Saying that a Tim Burton film is visually arresting is stating the obvious. Still, it's worth noting that Sleepy Hollow is outrageously stunning to look at, dazzling from first shot to last — like peering into an ornate snow globe at a dreamy, enchanting, and occasionally terrifying otherworld. Based on the classic tale by Washington Irving and fashioned in the style of the gothic Hammer horror films, Burton's flick makes for an eye-popping, crackerjack murder mystery — except, of course, that here, our sleuth, Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp), is a gangly wimp and the murderer has no head.

Sure, Burton's film has its problems: The story line needlessly unravels near the end (even after script-doctoring by Tom Stoppard), and Depp and Christina Ricci (as Katrina Van Tassel) have zero on-screen romantic chemistry (akin to watching the icky groping of Angelina Jolie and her brother). But, as any Tim Burton fan will tell you, this Sleepy Hollow is all about visual razzle-dazzle and tongue-in-cheek humor — and, on those counts, the film delivers.

"Watch your head."
Obviously then, the highlight of the Sleepy Hollow DVD is the beauty of the film itself. Emmanuel Lubezki's breathtaking cinematography and Rick Heinrichs' wispy, fairytale-like production design are digitally preserved on disc in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio (enhanced for 16x9 television). The film's soundtrack is equally splendorous, featuring another effective score by Danny Elfman (presented here in both Dolby Surround and 5.1 Surround sound). From the eerie fog that continually engulfs the village to the high-contrast shots of Depp's pale face and black coat against Hollow's muted landscapes, Burton fans will be delighted by the quality of the transfer of Sleepy Hollow on disc.

A 30-minute featurette, "Sleepy Hollow: Behind the Legend," includes many members of the cast and crew discussing the making of the film. Though narrator Peter Cullen's scripted exposition lends it a forced and cheesy air, the featurette covers an admirable amount of material in a brief amount of time, remaining both entertaining and informative throughout. We learn, among other things, about the filmmaking dynamics that went into actualizing Burton's vision for the film — the director citing the Hammer films, Mario Bava's Black Sunday and Roger Corman's The Pit and the Pendulum as his inspiration. More specifically, we witness the making of the frighteningly realistic-looking decapitated heads, the creation of Sleepy Hollow's fairy-tale village and ominous windmill, and the complicated computer graphics effects used to bring the Headless Horseman to life. Most fun here is the documented creation of Christopher Walken's Hessian Horseman character, looking like he could easily be the resurrected, dentally challenged ancestor of Edward Scissorhands.

Talking Heads
In an obvious, calculated move to beef up the number of listed extras on the DVD case, a second, 11-minute featurette is also included, entitled "Reflections on Sleepy Hollow." The short features Burton (in funky blue-lens glasses) and some of his cast reminiscing over their favorite scenes in the film and complimenting each other's "brilliant" performances. Best moment: Depp describing his Ichabod as a "pre-pubescent young girl." Otherwise, this insignificant little slice of b.s. should have been folded into the aforementioned longer featurette.

Tim Burton is not a prime candidate for an audio commentary; a filmmaking artist with a talent for creating stunning films but not for verbalizing about the mechanics behind his work, Burton's commentary begins weakly and quickly deteriorates into what seems like an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, full of not very funny quips. His most personal observations never get beyond such revelations as, "A few years ago I would have never believed I'd be doing a movie where people were dressed like George Washington. You find yourself doing the strangest things." Later, he likens his characters to the men on the box of Quaker Oats, and his film to, at different points, a Scooby-Doo mystery, an 18th-century Starsky and Hutch episode, "a really bad Merchant-Ivory picture," and "the most expensive Mexican wrestling film of all time." There is also much discussion of actor Jeffrey Jones' frightening wig (admittedly, resembling the world's biggest pair of earmuffs). Burton becomes increasingly silent as the film moves toward its noisy conclusion, speculating near the end that Ichabod is "the first male action-adventure hero who's portrayed like a 13-year-old girl." Though better than his giddy commentary of the Pee-wee's Big Adventure disc, this commentary leaves much to be desired.

Also included on the Sleepy Hollow disc are prerequisite theatrical trailers (two), cast biographies (six), and a relatively worthless photo gallery with 16 random shots from the film. The longer featurette is fun, but the rest of the extras are mostly forgettable. Predictably, it's the film itself that will make your head spin — a gorgeously visual treat on DVD.