome "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space" song as part of the new ending, and I wouldn't trade that for anything.
-Again, as much as I've enjoyed the stage productions I've seen of this, the film's cast is pretty much definitive for these roles in my eyes. Rick Moranis is Seymour embodied, Ellen Greene is the only Audrey for me, Vincent Gardenia is just the right mix of grandfatherly ruthlessness as Mushnik, Steve Martin is a powerhouse of energetic douchebaggery as Orin Scrivello DDS, Bill Murray nearly walks away with the movie, and the other cameos by John Candy, Christopher Guest, and Jim Belushi are also terrific.
-Additionally, Levi Stubbs is irreplaceable as the voice of Audrey II. There's so much energy and sneering villainy to his voice, and he belts out those songs like an absolute pro.
-Speaking of, that plant in its various forms is one of my favorite practical effects in all of film. It just looks, moves and feels so real. I know part of that effect for the largest puppets was that they sped up its movements by filming at half-speed, but I honestly can't tell. It moves so fast and fluidly, and there's no "giveaway" shots that the other actors are sped up as well. I often think the CGI backlash is incredibly overblown, but this creature could never, ever work in CGI the way it does here.
-What was so great about Howard Ashman and Alan Menken in their all-too-brief partnership was that they could mix styles of songs, even if the project had a unified musical theme. So here, we have a lot of 50s rock, pop and even Motown style songs, but we also get a couple of beautiful full-on Broadway numbers like "Suddenly Seymour" or "Somewhere That's Green".
-Ashman's clever, fast-paced lyrics serve as a precursor for what he could do for Disney in Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.
-I like that Frank Oz doesn't show off too much, but lets the story and actors guide his camera. The production design is a nice mixture of true grittiness and a real old-school, "big sets and lots of dancers" movie musical approach, and the comic timing and editing is perfection.
Any thoughts?
