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)
59
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:22
Fresh:13
Rotten:9
Average Rating:5.4/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 30 mins
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
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... [More]
Starring: Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Benny Hill
Director: Ken Hughes
Reviews for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Top CriticThe 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 CriticSomething of an oddity doubtless. But memorable for its visuals and its creepy, evil baddie.
08/19/03
Top CriticI'm old enough to have seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang during its original theatrical run, and I've just about recovered.
08/30/08
Click to read the article
07/22/08
Top CriticChitty 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 CriticHas become modern classic, but falls so short of great.
02/23/08
No review available.
08/14/05
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 CriticNo review available.
01/27/05
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 CriticTime has not enhanced its doubtful charms.
05/23/04
No review available.
03/24/04
Tedium incarnate.
03/18/04
No review available.
12/29/03
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
No review available.
10/17/03
Latest News for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
November 17, 2008:
Sony Woos Family Filmgoers 
Eager to take advantage of the mini-renaissance of family-friendly films at the box office, Sony has quietly ramped up its plans in that area, moving ahead with a variety of... More...
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