Rating: 
Summary: Not your parents yellow brick road!
Review: Film editor extraordinaire Walter Murch has only one film to his credit as a director, this one, and it's quite good. Perhaps in another 30 years when most of us have died off and the movie can be viewed without the inevitable comparisons to the more famous Judy Garland vehicle, RETURN TO OZ will be seen in proper perspective, namely an attempt to show L. Frank Baum's creation as he might have done it if HE'D been a movie director instead of a writer.One caveat; For a supposed fairy tale, it IS a slightly darker vision that's shown in this movie than a young child might be comfortable with. There are scenes showing some of the questionable medical practices of the late 19th century which are very scary and I could see 6-year-olds having nightmares about them. There are also the Wheelers, who are at least as frightning as the flying monkeys were in the 1939 WIZARD OF OZ. Jean Marsh, however, is not as scary a wicked witch as Margaret Hamilton was, so that leavens things somewhat. Fairuza Balk, in her first film, makes a very charming Dorothy, and Piper Laurie and Nicol Williamson are well-cast in their supporting roles. The DVD transfer itself leaves something to be desired. The first ten minutes of the film are marred by very apparent dustspecks and scratches on the transferred print; you'd have thought that, budget DVD or not, some care might have been taken in this regard. Extras are few and badly-positioned; there are no scene-selection menues and if you had no prior knowledge that there is a ten-minute interview with Fairuza Balk right after the closing credits, you'd miss it entirely. The sound transfer and mastering, however, is excellent and once you get past that first scratchy ten minutes, everything looks and sounds great. This is a piece of Eighties filmmaking which, hopefully, will get a new lease on life on the big screen after a few more decades roll by. American Film Institute, take note!
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not the same
Review: I watched this movie first time at age 5, I used to rent it at Easy Video. One time, the movie got stuck in the VCR, so EV (Easy Video) Told me to keep it. I love this movie, It's not the same though, as I mentioned, New Cast, No Wizard, etc.
I like all the new people like Jack Pumpkinhead, Tik Tok, and Billinia. It's one of my dad's and mine personal favorites. Mombi and The Knome King are evil, and all the characters in the beginng, match a person in Oz. Machine = Tik Tok
Girl = Ozma of Oz
Pumpkin = Jack Pumkinhead
Girl Doctor = Mombi
Doctor= Knome King
People who wheel Dorothy around on cot= The Wheelers
Billina = Billina It's great, if you liked MGM's Version, you'll love this! P.S. Toto is a diffrent dog
P.P.S. This Toto is just as good.
Rating: 
Summary: An embarrassment to Oz fans
Review: I'm a huge Oz fan. I own all of Baum's Oz books and I've read them all numerous times. I've practically memorized the script of the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie. If I haven't convinced you that I'm obsessed, I even have an Oz cookbook! But I've only seen Return to Oz once, and I don't want to see it again. The overall tone of the movie is way too dark for Oz, even though it seems as though it was intended to be a sequel to the 1939 Wizard of Oz. The whole insane asylum/electric shock treatment concept is rediculous, not to mention unbelievable. Why would Dorothy be considered insane for believing in Oz? She's only a little girl. Other reviewers seem to think that Return to Oz is based on an actual story by L. Frank Baum. It's really a combination of two books, The Marvelous Land of Oz, and Ozma of Oz. But the two storylines are mixed together, and they're completely unlike either book. It's as if the writers of this movie never even read the books. If you're a fan of the Wizard of Oz, the movie, and you want "more of Oz", don't waste your money on Return to Oz. Instead, I would recommend reading Baum's books. It's really no wonder Return to Oz wasn't as successful as The Wizard of Oz was.
Rating: 
Summary: Beats a Blank....
Review: I'm glad to see any of the other Oz stories even acknowledged, let alone made into film. Having said that, this film wasn't that bad at all. It would have been better had I not been so familiar with all of the characters of the Oz series. