Photo: Sunset Boulevard / Contributor (Getty Images)
Tim Burton has been called a “master of the macabre,” a genius, and an innovator. He has also been called crazy, overrated, and too dark. He has been called many things throughout his 30-year-plus career, but there’s no denying the influence he has had on modern cinema.
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When Burton first burst onto the scene with films like Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, and, of course, Batman, fans took notice. Tim Burton films became a genre unto themselves and that genre consisted of films that were full of bizarre imagination.
Whether they’re superhero films, remakes of beloved classics, or whatever the heck Frankenweenie was, Tim Burton Films are some of the most creative, awe-inspiring movies ever to be shown on a big screen. We’ve got all that and more so put on your best black turtleneck, turn on some Elfman scores, and kick back as we rank the best Tim Burton films of all time.
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Tim Burton, Ranked
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19. 'Dark Shadows' (2012)
Tim Burton movies tend to be really good or really bad, like, so bad you want to fight him.
Dark Shadows, unfortunately, is a bad Tim Burton movie. Based on the hit soap opera of the same name, Dark Shadows was a dream project for star Johnny Depp, who actually had to convince Burton to make the movie, which should have been the first sign that it didn't need to be made.
Photo: Warner Bros
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18. 'Alice in Wonderland' (2010)
Speaking of not very good movies, Alice in Wonderland is the perfect example of one. It shows how important story is to a film. Despite the stunning visuals one would expect from a Tim Burton film, it just doesn’t have much to say. The grownup Alice in the film has no memory of her previous adventures; coincidentally, everybody who saw this film wished they’d lose their memories, too.
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures
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17. 'Planet of the Apes' (2001)
Remember when Tim Burton tried to remake the Planet of the Apes franchise years before Matt Reeves actually did so successfully? It’s OK if you don’t. We wouldn’t have remembered it either, if it weren’t for the fact that the ending of the film makes us gag.
In Tim Burton’s version, Mark Wahlberg "returns" to Earth to discover that it has been taken over by the evil apes. It’s dumb. Burton himself said he wasn’t quite sure what the ending meant, he just wanted to leave it ambiguous for a sequel. Thankfully, it was a sequel that never came.
Photo: Warner Bros
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16. 'Corpse Bride' (2005)
Corpse Bride seemed to be Tim Burton’s answer to the question “Why didn’t he just direct Nightmare Before Christmas?” Corpse Bride sounded much better in theory. While the animation was good, the story lacked a very specific something that Nightmare Before Christmas had. We don’t know what that was, but Corpse Bride didn’t have it.
Photo: Tim Burton Productions
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15. 'Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children' (2016)
Tim Burton doesn't make good movies for kids. Case in point: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Adapted from the novel of the same name, Peregrine is about Jake, a boy who happens upon a magical place called Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
Basically, this is like Harry Potter with a Tim Burton twist. It’s all about finding beauty in your peculiarities, which we can get behind. But there's only so many adaptations of weird children’s books we can handle.
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox
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14. 'Frankenweenie' (2012)
Frankenweenie is pretty much an animated Pet Sematary, but we love it. The animation is excellent and the film has a lot of heart.
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures
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13. 'Big Eyes' (2014)
Based on a truly infuriating story, Big Eyes is about an artist named Margaret whose husband is passing off her work as his own. This was set in the late '50s, which meant women didn’t have much of a voice, so people were quick to believe that Walter was the true artist behind the beautiful portraits of young girls with, you guessed it, big eyes.
This is a dramatic film but it’s still one that suits Burton’s artistic temperament. Wouldn’t it be funny if we found out it was actually Helena Bonham Carter that was responsible for all these movies, though?
Photo: Tim Burton Productions
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12. 'Dumbo' (2019)
We weren’t huge fans of the original animated Dumbo, but any movie that reunites Tim Burton with Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito gets a pass in our book.
Dumbo looks exactly like it’s supposed to look for a live-action adaptation. So long as Big Ears realizes that the magic was in himself the whole time, we’re on board for this film.
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures
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11. 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street' (2007)
Any time Johnny Depp is wielding sharp instruments, it’s sure to be a good time. Sweeney Todd tells the story of a burgeoning small business owner and his wife. He cuts hair (and throats) while she makes meat pies. It’s a pretty good little operation save for the fact that the meat is made up of Sweeney Todd’s former clients. That’s what they get for asking for a heated towel.
