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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Full Screen Edition)
Director: Tim Burton
Actors: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, and Noah Taylor
Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Retail Price (not our price): $14.98
Release Date: 2005-11-08
Theatrical Release Date: 2005-07-15
Studio: Warner Home Video
Run Time: 115 minutes
Format: Array
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Discs: 1


Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) 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 ShannonDVD features The second disc is filled with a number of distinctive featurettes. The likely crowd-pleaser in most households is "Attack of the Squirrels," which recounts how those fuzzy little creatures (a combination of hard-to-train live animals, animatronics, and computer graphics) can be ornery in their own right. "The Fantastic Mr. Dahl" is a 17-minute look at author Roald Dahl through vintage footage and new interviews with family, friends, and colleagues. "Becoming Oompa-Loompa" follows Deep Roy as he is filmed over and over again through his dance steps and music performances. Roy is a constant throughout the kids' activities as well. You can follow him to learn two different dance steps "Augustus Gloop" and "Violet Beauregarde," and make him taste weird candy inventions in a simple game. "Search for the Golden Ticket" is a five-part challenge that tests your remote-control fingers, your deductive abilities, or your luck. Finally, if you just want basic behind-the-scenes information, "Making the Mix" is a collection of featurettes (around 40 minutes total) covering the film's casting, music, production design, and special effects. --David Horiuchi

2) Description
Fantasy Adventure. Acclaimed director Tim Burton brings his vividly imaginative style to the beloved Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, about eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka (Depp) and Charlie, a good-hearted boy from a poor family who lives in the shadow of Wonka's extraordinary factory. Long isolated from his own family, Wonka launches a worldwide contest to select an heir to his candy empire. Five lucky children, including Charlie, draw golden tickets from Wonka chocolate bars and win a guided tour of the legendary candy-making facility that no outsider has seen in 15 years. Dazzled by one amazing sight after another, Charlie is drawn into Wonka's fantastic world in this astonishing andenduring story.

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5

1) Senseless Version with NO Redeeming Qualities   [Rating: 1 out of 5]
Saw the premiere. Waste of time. Burton will prob do much better with corpse bride. It is along the lines of a nightmare before Christmas. but about Charlie. Depp was typical Depp. Burton was typical Burton. The story, however, was told better the first time WITH music. don't give me the story how this is not a remake, but a more accurate to the book telling. Who cares?? There are much worse movies that vary from the book that should have been re-made long before this one. At many points I found myself waiting for one of the famous lines or songs only to see this film try hard not to be the first film. I hope the dahl family enjoys their more accurate junk. I feel bad for all the families that will get sucked into seeing this garbage with the whole family. At todays rates....ouch!! Just buy a copy of the old movie, microwave some popcorn, and sing along with the family instead. Sleepy Hollow and Scissorhands it ain't.

2) Cool DVD enjoyed by the whole family   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
My family enjoyed this movie in spite of several bad reviews, it was very cleverly done and never ceased to hold our attention. Our children six and almost three, ended up watching it three times in less than twenty four hours. I'm a huge Johnny Depp fan and have to admit that this is the film that I least enjoyed seeing him star in, but it was a good story.

3) TranscenDental Experience   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
This is an insane movie, and I mean that in a good way. First, it was crazy to even think about remaking one of the most wonderful screen adaptations ever. Second, it was crazy to think about using Johnny Depp for the role defined by Gene Wilder--sort of like having Prince fill in for Syd Barrett. Third, it was crazy to combine an increased literalism (betokened by the reversion to Dahl's title) with the addition of a new plot and a totally different ending.Insanity works. Not only Depp's wonderful performance, but the crazy additional subplot. Instead of Dahl's rather flat quirky mad/cute scientist, or Dahl's razor-edge kind lunacy, we see a Wonka who is attempting to transcend the oppositions of his childhood while remaining a child. Without the egregious sappiness of Peter Pan, C&TC shows the tortured relations between child and parent. And of course, brushing teeth, like other forms of personal hygiene, is in fact often the center of conflict. This is banal but it can represent the most fundamental oppositions to the child: duty vs. pleasure, child vs. adult, toothpaste vs. candy. C&TC took this and milked it for all it was worth. In a Dahlian fashion, they spun it out of control without going for any emotional distance, and it throws you for a loop. You think the movie is winding up as expected and it takes a sharp turn. It's like a second mini-movie. Because it is a serious question: if you are a grown up kid in a candy factory, do you have any teeth left? Should you? Or does the true confectioner sacrifice his own teeth for the art? OK, maybe not, but who is going to make you brush? The Oompah Loompahs? Does someone have to make you brush? And if not, should your successor be a brusher? There are only two ways to go...or so it seems. Finally, there is less here than the original about industrial espionage. That does seem to work, but I thought that this theme gave the first movie a bit more "go." And, in a weird way, a bit more realism. [31]

4) As a gift, not bad, fairly entertaining   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
I got this for a relative who enjoyed the original, and thinks this one is fairly entertaining.

5) Stick with the Original   [Rating: 1 out of 5]
Sometimes remakes outdo the original. This is not one of those cases. This film is more scary than playful; more horror than pantomime; more exagerated in its characterisation of the children and their weird parents than is necessary and definitely not well led by a rather effeminate, cold and charmless Willy Wonka. This Wonka comes across as a kind of Alice Cooper/ Marilyn Manson/Michael Jackson version - the nightmare of a world that has truly lost the plot (maybe that is the real message here). While the overriding message - that greed aint really that good - honours the original theme, this version loses out because it is just too over-produced and over the top. If people like the story, I suggest they seek out the original 1971 version. I am not against re-makes per se, but I am against this one. Stories like Willy Wonka are timeless, they do not have to be "relevant" to contemporary trends. It appears that Hollywood is overrun by shrinking violets who are afraid that if they are not "relevant" or "contemporary" then they will be chased down by the political correctness police. In my experience, even children are savvy enough to know when they are being condescended to. They are able to choose what makes them feel good all by themselves. I daresay, many would prefer the original to this one if given a choice.