Blu-ray Movie Reviews

On a whirlwind tour of Willy's incredible, edible realm of chocolate waterfalls, elfish Oompa-Loompas and industrial-sized confections, a boy named Charlie will discover the sweetest secret of all: a generous, loving heart.

This was one of my favorites growing up. While I appreciate the efforts Tim Burton and Johnny Depp made with the recent reimagining, nothing tops Gene Wilder’s portrayal of the dark candy man. I love the dark brooding themes that slither beneath the visuals of this film. While many children will just delight in the imagination and songs of the film, I’ve always loved the darker aspects. This Blu-ray serves them up nicely and the digibook release offers some extra insight into the film, the songs and the story behind it.

The Blu-ray presentation is largely the same as the previous release on HD DVD. The image looks quite good, though just a hair short of the quality we see from some of Warner’s higher profile classics. This film has always had a rather bizarre color palette and this release preserves it perfectly. Dimension is quite good most of the time, but some of the stock footage is an eye sore. Fine detail is solid and given the age and budget there is little to complain about. The soundtrack is presented in Dolby TrueHD and delivers a nice open atmosphere. Dynamic range is a bit limited, but I wasn’t expecting much given the age.

The digibook release includes a look at the film and its backstory along with a feature commentary from the young ones from the cast, sing along songs and the trailer.

I grew up with this film so of course I’m a bit biased. I hope my kids enjoy it as much as I did. The Blu-ray serves up the best presentation I’ve seen of it yet and the digibook offers some great insight into the film. Easy recommendation.