Well...after all the waiting, it's finally landed. I wish I could say that it's truly scrumptious, but in truth, from the ashes of disaster (the previous DVD release) grow the roses of mediocrity. Like so many DVD "special editions" of late (A Christmas Story, Willy Wonka, etc), this one is a bit short on the "special".The film itself is presented in two formats on the first disc. Both widescreen and pan & scan. The widescreen transfer is just slightly wider than the laserdisc release and the colors seem to me to be about the same, though my laserdisc is rotting and the colors are a bit compromised. It might be worth getting for the widescreen alone if you don't already have at that aspect ratio. Also on disc one is the "sing along" feature and a preview of the musical which only succeeds in demonstrating how fat Michael Ball is.
Disc two (home of the real disappointments) has a conversation type "documentary" with Dick Van Dyke (and ONLY Dick Van Dyke) where he reminisces about some of the cast. Another new feature is with Pierre Picton, owner of the nicest of the on-screen cars and it's kind of a fun look at the eccentric who owns and cares for the car. There are 3 vintage featurettes, one with designer Rowland Emett which is interesting, another which is apparently a press conference with Dick Van Dyke (boring) and the last "featuring the children" (but not really). One excellent special feature (and kudos to the person responsible!), is the inclusion of more than a dozen of the Shermans original demos for the film.
There are about 7 trailers for the film, both theatrical and television, but not the one which followed the film on the laserdisc version which, to me, seems like the genuine trailer. It is presented on the DVD in French, but not in English.
The remainder of the special features are kiddie things like digital coloring book, inventor games, etc.
I'm sure money may have been the reason for not presenting a more professional and interesting supplement. Sally Ann Howes is alive and well...I've seen her in NY. The kids, Heather Ripley and Adrian Hall, attended the premiere of the stage show in London, so they're definitely locateable. Very little is said about the locations or the production of the film. I was expecting a documentary of the caliber on MGM's Bond DVD releases given that the production company was largely the same. At least pay Dick enough to do a running commentary! Shame on you, MGM.
Perhaps what disappointed me most of all is that I feel that I could have made a better effort.
It's been frame-by-frame restored using the Lowry Digital Restoration Process which was used on all 20 of the Bond films, the three Godfather movies, the original Star Wars Trilogy, the Indiana Jones films and even the transfer of Avatar (all to much acclaim).
But this 2010 Blu Ray/DVD Combination pack reissue of 1968's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" has to be a benchmark even for them.
After the excellent 2DVD set issued a few years back, I didn't think that much more improvement could be wrenched out of the negative, but it has been. This transfer is practically faultless BEAUTIFUL to look at for the whole duration of the movie. Directed with style and flair by Ken Hughes and filmed in 70mm Super Panavision Technicolor it's a sumptuous feast of colours you see their period clothes anew, the details in the inventions inside Caractacus Pott's hillside home, the uncluttered English countryside, the Scrumptious Sweet Factory, the seaside scenes, the two bumbling spies, the toy dance at the King's Birthday Party in the Palace where their love shines out and almost gets them caught all of it gorgeous to look at. There's old and 'New Extras' also...
Sally Ann Howes looks suitably wholesome and lovely, Dick Van Dyke is as likeable as ever (a much underrated leading man) and the songs are excellent if not a little twee in places. The quirks of Sixties movies remain intact too the patience-sapping Overture at the beginning where a black screen sits there with only the roaring of car engines before the picture finally appears the "Intermission" break in the middle (so you could go and buy sweets) where Chitty goes over the cliff-edge and you don't find out what happens until the film starts up again and you're back in your seats all there as it was in the cinema and the original aspect retained too.
The child-catcher is still the scariest monster ever created in cinema (with Benny Hill being strangely creepy too) and the interplay between Gert Frobe and Anna Quayle as the bickering King and Queen of Vulgaria is still pricelessly funny. All this and Stanley Unwin speaking "...horribold..." English to Lionel Jeffries which always makes me pine for The Small Faces 1967 album masterpiece 'Ogden's Nutgone Flake' (he spoke in between tracks on Side 2).
Sure it'll be too saccharine for our "Call Of Duty" teenagers to enjoy nowadays, but there's something timeless and lovely about this 'magical car' movie and that beautifully evocative "Hushabye Mountain" melody always renders me a quivering mush whenever I hear it.
This 2010 BLU RAY of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is a superlative reissue of a family classic. Ian Fleming would indeed be shaken and possibly even stirred.
Recommended like a duet with the wife on "Chu-Chi Face".
PS: for other superb restorations on BLU RAY, see also my reviews for "The Italian Job", "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning", "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner", "Goldfinger", "North By Northwest", "Cool Hand Luke", "The Dambusters", "The Prisoner The Complete (TV) Series In High Definition", "Braveheart", "Snatch", "The Ladykillers" and "The African Queen"
Buy Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Two-Disc Edition: DVD/Blu-ray in DVD Packaging) (1968) Now
This is one of the last big budget fantasy musicals before these films became just too expensive to produce. But Dick Van Dyke was at his zenith here and Sally Ann Howes was marvelous as well. Note that Ian Fleming wrote the original story and as a tribute there were two Bond actors in the cast. Gert Frobe as the King and Desmond Llewyn as Mr. Coggin. But I was very dissappointed to see this DVD released in the Pan and Scan format. I really don't understand why MGM/UA remastered the film in the THX process and used a clean beautiful video transfer and doesn't present the film in its original widescreen format. At one-third of the film is missing and its really difficult to watch this now considering I had owned the widescreen laserdisc of this film.Our family is on a retro trip, having bought this movie, as well as The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The King and I, Willy Wonka, and Pete's Dragon.One of the reasons is that we want our 2 year old to experience the movies we grew up with, and the other is nostalgia.
Before watching this movie again recently, I could only remember that there was a flying car, a nice title song, and something about children being kidnapped. Watching it again for the first time, I discovered that I had forgotten most of the movie.
Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke) is an inventor way ahead of his time, whose inventions don't always work the way they are intended. If you think his name is weird, the female lead is Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), the daughter of a rich sweet manufacturer. This unlikely pair, along with his two kids and the wonderful car, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, are the star players in a story which starts out being about pirates, and ends up as a rescue mission. With comic support from Caractacus' father, and a toy maker (Benny Hill, in an uncharacteristic G rated performance), they defeat the schemes of spies (kind of like Laurel and Hardy combined with Boris and Natasha), an evil Baron and Baroness,and a wicked childcatcher, to bring the story within a story to a predictable but entertaining end.
The scenery is breathtaking, especially the Vulgarian castle and surroundings, and since this is a 1968 movie, we can forgive the lack of finesse in the special effects, where the characters stick out like sore thumbs from the backgrounds, and wires can be seen attached to Professor Potts during a dance sequence.
It's a little harder to swallow the concept of Truly Scrumptious running around on the beach dressed in tons of white cloth and coming up spotless, and her song about needing a lovely man is way too over the top and much too long. I will admit to skipping over that one.
The sing along feature is a nice touch, and catchy songs (other than the theme song) include "Me Old Bamboo", "Toot Sweet", my personal favorite "P O S H (Posh)", and the nearly too sugary "Truly Scrumptious".
Overall, this DVD is a refreshing family movie that you will watch over and over again.
Want Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Two-Disc Edition: DVD/Blu-ray in DVD Packaging) (1968) Discount?
One of my favorite childhood films is ruined in this full screen DVD edition. Please release this fillm in its widescreen version as well! Why not offer both versions so that consumers have a choice?Save 38% Off
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