Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971/HD-DVD)
Picture:
B Sound: B- Extras: B Film: B
Roald
Dahl had just written what remains one of the biggest Bond films ever with the
1967 international blockbuster You Only
Live Twice. Like his good friend Ian
Fleming, he had written classics that were for both adults and children. With Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang already an epic hit film as well, Dahl’s Charlie & The Chocolate Factory was
a natural for adaptation to the big screen.
Dahl even wrote a screenplay adaptation.
Too bad it was not used as is.
Instead, the
great producer David L. Wolpert (then through Paramount and now through Warner
Bros.) picked it up and unfortunately allowed writer David Seltzer to rewrite
the screenplay by the original author! David
Seltzer’s only outstanding writing work is also about the child; Damien in the
original Omen from 1976. Other projects he has written and/or directed
like Prophecy, The Final Conflict – Omen III, Bird
On A Wire, My Giant, Shining Through, Punchline and Dragonfly
have all been disasters. His work here
was reportedly disliked immensely by author Roald Dahl so much that he would
into allow a sequel despite this film’s commercial success.
Where the
film does work is in its look, pace and an amazing performance by Gene Wilder
that helped put him on the map and continues to endure as a charming heart and
soul performance that will never be surpassed.
Though color and production design are impressive, it is Wilder who
steals scenes and is so good that he steamrolls and flaws or trouble the
watering-down of the book causes.
Director
Mel Stuart handily helms the production so well, that you wonder why they
tampered with the original script. The
mostly unknown cast is good and Roy Kinnear is appropriate as Henry Salt, the
father of brat Veruca. This is a far
more family-friendly version than the remake, especially more suitable for
younger children than the sometimes abrasive and even Horror-like remake. The songs are not perfect, but they are in
context to the film enough, yet it does bug me that this is the kind of film
that supports the myth that a given book is always better than the film made of
it.
Unlike
the recent remake, this film (funded originally by the Quaker Oats Company) makes
the viewer want to run out and eat some chocolate or other sweet goodies. Films these days seem to want to turn your
stomach or mock the audience, but unless you watch Food Network, you will not
find many films today that actually have a healthy love for food. This one does, though any candy baring the
Wonka name is just about anything but chocolate these days. With that said, the film truly celebrates the
one aspect of the novel that makes it work in the first place. That is why it is worth revisiting in HD-DVD.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image is not bad at all for its age and though
there are shots that are softer than they should be and this is not always
color consistent, the film looks just as good as the remake for all intents and
purposes, which says something about where the digital color went wrong in
post-production on the latter. As a
matter of fact, there are shots here superior to that film, in part because the
sets here are more developed with a better color scheme. Originally issued in three-strip dye-transfer
Technicolor, Cinematographer Arthur Ibbetson (Where Eagles Dare, Die! Die!
My Darling (reviewed elsewhere on this site), Anne Of The Thousand Days) does some memorable work in what is one
of the least-phony looking films from this era of Children’s films, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and other
family fare (semi-Musicals at the least) that was usually bombing at the box
office.
This may
not look like a new Technicolor print, but when it shines, it shines. Fortunately, it is not problematic like the
HD-DVD (reviewed elsewhere on this site) and Blu-ray versions Warner issued of
another dye-transfer Technicolor hit, Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles. The
original monophonic sound has been upgraded somewhat to Dolby Digital Plus 5.1,
though Dolby 1.0 French and Spanish tracks are also included. The sound is mostly in the front channels,
but the Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley songs (they had one of the 1960s theme songs for the James Bond
film Goldfinger) benefit the most
here making the 5.1 mix the obvious choice.
The combination definitely has its moments.
Extras
include 4 sing-alongs, the child cast all grown up on the audio commentary, the
Pure Imagination documentary on the
making of the film and vintage featurette that promoted the film well. Of course, fans will want more. Why not a stills section of promo materials
and memorabilia? Either way, it is a
smart early HD release from Warner and remains the best film version of the book
to date. You can read about the remake
at the following link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4387/Charlie+&+The+Chocolate+Factory+(2005/HD-DVD)
- Nicholas Sheffo
