Rating: 
Summary: What's all the fuss?
Review: I watched the movie first as a child and did not understand why it was supposed to be such a wonderful family classic. There are several reasons that I disliked it particularly, the first being that it was not true to the book at all, and a very poor representation too. Many, many liberties were taken; characters were left out altogether, some not in the book were added, and many that were left in were changed significantly.
The music was absolutely horrible, I must say. The Oompa Loompas with their "Oompa Loompa Doopitie Doo, I've got a pretty puzzle for you" and their bizarre dances practically made me nauseous. They are a far cry indeed from the lovable and hilarious Oompa Loompas of Roald Dahl's book. Read it if you don't understand the comparison. It's very good.
Most of the acting I disliked very much; I thought Gene Wilder's performance in particular was very bad, and about as untrue to the book as you could get. The only actor that I liked at all was the one who played Veruca Salt; she did a fairly good job of portraying an entirely spoiled brat.
Finally, the scenery and the special effects were absolutely terrible. The scene with the chocolate waterfall looked cheap and it, again, was very far from the scene described in the book. The boat ride scene can be somewhat frightening to young children, but although it did not scare me it was incredibly strange and the effects were, once again, quite bad.
I might recommend this to children between five and eight, as my sister liked it when she was seven, but it has very little to offer to adults (unless there is a nostalgia factor for you), and if you're a teenager, like me, clear out and stay out. I am sure that you will regret doing otherwise. Above all, do not watch this movie if you loved the book. It's a horrible rendition. I hope that the remake will be better.
Rating: 
Summary: Timeless Children's Classic
Review: News that everyone's favorite creator of children's fairy tales, Tim Burton, is to remake this classic story by everyone's favorite children's author, Roald Dahl, will necessarily focus attention back to this original version. This film is a magnificent visual treat. Set in a fantasy parallel universe of Dickensian poverty and Wellsian Sci-Fi the film still entertains today with it's psychedelic visuals, off-the-wall humor and rags-to-riches, American-dream-come-true story. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the hunt for the Golden Tickets, the disappointment felt by Charlie, whose place on the lowest rung of the social ladder means that he is too poor to participate in the madness unless he forsakes the welfare of his own family living 4-in-a-bed in their shack in order to follow his own selfish dreams (a telling and timely indictment of modern day capitalism and the shallowness and selfishness of the modern American teenager), the miraculous healing of Charlie's grandfather by the Golden Ticket, and the empathy inspired in us for the characters is truly the sign of a great film.
The futuristic machines and products dazzle, the freakish Oompah-Loompahs are as compelling today as ever (there seems to be a current resurgence of interest in little-people e.g. Elf, Bad Santa, Jackass to name but a few...) and it's hard to shake the feeling that The Chocolate Factory is everything that Disneyland should be but isn't.
On a more somber note Gene Wilder's performance as Willy Wonka sent shivers down my spine when I rewatched this. Our view of Wonka's character today is sadly tainted by child abuse scandals, and it's hard not to see something of Michael Jackson in the idea of the man who never grew up, who vigorously eschews and distrusts adult company and who plays dangerous mindgames with the children he lures into his playground. Call me cynical or overly politically correct, but I just think that side of Wonka could be better dealt with in a new version, and hopefully dealt with differently.
That said it still is a great movie for kids, scary in parts (e.g. The boat journey down the chocolate river into the tunnel) but ultimately a rewarding and moral story about the importance of being nice, selfless and earnest and the hope that one day maybe, just maybe, it could happen to you. This is the savage, beating heart of the American Dream. Long may it live on....
