Ken Adam's sets are inventive, but the special effects are shoddy, the songs instantly forgettable, and the leisurely length an exquisite torture.
Comment
06/24/06
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
62 %
Reviews Counted: 21 Fresh: 13 Rotten:8 Average Rating: 5.3/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 30 mins
Synopsis: Van Dyke's charming as a daydreaming inventor who fixes up an old jalopy and, with the vivid imaginations of his two children and a lady friend, it is transformed into a flying, floating wonder car that carries them to a magical kingdom. Inspired by an Ian Fleming idea.... [More]
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Starring: Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Benny Hill, Robert Helpmann
Director: Ken Hughes
Screenwriter: Roald Dahl, Ken Hughes, Richard Maibaum
Producer: Albert R. Broccoli
Composer: Irwin Kostal
Screenwriter: Roald Dahl, Ken Hughes, Richard Maibaum
Producer: Albert R. Broccoli
Composer: Irwin Kostal
Reviews
Top Critic
The film is too long at well over two hours, but the effects are impressive for the time and the musical numbers zippy.
11/02/03
Top Critic
Something of an oddity doubtless. But memorable for its visuals and its creepy, evil baddie.
08/19/03
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07/22/08
Top Critic
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was made in Britain for American consumption, but its magic works on kids and adults of any nationality.
05/05/08
Top Critic
A fast, dense, friendly children's musical, with something of the joys of singing together on a team bus on the way to a game.
05/09/05
Top Critic
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang contains about the best two-hour children's movie you could hope for, with a marvelous magical auto and lots of adventure and a nutty old grandpa and a mean Baron and some funny dances and a couple of [scary] moments.
10/23/04
Top Critic
Given that the film runs almost two-and-a-half hours, it's fairly clear that a substantial amount of trimming would have been appropriate.
12/14/03
It's some fresh circle of hell to revisit childhood favourites only to inevitably discover that, as a child, one is almost indubitably an idiot.
12/03/03
...if children can stay awake long enough, they will undoubtedly find much of it entertaining.
11/02/03
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