The Wiz

Rating:
Summary: A Musical Hit n' Miss
Review: I remember seeing "The Wiz" for the first time in its broadcast debut on a 13" B&W TV. As I recall, several scenes were severely truncated. Regardless, it left such a lasting impression that I became a follower of all things "The Wiz" ever since.

I used to be so fascinated by all that I had heard about the original 1975 Broadway musical. I only wish I had been old enough to see it. Now if only producer Rob Cohen had kept with his original vision of staying true to the stage show, the movie might have been more inspired and found more success. Don't get me wrong -- I really enjoy parts of this film, but let's face it, it should have been so much better. We can thank Diana. When she decided she "was" Dorothy, the entire project took a nose-dive. The original director quit, Sidney Lumet took over, decided that it should be set in NYC, and gave us a dark and depressing interpretation of Oz.

There ARE definite musical standouts in "Ease on Down the Road," "You Can't Win," "No Bad News," and "A Brand New Day," but I can't help but wonder what it would have been like if the rest of the Broadway score had remained intact; namely The Wiz's intro number, "So You Wanted to Meet the Wizard," the confrontational "Who Do You Think You Are?" and Glinda's beautiful anthem, "A Rested Body is a Rested Mind."

And what an awful ending! Richard Pryor was truly uninspired casting. In the play, The Wiz (not Dorothy) sings "Believe in Yourself" the first time around. He even attempts to take Dorothy back home in his balloon. As for the movie, it's almost not even worth watching after "A Brand New Day."

But, aside from my gripes, the DVD is the best way to see this film. It has a great widescreen transfer for a 70's flick and an interesting behind-the-scenes featurette.

Rating:
Summary: I love this movie... shhhh, don't tell anyone!
Review: Now honestly, Berry Gordy KNEW Diana Ross was too damn old to be playing Dorothy in this movie. Diana's overly dramatic acting at times makes this movie painful to watch, but seeing a young Michael Jackson when he was still recognizable, and hearing the songs written by Quincy Jones makes up for Diana's bad acting.

At the time it was released the movie wasn't well received and I do understand why, but now it's sort of a cult classic, especially with Michael in the mix. It's worth the purchase price.

Rating:
Summary: Motown Rocks Oz
Review: Oz gets another musical interpretation, very different from the original movie, this time by Motown. Dorothy's home moves from the dry Kansas plain, to the busy New York apartments. Dorothy herself is now a shy, twenty-four year old kindergarden teacher. After a talk with her Aunt Em about a new job as a high school teacher, which Dorothy is to shy to take, Dorothy opens the apartment door and her beloved dog Toto runs out into the firce blizzard. Dorothy grabs him and finds herself scooped up in a whirling funnel of snow. This tornado-like funnel wisks them of to Oz where Dorothy inadvertantly kills Evermean, the wicked witch of the east, and frees the friendly Munchkins. When Miss One, the good witch of the north appears, she advises Dorothy to "ease on down" the yellow brick road to find the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City, for he's the only one who can send her home. Dorothy receives the dead witch's magical silver shoes and starts her journey. Along the way she meets the Scarecrow, who seeks a brain; the Tin Man, who longs for a heart; and the Cowardly Lion who is in need of some courage; together this strange party travels down the yellow brick road to find Oz, facing many strange obstacals along the way. But Oz won't let them have their wishes unless they kill Evilene, the wicked witch of the west.
This exciting version of Oz is a wonderful spectical of site and sound. Oz is actually a mirror image of New York. Most of the locations in Oz were New York locations with a few Oz additions.
Some of the most famous Motown stars take on the lead roles for Oz, including Diana Ross as Dorothy, Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, Nipsey Russel as the Tin Man, Ted Ross as the Lion, and Lena Horne as Glinda, the good witch of the south.
Many of the dangers that Baum wrote into the original book have been adopted here, including the deadly poppy field, now the poppy siren women who lure people to the deadly scent; the dangerous forest, now an underground subway full of walking pillars, bitting trash cans, and over sized attacking dolls; and the wicked witch of the west's land, now a parking building maze.
The beginning and ending songs are soft and touching, like Glinda's solo, while the songs in Oz are very upbeat, like "Ease on Down the Road".
The dance sequences are incredible and are really an amazing site that shouldn't be missed (especially the Emerald City scene filled with hundereds of Emerald City citizens dancing between the twin towers).
The acting is well done. Dorothy is pretty emotional throughout most of the movie, but she is sometimes lose and relaxed, while the people who surround her are always very happy and upbeat (with the exeption of the nasty and sometimes funny Evilene).
I saw this movie when I was young and it wasn't at all scary, even though the settings were pretty dark. I saw the original Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland first, which also never scared me.
I'd highly recommend this movie for all ages. I'd recommend seeing the original first though. So hurry up and "ease on down the road"!

Rating:
Summary: Oh My God.
Review: ...The Wizard of Oz (and.. any movie, really) puts this to shame. I can't believe this is from the guy that did "Dog Day Afternoon." Please, do yourself a favor and rent that instead.

