Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |  | Director: Tim Burton
Actors: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Category: DVD
Buy New: $26.27
as of 2/9/2010 17:26 EST details
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Seller: moviemars
Rating:  506 reviews
Sales Rank: 244070
Format: NTSC
Languages: English (Audio Description), English (Original Language), English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), English (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 7321900593373
ASIN: B000B7QAHO
Theatrical Release Date: July 15, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Mixed reviews and creepy comparisons to Michael Jackson notwithstanding, Tim Burton's splendidly imaginative adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would almost surely meet with Roald Dahl's approval. The celebrated author of darkly offbeat children's books vehemently disapproved of 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (hence the change in title), so it's only fitting that Burton and his frequent star/collaborator, Johnny Depp, should have another go, infusing the enigmatic candyman's tale with their own unique brand of imaginative oddity. Depp's pale, androgynous Wonka led some to suspect a partial riff on that most controversial of eternal children, Michael Jackson, but Burton's film is too expansively magnificent to be so narrowly defined. While preserving Dahl's morality tale on the hazards of indulgent excess, Burton's riotous explosion of color provides a wondrous setting for the lessons learned by Charlie Bucket (played by Freddie Highmore, Depp's delightful costar in Finding Neverland), as he and other, less admirable children enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime tour of Wonka's confectionary wonderland. Elaborate visual effects make this an eye-candy overdose (including digitally multiplied Oompa-Loompas, all played by diminutive actor Deep Roy), and the film's underlying weirdness is exaggerated by Depp's admirably risky but ultimately off-putting performance. Of course, none of this stops Burton's Charlie from being the must-own family DVD of 2005's holiday season, perhaps even for those who staunchly defend Gene Wilder's portrayal of Wonka from 34 years earlier. --Jeff Shannon DVD features
The second disc is filled with a number of distinctive featurettes. The likely crowd-pleaser in most households is "Attack of the Squirrels," which recounts how those fuzzy little creatures (a combination of hard-to-train live animals, animatronics, and computer graphics) can be ornery in their own right. "The Fantastic Mr. Dahl" is a 17-minute look at author Roald Dahl through vintage footage and new interviews with family, friends, and colleagues. "Becoming Oompa-Loompa" follows Deep Roy as he is filmed over and over again through his dance steps and music performances. Roy is a constant throughout the kids' activities as well. You can follow him to learn two different dance steps "Augustus Gloop" and "Violet Beauregarde," and make him taste weird candy inventions in a simple game. "Search for the Golden Ticket" is a five-part challenge that tests your remote-control fingers, your deductive abilities, or your luck. Finally, if you just want basic behind-the-scenes information, "Making the Mix" is a collection of featurettes (around 40 minutes total) covering the film's casting, music, production design, and special effects. --David Horiuchi
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 506
 Burton and Dahl are quite compatible January 18, 2010
One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:
This fusion of two subtly-sadistic auteurs in director Tim Burton and children's novelist Roald Dahl makes for a much better film than I expected when I saw the trailers back in 2005; I don't think it's as good as Gene Wilder's version, but it hits enough different notes that it can be treated as a separate film rather than a remake, and a good film at that.
3/4
 Not just a review of the film itself, but a comparison with the original January 17, 2010
Jennifer A. Everhart
Hi, everybody. I'm back. And I am going to compare the two film adaptations of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", one of Roald Dahl's novels. The original from 1971 directed by Mel Stuart is known as "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", while the new one from 2005 directed by Tim Burton has the same name as the book. There have been people who compared the new one unfavorably to the original, thinking of it as another half-baked remake, like that of the over-budgeted & over-hyped Planet of the Apes remake that Burton also directed, but there are others like me that beg to differ. After all, it is NOT a remake of a classic movie, but another film adaptation of a classic book. Here is my comparison between the two in my personal opinion.
First off, let's compare the depictions of Willy Wonka in both movies. Even though Johnny Depp gave a weird, creepy, and decent performance of Wonka like in the books, no one can beat the delightful, charming, and friendly Gene Wilder. From Depp's portrayal in the new one, Wonka shows disdain for families as a disadvantage on fulfilling your dreams because his dentist father, Dr. Wilbur Wonka (Christopher Lee) deprives Willy of candy due to risks to the teeth. More details later in the review. Does that happen in the original? NO! In the end, Wonka brings in the rest of Charlie's family in the first place. He was also more concerned for the others in the old one as well. I have also seen better Johnny Depp performances from Edward Scizzorhands, Benny and Joon, and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, for example. No offense.
