Charlie and the Chocolate Factory [UMD for PSP] | ![Charlie and the Chocolate Factory [UMD for PSP]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51S4F0D431L._SL500_.jpg) | Director: Tim Burton
Actors: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
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Rating:  508 reviews
Sales Rank: 64195
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), Dutch (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), German (Dubbed), Italian (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Action Video Games
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
ESRB: Everyone
Media: UMD for PSP
Region: 1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Operating System: Xbox 360
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.1 x 0.6
MPN: CHARLIECHOCOFACTORY
UPC: 012569745773
EAN: 0012569745773
ASIN: B000BZISPI
Theatrical Release Date: July 15, 2005
Release Date: December 20, 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 508
 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen Edition) March 19, 2010
Bjorn Viberg (European Union)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen Edition) being an updated version of the 1971 movie with Gene Wilder and stars Johnny Depp in the role as Willy Wonka. The special effects are ofcourse better and the sound is also better. However, the story line differs from the book in many ways as the 1971 version with Wilder does not. The musical numbers of the ompa lompas are also better in the 1971 movie. I love watching the Gene Wilder movie and watch it any time it shows on television. This movie I am not so sure if I have same affection towards. I wish I could give it 2.5/5 but since I can not then I give it a weak 3. 3/5.
 A Clockwork Orange meets The Batman March 2, 2010
J. R. Neumiller (Salisbury, NC)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a Tim Burton movie - dark, creepy, drippy, and cold. When it starts, you think you're watching Batman - loud elaborate sound track, cold villainous set design. Really, you expect a shot of the Penguin or Riddler to pop in anytime.
The storyline is VERY much like the 1971 movie . . . except different. Because you know the plot line so well, much of the movie is very predictable. I guess Burton really tried making it interesting, but it comes across as contrived, dark, and, well, Burtonesque.
Burton has a fixation on dark fathers and oppressed sons. There's this odd backstory about Wonka and his overbearing father, making him wear some kind of torture device orthodontics that look like something Scissorhand would wear. Very Hellraiser-like.
Wonka. Really bad. Depp is lost here. He mixes bits and pieces of other characters into his roles, and it shows here. You first see him after this bizarre candyland introduction that bursts into flames, and all the cute dolls violently melt before your eyes. (Very disturbing for children to watch. Which is why Burton does it, of course.) He acts like Michael Jackson, and you wonder if that's going to be the essence of his role.
Nope. Depp's Wonka can't ever figure out who he is: malicious, misopedic, moody, petulant, weird. And more. He really makes no sense, and this is Burton's fault because Depp does basically whatever Burton wants.
Remember Scissorhand's odd father/son complex? Well, its back, only this time with Christopher Lee as the father-God figure, and Depp's Wonka as the harmed child. Burton has some very long-standing, deep-seated emotional issues here, and I guess he doesn't mind because it makes him a lot of money. (And actually, I believe its his personal interpretation of God and His woeful, misbegotten creatures. You see it a lot in his movies.)
The oompa loompas are really bad. They cloned this one Indian midget named Deep Roy - only adding to the cold, sterile nature of this movie - so you basically have one guy multiplied into a thousand.
Yeah, this is a not good movie. Its confused, dark, and only marginally entertaining. Take a pass.
 NOT that faithful to the book - don't believe the hype March 2, 2010
Rev. Pee Kitty (North Atlanta Metro, GA, US)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have to offer a counterpoint to all of the reviews praising this movie for being so faithful to the book.
While many things about the movie were based more on the book than the first Willy Wonka movie, this new movie added a ridiculous plot tangent where Wonka is a dentist's son desperate to seek his father's approval. This sub-plot (which has *nothing* to do with the original book) featured some of the worst acting I've *ever* seen from Depp -- which shocked me, as I consider Depp the best actor of his generation. Still, everyone has to have a miss or two. Depp went for creepy, and got it, but far too many of his scenes (including all of these "dentist flashbacks") feel like he's forcing it. I was watching a man act, not watching a character.
As for the rest of the movie... it was pleasantly dark, but lacked the sense of wonder that the first movie brought to life so well. Gene Wilder may have been too nice and accessible as Wonka for some, but his factory felt like an otherworldly place of mystery and surrealism. Depp's factory feels fake and lifeless, and ultimately makes it very difficult to lose yourself in this new, strange place. And that, my friends, is the only way by which a film like this can be judged, hence my low rating.
 Burton and Dahl are quite compatible January 18, 2010
One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
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
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 508
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