Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Deluxe Edition) (DVD)

While Charlie and the Chocolate Factory didn't do it for me as a movie, one thing I would like to commend Warner Bros. for is turning out some spectacular special edition DVDs. Instead of just putting feature after feature on their discs to make them look as if there was just a TON of stuff to watch whereas only 50 percent of it would be watchable. Instead they give you the watchable 50 percent and nothing more. Bravo!

I am sure with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory they could have gone far overboard with special features, special features no one would have really wanted to watch. Warner did the same thing with Batman Begins, another fantastic Deluxe Edition. The only problem with both DVDs is that neither one has an audio commentary. While I am not a fan of Tim Burton audio commentaries I would have really liked an audio commentary with Burton, Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore on this one. The fans deserve it, and being a Depp fan I wanted it.

As for the DVD and the features you will get, you get a fantastic looking movie with some great audio. I don't know what Warners has done, but like Disney and their special 5.1 presentations, they are able to get more out of that Dolby Digital than other studios. Along with the feature film the first disc features are limited to the theatrical trailer; disc two holds your goodies.

Disc two is split into two sections, features and activities. Honestly it should read "Adults to the Left" and "Kids to the Right" because that is what it means. The features side gives you a look at how the turned one Deep Roy into several Oompa Loompas, how they designed the costumes, the sets and cast the actors, a look at "Charlie" creator Roald Dahl, and how they made a waterfall run with chocolate. Not too much, not too little. Just right.

On the activities side this one was a bit out of my realm. I wasn't going to get up in my living room and start doing Oompa Loompa dances but I did play the "Find the Bad Nut" game. I wasn't too enthused, but the kids should be.

For the most part this is a satisfying disc for those that enjoyed the film, but for those that didn't care for the movie so much or are just big Burton or Depp fans you may be disappointed. There isn't much Burton and there isn't much Depp, at least not enough for my taste and the two have conspired to make much better films. After all, Fox does have a special edition of Edward Scissorhands on the way in November.