The Wizard of Oz

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites by far
Review: I can't even begin to describe the feeling I get when I watch this movie. By the time it ends I'm floating on air. This is such a powerful reminder of youth and fantasy. Everyone knows all the songs, we all know the story. If I could give this movie more stars I would. I hope this film is shown to every generation that comes after me, keep the tradition alive everyone.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: Fantasies are fun. Everyone likes a mysterious story well-told. The writing, acting, visual effects, and other elements of this film all add up to make a classic that has entertained generations of audiences since its debut in 1939. With each repeated viewing it is like going back to childhood and seeing familiar friends. There's an innocence in the way the characters relate to each other. Good and evil are clearly delineated. Ambiguities and gray are lacking in this era when sides were distinctly identified.

The sets, the technology for the time demonstrate what its like to do work that endures. The plot unfolds in such a way that you're captivated, although you know what is going to happen next.

This is good, clean, family entertainment. Good wins, bad fails, and Dorothy wakes up in her own bed in Kansas in the end. All is right with with world. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: The best movie
Review: The Wizard of Oz is about a girl named Dorathy Gale who lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry in Kansas. In the beginning of this movie it shows that she doesn't really appreciate her life. She later gets caught up in a tornado and is sent "Over the Rainbow" to the "Merry Old Land of Oz." She meets many friends who she thinks she knows but doesn't know how. She first comes across Glinda, the good witch of the north, the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Cowardly lion. Eventually she saves the whole town and gets sent back to Kansas and relizes that she never wants to leave home again.

Rating:
Summary: Troublesome film marred by vague subject matter
Review: This film is troublesome on too many counts to list here but I will try.

First, the story is implausible. Oz is not the sort of place children dream of, usually they dream of running or flying or getting lost. The "Oz" story was already a tired conventional hackneyed subject and should never have been filmed in the first place.

Also the color -- what is this fixation on color in that period? Tone things down, please.

The characters are argumentative and malicious, bogged down in their own fantasies and "needs". No child is going to relate to a woodsman, let alone a woodsman who has had limbs cut off one by one and replaced by tin. (By the way, I never once believed he was made of tin.)

When singing is employed in film, it should be in the backgroud; the characters should not be lipsyncing to the music unless there is a radio playing in the background.

The concept of a "straw man" refers to a malignant red herring thrown into an argument to confuse the debate. Children are not going to pick up on this, and those that do are too intelligent to be watching movies like this.

The fixation with Judy Garland -- why? Plain, too fat, simpering and controversial. She had -- too put it mildly -- a bawdy life as a teenager, and was held high as a role model until the Troubles began. If children read her life's story, their blood would curdle. Who needs that?

When I see a movie, I do not expect technical perfection -- I can suspend a little disbelief and overlook wires from flying monkeys and such. Too much attention to this was given in building the sets and in the camera work. Money would have been much better spent on better actors. And what was with all those directors?! No wonder this movie looked like it was filmed by a committee.

Making fun of little people? I DON'T THINK SO!

I could go on and on.

Rating:
Summary: All around classic
Review: Somewhere over the rainbow...........EVERYONE knows that song. I saw this for the first time when I was three, and I've seen it about a hundred times since, and I have yet to get tired of it. Thanks to this movie, I've become a HUGE fan of Judy Garland's musicals (and musicals in general come to think of it). The acting is great, the music is wonderful, and the movie is all around fantastic. Nothing more to say. I can't find a single fault with it, other than it's distracted me from various tasks because I love it so much. But other than that, I LOVE IT. I could watch it hundreds more times and still see it again.

Rating:
Summary: TEN stars!!!
Review: How many people can say that they've seen a particular movie well over 200 times - and NEVER get tired of it?

There's no place like "The Wizard of Oz!!!"

Rating:
Summary: "I'll get you my pretty...and your little dog too!"
Review: It is highly doubtful that director Victor Fleming and the cast of "The Wizard of Oz" could possibly have imagined that their film recorded in 1939 would still be watched and endearing children and adults alike 64 years later! Film audiences in 2003 may flock to theaters to see the latest computer-generated special effects, but that has not diminished the power of this film that was created with special effects by people who never heard of computers, as well as filming in color which was still relatively new for both studios and audiences alike in 1939.

"The Wizard of Oz" was based upon the children's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" written in 1900 by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919). The story is about a young girl named Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) who is being raised by her Aunt Emily 'Auntie Em' Gale (Clara Blandick) and Uncle Henry Gale (Charley Grapewin) on a farm in Kansas. After getting upset that her dog Toto (played by a dog named Terry) might be taken away because of the ramblings of their neighbor Miss Almira Gulch (Margaret Hamilton), Dorothy decides to run away. However, Dorothy and Toto are caught in a horrific storm that whisks them away to a magical land called Oz where she meets people and characters that nothing like what she knew in Kansas: Glinda the Good Witch of the North (Billie Burke), the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), the Tin Man (Jack Haley), the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), and many others. (The film's cast had approximately 200 people.)

