Essential Classics: Family Films (The Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Goonies) (DVD)

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The first person to strike gold is young Augustus Gloop (Michael Bollner), a greedy, gluttonous, spoiled little German boy who is always eating. The second person to find a ticket is Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole), a rich, spoiled, selfish, nasty brat. The third person is Violet Beauregarde (Denise Nickerson), a pushy, spoiled, bad-mannered child who holds the world's record for chewing the same piece of gum. The fourth is Mike Teevee (Paris Themmen), a rude, spoiled smart aleck, who watches television all day long. And the fifth winner is our hero, Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), an honest, helpful, loving, hardworking lad.

The first third of the film takes us through the events leading up to the kids' entrance into the candy factory, and that's the part of the film I've always enjoyed the most. Charlie is so poor he lives in a one-room shack with his mother and both pairs of grandparents. The four grandparents occupy a single bed that they haven't gotten out of in years. When Charlie wins his prize, he's allowed to take one person with him and he chooses his Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson). Joe is not only his grandfather, he's Charlie's best friend and supporter: "Don't worry, Charlie, you'll find a Golden Ticket," he says, never giving up hope for his grandson.

The film never reveals its setting, but it's clearly a storybook town. The filmmakers used Munich for the actual location shots, the city's gas works filling in for the chocolate factory. Once inside the factory, Mr. Wonka is anything but what we expect, and Wilder has a field day playing a character we sometimes think has a screw loose. His utter composure as he watches each child devilishly dispatched--one going up a chocolate flue, a second down a "bad egg" sorter, another turned into a giant blueberry, and yet a fourth disintegrating into television atoms--is a joy.

Finally, there are the songs, with lyrics and music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley: "The Candy Man," "Cheer Up, Charlie," "I've Got a Golden Ticket," "Pure Imagination," "Oompa-Loompa-Doompa-De-Do," and "I Want It Now." Not all of the film works, mind you; I've never been too keen on the mother's number, for instance, or the fact that the mother disappears from the picture so early on. Nor does all of the picture gel well, some of it even seeming mean-spirited, although it isn't meant to be. Yet, who can deny that the film's overall intention is positive, playful fun.

"Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" is good entertainment, colorful and playful for kids, sophisticated and witty for adults. As creative as Tim Burton's version is, I prefer the greater warmth of this original rendition. The movie is filled with good humor, good acting, especially from Wilder and Albertson, and good songs. It's a little drippy at times, yes, but it's just off kilter enough to keep one's attention. 8/10

Video:
The picture's aspect ratio is very close to the film's 1.85:1 theatrical-release dimensions, filling up a 1.78:1 widescreen TV quite nicely. More important, the transfer's high-bit-rate, anamorphic image looks excellent, perhaps not as bright or well defined as its high-definition counterpart, but close. The colors are deep and rich, with good object delineation for standard-def. About the only minor flaw in the picture is a fine layer of grain, inherent, no doubt, to the original print. It is especially noticeable in outdoor second-unit footage, but also in scenes like the one in the golden-egg room. Nevertheless, the grain is, as I say, minor, and it is hardly a distraction.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack does not do a lot with the rear channels, and it seems a tad bright and edgy to me, particularly in the musical interludes, with the dynamics and frequency extremes a tad limited. Well, the movie is over three decades old, after all, and it didn't have the advantage of today's best digital recording techniques. Still, the Dolby Digital audio sounds fine.

Extras:
The special features include, first, a feature-length audio commentary with the five Wonka kids, now grown up--Peter Ostrum, Julie Dawn Cole, Denise Nickerson, Pris Themmen, and Michael Bollner. It's a delight to hear about the filmmaking process from the perspective of these adults looking back on their childhood experiences. It is highly entertaining and rewarding.

Then, there's a thirty-minute documentary, "Pure Imagination: The Story of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," that includes interviews with Gene Wilder and the other stars of the film, its director, producer, cowriter, even one of the Oompa-Loompa actors. Among other things, they tell us they made the film expressly for adults, so maybe that explains why it doesn't play down to kids. Also, they tell us that the Quaker Oats Company put up the money to make the film, hoping to bring out a Wonka chocolate bar at the time of the film's release. That's why they changed the film's title from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." Something went wrong with the candy bar idea, and it never caught on. Following the documentary, there are four sing-along songs with printed lyrics on screen: "Golden Ticket," "Pure Imagination," "I Want It Now," and "Oompa-Loompa-Doompa-De-Do." Next, there's a vintage, 1971 behind-the-scenes featurette, about four minutes; and a widescreen theatrical trailer. Lastly, you'll find forty scene selections; plus English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese spoken languages and subtitles.

