Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I feel the original one (Gene Wilder) was much better, but apparently the second one was closer to Dahl's vision.
The one with Johnny Depp...he seemed like a pervert or creep...I can't stand the one guy doing all the Umpa Loompas...(it's the same man)...Shudder...
In the first one, it was very strange because it looked like Germany (the scenery), the kid was American, the grandparents were American (I think), the teacher was English... but in the new one they are all English...
I believe in the original it was a multinational feel for a reason..
I don't know, I like them both. I might lean a bit towards Burton's version, though. Except for the Oompa-Loompas, I didn't really care for the one guy thing. Depp captured the insanity a bit better. Wilder was more good-natured-eccentric. Eh, both have their merits.
Dahl's books are quite surreal. I loved them as a child, and my kids both love them as well.
This was on last night and I watched it with my DD11.
Does anyone else find this movie disturbing???? The Willy Wonka character was a total psychotic..... I've never seen any of the Willy Wonka movies and this is the first time seeing this one. I think had I seen it beforehand, I never would have let my daughter watch it.
(and, yes, I know the "message" in the movie was a good one, but the way this message was delivered was disturbing to say the least!)
I will just say that as a child and now an adult, I've always thought that movie was weird and creepy. The remake is a little more tolerable because I like Johnny Depp.....but it's still creepy.
As a kid, I watched the original Gene Wilder film multiple times and loved it. I remember wanting to be Charlie, just to be able to visit that fantastic chocolate factory.
10-12 years later, as a young adult, I watched the film again. Wow, I was floored by how creepy and surreal it was! I couldn't believe it was the same movie I had enjoyed so much as a kid. I didn't remember ANY of the scary bits. I knew that he had been mean to the bad kids, but I didn't recall him being a general overall jerk at all.
How to explain that? The pre-teen me had completely ignored or disregarded that part of the movie. Until I watched it as an adult, all that subtext went right over my head, fully overshadowed by the fantasy of "free candy forever".
Just saying - what a kid takes away from the film(s) and what an adult does are probably two different things.
BTW, I didn't care for the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version much at all. Wilder's take on the character was entertaining for adults, Depp's just off-putting.
When my niece was about 5, her father had gotten that movie for us all to watch - my boys are older. Halfway through the movie, she got very upset and started to cry. Her father got all upset with her (for crying). As Mom comforted her, I took Dad aside and told him that if I were 5, it would make me cry, too. I couldn't watch most of the movie as it scared the dickens out of me and I was in my 30s. Terrible movie, especially for children. Horror flick, actually.
And no, I don't watch or read any Stephen King - far too scary for me. In fact, the only Alfred Hitchcok movie I've ever seen is The Birds and I still have nightmares sometimes - daytime! When there's a slew of birds hanging out on the electric lines, I run inside.
Depp's version is too creepy, in a reminds me of Michael Jackson way, and that is a whole nother bag of worms....
Disclaimer: I <*heart*> Johnny Depp. However, one reviewer said that Depp's portrayal of Willy Wonka was a cross between Michael Jackson and Carol Burnett, and when I finally saw the film I had to agree .....
I've seen both versions several times, and while there are parts of Burton's film that I think are really cool (LOVE the trained squirrels!), overall I'm not a big fan. Depp's character IS rather creepy (and not in a good way), and I also didn't like the CGI Oompa Loompas.
Disclaimer: I <*heart*> Johnny Depp. However, one reviewer said that Depp's portrayal of Willy Wonka was a cross between Michael Jackson and Carol Burnett, and when I finally saw the film I had to agree .....
He reminded me a bit of Dana Carvey's "The Church Lady." I kept expecting him to say, "Well isn't that special."
I liked the original movie when I was a kid. I think the new version is even better. It was imaginative, funny and down right creepy. I think it's great that a man as good looking as Johnny Depp can make himself look like such a dork.
The only Dahl book we've read so far is The BFG. My daughter is 10. The first time we read it she was around 8. We have read the book three times. She really enjoys it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
