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Special Features
- Becoming Oompa-Loompa: How Did They Turn One Man into Thousands of Oompa-Loompas?!?
- Oomp-Loompa Dance Machine Challenge
- Theatrical trailer
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Mixed reviews and creepy comparisons to Michael Jackson notwithstanding, Tim Burton's splendidly imaginative adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would almost surely meet with Roald Dahl's approval. The celebrated author of darkly offbeat children's books vehemently disapproved of 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (hence the change in title), so it's only fitting that Burton and his frequent star/collaborator, Johnny Depp, should have another go, infusing the enigmatic candyman's tale with their own unique brand of imaginative oddity. Depp's pale, androgynous Wonka led some to suspect a partial riff on that most controversial of eternal children, Michael Jackson, but Burton's film is too expansively magnificent to be so narrowly defined. While preserving Dahl's morality tale on the hazards of indulgent excess, Burton's riotous explosion of color provides a wondrous setting for the lessons learned by Charlie Bucket (played by Freddie Highmore, Depp's delightful costar in Finding Neverland), as he and other, less admirable children enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime tour of Wonka's confectionary wonderland. Elaborate visual effects make this an eye-candy overdose (including digitally multiplied Oompa-Loompas, all played by diminutive actor Deep Roy), and the film's underlying weirdness is exaggerated by Depp's admirably risky but ultimately off-putting performance. Of course, none of this stops Burton's Charlie from being the must-own family DVD of 2005's holiday season, perhaps even for those who staunchly defend Gene Wilder's portrayal of Wonka from 34 years earlier. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
Willy Wonka, the eccentric owner of a candy factory, decides to open up his factory to five lucky kids who won a contest by finding golden tickets in his candy bars. As the tour progresses, each kid succumbs to a temptation of their weaknesses except for Charlie Bucket, an innocent child whose family has grown up in poverty in the shadow Willy Wonka's monstrous factory.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I once made the comment that most of the entertainment today is in very bad shape. The industries are trying to relive past glories, especially music and movies. Most of the money being made in the music industry is reissues, HDCD releases of well-known titles, delux reissues, legacy reissues, offical releases of bootlegs, greatest hits, and any and all repackaging of classic albums. And they all use well known, classic, big name artists, because they know people will buy it. Because the majority of new CDs, and new artists aren't of any real quality, they have to rely on the old stuff to make money. The same can be said of the movies. It's all sequels, prequels, remakes, and remodels.
Accordingly, I was not thrilled when I heard a new version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was coming out. When I learned it was a Tim Burton/Danny Elfman/Johnny Depp production, I was less skeptical. When I saw a trailer, I was interested. When I heard Danny Elfman was writing/composing the music AND doing the vocals, I was excited. The collaboration is great, almost to the point of excusing all their pretensiousness and self-absorbtion... enough quibbling. On to the movie!
It holds many of Tim Burton's staples; it is dark, stark, eerie, and filled with the regular unnamable props, but he has allowed joy into the equation. The movie is much better for it. There is rich color, specifically in the factory, to match the rich imagery and funny comparisons of Willy Wonka. Depp is cast perfectly in this role, which is not really apparent unless you see the movie. He is funny, quirky, confused, and innocent; much different than the brilliant, strong character played by Gene Wilder in the original. The children who find the golden tickets and their parents do a great job too. Perhaps my favorite part is the wild card, Danny Elfman. If you don't know WHO Elfman is, you're sure to have heard his music whether in any number of cult classic 80's films (Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman 1 & 2), his TV themes (The Simpsons), his musical-esque movies featuring his vocals (Nightmare Before Christmas-- an absolute classic soundtrack), or his 15-plus years of work as the vocalist/writer/guitarist for 80's heavyweight Oingo Boingo. "Charlie" is the 11th time Tim Burton has used Elfman as his composer, and this is arguably their greatest work together (though I prefer "Nightmare Before Christmas").
The movie itself is quite interesting, moving into parts of the Willy Wonka story the orignal movie didn't, relying more on the Ron Dahl book. Note: even the lyrics to the four Oompa-Loompa songs are the lyrics from the novel. We learn that Willy became a chocolateer to spite his father and is forever haunted by this falling out. An eventual redemtion of their relationship serves as a very positive pro-family element. Best of all, it's clean. Nothing negative, offensive, or disturbing is presented, meaning a green light for families and kids; a HUGE plus. The problem of lacking special features is corrected here, but you can save a few dollars if you don't mind a slimmer package. A great, big, fun movie.
Overall: 9 out of 10.
