The Corpse Bride 4K
review by Bobby Blakey
After the success of A Nightmare Before Christmas Tim Burton looked to bring to life the hair-raising legend based on a 19th-century Russian folktale with Corpse Bride. This time bringing on Mike Johnson making his feature film debut and a great voice cast including Johnny Depp as Victor Van Dort and Helena Bonham Carter as Emily, the corpse bride, along with Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Jane Horrocks, Enn Reitel, Deep Roy, Danny Elfman, and Stephen Ballantyne.
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride follows a young man mistakenly weds a corpse while on a two-day trek to the village of his real bride-to-be. It is up to the groom's flesh-and-blood fiancée, who has been pining for the arrival of her intended, to face her wraith-like rival and make peace with her by promising to live her dreams for her and by vowing to remember her always. Only then are the living bride and groom free to proceed with their own wedding ceremony.
I know most people prefer A Nightmare Before Christmas and I love it as well, but I really prefer this film over it. The aesthetic of the film is vintage Tim Burton and brings a classic horror tone to a film that is still mostly family friendly while variables of the old Rankin Bass stop motion holiday specials. The shifting in grey tones in the real world to the bright colors of the underworld is such a brilliant shift from the norm and speaks volumes to the story bring told.
I know the music here isn’t always as catchy or memorable as Nightmare, but it serves its purpose here and still pulls you in. I think the story is more compelling and interesting leaning into the horror genre without needing to be a horror
film. Its period piece look and feel lends itself to a bigger scope to the tale itself with every detail on display. The film is beautiful and drab all at once giving it the tones needed for every element of the story and the characters’ journey.
Revisiting this film in glorious 4K reminded me how much I love this film, and it looks better than ever. The animation, color palettes and beautiful visuals are enhanced to perfection and make an already perfect film even better. This release not only enhances the film in 4K for the first time ever but also features new and old bonus content including featurettes and more.
Celebrate its 20th anniversary and return to the stop motion world of the macabre when Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride comes to 4K for the first time on September 23rd from Warner Bros Discovery Home Entertainment.