DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - Two Disc Deluxe Edition (1 Viewer)

[Doug Schiller]

Ron-P,
I watched it last night on my new DLP and noticed the same thing. The picture was very digital and to me, too dark.
Lots of unwanted noise, especially when it gets inside the factory.
This was the one disc version.
I expected to be blown away after what Warner did with Batman Begins.

On the movie front, the original version with Wilder in his office was a much better ending. This one just tried to use the daddy angle to wrap everything up.

 

[Yumbo]

maybe I was enjoying the movie too much

any scene reference for noise?

 

[Ron-P]

Thanks Doug, I thought I was beginning to stand alone here. No way would I give this 4.5 stars out of 5 like Herb did. More like 2.5 or 3. There are just too many faults with the picture to give it more. Too bad to as this should have been given the same treatment like Batman.

 

[Mark Lucas]

The only noise I saw some minor mosquito noise in a few still shots but other than that the picture on this disc is very clean. Where's this noise you speak of?

 

[Yumbo]

what I saw was soft and QUIET. :b

 

[Jonathan T.]

I just rented the DVD and watched it for the second time. I still have the same complaints I had upon the first viewing.

-Depp doesn't get Wonka at all, and it portryal is, save for a few key moments, very off putting and disapointing to say the least.

-the ill-placed flashbacs to wonkas childhood destroy the flow of the movie to an alarming degree, totally unnecessary and unwelcome, IMO. This entire side story should have been cut from the film, though I suppose it would have annoyed Christopher Lee in the same way he was bothered by being cut from Two Towers...


On the other hand all of the child actors and their parents are well cast, and all are terrific actors, which the exception of the kid who plays Mike Teevee, and the musical score and Oompa Loompa songs are fantastic.

In the end though, the Wilder film remains a better written, better edited, and despite being less true to the source, a better adaptation from book to screen, regardless of what Roal Dahl thought. I like that the Wilder film is set in the "real" world, and therefore it makes the factory, and Wonka hmself seem much more magical. I do wonder what Dahl would have though of this version. My gut says he would hate it as much as the Wilder film, as I really don't think Dahl would like Depps Wonka at all.


-

 

[Jonathan T.]

Yeah, it was too dark. Way darker than I remeber it in the theater. It didn't bother me, but I did notice it.

 

[Jonathan T.]

Forgive me for going OT, and for the triple post, but I can't resist commenting on this.

I hated Big Fish. I hate any movie that sets up a string of impossible events and then messes with your mind at the end without ever explaining anything. It's obnoxious.

CATCF had a lousy ending too, but at least it made sense, LOL.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Seems to me to be very simple and logical - and the only possible way the film could have ended that would have beent true to the story..

 

[TonyD]

exactly matthew, thats why it is called big fish.

finally got my copy of charlie gonna watch it tomorrow.

 

[Ryan Tsang]

I found the soundtrack fatiguing. I caught myself turning down the volume when it got louder more often than any other flick. I actually tried to search for Cinema Re-EQ on my AVM-20 but couldn't find it. Ended up using THX Ultra 2. I recently added a Classe CA-150 which is a noticeably warmer, and more analog sounding amp compared to my Anthem MCA3. Nonetheless, it was still harsh and shrill, especially when the score was in full tilt. Maybe it was all that Elfman-esque angelic female choir type singing.

 

[Jonathan T.]

okay, so it seems i was just thick when it came to big fish. maybe it because i just didnt like the movie. i thought it was a silly story, and may have stopped paying attention at some point.

back to charlie...

 

[BarryS]

It's a fantasy movie. Do you regard The Wizard of Oz as a silly story as well?

 

[Mark Lucas]

These are all silly stories. Oz is extremely silly compared to the much more real story of Chocolate Factory.

 

[Jonathan T.]

if I can be frank, that is a SILLY thing to say.

Why should you conclude that my dislike for the movie big fish (which, BTW, is due to a lame and unbelievable portrayal of a father son relationship, I actually enjoyed the fantasy elements for the most part) should extend to all fantasy movies?

I love the Wizard of Oz. I love WIlly Wonka and the Charlie Factory. I hate Big Fish. I kind sorta like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I love Labyrinth, and frankly you don't get much sillier than that. But you have just helped me to discover why I don't like Big Fish. It's a silly movie that pretends it isn't a silly movie.

Now, once again, back to Charlie....

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I just watched it and the transfer on my 96" screen was very nice I thought. It WAS soft, but then again it was soft at the theater when I saw it, too.

On a sidenote, as I did at the theater, I wanted to reach into the screen and wring that little twerp Mike Teevee's little neck!

 

[BarryS]

Well, you didn't actually specify what you thought was silly, so I assumed you meant the story as a whole. I don't see the father-son relationship as any more unbelievable than mermaids or 9-foot giants, but you're certainly entitled to your opinion. The fact that Edward Bloom and his son don't have much of a relationship is what the whole movie is about. But this belongs in a whole different thread...

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Yes, this discussion belongs in an entirely
different thread, please!

 

[David Noll]

I just watched "Charlie" last night. I was awed by the PQ and sound in this movie! The sountrack was a little louder than most but was perfectly balanced throughout. I did not see "Charlie" in a local theater when it was released. I prefer to wait until the DVD for any movie. I don't go to the cinema (except for Star Wars and Harry Potter) as I have been very disappointed in PQ and sound quality in every local theater near me. Not one comes close to the experience of watching a movie in "The Noll Family Home Theater"! See link below.

David