Instant Favorite.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

This is a childhood favorite-and even though I only have seen it twice in the last 5 years-and though it's not currently on my favorites list, it is a movie I deeply admire. One reason is the songs. The Candy Man is so iconic that it's used in Madagascar! Then Pure Imagination, I Want It Now, the not-so-memorable but sweet Cheer up Charlie, the Ooompa Loompa songs sung when a kid messes up, and a few others.(I did not forget about Golden Ticket.) Actually, this is one of those movies that speaks for itself-if you have not seen it-you are missing out.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie but I'm pretty sure it wasn't what I wound up viewing. I thought I would like the general feel of the thing but something about the movie felt off kilter. Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) seemed mean spirited at times, and almost indifferent at others, giving me the impression that the picture over all wasn't that kid friendly. I mean, four out of the five Golden Ticket winners wound up transported to some never never land never to be heard from again, while Charlie (Peter Ostrum) had to take it on the chin with his grandfather (Jack Albertson) for swiping some of the fizzy lifting drinks. That he wound up inheriting the Chocolate Factory seemed almost like a consolation prize given the tenor of the story.I did like the idea of the Golden Ticket contest, and have to wonder why more companies didn't follow up on the idea after this movie came out. It seemed like it would drive a lot of business and create excitement about a company's products. There's no denying the sets are colorful and imaginative, yet they seemed strangely surreal and fake at the same time. When I think back to the creativity on display in a film like "The Wizard of Oz" made three decades earlier, it's like this film didn't put the era's technology and artistry to any kind of use to look more polished. The thing is, the movie held out a lot of promise with the opening scenes of chocolate candy being made on a variety of assembly lines pumping out bars and candy kisses. And the scene in the candy shop took me back to the good old days of my youth when penny candy was the rule. I kind of feel sorry for today's youth who can't ever experience the thrill and/or frustration of making such a fateful decision with just a few available pennies in the sweaty palm of their hand. If you could pick up four of five pieces of penny candy today for under a buck you'd probably be lucky.

I've watched this movie many times and it never gets old. I have 3 boys - they are all grown up now with kids of their own. The remember this movie and remember the messages the ooompa-loompas gave to them. All of the messages got thru to them -every time they watched it. It should be shown to all kids now days - the messages and life lessons are still true today and they were when this movie came out.

This is an old time great musical and fantasy movie with great moral lessons, but don't be mistaken into thinking this is a movie for little children. The extremely creepy scenes and the constant literary references makes the movie appropriate for older kids, maybe teens, and for adults looking to remember what it was like to be a kid and imagining what magical it must be like being inside a chocolate factory.P.S.- The internet meme of Grandpa Joe being a scumbag are totally true. The movie is about Charlie realizing his grandpa is a bad person.