One interesting aspect to the film was that scenes in Kansas were filmed in black and white, while scenes in Oz were filmed in color. This was the first time that many audience members had seen a film done in full color in 1939 and the transformation from black and white to color is still dramatic today. Actor Frank Morgan plays five different roles in the film (including Professor Marvel), and several other cast members play dual roles (Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley and Bert Lahr). Songs used in the film include the following:

* "Over the Rainbow", sung by Judy Garland. This became Judy Garland's signature song and is probably the most famous song from the film.
* "We Welcome You To Munchkinland", sung by the many cast members playing the Munchkins.
* "Follow the Yellow Brick Road", sun by the many cast members playing the Munchkins.
* "If I Only Had a Brain", sung by Judy Garland and Ray Bolger.
* "We're Off to See The Wizard", sung by Judy Garland and Ray Bolger.
* "If I Only Had a Heart", sung by Jack Haley (and off-screen voice of Adriana Casselotti).
* "If I Only Had the Nerve", sung by Bert Lahr, Judy Garland, Ray Bolger and Jack Haley.
* "The Merry Old Land of Oz", sung by Frank Morgan, Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr and the cast members of the Emerald City.
* "If I Were King of the Forrest", sung by Bert Lahr, Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, and Jack Haley.

Overall, "The Wizard of Oz" is one of the best films of all time and deserves a resounding 5 out of 5 stars. This film will continue to entertain for many decades to come and is well worth having your collection. If you want to try something different, play Pink Floyd's album "The Dark Side of the Moon" while watching the film instead of listening to the film's normal soundtrack. Also, the DVD contains many extras, including outtakes and excerpts from the 1914 and 1925 silent film versions.

Rating:
Summary: The good ole days of film!
Review: This is the ultimate classic in film. This is the movie that you fell in love with as a child and keep falling in love with every time you watch the film, no matter how old you are. This is the film that helped you see how dreams can come true and how you can appreciate your life, wherever you may be.

Judy Garland does a fantastic job as Dorothy. The ensemble cast works amazingly together. The Wicked Witch is fantastic. You just love to hate her! And what about Toto?!

Be transported back to the good old days when you didn't have a care in the world. Watch this movie again and own it for life!

Rating:
Summary: This One Takes Me Back
Review: It's nearly impossible for me to write objectively about the quality of "The Wizard of Oz," so bundled up is it with associations from my childhood. It's like trying to do a critical analysis of "Star Wars." Sorry, can't be done---at least, not by me.

"Oz" is such a strange movie, in some ways so creaky and old-fashioned, in other ways so incredibly ahead of its time. Few films I've seen during my lifetime have such a complete vision as "Oz" does---such painstaking care went into the look and design of the film; it's as if the filmmakers really did create a whole other world for this film to take place in. It's odd that during a time in American film history, when movies were being cranked out like cars on an assembly line, a film could feel like such an auteurish product (increasingly odd, since the credited director, Victor Fleming, actually shared directing duties with several others. The same is true for "Gone with the Wind," released in the same year and also bearing Fleming's name as sole director. He was quite a lucky guy in 1939).

The plot and feeling of "Oz" veers quite a bit from that of the book on which it is based. The book is much nastier and darker, but the film manages its fair share of grimness for all that. The Wicked Witch is spectacularly scary (Margaret Hamilton admits to regretting the intensity with which she approached this character) as are the Flying Monkeys. There's such a feeling of ominous dread underlaying this entire film. As if the land of Oz is a bit too beautiful and perfect, like a perfectly ripe piece of fruit that at any moment can begin to rot at the edges.

Really, despite her scariness, the Witch is the most fun character in the film---it's really a riot to watch this film as an adult and enjoy her sarcasm and nastiness; it's refreshing as juxtaposed to the goody goodiness of the other characters. Frank Morgan in a variety of roles is also great.

A cloud of darkness has come to surround this film over the last couple of decades, due to the urban legends about the stagehand supposedly caught on film hanging himself and the truly bizarre stories about the arduous process of making the film (and the many accidents and tragedies that occurred along the way). This reputation may be responsible for the cult status that has arisen around this film and perhaps even for elevating it to the level of admiration it has received.

On a side note, an excellent book by Gregory Maguire called "Wicked" offers back story to the events leading up to "The Wizard of Oz," and most particulary focuses on the early life of the Wicked Witch of the West. It's an outstanding book, and I venture that you won't be able to watch "Oz" in quite the same way again after reading it.

Grade: A-

Rating:
Summary: The bestest movie - ever
Review: This is a great movie. The tongue-in-cheek nature of the movie as well as a simplistic lesson in human nature is great. You have to take it as it is - a timeless movie produced in 1939 is a classic.