Tim Burton's Theatrically Released Movies, Ranked Worst to Best
Whether you love him or hate him, Tim Burton has maintained the reputation of defining an entire reputation with his dark imagination. His films may not be the best ever made, but they are certainly iconic. If you just pulled out a single freeze-frame from one of his movies, you'd immediately know whether it was from Beetlejuice or Mars Attacks or Edward Scissorhands. Yet the thing with Burton is, with all his movies that pick up media attention, he has made several others that miss the public radar, which in particular I would bring attention to in this ranking.
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- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppMartin LandauSarah Jessica ParkerAmbitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams despite his lack of talent.Quality Grade: A-
This is the only time a movie by Burton has won an Oscar for acting (Martin Landau), but to be honest, I feel that besides its other win for Best Makeup, Ed Wood deserved more wins and nominations, including Best Motion Picture of 1994. The luscious combination of 1950's genres including horror and film noir brings this unbelievably true (and funny) story of history's worst Hollywood director to life in the most believable of ways. It actually aggravates me how underrated and unknown Ed Wood is. So by all means, please check this one out! - DirectorTim BurtonStarsEwan McGregorAlbert FinneyBilly CrudupA frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.Quality Grade: B
Tim Burton's most personal film, Big Fish gives a rare experience of closeness for families all around. The telling of the strange stories give a wonderful entrance into the mind of another, giving us the mystery of, "so what really happened?" The strangeness of the stories are a little discomforting at times, and the self-seeking story of the main character sets a poor example to viewers, but the sweet flavor like read about in fairy tales is sure to please. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppWinona RyderDianne WiestThe solitary life of an artificial man - who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands - is upended when he is taken in by a suburban family.Quality Grade: B
It's a stupid concept, I know. If a scientist wanted to create a human being, why give him scissors for hands in the process? But guess what? Tim Burton has proved to us in one of his earliest projects how adept he is at taking a stupid concept and winning us over with it. Edward Scissorhands is sad, it's lonely, it's beautiful, it's lovely in design, and the telling of the story from a grandmother to her granddaughter is the ultimate touch. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppHelena Bonham CarterAlan RickmanThe legendary tale of a barber who returns from wrongful imprisonment to 1840s London, bent on revenge for the rape and death of his wife, and resumes his trade while forming a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett.Quality Grade: B-
Seriously, why doesn't Tim Burton just stick with the R-rated material? I believe that Sweeney Todd proves how that really is his forte. The songs in this film are not that good and the overall feel is not as huge as a musical could be, but the dark, cold look of the world is hauntingly disturbing to look at, especially when the title character goes through his blood-splatter fest of killings for his lover's infamous meat pies. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsMichael KeatonJack NicholsonKim BasingerThe Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.Quality Grade: B-
It looks just like the old Batman serials of the 1940s, feels just like an LA Thriller, and reads just like an old comic strip. There are shadows everywhere to intensify the hand combat between criminal and vigilante, and mist always appears whenever said vigilante is lurking in the darkness. I don't care how much the superhero genre has changed, this movie was, is, and will always be the defining image of Batman. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsAmy AdamsChristoph WaltzDanny HustonA drama about the awakening of painter Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.Quality Grade: B-
Okay, I just cannot stand the two leads in Big Eyes: Waltz gradually acts more and more forcefully as the events go on, and Amy Adams will not leave much of any impression on you. But it also uses nice vivid colors to paint the portrait of the late 50’s/early 60’s, as true to the authority critics had over the public’s taste at the time, as well as the struggling authority women had over men. - DirectorTim BurtonMike JohnsonStarsJohnny DeppHelena Bonham CarterEmily WatsonWhen a shy groom practices his wedding vows in the inadvertent presence of a deceased young woman, she rises from the grave assuming he has married her.Quality Grade: C+
Try not to let the painful death puns, plot conveniences, or non-melodic songs bother you. Corpse Bride tells its unique story with such a vivid, abstract aura of poetry, complete with an upbeat band of skeletons that show the best of what stop-motion animation can do. It's also worth noting the 911 parallels that this film has in the way the deceased are fantasized to come back from the grave to reunite with their loved ones. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsWinona RyderCatherine O'HaraMartin ShortWhen a boy's beloved dog passes away suddenly, he attempts to bring the animal back to life through a powerful science experiment.Quality Grade: C
Probably the most personal of Tim Burton's feature films, this remake of his first ever short film starts off great with a boy-dog relationship that reminds me of my youth. It's also wonderful to see the stop-motion recreation of the 1950's as seen through the cheesy B-movies at the time. I just don't think though that it does enough with the concept, and many of the supporting characters are pretty offensive stereotypes. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppFreddie HighmoreDavid KellyCharlie, a young boy from an impoverished family, and four other kids win a tour of an amazing chocolate factory run by an imaginative chocolatier, Willy Wonka, and his staff of Oompa-Loompas.Quality Grade: C