Accordingly, I was not thrilled when I heard a new version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was coming out. When I learned it was a Tim Burton/Danny Elfman/Johnny Depp production, I was less skeptical. When I saw a trailer, I was interested. When I heard Danny Elfman was writing/composing the music AND doing the vocals, I was excited. The collaboration is great, almost to the point of excusing all their pretensiousness and self-absorbtion... enough quibbling. On to the movie!
It holds many of Tim Burton's staples; it is dark, stark, eerie, and filled with the regular unnamable props, but he has allowed joy into the equation. The movie is much better for it. There is rich color, specifically in the factory, to match the rich imagery and funny comparisons of Willy Wonka. Depp is cast perfectly in this role, which is not really apparent unless you see the movie. He is funny, quirky, confused, and innocent; much different than the brilliant, strong character played by Gene Wilder in the original. The children who find the golden tickets and their parents do a great job too. Perhaps my favorite part is the wild card, Danny Elfman. If you don't know WHO Elfman is, you're sure to have heard his music whether in any number of cult classic 80's films (Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman 1 & 2), his TV themes (The Simpsons), his musical-esque movies featuring his vocals (Nightmare Before Christmas-- an absolute classic soundtrack), or his 15-plus years of work as the vocalist/writer/guitarist for 80's heavyweight Oingo Boingo. "Charlie" is the 11th time Tim Burton has used Elfman as his composer, and this is arguably their greatest work together (though I prefer "Nightmare Before Christmas").
The movie itself is quite interesting, moving into parts of the Willy Wonka story the orignal movie didn't, relying more on the Ron Dahl book. Note: even the lyrics to the four Oompa-Loompa songs are the lyrics from the novel. We learn that Willy became a chocolateer to spite his father and is forever haunted by this falling out. An eventual redemtion of their relationship serves as a very positive pro-family element. Best of all, it's clean. Nothing negative, offensive, or disturbing is presented, meaning a green light for families and kids; a HUGE plus. The problem of lacking special features is corrected here, but you can save a few dollars if you don't mind a slimmer package. A great, big, fun movie.
Overall: 9 out of 10.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I'm the first person I know who would completely go against Hollywood for remaking what is, in my eyes, a classic. I've always been vehemently opposed to remade classics such as 'Planet of the Apes', "Psycho', and the list goes on, with Hollywood taking some perfectly wonderful classics and simply ruining them in the name of more money and a lack of original ideas.
Yet with a remake and rename to 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory',I was pleasantly surprised for two reasons:
1) The original grasped at some potentially high-tech-like and creepy scenes that would've looked much better with good technology, which, at the time, was unavailable (creepy boat scene in the chocolate waters, the TV Room scene with the little boy who shrunk, the glass elevator ...or, respectively, Wonkivator. These scenes looked great in the remake - when good movie-making technology remakes a classic that didn't yet have the equipment, it makes it look good, and in this case, looks DO stand to benefit the movie.
2) As a nutty fan of Gene Wilder, who did a wonderful job as the original Willy Wonka, I do think Johnny Depp worked for this movie, and worked very, very well. People need to stop criticizing him. For one, he's a good actor. Second, he's also a great COMIC actor. He picks up on the nuances, has excellent timing, and shares a similar facial control to Gene Wilder, enabling him to deliver comedic lines with that same dead-pan stillness which Gene Wilder was notorious for. Johnny Dep is also one of the few actors today who is unafraid to take chances, and his Wonka character was creepy in how androgynous and eccentric it was. I laughed when he seemed to throw up a little in his mouth evert time the term 'parents' came up. I don't think any other actor would've been as good for the role of Wonka.
All in all, the acting was actually very good in this movie, including the minor characters. I always found Charlie to be a minor character in this movie, and in this remake I kept thinking 'Tiny Tim' or 'Oliver Twist'. I kept expecting Charlie to finish a chocolate bar and then grovel to Wonka, "Please sir, can I have some more?" He was cute, in that gaunt, poor way, and I had the urge to feed him lots of porridge.
Now, the bad: Overall, the story is okay, though there are some key elements missing, and those were what put a big damper on the movie for me. The mysterious man in the original, whose name I forget, the one who acts like a competitor for Wonka's chocolate recipes, trying to secretly bribe the children into extracting a piece of candy to analyze the ingredients, is missing. His character, in my opinion, was central. He was essentially greed, one of the main motivators of it. He was a test to distinguish which child was natually loyal, and which was a greedy little brat.
In the remake, Charlie automatically wins by default because all the other kids are gone. Wonka, for being so concerned about his precious Ooomap-Loompas and factory, is willing to surrender it all to a random boy simply based on DEFAULT? I think not.
And to make matters worse, there was that little wounded child scenario, with Wonka's estranged daddy, and the reunion. I think I threw up in my mouth a little when I saw that. Don't mean to sound cynical here, but the beauty of the original "Willy Wonka" was about a mysterious, cynical man whose heart melts when he finds someone worthy and loyal enough that he can trust as his heir, not his therapist, for cryin' out loud. The beuaty was that Wonka never needed to explain to himself...he was a weird, eccentric guy, unapologetic and, well, weird. The other thing about him was that he was enigmatic. Does anyone remember a time when a character could be this way without being BAD? Does anyone remember when enigmatic, unexplained behavior in a character, in a FANTASY story no less, worked, without everyone needing to jump on the bandwagon and dissect the character, coldly sucking out his insides and calling him a pervert? It's just sad.
This daddy thing just ruins Wonka's character completely and keeps pointing out his shortcomings and bad childhood. I felt like I was beginning to read the introduction to a very bad self-help book after a while. This was a movie, after all, a fantasty, not a self-help book, or am I wrong??
All in all, the acting was great for me, but the script was poorly written. Someone took their Daddy issues and insisted on shoving them in, which annoyed me. But I think it's an okay movie, as long as you have the classic handy and watch that too, because that is the real thing.
Yet with a remake and rename to 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory',I was pleasantly surprised for two reasons:
1) The original grasped at some potentially high-tech-like and creepy scenes that would've looked much better with good technology, which, at the time, was unavailable (creepy boat scene in the chocolate waters, the TV Room scene with the little boy who shrunk, the glass elevator ...or, respectively, Wonkivator. These scenes looked great in the remake - when good movie-making technology remakes a classic that didn't yet have the equipment, it makes it look good, and in this case, looks DO stand to benefit the movie.
2) As a nutty fan of Gene Wilder, who did a wonderful job as the original Willy Wonka, I do think Johnny Depp worked for this movie, and worked very, very well. People need to stop criticizing him. For one, he's a good actor. Second, he's also a great COMIC actor. He picks up on the nuances, has excellent timing, and shares a similar facial control to Gene Wilder, enabling him to deliver comedic lines with that same dead-pan stillness which Gene Wilder was notorious for. Johnny Dep is also one of the few actors today who is unafraid to take chances, and his Wonka character was creepy in how androgynous and eccentric it was. I laughed when he seemed to throw up a little in his mouth evert time the term 'parents' came up. I don't think any other actor would've been as good for the role of Wonka.
All in all, the acting was actually very good in this movie, including the minor characters. I always found Charlie to be a minor character in this movie, and in this remake I kept thinking 'Tiny Tim' or 'Oliver Twist'. I kept expecting Charlie to finish a chocolate bar and then grovel to Wonka, "Please sir, can I have some more?" He was cute, in that gaunt, poor way, and I had the urge to feed him lots of porridge.
Now, the bad: Overall, the story is okay, though there are some key elements missing, and those were what put a big damper on the movie for me. The mysterious man in the original, whose name I forget, the one who acts like a competitor for Wonka's chocolate recipes, trying to secretly bribe the children into extracting a piece of candy to analyze the ingredients, is missing. His character, in my opinion, was central. He was essentially greed, one of the main motivators of it. He was a test to distinguish which child was natually loyal, and which was a greedy little brat.
In the remake, Charlie automatically wins by default because all the other kids are gone. Wonka, for being so concerned about his precious Ooomap-Loompas and factory, is willing to surrender it all to a random boy simply based on DEFAULT? I think not.
And to make matters worse, there was that little wounded child scenario, with Wonka's estranged daddy, and the reunion. I think I threw up in my mouth a little when I saw that. Don't mean to sound cynical here, but the beauty of the original "Willy Wonka" was about a mysterious, cynical man whose heart melts when he finds someone worthy and loyal enough that he can trust as his heir, not his therapist, for cryin' out loud. The beuaty was that Wonka never needed to explain to himself...he was a weird, eccentric guy, unapologetic and, well, weird. The other thing about him was that he was enigmatic. Does anyone remember a time when a character could be this way without being BAD? Does anyone remember when enigmatic, unexplained behavior in a character, in a FANTASY story no less, worked, without everyone needing to jump on the bandwagon and dissect the character, coldly sucking out his insides and calling him a pervert? It's just sad.
This daddy thing just ruins Wonka's character completely and keeps pointing out his shortcomings and bad childhood. I felt like I was beginning to read the introduction to a very bad self-help book after a while. This was a movie, after all, a fantasty, not a self-help book, or am I wrong??