Now for the supporting cast of both films. They vary in terms of advantages and disadvantages. the five Golden Ticket finders, Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teavee (yeah, I know, a silly pun), and Charlie Bucket were noticeably older in the original, but were younger in the book and new one. Veruca seemed more spoiled and grumpy in the original. In the newer film, Augustus was more of a pig and bites his ticket for comic relief, Violet processes Martial Arts skills, and Mike is smarter when it comes to technology and shows a dislike for chocolate (PPPHHHTTT!). Charlie and his family seem more poor and his father (Noah Taylor) was alive like in the book. In the book, the Golden Ticket winners could bring one or two relatives to look after you. In the films, it was reduced to just one to keep the budgets under control. So, I would give it a tie.
Next up is the music department. Let's discuss the songs. The songs of the original were memorable and original, while those of the newer one were catchy and loyal to the book. The only exception is the annoying introduction song before the puppet set catches on fire and the music distorts (now that's funny). Sorry, new Carlie, even though your songs are catchy, I have to give the original the win because of it having more songs with an Oscar nomination. In terms of the score, however, the new one by Danny Elfman was more kickbutt, and when it comes to Elfman's other scores, let's say I came to expect that. So yeah, the new version wins in the score and it's another tie overall in the music department but for different reasons.
It seems that one common aspect that remakes improve over the original is the visual effects. In the original, some of the candy pumpkins were obviously balloons, the chocolate river looks like a YooHoo drink, you can barely see the tube connected to Violet's suit when she becomes a humanoid blueberry, and it features the infamous demon tunnel from Hell. The visuals of the newer film were more refined and advanced. The river actually looks like chocolate, everything looks more real, the Great Glass Elevator is made entirely out of glass, and the tunnel is more of a park ride instead of a freak-out (thank god). The new film wins on the effects by a long shot.
Last, but not least, let's talk about the plot, the aspect that matters the most. The premise is the same. It is about a poor boy named Charlie Bucket, who is a big fan-boy of Willy Wonka. Wonka decodes to hold a competition to search for five golden tickets hidden in five Wonka bars and the winners would gain access to the factory for a tour and a chance to win a lifetime supply of chocolate. I already discussed the ticket winners in the supporting cast section. The greedy kids would mess up and end up in a horrific fate. Augustus would fall into the Chocolate river and get sucked up by a pipe, Violet would try Wonka's meal gum and become a blueberry, Veruca gets ambushed by squirrels and dropped down the garbage chute like a bad nut (falls down a trap door in the Golden Goose room like a bad egg in the original during her musical number), and Mike tests himself for a television project like the giant candy bar and becomes tiny. All that leaving the room for Charlie to win the factory as Wonka's successor. The plot in the new one is more in depth. It is closer to the source material in terms of main premise and tone, but has its share of minor changes as well. For example, the subplot on Wonka's troubled past is original to explain his origins and keep things fresh. The events of the past when Wonka went downhill thanks to spies stealing his secret recipies were also shown and features a bit with Prince Pondicherry and the chocolate palace that melted into a giant chocolate puddle on a hot day. Like the book, it shows what happened to the other contenders. Augustus seemed a little thinner and covered in chocolate and apparently fused with it. Gee, does that sound familiar at all? Violet became more flexible and still blue. Veruca and her father are covered in garbage and Mike was overstretched by the taffy puller. Also in the new one, continuing from Willy's past, while helping clean the fireplace while his father was busy with a patient, he finds a piece of chocolate that missed the fire, tastes it, and was hooked. He goes on a journey of knowledge about candy. When his father disapproves of this, Willy leaves for Switzerland with his mother to follow his dreams. He sees that his old home disappeared when he went to stay with a neighbor for the night. Willy goes to see his father with Charlie and it was revealed that he showed remorse for his actions since he had a ton of media from Willy's fame. Willy learns the true value of family and still took care of his teeth and Wilbur learned to accept his son for who he is. Another key difference is like in the book, Charlie and Grandpa Joe do not mess up!
