Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (30th Anniversary Edition) Video

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starring: Gene Wilder directed by: Mel Stuart

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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: Rating: - Widescreen ... fullscreen ... Guess what? Everybody's WRONG! Well, not exactly... Some here have complained that the widescreen version is simply a matted version of a full screen print, and that the widescreen presentation chops off part of the image at the top and bottom. Well, according to my copy of the DVD, that is only half correct. I own the 25th Anniversary 1996 release of this film on DVD, which has both the widescreen and full screen version on one DVD. I compared numerous scenes in freeze-frame between the widescreen and full screen versions. In widescreen, sure enough, a bit of the top and bottom of the image seems to be cut off when compared to the full screen version. But I also noticed that when viewing the full screen version, an equal bit is missing from the left and right compared to the widescreen version. So no matter which version you watch, you aren't seeing "everything". But which is proper? After comparing many images, I conclude that the widescreen version is what we are supposed to be seeing. Consider the beginning of chapter six. If you watch the widescreen version, you see a news anchor sitting at a desk. the bottom of the image is framed with his name plate on his desk, and the right side of the screen says "Evening Report" on the back wall. Watch the full screen version, and you will see a bit more blue background on the top, and more of the desk below the name plate on the bottom, but the right side of the image now reads, "Eveni Repo"! Folks, you ARE missing the left and right sides when viewing the full screen version, and from what I saw, the little bit of information that is missing from the top and bottom of the widescreen version generally was inconsequential. Every scene I watched and compared looked better composed when watching the widescreen presentation. Just FYI... Rating: - The widescreen version is pan & scanned from the fullscreen! This DVD is an outrage! I had previously purchased the fullscreen version of this movie and liked it so much that I wanted to see what I was "missing" and decided to get the widescreen version. After reviewing each movie side by side on 2 DVD players, I found the widescreen version is nothing more that the fullscreen version clipped off at the top and bottom. An outrage! The result is lower quality resolution and missing images. One would be wiser to purchase the fullscreen version and zoom it in to pretend it is widescreen yourself. Rating: - Holds up amazingly well While children's movies with adult undertones are relatively commonplace today, "Willie Wonka" was a groundbreaker that appeals to me as much today, if not more so, than it did 30 years ago. Especially good are the early scenes in the movie, depicting worldwide reaction to the golden tickets. Is it realistic? Of course not, that's not the point! The point is the sharp social and political commentary focusing on modern variants of basic human greed, material almost worthy of "Kelly's Heroes". The computer scene is absolutely hilarious, easily the best in the entire film. The hint of strange, mystical, almost faerie (in the sinister sense) forces at work carries very well in the movie. It didn't bother me 30 years ago and I appreciate it all the more now. And the weird twilight scene at the Wonka factory is just lovely. Gene Wilder was an incredible find, fresh from his magnificent role in the "Producers". According to the documentary, he maintained his unsettling character throughout the production, keeping the rest of the cast off-guard. Foreshadows of Andy Kaufman! I must deduct a star for it being a musical, and not a great one at that. "Golden ticket" is an especially horrid song that unfortunately clings like a TV commercial jingle. This is not ironic because, as the documentary reveals, this movie was indeed intended to be a large-scale commercial for a new candy line by Quaker Oats. The true irony is that the Wonka bar line was cancelled because the chocolate melted in the stores, while the movie went on to become a classic. I find it particularly heartening that the director and writers went beyond the commercial aspect to craft a witty and smart, if somewhat bizarre, movie. BTW, the documentary is well worth watching, and the commentaries are pretty fun. [Regarding the full-screen/wide-screen debate, there's a recent and especially helpful review describing how the movie was shot full-screen with the intention of cropping it down for widescreen release. I don't recall seeing any stray microphones in the full-screen version, though, and I'm perfectly happy with it.]

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (30th Anniversary Edition) Video

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