Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

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General		Extras
Category	Family	Theatrical Trailer(s)	Yes, 1 - 1.78:1, not 16x9, Dolby Digital 2.0
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	None
Year Released	1968	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	139:30 minutes (not 145 minutes as on packaging)	Other Extras	Booklet Menu Audio and Animation
RSDL/Flipper	RSDL (73:58)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Selection then Menu
Region	2,4	Director	Ken Hughes
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Dick Van Dyke  Sally Ann Howes  Lionel Jeffries  Gert Frobe Anna Quayle Benny Hill James Robertson Justice Robert Helpman
Case	Amaray
RRP	$34.95	Music	Richard M. Sherman Robert B. Sherman

    Of course in 1968 I was not worried about who wrote the original book, even though it turns out to be a name more synonymous with a suave, debonair character by the name of Bond ... James Bond. Yes folks, Ian Fleming is the man responsible for this story, and a more extreme difference to 007 I doubt you could find. And the person jointly behind the screenplay is a name very synonymous with good children's stories and films - Roald Dahl. When you start seeing those sorts of pedigrees in the writing department, you do tend to take a little more notice.

    Ah, but the plot. How do you describe this little gem? This is broadly the story of a mildly eccentric inventor by the preposterous name of Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke), trying to raise his two children Jemima (Heather Ripley) and Jeremy (Adrian Hall) on the proceeds of his inventions - namely thin air. When the children pester him to save an old race car from the scrap heap for thirty shillings, he somehow wangles enough money to obtain the car. On a wing and a prayer, he manages to restore the car into something wondrous to behold - and with more tricks than a Swiss Army Knife. Along the way the children meet the equally preposterously named Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), daughter of sweet magnate Lord Scrumptious (James Robertson Justice), who takes a shine to Caractacus and his children. Once the car is finished, the family and Truly embark on a ride to the seaside and a grand adventure which involves avoiding the clutches of the evil Baron Bomburst (Gert Frobe) and the principality of Vulgaria (is this a good time to mention that I also had a jigsaw of the Baron's castle?), where all children are banned, and saving their captured Grandpa Potts (Lionel Jeffries). Naturally this grand adventure involves overcoming the evil Baron and releasing the children hidden beneath the castle and has the obligatory happy ending. It might sound ridiculous, but what resulted is one of the greatest children's films of all time in my view.

    Forget the plot, enjoy the adventure. The wonderful story has been marvellously brought to life by a great cast, led by the great talents of Dick Van Dyke. It is often difficult to realize nowadays, but Dick Van Dyke was a big name during the sixties and will be remembered forever for arguably the two best children's films of that decade (nay, of all time) - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins. This time he again had a wonderful leading lady in Sally Ann Howes, who plays the role of the upper class lady very well indeed. But this film is really made by the supporting cast and this is headed by the marvellous Lionel Jeffries, who is simply incapable of a bad performance and plays the role of the ex British Army soldier with aplomb. Add in the wondrous talents of James Robertson Justice, a straight Benny Hill (yes folks, before his bawdy television days he actually was a damn good actor) and our own Robert Helpman and this is quality across the board. It would be stretching it to say that the direction was brilliant but Ken Hughes did a good job of bringing the who thing together, no doubt under the very watchful eye of one Albert R. Broccoli. And add in the unforgettable music of the Shermans, who just so happened to also work on Mary Poppins. About the only real letdown here is that DVD has exposed the slightly poor blue matte effects work, thankfully limited to only those sequences involving the sea borne and airborne versions of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

    Still a very enjoyable film, and sure to amuse viewers of every age. Just be warned though - long after the film has ended you will still be hearing that song "Oh, you, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, ... our four fendered friend..." Arrgghhh, make it stop please, make it stop. And please don't worry too much about the odd blooper - hint, railways, for those interested.

Video

    The transfer is presented in a butchered aspect ratio known as Pan and Scan and obviously is not 16x9 enhanced. The original theatrical release of the film was in a wondrous 2.20:1 aspect ratio, and it staggered me as a child to see the film in that ratio - it was the first really widescreen film I remember obviously, and it always seemed to have such a panoramic look to it that is so glaringly missing here.

    And the great pity is that the restoration here is superb and would have shone in a widescreen format with 16x9 enhancement. This is generally a very sharp and wonderfully detailed transfer, that is only disrupted by a few minor lapses that can be forgiven in view of the age of the film. It is in general a very clear transfer, so that all that detail can be seen too. Highlights for me were the interiors of the mill, which positively shone with the detail on display. Shadow detail was generally very good throughout the film especially early on. There did not appear to be any low level noise problems in the transfer. I have seen far more recent films look a damn sight worse than this.

    The colours are magnificently rendered throughout the film, and are wonderfully vibrant. There is a glorious palette of blues, greens, reds and purples on display here and whilst they could perhaps have been just a little more vivid, this is as good as the film has ever looked colour wise. It would seem that they took a lot of care with the restoration here to ensure that this came up so well. Although that is why I really lament the lack of a widescreen release.

    Matching the colours and detail of the transfer is a virtually defect free transfer. There were no MPEG artefacts noted in the transfer. The only really significant film-to-video artefacts noted in the transfer were some instances of aliasing that really did not detract from the film at all. Film artefacts were virtually non-existent throughout the transfer and only on the odd occasion did you notice anything at all. A stunningly good job has been made on the video transfer in general.

    This disc is an RSDL format disc, with the layer change coming at 73:58, just in a black fade out between scene changes. Completely non-disruptive to the flow of the film, this is one of the better layer changes you will find position wise. The transfer is from a French master.

Audio

    There are four audio tracks on the DVD: an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, a French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack, an Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack and a Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack. I listened to the English default.

    Dialogue was always clear and easy to understand.

    There were no apparent audio sync problems with the disc.

    The score by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman is another of their gems, with some very nice songs (if a little too catchy in the case of "Oh, you, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, ... our four fendered friend..." - oh, pleeeaaassseee make it stop). The song did cop an Oscar nomination in 1969 for Best Song. Take the music and songs out of this film, and it would go very flat indeed.

    This is a wonderfully remastered soundtrack, although lacking the ultimate edge that a more modern film would provide. There is virtually no action out of the rear channels at all, and the bass channel is equally superfluous. But the singing has come up wonderfully well and the overall soundscape is sounding miles better than it ever did before. In any case, there is not a huge amount of opportunity to use the rear and bass channels, so they really are not missed that much. Given the age of the film, this is as good as we are liable to get, without compromising the integrity of the film.

Menu

Theatrical Trailer (3:20)

Booklet

• Sing-along features for the songs
• THX certification

    [Ed. You can give me a Columbia Tristar transfer over a THX transfer any day of the week, thank you.]

    A gloriously restored video transfer, even though not widescreen.

    A very good audio transfer.

    The extras are barely adequate for a film of this stature.

    And packaging errors you ask? Well, who am I to disappoint. To label this as a 2.35:1 widescreen release is misleading in the worst possible way and once again the running time is incorrect. Minor error the running time may be, but can't we expect to get something this simple right? Major problem the widescreen labelling is and frankly I would expect this to be recalled to fix that error.

    "Oh, you, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, ... our four fendered friend..." - get it out of my head, please get it out of my head.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ian Morris
26th January 2000