Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Full Frame)
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls--star your engines. You're about to take an incredible ride with one of the most wonderful family films of all time! Now celebrating its 30th Anniversary, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has never looked or sounded better.
Dick Van Dyke stars as eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts, who creates an extraordinary car called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It not only drives--but also flies and floats--as it leads him, his two children and his beautiful lady friend, Truly Scrumptious, into a magical world of pirates, castles and endless adventure.
Member Reviews
Cute Movie but.... - Amadeus
When I was young I absolutely LOVED Ian Fleming's original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang book! It was so full of suspense and action. I know I must have watched the movie as a child and I remember having a soundtrack of the movie as well (in the form of a record) but the movie must have bored me (unlike Wizard of Oz which was a favorite of mine back then). Now watching it with my kids I am sorely distressed that they steal the name of my beloved book and put it on this movie. I much prefer the loving Potts family of the book and the exciting adventures they go through..and the successful whistling sweets (rather than the movie's version of them turning into doggy candy).
However I'll give it 7 stars only because my kids like it and its a fairly good film. The songs are cute although I agree with others that the "Lovely Lonely Man" song is awfully long and kind of stupid actually for this movie. Also the first few times my kids watched it, the child catcher and the two "bad guys" near the beginning of the story kind of freaked them out and we had to stop it several times and try again when they got a bit older.
I love Dick Van Dyke and he has a few good scenes in this movie but I much prefer him with Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins. I think Mary Poppins is a much more timeless production, but Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is great compared with a lot of the stuff they come up with today.Toot Sweets - hilkayaker
I love this movie!! One of my all-time favourite childhood classics. The story line is fun, the songs are catchy and the dancing entertaining. The baron and baroness are soooo funny! I love their song that they sing together. Truly is sickeningly sweet, but would make a great step-mother!! Definately a good movie for kids to watch!Really - How Can You Not Like This - revsdd
A delightful fantasy for the whole family to watch. There really is something for everyone here. A cartoonish story with "comic book characters" like the "Child Catcher" (Robert Helpmann) and "Baron Bomburst" (Gert Frobe) that the kids will love, and some marvelous song and dance routines from Sally Ann Howe as "Truly Scrumptious" and Dick Van Dyke as the inventor "Caractacus Potts" that the grown ups will marvel at. I never realized until I watched this movie as an adult what a marvelously talented man Van Dyke is, but his dance scenes are absolutely amazing (particularly "The Old Bamboo" performance at the carnival.)
The story is imaginative. A flying car whisks Truly and Caractacus, along with the two Potts children Jeremy and Jemima (Adrian Hall and Heather Ripley respectively) off to the fictional kingdom of "Vulgaria" (where children are forbidden) to rescue eccentric Grandpa Potts (played absolutely perfectly by Lionel Jeffries), who has been kidnapped by Bomburst in the mistaken belief that he's the inventor of the car. This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and you have to think like a child to watch it and appreciate it as an adult. Until today I had never actually seen the movie unedited, and I found it just a delight.
It's true that there are weaknesses. Although Dick Van Dyke put on a marvellous performance, he ironically seems totally out of place with his American accent. I truly can't figure out how Caractacus' father can have a British accent, and Caractacus' children can have British accents, but Caractacus himself has an American accent? It's something you wouldn't notice as a kid, but as an adult I found it somewhat distracting. Also, Hall and Ripley didn't blow me away (I know - give them a break; they were just kids. Still, I've seen better performances from children that age.)
But why nitpick. Suspend disbelief, think like a kid, sit back and enjoy the ride.
Member Reviews
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Cute Movie but.... - Amadeus
When I was young I absolutely LOVED Ian Fleming's original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang book! It was so full of suspense and action. I know I must have watched the movie as a child and I remember having a soundtrack of the movie as well (in the form of a record) ...Toot Sweets - hilkayaker
I love this movie!! One of my all-time favourite childhood classics. The story line is fun, the songs are catchy and the dancing entertaining. The baron and baroness are soooo funny! I love their song that they sing together. Truly is sickeningly sweet, but ...Really - How Can You Not Like This - revsdd
A delightful fantasy for the whole family to watch. There really is something for everyone here. A cartoonish story with "comic book characters" like the "Child Catcher" (Robert Helpmann) and "Baron Bomburst" (Gert Frobe) that the kids will love, and some ...