Is your favorite Tim Burton movie on our list?
You can use many different words to describe the prolific director Tim Burton. A creative titan in the film industry, Burton’s movies continue to defy traditional genre classifications. Whether overseeing production on animated dark fantasy films, neo-noir superhero stories, or Hammer Horror-esque period slashers, Burton consistently infuses his signature gothic imagination into each and every one of his movies.
With the release of Burton’s long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, we thought we’d take a look back at the filmmaker’s impressive career thus far, ranking his seven greatest movies in order from worst to best.
After dabbling in stop-motion animation with The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, Burton set out to direct his first full-length animated film with 2005’s Corpse Bride. A dark fantasy film aimed at older and younger audience members alike, Corpse Bride made for a suitably memorable addition to Burton’s body of work. Partnering with his usual collaborators Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and composer Danny Elfman, Corpse Bride’s original premise and astounding visuals continue to capture audiences’ hearts and minds nearly two decades later.
In contrast to Burton’s fantastical genre pieces, Ed Wood saw the director attempt his first out-and-out biographical drama. Even then, Burton still manages to draw on his appreciable knowledge for vintage horror and kitschier science fiction into this 1994 character study. Employing period accurate black-and-white visuals and plenty of nods to pre-existing horror movies, Ed Wood brilliantly highlights the personal highs and crippling lows in its lead character’s infamously underwhelming career.
The feature-length debut for the young Tim Burton, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure made for the ideal vehicle for Burton to introduce himself to mainstream audiences in the mid 1980s. A quirky and off-beat road comedy, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure also helped its title character make the successful transition from television to film. A cult classic comedy as wildly adored today as it was in 1985, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure might not bear a strong resemblance to Burton’s other macabre projects, but it’s every bit as enjoyable as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, or Sweeney Todd.
Over 30 years later and we’ve yet to see a superhero film quite like 1989’s Batman. Quite possibly the most original depiction of Gotham City and its dark brooding protector we’ve seen to date, Batman perfectly captured the look and spirit of DC’s initial Batman comics, right down to its gothic imagery and the darker undertones of its main characters. Distancing itself from the cartoonish atmosphere of the Adam West Batman series, ‘89’s Batman helped set the tone for practically every Batman film and TV show that came after.
As most of his fans can readily admit, Tim Burton has always maintained a long-held interest in horror, as evidenced by the visual style and idiosyncratic main narratives of his various movies. While Burton always tempered his love for horror with family-friendly films like Edward Scissorhands or Beetlejuice, Sweeney Todd saw the director embrace the genre in a more wholehearted manner. A bone-chilling adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s award-winning musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’s faithful adherence to its source material won the movie unparalleled praise in 2007, with many critics citing it among the greatest musicals of the 21st century.
Humorously subverting the age-old idea of a haunted house infested with meddlesome spirits, Beetlejuice established so many aspects of Burton’s larger artistic vision. Between its bizarre visuals, ordinary rural settings, and liberal reliance on stop-motion animation, Beetlejuice made for an incredibly satisfying comedy film – one that seamlessly blended comedy, horror, and fantasy into a delightfully fun cinematic combination.
It says volumes that Tim Burton himself considers Edward Scissorhands to be the best film he’s ever worked on. A touching and modern take on the traditional Frankenstein narrative, Edward Scissorhands bears all the signature characteristics one associates with a classic Tim Burton film. From Danny Elfman’s luminous score to Johnny Depp’s daring performance, there’s little reason to wonder why Edward Scissorhands remains the most cherished entry in Burton’s feature-length career.
