Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (4k Ultra HD + Blu-Ray + Digital HD)

Blu-Ray Reviews | Jun 30th, 2021

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (4k Ultra HD + Blu-Ray + Digital HD)
Warner Bros. Image used with permission for review purposes.

Starring: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear, Julie Dawn Cole, Leonard Stone, Denise Nickerson, Dodo Denney, Paris Themmen
Written By: Roald Dahl
Directed By: Mel Stuart
Studio: Warner Bros.
Buy On Amazon.com

The classic movie, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, is celebrating 50 years and what better way to celebrate the movie by watching it on 4k Ultra HD! The movie has never looked better!

By now, after 50 years, I really don’t think I need to go into any details of this movie or the story at all. You’ve either seen the movie a ton of times like I have, read the Roald Dahl book, or at least saw the terrible, crappier Tim Burton movie. I don’t even think I finished that Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie, and I watched it on a plane flying from London to New York where you’re trapped. I probably put on a House rerun instead of watching that garbage.

Some people hate this movie, the character of Willy Wonka but something about Gene Wilder and the character for this particular movie that I just love. I wasn’t always a fan of the singing but have grown to like most of the songs. Although, Charlie’s Mom song can go away. What a downer of a song. I think if Gene Wilder wasn’t in this movie, it wouldn’t have been as iconic but something about his eyes, his hair and the overall look is that you can’t help but smile at the movie. Believe me though, a lot of this stuff is twisted but that’s what makes it funny to me. How he manages to deal with bratty kids is something most people would like to do to other people’s children, or in some cases – their own.

Each time I watch the movie, I pick up on some subtle jokes and moments that I never saw before. That’s the beauty of watching this movie over and over. When I was younger, I never really liked the stuff before everyone went to the Chocolate Factory. There’s some great stuff in there that’s pretty damn funny. I don’t think a day goes by without quoting this movie or singing some songs from it. Lately, it’s been “Candy Man” but of course my favorite songs are “Pure Imagination” and “I Want It Now.” When watching the Candy Man scene in the beginning, I was joking with my family “how does this Candy guy stay in business?” He’s just giving out candy to kids, throwing it all over the place without a care in the world. I guess selling candy in a small shop is a profitable business model. I was also poking fun at my son for how he’s like Veruca Salt and Mike Teevee combined into one.

I know Roald Dahl hated this movie but I can’t help but think deep down he must have liked that people at least flocked to his book after watching the movie. Now there’s going to be a prequel starring Timothée Chalamet. We’ll see how that all is, but hopefully it’s not like the Tim Burton disaster movie. I can’t get that weird Johnny Depp version out of my head when I see photos of it.

The 4k release makes that special Chocolate room sequence really pop. There’s still some grain I noticed throughout but the movie looks really great in 4k thanks to HDR enhancements. I didn’t really have any issues with the audio but I read some people did? Maybe it’s the original audio that has some issues? I feel like some background characters are dubbed over with American accents. The accents are all over the place. It clearly takes place in the UK but there’s a lot of American accents. I don’t know, just one of those movie things. The extras that are on this release are similar to the previous Blu-Ray editions that Warner Bros has released so nothing really new. The cast did get together and talk about the movie recently though, which you can watch below:

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a classic in my mind and I need to watch it every year or close to it. Now that my son is old enough to appreciate it, we have been watching it more frequently. My newborn son will soon be watching it when he’s ready for it as well. You just can’t deny that this was Gene Wilder ‘s best role in his wonderful career. I love the songs (most of them) but I mainly watch this because of Gene Wilder. The movie is 50 years old and will continue to be celebrated for many, many years.

Features:
Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
Commentary
4 sing-along songs
Vintage featurette
Trailer

Video:
Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono

Subtitles:
English, English SDH, French, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Bottom Line: Willy Wonka is 50 years old and hasn’t looked better!
Running Time: 100 mins
Rating: PG
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:

Topics:

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,