Rating:
Summary: Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker. ;)
Review: 1971's "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" is a colorful cult classic that includes both a witty score and a morality tale. Based on the children's novel by Roald Dahl, the story concerns Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), a poor yet virtuous paperboy who dreams of a better life. With no father, no money, and four bedridden grandparents to support, Charlie's future seems bleak. However, that changes when a contest is started by the town's mysterious candymaker, Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder): 5 Golden Tickets are hidden among the billions of Wonka bars sold all over the world. The lucky buyers who find the tickets will get a lifetime supply of chocolate AND an exclusive tour through the factory. The first half of the movie shows the worldwide hysteria that results from the frantic search for the Tickets. Eventually, four winners are revealed one by one: Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole) is Great Britain's ultimate spoiled brat. Augustus Gloop (Michael Bollner) is a chubby German who considers eating his most favorite hobby. Violet Beauregarde (Denise Nickerson) bears the rude, disgusting habit of constantly chewing gum. Mike Teevee (Paris Themmen) is a cowboy couch potato who bears a distorted view on reality. When Charlie himself discovers the final ticket, he and his Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson) both enter the factory to savor the marvelous surprises awaiting them. However, temptation comes into play: Wonka's sinister rival Arthur Slugworth (Gunter Meisner) has offered each of the children $10,000 in exchange for an Everlasting Gobstopper, a brand new product Mr. Wonka was working on.
In the latter half of the film, viewers will meet Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka, whose elusive persona and literary quotes make him strangely appealing. Is this man lying or is he telling the truth? In addition, audiences (old and young alike) will catch the delightful sights of orange-faced Oompa-Loompas, a nightmarish Boat Ride, Fizzy Lifting drinks that cause drinkers to float away, and quadruple-size Geese that lay octruple-size eggs! Throughout the journey, the group's four nasty children (and their equally despicable parents), are eliminated one by one in gruesome yet amusing ways: The gluttonous Augustus falls into a chocolate river and is sucked into a boiler. Violet samples a 3-course-dinner gum (despite Wonka's warnings) and inflates into a gigantic blueberry. When Veruca Salt attempts to steal a Golden Goose, she falls into a garbage chute, one that happens to lead down to the furnace! After trying to get photographed onto Wonka's giant T.V. camera, Mike Teevee is shrunk down to the size of a pen; the only way to restore his size is by stretching him out on a taffy-pulling machine! With imaginative sets, clever confections, and pleasant tunes like "Candyman," "Pure Imagination," and "Cheer Up, Charlie," this movie was made to entertain adults first and children afterwards. It's a guilty pleasure to college graduates, much like H.R. Puffenstuff.
I chose to give this film four stars because I felt that a couple of mistakes were made. For one thing, the nature of Wonka's factory is a little too candy-coated; Roald Dahl himself wanted to have the story as a Grimm fairytale, not a wholesome musical. Also, I personally think that the scene involving the Wonkamobile should have been cut out. The device, which is fueled by gingerale, gingerpop, gingerbeer, and double-bubble burp-a-cola (among other carbonated fluids), really doesn't have anything to do with the story. As a result, it's a little too distracting.
Now that Tim Burton plans to reimagine the tale, I am gleefully anticipating what alterations he plans to make.
Rating: 
Summary: Welcome To A World Of Pure Imagination!
Review: For a family film "Wonka" certainly has it's share of adult
humor (it was 1971 after all) but that doesn't make it any less
enjoyable for those too young to comprehend.It's a visually fun
movie and a JOY I'm sure to the many chocoholics who've viewed it
over the years.But basically Gene Wilder stars as a candy guru
Willie Wonka who is in search for a decent,honest child to take over his factory.Along the way five winners of a golden ticket
conest-highlited by the ever-so-annoyingly bratty Veruca Salt
(I want an oompa loompa NOWWWWWW!!!!!),learn varrious lessons of
life and decentcy along the way.Only the genuinely interested
Charlie Bucket figures out the ever important message of trust.
But the zany humor,colorful story and backdrop will leave you
very happy in the end,not to mention with a slight sweer tooth.
But as Wonka himself might say you'll be a little wiser for the
ware.
Rating:
Summary: The Passage Back to Childhood
Review: Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory is a children's movie but one of my favorites. Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory is very enjoyable to watch because it has a good story line, an enjoyable plot and a good ending. Through the whole movie you are kept guessing as to what is going to happen next and in suspense. The whole movie you enjoy the songs, and the dancing. The songs are very up beat and all of the characters get into them. it makes you what to sing and dance along. I know that I have. The person that you would think could never win gets the chocolate factory because they deserve to win the grand prize. The story was excellent and it kept my interest though the whole movie. There was a variety of personalities and it made you stop and think how some children really act.
Rating:
Summary: If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it
Review: In 1971, Mel Stuart directed a hilarious musical fantasy entitled "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", based upon the 1964 children's novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" written by Roald Dahl (1916-1990), who also wrote "James and the Giant Peach" in 1961. The story is about a little boy named Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) who works as a paperboy to help his impoverished & widowed mother (Diana Sowle) pay their expenses by working as a paperboy. Living with Charlie and his mother are all four of his grandparents: Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson, 1907-1981), Grandma Georgina (Dora Altmann, 1881-1971), Grandpa George (Ernst Ziegler, 1895-1980) and Grandma Josephine (Franziska Liebing, 1900-2000); none of which have gotten out of bed for twenty years. In the same town where Charlie lives is the famous chocolate factory owned by Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder). One day while Charlie is in school with his strange schoolteacher, Mr. Turkentine (David Battley, 1935-2003), a momentous announcement is made: Willy Wonka has started a contest to win a lifetime supply of chocolate. The entire world becomes crazed with finding the five hidden golden tickets that are hidden in five Wonka chocolate bars. Only the bearer of a golden ticket will have the opportunity to enter the mysterious chocolate factory and obtain the lifetime supply of chocolate. Various children from around the globe find the golden tickets, including Charlie to the amazement of his family. The winning children, and their accompanying adults, enter the most fantastic place that any of them have ever seen; but none of them could have imagined what their actions could merit. The other four children and their accompanying adults include the selfishly whiney Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole), Mr. Henry Salt (Roy Kinnear), the conceited Violet Beauregarde (Denise Nickerson), Mr. Sam Beauregarde (Leonard Stone), the television-addicted Mike Teevee (Paris Themmen), Mrs. Teevee (Nora 'Dodo' Denney), the gluttonous Augustus Gloop (Michael Bollner) and Mrs. Gloop (Ursula Reit). Memorable scenes in the film include children enjoying the delights of Bill the Candyman's (Aubrey Woods) candy store, Henry Salt's employees searching for a golden ticket, Willy Wonka's first appearance, the edible fantasy room, the invention room, the soda pop room, the golden geese room, the events in Willy Wonka's office and the amazing Wonka-vator. Other memorable characters include Arthur Slugworth (Günter Meisner, 1926-1994), The Tinker (Peter Capell, 1912-1986, newspaper-stand owner Mr. Jopeck (Werner Heyking) and the many Oompa Loompas played by several actors including George Claydon and Marcus Powell, who respectively played "Strutter" and "Horseflesh" in the 1981 film "Time Bandits". The film's very memorable songs were nominated for Best Original Music by the Academy Awards. Each of the songs, along with with my ranking for each, are listed below: * "The Candyman" (5, performed by Aubrey Woods).
* "Cheer-up, Charlie (5, performed by Diane Sowle).
* "(I've Got a) Golden Ticket" (5+, performed by Peter Ostrum & Jack Albertson).
* "Pure Imagination" (5++, performed by Gene Wilder).
* "Oompa Loompa" (5, performed by the Oompa Loompas).
* "Wonderous Boat Ride" (5+, performed by Gene Wilder)
* "Everlasting Gobstoppers/Oompa Loompa", (5, performed by the Oompa Loompas).
* "I Want It Now/Oompa Loompa", (5, performed by Julie Dawn Cole and the Oompa Loompas).
* "Wonkamobile, Wonkavision/Oompa Loompa", (4.5, performed by Gene Wilder and the Oompa Loompas). Overall, I rate the classic "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" with a resounding 5 out of 5 stars. It's a wonderful film that both children and adults alike can watch many times without becoming tiresome, and the film itself is by no means dated. Both the dialog and plot were brilliantly executed and each of the many actors in the film did superb jobs in their roles, especially Gene Wilder. If any producer attempted to film a remake of this film, I couldn't imagine anyone other than Gene Wilder in the role of Willy Wonka.
