I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

I don't know why the IMDb rating is so low on this. In my opinion, this is one of THE best children's movies of all time. Even if you are an adult and have no children, you should definitely watch it. This movie is HILARIOUS, has some great musical numbers in it, a sweet story, and is just packed with fun. Great costume and set design as well. Not to mention, Dick van Dyke is in it! There is so much that happens in this movie, I don't know how they fit it all into less than 2 hours! If you like Mary Poppins (also an excellent film and a must-see) this movie is just as good. So DON'T be fooled by the rating. This movie rocks! I am 21 and still love Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

Agree with a lot of the comments above. It is,indeed, an ionic children's film from the sixties, building on Mary Poppins, and almost as good. The storyline tails off a little bit but the scenery, songs and enthusiasm of everyone involved make it wonderful entertainment for little ones for two hours - not to mention adults too! Some of the songs are very memorable - like the title song, me ole bamboo (great dance scene at the funfair) and, of course, (Sally Anne Howe as) Truly Scrumptious, filmed on a summer's day near St. Tropez. I saw this when it first came out and have seen it several times since. My children used to love it. Anything with cars fascinates boys and the romantic link appeals to the girls. I know it's been panned by critics but it's good, clean fun. A really enjoyable family film.

There's so much to attack but so much to love (begrugingly) in this movie version of Ian Fleming's novel. Yes, indeed, the author of the Bond series wrote a musical about a magical car that floats, flies and bang bang bangs. It's also a lifesaver for the eccentric inventor Cattaragus Potts (Dick Van Dyke), his two precocious children (Adrian Hall and Heather Ripley), and a beautiful socialite (Sally Anne Howes) who is at the crossroads of her life and determined to get past the pretensions of being the daughter of a wealthy sweets manufacturer, Lord Scrumptious (a wonderfully imperious James Robertson Justice) who has nothing but her money to claim as her own. The widowed Potts and the lovely Truly don't hit it off at first (like many couples paired together in a movie musical), but her instant love for his children draws them closer, as does an adventure where they head off to a weird land of child-hating rulers and underground canyons where everybody under the age of 18 lives in fear.The Sherman Brothers achieve another hit in their musical catalog with the musical score, an obvious follow-up to "Mary Poppins", yet not released by Walt Disney. Van Dyke is the obvious choice for Potts, and with Julie Andrews unable to take on the role of the heroine, British musical diva Sally Anne Howes had her one American film role as Truly. "Lovely, Lonely Man" shows her as a gorgeous soprano, and it is sad for American audiences that she didn't get the chance to be seen in more films. Only some lucky audiences on Broadway got the chance to see her, mainly as a replacement in "My Fair Lady" for Andrews on Broadway.Hall and Ripley are delightful as the children, looking more real than the kids from "Mary Poppins" and delightfully coy in their attitudes towards life. Lionel Jeffries gives a glorious performance as their flustered grandfather, an eccentric world traveler who pretends to go around the world in his little shack which really appears to be an out-house. There's gloriously campy performances from Gert Frobe and Anna Quayle as the Baron and Baroness Bomburst who perform "Choochy Face" with the attitudes of teenagers in a seemingly perfect lovefest, but its obvious that the Baron can't stand her, leading to some hilarious innuendos of him obviously trying to snuff her out. "Choochy Face" is followed up by the hysterical visual of the dried-up court of prunes who surround them socially, giving this a cartoon feel in its live action presentation.Then, there's Robert Helpmann as the sinister looking Child Catcher, one of the most horrifying villains ever on screen, and one who probably gave a lot of children nightmares. He actually looks like he could be a distant relative of the Wicked Witch of the West, an escapee from Oz who was obviously banished by the little people who lived in that land. Even "Willy Wonka" with its darkness didn't have a character like this. Musically and choreographically, "Chitty" is phenomenal with several lavish production numbers, some extremely touching moments, and a fantasy element that is almost as magical as "The Wizard of Oz". A Broadway version proved to be even more elephantine than the movie, overly cute and missing the adult touches that made the movie as appealing to grown-ups as it was to children.

In the 1908 Grand Prix de France, one of the cars crash and ends up in a garage in rural England which is beloved by children Jeremy and Jemima Potts. Mr. Coggins is looking to sell it for scrap. They live with Grandpa Potts, their widowed wacky inventor father Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke) and their dog Edison. They meet wealthy Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes) driving her own car. She tries to tell Caractacus about his kids' truancy but he's unconcerned. They don't get along. One of his invention produces sweets with holes in them. He discovers that they toot and tries to sell them to Truly's confectionery manufacturer father Lord Scrumptious. He gets thrown out when the whistle brings dogs to overrun the factory. He eventually earns some money at the carnival and buys the car. The kids name it Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the noise from the engine and the Bangs coming from the exhaust. They go to the beach for a picnic and Truly joins them. Caractacus tells them a story about the ruler of Vulgaria Baron Bomburst who wants to steal Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.This is from a children book written by Ian Fleming. Roald Dahl who wrote 'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory' also helps to write the screenplay. This is an unabashed children's movie. There are some disturbing aspects of the movie like the Child Catcher which I like. It doesn't all work. I don't particularly like the broad comedy coming from the two spies. Sally Ann Howes may be a great stage actress but she doesn't have the great presence as someone like Julie Andrews. Her chemistry with Dick Van Dyke is limited. There are a couple of fun songs. This doesn't quite measure up to 'Mary Poppins' but it tries to be in the same class. Also some of the magic seems to disappear when the movie goes to the castle. It's like the castle is too real and overwhelms any effort to give it a sense of fantasy. But you gotta love the car.