Customer Reviews

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the best and most celebrated musical films to come from the late 1960s, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has been a favorite for over 35 years and will remain a favorite for years to come.

The score by the brothers Sherman is wonderful. This is the only score they wrote for a non-Disney film. The score for MARY POPPINS was written by the same duo. This film was actually meant to star Julie Andrews as Truly Scrumptious, but Andrews already felt too typecast from previous films and declined the role. But Sally Ann Howes is perfectly cast here and gives a remarkable performance. Dick van Dyke, as always, is charming. Also loved the casting of the two children. They can really carry a tune.

Ironic trivia: Howes was a replacement for Julie Andrews in the stage version of My Fair Lady.

The ONLY reason I must hold back from giving 5 stars is that the sound quality on this disc, while not terrible, does not allow the music to shine as glorious as it should. There is quite a bit of tape hiss evident throughout, which is distracting, and it does bring down the sonic quality of the performances. Hopefully future releases of this soundtrack will have that problem rectified. But that doesn't mean you should pass this disc up and wait for the next release. It is still wonderful and the score will always remain a favorite of children and adults alike.

This re-release of the CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG soundtrack is a great find. The original Rykodisc release was swiftly deleted, but this new reissue from Varese Sarabande is ample compensation. Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes are delightful in their performances as Caractacus Potts and Truly Scrumptious. Standouts in the strong Sherman Brothers score include "Hushabye Mountain", "The Roses of Success", "Me Ole' Bamboo" and "Toot Sweets".

There are two prime numbers for Miss Howes to show her mettle ("Lovely Lonely Man" and "Doll on a Music Box"). Under-rated British musical star Anna Quayle, as the fearsome Baroness, has the cute "Chu-Chi Face" with Gert Frobe. Not just a children's musical!

This new soundtrack release for the 1968 family musical classic, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, contains all of the songs from the movie, albeit some have instrumental parts edited from the tracks. It contains several performances of the title track, as well as classics such as "Toot Sweets," "Hushabye Mountain," and "Doll On A Music Box." The sound is fairly crisp and clear, although sadly, Varese gave into the loudness war crap and turned the volume up so much that there's a bit of distortion in some of the louder portions. It doesn't really take away from my experience, and I barely notice it, but I thought I should mention this.

I took one star off, however, for the simple reason that these 16 tracks don't even add up to 40 minutes of audio, which is why the exclusion of the demos that are included on the 2-Disc DVD baffles me. I made myself a copy of the CD with both the songs from the CD and the demos from the DVD, and it came to just under 70 minutes. It'd be nice if in the future, a new soundtrack was released with the demos, or even just the full songs, including the instrumental breaks. It's about time these record companies started taking advantage of a CD's ability to hold up to 80 minutes of audio.

Despite any flaws, I wholeheartedly recommend this soundtrack to ANY fan of the film. It presents all of the classic songs in a satisfactory presentation, and is wonderfully nostalgic. The songs aren't as good as the songs you'll find in any great Disney classic, but they're still fantastic fun.

While I do love this movie, and the songs from it, this CD is a sad example of a missed opportunity. This CD was released a few years ago with dialogue in-between the songs. Its now more like the original LP from 1968, but far from complete. If they truly wanted to release a great "Special Edition" soundtrack, they should have included the fantastic score by Irwin Kostal/Sherman Bros. I have heard the "isolated score", and in some ways it is better than some of the songs. Maybe they will get it right for the 70th Anniversary!

Even though the first release of the soundtrack was better, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this CD. I have loved this movie since I was a child, and I loved the music to it! This is one of those CD's that you never get tired of listening to. Anyone who loves Chitty Chitty Bang Bang must have this soundtrack!!

This is a super soundtrack. The songs appear in the same order as they do in the movie, so it's easy for young fans to follow along. Adults may have forgotten how many great songs are in this movie. This one is a good value!

Our daughter loves the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", so we bought this CD for her. It was a wonderful gift. We were amazed at how well the quality was, especially for an older film that was not originally captured digitally.

My 2 year old daughter loves the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and asks to watch it all day long. I will often offer the soundtrack instead, and she will dance and sing along to all her favorite songs.

The music from the movie is great but the sound quality on the cd is no where near as good as it could be. I'm not sure why a better recording is not out there but this recording sounds 'tinny'. That said, I want to keep the recording because it's fun to sing along to the songs, etc., but if a better one comes along I would think seriously about trading this one in for a better one.

I recently took my four year old son to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on Broadway for his birthday. He was amazed by the play, especially the real flying car! I bought him the movie and the soundtrack so he could relive the memory. The songs are catchy and I find myself humming them through the day! He likes listening to them and telling me about what was happening in the play when a certain song is playing.