This is a great big visual step forward from the 1971 classic with Gene Wilder, and adds much needed depth to Willy Wonka's character necessary to this retelling. But otherwise, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is not even close to as touching or funny as it's trying to be. Oh, and Johnny Depp has turned Wonka into such a jerk whose attempts at being witty or charming are doing more harm than good. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppChristina RicciMiranda RichardsonIchabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people; the culprit is legendary apparition The Headless Horseman.Quality Grade: C
Yes, I know, Christopher Walken looks stupid in that horseman makeup. But this underrated Halloween-time feature proves how much power Burton has over the R-rating, making each decapitation chilling and graphic. With its spooky atmosphere created by striking lights and desaturated shadows, it is relatively easy to forgive its ridiculous climax of predictable plot turns and captain obvious dialogue. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsPaul ReubensElizabeth DailyMark HoltonWhen eccentric man-child Pee-wee Herman gets his beloved bike stolen in broad daylight, he sets out across the U.S. on the adventure of his life.Quality Grade: C-
Paul Reubens creates one of the most wild and absurd man-children to ever get the Hollywood treatment after life on television. What makes this feature so surprisingly hilarious is not just the unbelievable strides he's willing to take to get his stolen bike back, but the insane episodes he winds up into. Although it is slightly annoying with its spontaneous visual gags, and clearly not for everyone. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsAlec BaldwinGeena DavisMichael KeatonThe spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out.Quality Grade: D+
There are plenty of twistedly creepy stop-motion effects backed up with fun depictions of people in their death-state. But I hate to admit that I am not much of a fan of Michael Keaton's performance as the title character. He's just too fast-paced and loud for my tastes, but his personality at least fits in with the high-energy climax of quick-change costumes and bizarre imagery. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsEva GreenAsa ButterfieldSamuel L. JacksonWhen Jacob (Asa Butterfield) discovers clues to a mystery that stretches across time, he finds Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. But the danger deepens after he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers.Quality Grade: D+
It's too scary for kids, yet too boring for teens and adults, so Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children may never find its audience. While it does have a chilling atmosphere and beautiful cinematography to boot, there is little else about this formulaic, poorly acted adaptation of the Ransom Riggs novel to resonate longer than one week past its release date. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsMichael KeatonDanny DeVitoMichelle PfeifferWhile Batman deals with a deformed man calling himself the Penguin wreaking havoc across Gotham with the help of a cruel businessman, a female employee of the latter becomes the Catwoman with her own vendetta.Quality Grade: D+
I find this sequel to the 1989 hit way to "goth" for Batman. That is, I can't even call this movie "Batman" returns, as the villains have way more screen time than the dark knight does! Which is a shame, because Christopher Walken as Max Shreck is not trying hard enough and Danny DeVito as Penguin is trying way too hard. But Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman is comparatively strong in character, she deserves her own movie (that is, without Halle Berry). - DirectorTim BurtonStarsJack NicholsonPierce BrosnanSarah Jessica ParkerEarth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.Quality Grade: D
It's a horribly structured ripoff of every alien invasion movie ever, the CGI is pasted in like a bad Photoshop project, the color scheme clashes with itself, it looks more like a cheap toy commercial than a motion picture, and you know what? It's still unmissable. Mars Attacks is simply so over-the-top stupid that it's impossible not to burst out laughing from the terrible look of it all. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsMia WasikowskaJohnny DeppHelena Bonham CarterNineteen-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.Quality Grade: D
Okay fine, so maybe it did deserve its Oscar wins for production and costume design. But you know what? Everything else about Alice in Wonderland is insufferably predictable and straight-up disrespectful to its intentionally nonsensical source material. Instead of the wonderful fantasy people came to love, what this gives us instead is a lazy Lord of the Rings/Narnia fan-fiction with some of the most agitating performances you'll see this decade. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppMichelle PfeifferEva GreenAn imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.Quality Grade: D-
Yet another painfully unnecessary remake by the Big Burt, Dark Shadows has a fun recreation of the 1970's, but not much else. A majority of this film's tonally inconsistent run time is crammed with expositiony dialogue and a lack of any fun within its interesting concept. There is so little enjoyment to be found here, especially when an uncomfortable adult-rated romance comes out of nowhere. - DirectorTim BurtonStarsMark WahlbergHelena Bonham CarterTim RothIn 2029, an Air Force astronaut crash-lands on a mysterious planet where evolved, talking apes dominate a race of primitive humans.Quality Grade: F+
Good grief. How can an unexciting remake filled with uncomfortable bestiality, bored actors, ugly set pieces, and forced plot twists possibly pass as acceptable compared to the original? Well, the ape makeup is a definite step forward from the pathetic prosthetics of the 1968 film, but anything beyond that is a stretch. I seriously have no idea what fantasies were racing through Burton's head when he agreed to take this on.