Rating:
Summary: Musical extravaganza
Review: A hip, modernised, all-black version of L. Frank Baums famous childrens story, The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz. Of course we all know the best version will always be the 1939 Judy Garland classic but surprisingly, The Wiz has something different to offer. Soul music legend Diana Ross oddly takes the role of Dorothy but to her credit she plays the part beautifully and she is vocally superb throughout. In contrast to the traditional teenaged Dorothy, this time round she is a 24 year old, Harlem school teacher who has such little confidence in herself. During a snow storm blizzard, she is whisked away with her dog Toto into the Land Of Oz which mirrors New York city itself and whilst the merry old land of Oz is seen as colourful and confectionary in the Garland version, Oz is immersed in The Wiz as a dark inner-city impressionism and whilst along the way some of the scenery is almost eerie, there are fabulous and dazzling eye-catching shots of New York such as the grand old Emerald city. Joining Diana Ross on her adventures along the yellow brick road are Michael Jackson as the scarecrow who hideously winges his way throug the scripts which does, at times, overflow with schamaltzy cliches, but his vocal performances are as consistently excellent as some of his other work. Nipsey Russell plays the Tin Man to vast effect whilst Ted Ross reprises his role as the Cowardly Lion (he previously had appeared in the Broadway version). Amongst the other array of stars are Richard Pryor playing The Wiz to considerable effect, Lena Horne as Glinda The Good and Mabel King putting in an amusing interpretation of the Wicked Witch of the West as Evillene. The songs are good and Diana gives you goose bumps as she dramatically sings Home at her upmost, fully-forced vocal power at the climax of the film. Her delivery is astounding, strong and passionate and easily sends shivers down the spine. She is joined by Michael Jackson for the fabulously funky and infectious, Ease On Down The Road (a minor hit on both sides of the Atlantic), which is used as the alternative to Follow The Yellow Brick Road. The soundtrack was written and composed by the genius Quincy Jones who later went on to enjoy further success with Michael Jackson at the heigt of his career. The glorious Emerald City sequences are dazzling and the dancing is truly spectacular during these scenes, the munchkin land sequences and during the scene after Evillene is destroyed where they all join together with Diana for the fantastic song, A Brand New Day. The cast certainly make a good job of it and Diana exceeded expectations though the film drew a mixed critical response and bombed at the Box Office much to the dismay of Ross. Though The Wiz doesn't eclipse the magic of The Wizard of Oz, it still has something diverse to offer and certainly was very origanal. Some of the lavish sets are truly spectacular and on the whole The Wiz is an enjoyable viewing experience that deserved far greater recognition that it ever received at the time.

Rating:
Summary: The Wiz is no Wizard!
Review: Im going to give my honest opinion. I bought this video because as a child I LOVED the original Wizard of OZ. Since then my kids have become big fans of it too. So I bought The Wiz thinking it was goin to be good also. This movie was VERY slow. The scenes were dark, And all together very boring. I Ended up putting the Original Wizard of Oz in the VCR before the Wiz was even over. Sorry, didnt like it.

Rating:
Summary: The Wiz Kicks Butt!!
Review: I've heard a lot of comments about the Wiz, like how it's poorly written, or how Diana Ross is too old to play Dorothy. I think that Diana Ross was phenomanal as Dorothy. So what if she was 34? Her voice was amazing, and she can dance almost too well in those high heels. The music was so good. Michael Jackson blew me away as the scarecrow, and Nipsey Russel and Ted Ross are great as the Tinman and Lion. The acting could have been a little better, but as a dancer, singer, and actress, I still think that the Wiz is one of the greatest musicals of all time. So think twice before you whiz on the Wiz.

Rating:
Summary: "...If you believe, within your heart ...a Brand New Day"
Review: "The WIZ", alternating between grittily modern challenges and mellow blues, fashions its own allegorical urban legend. Distinguished by Michael Jackson's engaging movie debut, with performances enhanced by Diana Ross's style stretching and the evergreen legend Lena Horne. Tony Walton's feisty stage settings, presented within the fabulous, historic landmark Astoria Studios, where famed director Sidney Lumet, perhaps sentimentally realizing childhood ambitions from his old neighborhood, helped restore the then derelict Astoria Studios to its historic brilliance.

But MetaMorphosis doesn't end. The pageantry dance scenes of "The WIZ" on "the massive plaza between the World Trade Center towers ...transformed into Emerald City, featuring nearly 400 dancers with three costume changes" (see director Lumet commenting about staging the huge WTC plaza dance scenes on this DVD's bonus "Featurette", beginning about 7:35 in). Could this prophetic, then newly fashioned urban legend "looking back to the future" of uplifting theatrical pageantry also portend a renaissance at Ground Zero? With the power of today's applied lighting techniques and economies of kinetic light shows, such settings might provide a virtual immersion into an ambient Amphitheatre of the Sky, and continue to have eternal applications.

"Suddenly my world's gone and changed its face...
"...time be my friend, let me start again
"If you believe, within your heart...
"Can't you feel...
...a brand new day

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST MUSICALS OF ALL TIME
Review: THE WIZ HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY FAVORITE MUSICAL SINCE I SAW IT ON BROADWAY AS A CHILD WITH STEPHANIE MILLS.
AND BECAUSE ITS A TIMELESS CLASSIC MY CHILDREN LOVE THE MUSICAL AS WELL. EVERY MUSIC NUMBER WAS WONDERFUL AND EVERYONE COULD ACT.
THE MOVIE WILL NEVER GO OUT OF STYLE.
THIS MOVIE IS SOMETHING THAT TAKES YOU OUT OF OUR TIME AND INTO A TIMELESS PLACE WHERE YOU HAVE TO USE YOUR IMAGINATION. WHICH IS SOMETHING GOOD,BECAUSE MOST MOVIES HAVE LOST THAT QUALITY. THANK GOD. THERE ARE MOVIES LIKE THE WIZ AROUND.

Rating:
Summary: mike rox !!!
Review: wooo ! this rox, cuz Micheal Jackson is in it. It is funny,inspriational,and funky!!! woop-woop ! go mike !