The Movie
Back in 1984, an acquaintance was reflecting upon his recent viewing of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and made the analogy, "It's like James Bond meets The Wizard of Oz." And it wasn't until I was years older and wiser that I finally figured how this Hollywood-style catchphrase might also apply to a favorite film of my youth, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, based as it is upon a book by 007 creator Ian Fleming, and clearly a family-friendly fantasy adventure.
The title is the nickname given to a wrecked championship race car rescued by a luckless inventor (Dick Van Dyke) who specializes in imaginative contraptions that don't work. While on a picnic with his two young children and his would-be squeeze, he tells a fantastic story about evil agents of faraway Vulgaria come to steal a magical automobile that can float on water, fly through the air, and maybe even think for itself. It's a grand escapade and a wonderful diversion, but it couldn't be true... could it?
The budget was clearly substantial, and the credits feature a lot of Bond veterans (Goldfinger himself, Gert Frobe, along with production designer Ken Adam) and a few from The Sound of Music too, further pedigree for this lavish production. The songs are catchy and the innocent thrills (no seatbelts for the kids?!?) are timeless, making Chitty still an entertaining evening for parents and kids alike.
The Picture
Photographing in the Super Panavision format some forty-odd years ago yields a sterling transfer today. The bricks of the Scrumptious candy factory are clearly defined, Chitty's front grille is precise, leaves and blades of grass pop, the weave of Dick Van Dyke's suits is evident, the craggy surface on the big rocks at the beach... I could go on and on. The colors of the European countryside are lovely as well, and despite a little visible compression in the backgrounds and a touch of video noise, the 2.2:1 image is clean and absolutely outstanding.
The Sound
The film has also been not only remastered but remixed for an impressive 7.1 channels, in high-resolution DTS-HD Master Audio. Before the movie even begins, we can hear cars driving all around us over a black screen, a foretaste of the gas-powered excitement to come. All of the original stereo sound has been aggressively redirected to fill the modern home theater stage, with impressive directionality to both the action and the voices. The mix and clarity of the pervasive music, particularly the bigger production numbers with multiple singers, are sonically delightful. This newfound quality unfortunately exposes the artificiality of certain re-recorded dialogue, but in general I'd call the audio here every bit as good as the video.
The Extras
Exclusive to the Blu-ray are two new interactive features, the Chitty Chitty's Bang Bang Driving Game which uses the remote to steer the car through four on-screen courses, and Toot Sweet Toots Musical Maestro, this one challenging us while the movie is playing. From here it is a collection of previously released bonuses, all in standard definition.
"Remembering Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Dick Van Dyke" (26 minutes) is a clip-heavy one-on-one reminiscence by the affable star, paired with "A Fantasmagorical Motorcar" (ten minutes) featuring the owner of "Gen 11" (a.k.a. Chitty), Pierre Picton. There's also half an hour of The Sherman Brothers' rare song demos, offering priceless revelations about the songwriters' process. Appropriately, there is also a Sing-Along mode and "Music Machine" jump-to-a-song feature.
A trio of vintage clips highlight a real eccentric inventor in "The Ditchling Tinkerer" (ten minutes), the star again in the "Dick Van Dyke Press Interview" (nine minutes) and the youngsters Heather Ripley and Adrian Hall in "The Potts Children's Featurette" (three minutes). A pair of galleries assembles photos and vintage marketing materials. Disc Two is a DVD of the movie with the sing-along mode and "The Making of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the Musical" trailer.
Final Thoughts
The extras here may not really be revolutionary but seriously, is there something special in the water cooler over at Fox? If so, here's hoping they don't change the jug anytime soon: They have just been killing it lately with their new HD transfers and 7.1-channel remixes of catalog titles, transforming a run-down relic like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang into a fantasmagorical, fuel-burning oracle.
Product Details
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