All in all, the acting was great for me, but the script was poorly written. Someone took their Daddy issues and insisted on shoving them in, which annoyed me. But I think it's an okay movie, as long as you have the classic handy and watch that too, because that is the real thing.
20 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
First off, yes, I am a fan of Tim Burton. I even own every one of his movies on DVD (though one or two of them I could live without). But that's not the point. The fact is, I respect his vision as an artist; and his ability to create such surrealistic worlds that are both weird and wonderful are just enough why I idolize him.
Okay, now, some of you may wonder, if this is a direct remake of the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that starred Gene Wilder. Actually, no, even though it's the same story concept. The only difference is that this film pays more homage to the book (MUCH more homage) and is (of course) AMAZING to look at. The storyline now, is simple enough (because I'm under the impression that a lot of people have seen the original film): Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) is a boy from an impoverished family living under the shadow of a giant chocolate factory, who eventually wins a candy bar contest and is given a tour, along with four other children, of the amazing factory run by the eccentric Willy Wonka and his staff of Oompa-Loompas.
Performance wise, this movie belongs to Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore, who are able to recreate their chemistry from Finding Neverland. However, quote: "Depp's Wonka is far less cuddly than that of Gene Wilder, playing it more like a demented Mr. Rogers with more than a bit of a sadistic streak. The way that he watches the kids meet their fates with giddy glee is quite disturbing, but it's hard not to enjoy this quirky hermit's complete lack of social skills."-Edward Douglas, [...] (sorry, but the guy explianed it perfectly)Also, I'd like to clear this up out of my system before it does any more damage, but it seems A LOT of ....people are comparing Depp's Wonka w/ a certain pop star so much that it really just sickens me. This assessment can be contradicted however. First reason (and this came from no other than Depp himself): In an interview, Johnny said he had NO INTENTION whatsoever to base his character off of Micheal Jackson. Second reason: Willy Wonka is a recluse, so he's supposed to be strange, weird, crazy, whatever. I mean, the guy shunned himself from society for 15 years so he's going to be pale, out of style/trend, and a bit behind. Also, throughout the movie, we're shown flashbacks of Wonka's past that are used to explain his weirdness. There, end of story. Freddie Highmore's Charlie is more sad than the original one, so much that you'll want to hug him b/c he's so optimistic depsite living such an impoverished lifestyle. Another performance nod goes to Deep Roy, who plays all the Oompa-Loompas w/ such panache. Everyone else is respectable in their performances.
Now, aesthetically, this film is amazing; in fact, this is Burton's most visually striking film to date. He yet again creates such surreal and imaginative landscapes that it's just real eye candy to look at; the factory rooms being the prime example. Some of the wacky machinery used to create candy is just as impressive and actually looks like it could work. Yet, as w/ the original film, this film creates an atmosphere that could unnerve sensitive folks. The boat ride down the chocolate tunnel is not the acid trip that was the original, but rather like an intense roller coaster ride. Also, for those who have seen the original, the four kids who fall to their weaknesses (loosely speaking: gluttony, pride, avarice(that's greed) and sloth) and punished for not heeding warnings are a bit more dangerous (thanks to the evolution of filmmaking) and look fatal, but are not.
Also, another treat in this film is to hear composer Danny Elfman (who has composed pretty much all of Tim Burton's films to date save for Ed Wood, which was scored by Howard Shore) sing again. He sings all the Oompa-Loompa songs provided by the lyrics written in the book with such style that you can't help but tap your feet. For the record, he also sung in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Well, I believe I covered over everything. Overall, real faithful adaptation that surpasses the original in practically every way (sorry, but...my opinion). Also, the ending is different, both from the book and the original film; but still good. This is also Burton's best film next to Ed Wood and redeems him from his Planet of the Apes remake (what was he thinking w/ that?). Anyways, great film: just as wacky and twisted as you might expect but nonetheless wonderful to look at and as magical as the original.
Okay, now, some of you may wonder, if this is a direct remake of the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that starred Gene Wilder. Actually, no, even though it's the same story concept. The only difference is that this film pays more homage to the book (MUCH more homage) and is (of course) AMAZING to look at. The storyline now, is simple enough (because I'm under the impression that a lot of people have seen the original film): Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) is a boy from an impoverished family living under the shadow of a giant chocolate factory, who eventually wins a candy bar contest and is given a tour, along with four other children, of the amazing factory run by the eccentric Willy Wonka and his staff of Oompa-Loompas.