In conclusion, even though I loved both of these movies, I enjoyed the new one a little more, mainly because of a more developed plot and was more similar to the book. Congratulations, Tim Burton, on another job well done! I also did a survey at my school one time on both films, and the original received the most votes from adults, and that is understandable because it was probably the one they grew up with. If you are like me, I would check them both out. They are worthy additions to add to your movie collection. See you next time!
DAHL PROBABLY WOULD HAVE LOVED THIS UPGRADE January 17, 2010
Geary A., Jones
I'll preface my review by stating that I'm a huge fan of Gene Wilder's, but his version of Willy Wonka was not as dark as Roald Dahl wrote him to be. Still, Wilder dominated his film. In the newer version Depp is a somewhat demented, socially, and emotionally retarded Peter Pan. That said, his performance is brilliant, as is Freddie Highmore's. Deep Roy is also excellent as the entire band of Oompa Loompas, but the real stars of this beautifully rendered fairy tale are Tim Burton, and Danny Elfman. The cinematography, attention to detail, painterly use of color, and surreal flavor of the sets go way beyond the earlier screen version, and the somewhat dark twist to this classic aligns it more to something from the Brothers Grimm than the older, sugar-coated ( no pun intended, of course... ) WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCALATE FACTORY film. Elfman's music, as usual, not only paces the story, but helps to tell it as well. Scrumptuous- from beginning to end. It might be a bit scary for very young children, however.
 not Depp's best, the songs are bad, watch the old version January 15, 2010
Daniel Mackler (www.iraresoul.com)
I loved the Gene Wilder movie, which is magical, so I could not help but compare the two versions. My comparison forms the basis of my review, so take it with a grain of salt.
In comparing, I found this movie worse on most fronts:
1) Johnny Depp didn't hold a candle to Gene Wilder. Depp was bizarre in an unlikeable and unrealistic way. What was he thinking? What was Tim Burton thinking?
2) The original Grandpa Joe was far better.
3) Many of the other characters were just unsuccessfully attempted copies of the original movie's actors. It was like Tim Burton told the casting directors and actors: "Study the original movie carefully, and copy the original actors as closely as you can. That's our only hope!"
4) The Oompa-Loompas were boring and fake and had no spirit.
5) The songs had no pizzazz and weren't catchy. (I still sing the original songs at times.)
6) The flashback scenes were dull and unnecessary.
I wasn't expecting to like this movie, given what I'd heard about it, but I was still...hoping. Alas, no dice.
Johnny Depp, Tim Burton - A Strange Combo December 29, 2009
John F. Rooney
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005) is a fantasy world created by director Tim Burton who has done some off-the-wall movie work. It stars Johnny Depp, lipstick and all, as an androgynous Michael Jackson lookalike. He's playing Willie Wonka, the owner of a candy factory that no longer employs any local people.
Charlie, the title character, has a grandfather who formerly worked in the plant. Willie offers five prize certificates in his candy bars. That way he sells a lot of candy. The lucky five finders of the coupon will receive a tour of the factory accompanied by one companion, and one of the five will get a special gift.
Five kids find the prizes, nice kid Charlie and four awful, nasty, despicable brats, rotten little twirps who each gets his or her comeuppance while touring the factory.
The wild colors in the factory with its rivers and waterfalls of chocolate are more vivid and startling when seen on in a high definition television screen with a Blu-Ray machine.
Are we in a candy factory or a nut house? One actor, Deep Roy, plays all of the hundreds of the Oompa-Loompa tribe that works in the factory. The Oompa-Loompas perform musical numbers, which are like Busby Berkley gone to cuckooland.
At times it's a sweet story of a sweets factory, at times is cloyingly sweet, and at other times Johnny Depp plays a cruelly misanthropic and nasty person. He doesn't like kids. He plays a real weirdo.
There are some Dickensian touches: Charlie's four pleasant, kindly grandparents spend their time lying in interlocking beds facing each other in front of the fireplace. Charlie and his wonderful loving family live in their ramshackled tipsy house with holes in the roof. It's based upon a famous Roald Dahl children's story and was a movie previously with Gene Wilder.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 506
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