Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1732 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-11-21
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Director Tim Burton’s take on Roald Dahl’s classic story is undeniably more faithful to the source material than the 1975 musical retelling of the same story. His Charlie & The Chocolate Factory is also a slightly darker, visually inventive film, and is ultimately a tasty treat that the whole family can enjoy.

Filling the coat of Willy Wonka is frequent Burton collaborator Johnny Depp--the pair have previously worked together on the likes of Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow--and what fun he clearly had. His Wonka is a kooky, isolated figure, extremely distrusting and clearly uncomfortable around the children who win a golden ticket to look round his factory. Burton invests time in his main character, giving him a rounded back story that pays dividends, and while some will inevitably prefer Gene Wilder’s edgier take on the same role all those years ago, Depp nonetheless is on strong form. The cast around him also perform well, particularly Freddie Highmore in the title role.

The story is as you’ll likely remember it, with five children given the chance to visit Willy Wonka’s mysterious chocolate factory. And what a visual treat that factory is, bursting with colour and vibrancy. Along the way, they encounter chocolate lakes, industrious squirrels and the infamous oompa loompas, and truthfully, it’s fun to be along for the ride.

Is it better than that aforementioned 1975 version? Actually, it’s just different. Each film will no doubt have its legion of fans, but the bottom line here is that Roald Dahl’s classic has provided the source for an enjoyable, well pitched movie with plenty of rewatch value. Now if only they’d go and film Charlie & The Great Glass Elevator…--Simon Brew

Synopsis
Who better to bring Roald Dahl's adored children's story to life than the mastermind behind inventive films like EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and BEETLEJUICE? From Tim Burton's opening shot against Danny Elfman's eerie score this CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is recognisably darker than the Mel Stuart-directed 1971 version starring Gene Wilder. Though the mysterious chocolate factory has been closed for 15 years, it continues to produce and ship candy all over the world. When a contest promises a tour of the plant to the lucky finders of five golden tickets hidden inside wrappers, no one is more excited than Charlie Bucket, an impoverished boy whose family lives mere steps from the factory. Though he can barely afford even one candy bar, fate intervenes, and Charlie finds the last golden ticket. Joined at the gates by a group of despicable brats named Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Augustus Gloop, and Mike Teavee, Charlie and his Grandfather venture inside proprietor Willy Wonka's delightful factory for a wild adventure. Each room is a feast for the eyes, and more importantly the taste buds a sugar-coated dreamland where everything is edible. One by one, however, the children meet unfortunate fates, until only Charlie remains in the company of Wonka and his curiously small workers, the Oompa Loompas. Sporting a severe bob, and talking in a high-pitched voice, Depp makes his Wonka even weirder than Wilder's. While Burton adds some amusing contemporary touches (like the musical Oompa Loompa routines), and an elaborate back story, he also preserves the charm of the original book. Overall, Burton's visual innovation succeeds in capturing the vividness of a child's imagination but whether this version trumps the beloved '71 film is for viewers to decide.

Customer Reviews

Jonny depp fans will love this....

Maybe because I'm in my 30s, I can't see far past Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. It seemed more of a revelation - Wilder was opening our eyes to possibilities, to imagination - taking us into a wonderful world...where immoral uncouth behaviour is treated with disdain, and wholesome living is rewarded

The Burton version is highly polished, and is more of a spectacle although to me seems a little like a vehicle for jonny depp - only because he is the films stand-out feature. Hilarious, dramatic and camp.

My son (5 years old) prefers this version to the original. I still laugh out loud every time depp walks into the elevator door. It is touching in parts and probably closer to the essence of Roald Dahl's book.

The two films are different enough to warrant having both in your collection. If I had to choose which one to get, I guess I would go for the Burton/Depp version. The Gene Wilder thing - that's just nostalgia

Entertaining … and it's not fattening
"Charlie & The Chocolate Factory" has an ominous opening, a sort of Chocolate Citizen Kane analogy of the relentless success of Wonka's chocolate empire, the creation of a multinational with tentacles that reach round the globe and a factory in which the workers labour away like the oppressed employees in "Modern Times". The chocolate factory dominates the town like a dark satanic mill. Chocolate hasn't been this dark since Monty Python's crunchy frogs. And you appreciate that this may be a film which children will enjoy, but there's an adult subtext.

In a ramshackle hovel, Charlie Bucket and his family eke out an existence on cabbage soup, the bane of British school meals. The reclusive Wonka has withdrawn from the world for fifteen years but now returns with five golden tickets on offer, each ticket a passport to chocolate paradise. While kids around the world compete, connive, and manipulate their parents to ensure they secure one of the golden tickets, Charlie has to rely on luck.

It's a fascinating film, moving from the bleak grey and brown tones of Charlie's world to the wonderland which is Wonka's. The chocolate factory is garish, a full palette of bright colours, its confectionary an extraordinary adventure in the miraculous. It is a wonderland which will enrapture children. But there are decidedly dark undercurrents. Roald Dahl's 1964 novel has a sadistic quality to it, and director Tim Burton doesn't miss this. Children are no angels, and bad children deserve their comeuppance.

Johnny Depp plays the master of ceremonies, an unnaturally pale, reclusive man who has turned a factory into a circus, a playground for a bunch of cloned dwarves. You wonder who he could possibly have modelled the character on? You certainly wouldn't trust him with your children. As the film progresses we understand why Wonka has such an obsession with chocolate … and why he has such poor social skills.

This is a roller-coaster of a film - at its high points it is very funny, at its low points, you cringe. Burton certainly takes liberties with it's entertainment value. The musical sections are not necessarily memorable, but in places the dance routines remind you of someone. It's never saccharine, but at times it'll set your teeth on edge.

It's a good film, not a great film, but a good one. How much you enjoy it may well depend on how big a fan you are of Johnny Depp. He deliberately goes over the top in this role. He's an astonishingly good actor … but whether you want to believe him in this role is really a matter of choice, not acting technique. In part, I'm still undecided, which may indicate that this is a film you can watch more than once. Whether it will have the same compulsive charm for children that Gene Wilder's 1971 "Willy Wonka" had, well, there's a question.

The DVD picture and sound quality is excellent, but note there is a choice of a single disc version and a double disc one - the latter offering some interesting extras and some games which probably will keep young kids entertained for a while, but which will almost certainly drive adults demented.

The best film i've seen in a while
Having sat in the cinema hours on end this year to try to release the smallest of chuckles, I was delighted when the new charlie and the chocolate factory was released, a film i'd been anticipating for a long time.
The songs aren't the same but they are incredibly funny, i was happily surprised.In fact I watched it twice.
The new format of the film is hilarious and Johnny Depp was exactly what it needed to re-release this old time classic.
My favourite character is the oompah loompa, played this time by one man, although it seems like many. His dancing is fantastic.
I definately recomend this film for anyone of any age!Its worth its price, a film you can watch again and again and still find amusing. fantastic.