THE GOONIES:
I can't say I liked this one any better today than when I first saw it in a theater in 1985. Unlike its companion films, "The Goonies" lacks charm, wit, or warmth, yet it appears to remain a hit with children because of its frenetic pace, nonstop slapstick gags, goofy characters, and slightly naughty language. In fact, for a so-called "family" film, there is quite a lot of off-color language involved, but, as I say, that's undoubtedly part of its allure for youngsters.

That the film is not any better than it is comes as something of a surprise, considering the talent involved in its making. Steven Spielberg came up with the story idea and co-produced the movie; Chris Columbus (who later directed "Home Alone," "Mrs. Doubtfire," and the first two "Harry Potter" films) wrote the screenplay; and Richard Donner ("The Omen," "Superman," and the "Lethal Weapon" series) directed it. One look at the result and you can understand why it was probably a good idea that Spielberg not direct it himself. Maybe he knew something the other filmmakers didn't. Still, as I say, the film was a success with children and has been ever since.

"Goonies" is, of course, the name a group of kids call themselves, lower-income kids living in a section of Astoria, Oregon, whose families are being evicted from their houses by evil developers intent on turning their district into a golf course. The fact that their houses are located on the side of a mountain has never seemed to bother anybody, so why should I care? The children are Mikey Walsh (Sean Astin), the only normal kid in the group; Brand Walsh (Josh Brolin), Mikey's older brother; "Chunk" Cohen (Jeff Cohen), a chubby little whiner who either eats or breaks everything he comes near; "Mouth" Devereaux (Corey Feldman), the second-most-obnoxious kid in the group next to Chunk; and "Data" Wang (Jonathan Ke Quan), a techno whiz. They go off on an adventure with Brand's girlfriend, Andy (Kerri Green), and Andy's friend Stef (Martha Plimpton).

Since the kids and their families are being kicked off their property, they've got to do something, so they do what any typical American kids would do--they find a treasure map. And off they go through a series of caves looking for pirate booty, with, coincidentally, a clan of murderous cretins, the Fratellis, in hot pursuit. Robert Davi, Joe Pantoliano, and ex-Raider John Matuszak play the Fratelli brothers, and Anne Ramsey plays their mother. It's quite a good cast, mostly reduced to hitting each other a la the Three Stooges.

The movie starts out clamorously with a car chase and continues that way for most of its 114-minute running time. The kids seldom just talk to one another, they scream, making them exaggerated caricatures who are more annoying than amusing. I know "The Goonies" is a children's film so none of the kids in it are going to get seriously hurt, but I really, really wanted Chunk to die. 5/10

Video:
The video engineers closely adhere to the film's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and provide a reasonably high-bit-rate, anamorphic transfer. The result is that the picture is bright and well defined, with very little noise or grain. For reasons unknown, however, some scenes come up blurrier and murkier than others.

Audio:
The disc provides two English-language tracks, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DD 2.0. In 5.1 the bass thunders effectively, rattling window along the way, along with a decent dynamic range. There is also a good, wide front-channel stereo spread, but only limited response in the surrounds, things like rain coming down and water dripping.

Extras:
The main attraction among the bonus items is an audio commentary (with hidden video treasures) with director Richard Donner and the young cast members, now twenty-odd years older. They first introduce themselves as they sit at a table watching the movie with us, and then the commentary alternates between watching them watching and talking about the movie and the movie itself with their commentary in the background.

Next up is a vintage, six-minute featurette, "The Making of the Goonies," followed by about six minutes of outtakes, a music video, "The Goonies R Good Enough," with Cyndi Lauper, and a widescreen theatrical trailer. Finally, the disc contains thirty-seven scene selections; a cast and crew listing; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; and English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles.

Parting Thoughts:
I admit I could have done without "The Goonies," but otherwise this is a fine collection of family classics, offered by Warner Bros. at a reasonable price. The movies look great, they sound great, and at least two of the three ARE great. Seems like a deal to me.

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