Photo: Dreamworks Pictures
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10. 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (2005)
Tim Burton’s version is not a remake of the ’71 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but rather another adaptation of the original Roald Dahl novel. It's fun, morbid tale that centers around one of Tim Burton’s favorite tropes: the isolated outcast doing the right thing, even when nobody is looking. The Oompa Loompas are creepy AF though.
Photo: Warner Bros
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9. 'Mars Attacks' (1996)
There is literally no artistic merit to the 1996 film Mars Attacks. There are no powerful themes, no messages to be taken and no morals to ponder. It’s a dumb, alien invasion movie that’s purely cheap entertainment.
And we love it for that! Mars Attacks was designed to be a spoof of all of those early '50s and '60s disaster films. It did so perfectly, and with an incredibly diverse cast as well.
Photo: Warner Bros
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8. 'Sleepy Hollow' (1999)
With Sleepy Hollow, Burton took a classic tale and turned it on its head. Johnny Depp starred as Ichabod Crane, the detective tasked with solving the brutal murders of the local townspeople.
Photo: Paramount Pictures
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7. 'Ed Wood' (1994)
Ed Wood was an eccentric and ambitious director in the '50s, '60s, and '70s. Unfortunately, his ambition was bigger than his budget in most cases, so he became known as the King of B-movies, though his films were more like C- or D-movies. Still, Ed Wood had heart, passion, a vision, and big dreams.
Photo: Touchstone Pictures
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6. 'Big Fish' 2003
Sit down and let us tell you a story. It may or may not be true. That was the plot of Big Fish, a departure from typical Burton fare. The film followed William, a journalist who goes to be with his ailing father, Edward. The two have a strained relationship, due to Edward’s penchant for concocting big, elaborate, tales about his life that probably are not true.
As William gets to know his father, he realizes that it doesn’t matter if the stories are true or not, as long as Edward himself believes and takes solace in them.
Photo: The Zanuck Company
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5. 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure' (1985)
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure told the story of an eccentric man-child who goes on the hunt for his stolen bike. That’s pretty much the entire plot, but it’s not plot that matters in this movie; it’s performance, and everybody gave an outstanding one.
This was Burton’s first feature film and it was absolutely a sign of things to come. It’s funny and dark and inspiring. It helped solidify Reuben’s career and it created one for Burton.
Photo: Warner Bros
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4. 'Batman Returns' (1992)
Batman Returns was a Tim Burton story, through and through. It spoke to isolation, privilege, fate, and more. Batman was almost a secondary character in his own film, because the antagonists were much more interesting to Burton. There aren’t really heroes and villains in this film; there are only people who experience tragedy and decide if that tragedy will inspire and deliver them, or consume and destroy them.
Photo: Warner Bros
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3. 'Beetlejuice' (1988)
If Beetlejuice wasn’t successful, we’re not sure if we’d still be talking about Tim Burton today. But it was. It was a perfect horror/comedy film and Michael Keaton gave the performance of a "deathtime." We don’t want to write too much about this film, because it just needs to be seen. And also, we don’t want to say the name "Beetlejuice" more than once or twice. Because if you say it three times, well…
Photo: Warner Bros
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2. 'Edward Scissorhands' (1990)
This was the greatest collaboration between Tim Burton and his BFF, Johnny Depp. Edward Scissorhands tells the story of (surprise) an isolated outcast. Edward was built by a scientist who died before he could finish building him. So Edward has an odd appearance, accentuated by his hands, which are actually scissors. Edward is discovered by a well-meaning Avon lady and is brought into her home and her neighborhood. While there, Edward learns about life, love, and being who you were meant to be, despite the judgment of others.
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox
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1. 'Batman' (1989)
Tim Burton changed comic book movies forever with this film. If it wasn’t for Burton’s ’89 Batman, we might not have The Dark Knight trilogy, or the MCU or any of the Spider-Man franchises. That’s how important his movie was.
When Batman was initially announced, fans were concerned that it would be similar to the 1966 Adam West series. When Michael Keaton was cast as the lead, fans became even more concerned. And by concerned, we mean mad. They wrote thousands of letters to protest Keaton as Batman. (This was before the digital age and people actually had to write and mail letters. That’s how furious they were.)
But Papa Tim knew what he was doing. Keaton became one of the greatest actors to don the cape and cowl, and Jack Nicholson solidified his reputation as a genius with his performance as the Joker. The production design was top-notch, the score was perfect, and the story was easy to follow. In short, Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman was everything comic book fans hoped for, and then some. It’s not only one of the best comic book movies of all time, it’s Tim Burton’s best movie, period.
Photo: Warner Bros
