Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: CHITTY CHITTY BEATS HARRY POTTER

This is topic CHITTY CHITTY BEATS HARRY POTTER in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=002031

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 05-04-2003, 08:15 PM:

CHITTY CHITTY BEATS HARRY POTTER AS TOP KIDS MOVIE

Take that Harry Potter- The best children's movie of all time is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The 1968 Classic about a flying car, which starred comedian Dick Van Dyke, soared into the top spot in a survey of kids and parents commissioned by a major movie-rental company.

The second Harry Potter film, which raked in more than $800 million worldwide, came in fourth.

Rounding out the top ten:

2. E.T. (1982)

3. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings (2001)

4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

5. The Goonies (1985)

6. The NeverEnding Story (1984)

7. Mary Poppins (1964)

8. The Jungle Book (1967)

9. The Aristocats (1970)

10. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Source The Globe May 6, 2003 Pg. 21

Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-04-2003, 08:37 PM:

Ooh, Goonies and Gremlins were my favorite movies as a kid. Somewhere I have an old CED of Goonies. [Smile]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-04-2003, 10:22 PM:

No Disney films until #7. Amazing.

"Lord of the Rings: Fellowship" is not a children's movie though.

Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 05-05-2003, 05:13 AM:

Well, -i don't think, we should go for a re-release.
Chitty, how charming it ever is, will be very out-dated for youngsters today, with its very old-fashioned songs. -But darn pretty to look at in Super Panavison. Whaw!
Does anybody remember a scene, where the car runs down an alley, followed sidewards by a panning camera - Super Pan came to card there - the car is moving in little twichtces - not smooth - Never seen that before (or after).

p.

Posted by William Leland III (Member # 1400) on 05-05-2003, 08:19 AM:

I've never even seen Chitty Chitty. The rest I have seen.

Wizard of Oz is not really a kidds movie either.

Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 05-05-2003, 08:39 AM:

I ran Chitty in 70mm twice in a cavalkade of "old big ones" during the summer of 1976 or 77. Some days after the last run, i was told to return the print in a hurry. Naive, as i was, i was happy with the thought, that others would be on the waggon, too, since it should hurry back. Two weeks later, during the same cavalkade, i was to run "Solomon and the Queen of Sheba", and now i found out about the hurry. -Chitty had been used to make new leaders for Solomon [Frown]

Life is not for weak projectionists in love with old films...

Per

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 05-05-2003, 02:45 PM:

Per,

How was the the print quality of "CHITTY--" and "SOLOMON SHEBA"?
I did not see "CHITTY--" in 70mm during it's road show when it was first released but did see "SOLOMON & SHEBA" in the large format at the Kuhio Theatre here in Honolulu and enjoyed it very much. I have the movie on laserdisc and Gina Lollobrigida is gorgeous in that skimpy costume. [Smile]

By the way, "CHITTY--) has been available on a very badly cropped DVD for years but MGM will soon release another version on that format in the original 2.20.1 70mm theatrical ratio.

-Claude

Posted by Tony Ratcliff (Member # 1196) on 05-05-2003, 03:19 PM:

I think Chitty would appeal to kids today.
I have a 4 yr old and 2 yr old. They both love the movie.
They watch it as often as Monsters, Inc. or some of the other newer videos.

I am shocked as well at the lack of Disney movies at the top of this list.

And no way is "Lord Of the Rings" a kids movie. Did they forget that it was rated PG-13!

Tony

Posted by Christian Appelt (Member # 1067) on 05-05-2003, 04:00 PM:

CHITTY is beautiful on the big screen, with the exception of all blue screen shots. They were not state of the art in 1969, just compare them to DOCTOR DOLITTLE. Really bad blue fringing in most flying scenes, but if there is one film worth seeing for production design alone, it CCBB.

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 05-05-2003, 06:03 PM:

I really didnt care for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang despite being a Dick Van Dyke fan. When I was a kid, my favorite movies were Willy Wonka, Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind(a great movie at that time for even kids; i waited to watch it as soon as it came out, i was 8 or so. ), star wars, old movies.

Bambi is obviously my favorite disney cartoon. Very simple and down to business. No stupid ballads which pollute the last 15 or so disney cartoon movies.

Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 05-05-2003, 07:44 PM:

Claude

I remember CCBB something near perfect - not in the special effects, as Christian also mention, but in printing, -and that single, danish 70mm print was absolutely mint condition, when it left here for the bandsaw. Solomon and Sheba gives my memory a blackout. -Only thing, i remember for sure, was that it had faded BLUE in a way, i've never met on any other film. -A bit on my own two 35mm prints of "Big Jake" (Wayne) - but this was really bad. As i did not like the film itself, either, this bandsaw massacre doesn't hurt me as much as all those other 70mm prints in a raw, i had the pleasure to run before they went away, thanks to narrow-minded distributors. Take "Ice Station Zebra" as a horrible example: It was sold for reissue through an independent distributor after MGM did their job. The new distributor took the used 35mm prints, but the two 70mm, one beeing perfect, were of no interest, due to expensive freight rates, was the message. -Bandsaw !! [Eek!]

Posted by Christian Appelt (Member # 1067) on 05-06-2003, 10:57 AM:

Most of the great visual ideas in CHITTY come from Ken Adam`s fantastic production designs. If you are interested in his work for the James Bond films and many other great productions, don`t miss this exhibition at the AMPAS in Hollywood:

http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2003/03.04.24.html