Performance wise, this movie belongs to Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore, who are able to recreate their chemistry from Finding Neverland. However, quote: "Depp's Wonka is far less cuddly than that of Gene Wilder, playing it more like a demented Mr. Rogers with more than a bit of a sadistic streak. The way that he watches the kids meet their fates with giddy glee is quite disturbing, but it's hard not to enjoy this quirky hermit's complete lack of social skills."-Edward Douglas, [...] (sorry, but the guy explianed it perfectly)Also, I'd like to clear this up out of my system before it does any more damage, but it seems A LOT of ....people are comparing Depp's Wonka w/ a certain pop star so much that it really just sickens me. This assessment can be contradicted however. First reason (and this came from no other than Depp himself): In an interview, Johnny said he had NO INTENTION whatsoever to base his character off of Micheal Jackson. Second reason: Willy Wonka is a recluse, so he's supposed to be strange, weird, crazy, whatever. I mean, the guy shunned himself from society for 15 years so he's going to be pale, out of style/trend, and a bit behind. Also, throughout the movie, we're shown flashbacks of Wonka's past that are used to explain his weirdness. There, end of story. Freddie Highmore's Charlie is more sad than the original one, so much that you'll want to hug him b/c he's so optimistic depsite living such an impoverished lifestyle. Another performance nod goes to Deep Roy, who plays all the Oompa-Loompas w/ such panache. Everyone else is respectable in their performances.
Now, aesthetically, this film is amazing; in fact, this is Burton's most visually striking film to date. He yet again creates such surreal and imaginative landscapes that it's just real eye candy to look at; the factory rooms being the prime example. Some of the wacky machinery used to create candy is just as impressive and actually looks like it could work. Yet, as w/ the original film, this film creates an atmosphere that could unnerve sensitive folks. The boat ride down the chocolate tunnel is not the acid trip that was the original, but rather like an intense roller coaster ride. Also, for those who have seen the original, the four kids who fall to their weaknesses (loosely speaking: gluttony, pride, avarice(that's greed) and sloth) and punished for not heeding warnings are a bit more dangerous (thanks to the evolution of filmmaking) and look fatal, but are not.
Also, another treat in this film is to hear composer Danny Elfman (who has composed pretty much all of Tim Burton's films to date save for Ed Wood, which was scored by Howard Shore) sing again. He sings all the Oompa-Loompa songs provided by the lyrics written in the book with such style that you can't help but tap your feet. For the record, he also sung in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Well, I believe I covered over everything. Overall, real faithful adaptation that surpasses the original in practically every way (sorry, but...my opinion). Also, the ending is different, both from the book and the original film; but still good. This is also Burton's best film next to Ed Wood and redeems him from his Planet of the Apes remake (what was he thinking w/ that?). Anyways, great film: just as wacky and twisted as you might expect but nonetheless wonderful to look at and as magical as the original.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fun Frivolous Movie. Relax and Enjoy.
Last night's bargain-rack movie was "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory," a movie by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. That says a lot doesn't it? Read more
Published 4 hours ago by Gary Peterson
Willy Wonka, Androgynous In a Bad Way
Let's face it: In life there is good-androgynous and bad androgynous. The funniest evocation of the difference is probably that classic skit from Saturday Night Live called "It's... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Peter P. Fuchs
Interesting Remake
I enjoyed the modern-style refresh that they gave this movie and thought that Johnny Depp did a great job in the lead role. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Reviewer1
This is just sad
I like Johnny Depp. He's played many excellent roles. This is not one of them. It's not that he's not good here, it just that this should have never happened in the first place. Read more
Published 4 months ago by J. B. Shoopman
could it be any worse???
I grew up watching the original version (I don't even really see this as being a remake, rather, a far different adaptation). Read more
Published 4 months ago by anon
great movie!
Bought this movie for a 6 year-old girl. She truly loves it. Would buy it again for another gift. Was difficult to find elsewhere, but Amazon came through!
Published 4 months ago by gen
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Love this remake of the classic, though quite abit darker than original, it still has all the silliness and fun of the first, though I'd probably wait till my grandchildren are a... Read more
Published 5 months ago by mimi
Children Should Be Forced To See It... And Certain Adults
First off, this is not a remake. This is another adaptation of a book by Rauld Dahl. The first adaptation, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, lost many themes and ideas from... Read more
Published 5 months ago by arthur
Good movie
I bought this movie and the first Chocolate Factory for my grandchildren. They love both of them. They want to watch them all the time.
Published 5 months ago by Brenda K. Davis
For Joziah
I got this DVD for my nephew, who adores this movie. As for myself, I think it's great but I still like the original better.
Published 6 months ago by 83Lioness
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