Critic Reviews

The film is too long at well over two hours, but the effects are impressive for the time and the musical numbers zippy.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang contains about the best two-hour children's movie you could hope for, with a marvelous magical auto and lots of adventure and a nutty old grandpa and a mean Baron and some funny dances and a couple of moments when you've just GOT to cover your face and peek between your fingers, it's so scary.

A fast, dense, friendly children's musical, with something of the joys of singing together on a team bus on the way to a game.

Based on an Ian Fleming book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was made in Britain for American consumption, but its magic works on kids and adults of any nationality.

Howes goes through the romantic motions with Van Dyke and the maternal ones with the kids, but there is no real sentiment between players.

Ken Adam's sets are inventive, but the special effects are shoddy, the songs instantly forgettable, and the leisurely length an exquisite torture.