Rating:
Summary: REAL bonus stuff
Review: This DVD is the only one I have seen where the "bonus" stuff is actually worthwhile, and not just a rip off ploy to get more of your money. The documentary is great, the running commentary is fascinating--both are even better than the actual movie!
Rating:
Summary: Boat Ride to Hell best scene in movie
Review: Ive noticed that the boat ride scene in Willy Wonka is catching alot of negative flak from reviewers, many calling for it to be removed. Im tired of folks always wanting to censor and remove anything that can be remotely construed as offensive or damaging to children. Although its a scary scene, I saw this as a child and was not traumatized by it, maybe your kids are just wussies! I believe the scene was shot to add a dimension of danger to Wonka's world and truth be told, a dose of fear in children is healthy, not the kind of violent axe murderer stuff but the old fashioned fear of death or the unknown. Fear keeps kids in line and lets them know there are boundaries and repercussions, not everything in life is peachy keen and chocolate covered. I dont think the boat ride scene was made to scare the crap out of kids but just as a psychedilic freak out, it gets their minds working. Its a magical, mysterious, bizarre scene that is true Hollywood magic and Im glad to find that its still included despite the controlling, revisionist, sissyphied parents of today who want to shelter their kids from everyting and end up creating their own monsters who fear nothing, worry about nothing, and care about nothing. On another note, Gene Wilder is just fantastic in this movie, one of the all time best characters ever!
Rating:
Summary: An awesome movie that you will make you a chocolate lover
Review: A true classic and brillient movie. This movie was made before I was even born and even to this day it holds up the test of time very well. It makes you wish that we had more movies like this now a days for kids and people of all ages to enjoy. The story is of a very poor little boy named Charlie who doesn't have much, doesn't want much and helps out the family that all live in a one room shack. When news spreads of the chance to win a tour into the famous Willy Wonka chocolate factory, pandemonium ensues and everyone starts to buy his chocolate bars to hopefuly find one of the 5 golden tickets hidden inside for a chance to tour the famous factory that has been closed for years to the public. Charlie wants nothing more then to win a ticket and when he does, that's when the magic starts. The wonderful part of the movie is the factory itself that we finaly get to see after a very long , yet enjoyable build up of all the kids around the world who find the 4 tickets before Charlie and how much you start to really root for Charlie as we find out more about his sad life. When we get to the factory itself we see who is behind the chcolate, all the inventions that he has come up with and all the trouble the kids get into and what happens due to their actions. It really is a very psycological story that will not only make you think but laugh at the same time when you realize what happens to some of the kids and their parents. I can't stress enough how great this movie truly is. It has songs and colorful sets and great special effects. The actors who are all no names except for Wilder himself all play their parts excellently. Its almost like the Harry Potter of the 70s in a way. If anything this movie will make you think and laugh and its a movie you truly will want to watch many times. The DVD doesn't have many special features but it has the commentary from the actual 5 kids who were in this movie, even if they are 20 years older now and some sing along songs and trailers. Also any age will like this movie. The kids will like the humor while the adults will just like the songs and well written story. If you ever wanted to see a kid go from rags to riches and have all his dreams come true when all seemed lost.. this is the movie for you. Even if you didn't this is still the movie for you. Get it now. You won't be disapointed at the fun and hijinx that unfold through the eyes of one poor kid and a wacky chocolate maker.
Rating:
Summary: A trip back to your childhood!
Review: I can remember the excitement of watching Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory on TV. Seems like it came on once a year or so back in the 1970's. A great movie. Now, it has been re-released in this 30th Anniversary edition for fans everywhere! I was facinated by the behind-the-scene interviews with Gene Wilder. I found it facinating to learn how some of the scenes were shot (such as the scene with the chocolate river) and to find that Mr. Wildler's eating of one of the "teacups" was something he put into the scene (turns out that the tea cup was wax and he spit it out after the scene was filmed). This is a great movie made better by the added bonuses you get with this 30th anniversary edition. Enjoy!
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