DVD Collectors Online

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a review by Danae Cassandra

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Year of Release: 1968
Directed By: Ken Hughes
Starring: Dick Van Dyke, Lionel Jeffries, Sally Ann Howes, Heather Ripley, Adrian Hall
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Musical

Overview:
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls - start your engines.  You're about to take an incredible role with one of the most wonderful family  films of all time!  With its clever tunes (including the OSCAR-Nominated title song), marvelous cast and enchanting storylien, this delightful romp is lots of fun and simply "toot sweet" to pass up!  Dick Van Dyke stars as eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts, who creates an extraordinary car called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  It not only drives - but also flies and floats - as it leads him, his two children and his beautiful lady friend, Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), into a magical world of pirates, castles and endless adventure.

My Thoughts:
There's a lot to like here.  The inventions are silly, the production values are excellent, and Dick Van Dyke is a very talented performer.  This is his show, however, and is a showcase for his talent, so if you aren't a fan this isn't a film for you.  

It's runtime is quite bloated, and the movie very much feels like it's two films shoehorned together.  It would have been a lot better, IMO, if the filmmakers had decided on one of the two plots and developed that, and edited about thirty minutes out of the film.  There are several songs that could have easily been trimmed for time and lost nothing to the film.  

That aside, I did enjoy the film and would recommend it if you like Dick Van Dyke and don't mind a long movie.

Bechdel Test: Fail
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 3/5

(From July Movie Marathon: Musicals (Yes... You read right!) on July 28th, 2016)

Dial M for Murder, a review by Jon

Dial M for Murder (1954)
4 out of 5





(From Alfred Hitchcock Marathon on July 30th, 2009)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

1. Pilot
No one is ever safe, least of all Sarah Connor and her son, John. Tired of running from the machines, Sarah decides to stand and fight.

My Thoughts:
This is a great start to the series. Yes, it is a lot like the first 2 movies. But I think this is a good thing... for anyone that might have never seen the movies (if that is possible). They really went all out for the pilot episode. Lots of great effects and a really enjoyable storyline.


2. Gnothi Seauton
New future, new identity. Cromartie, the battered but relentless Terminator programmed to kill John Connor, resurfaces.

My Thoughts:
Another good episode... though it is not as good as the pilot episode. There was no real surprises in this episode... it pretty much went in the direction I was expecting throughout the episode. But definitely a good continuation from the pilot episode.


3. The Turk
He's just a geek with a hobby. But is the computer chess program Andy Goode developed the beginning of the end?

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this episode as well. I got a kick out of John and Cameron going to school... only to find that at the entrance there is a metal detector and they have to explain how Cameron keeps setting off the metal detector. This one has another really interesting storyline that was well done.



(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon on January 12th, 2009)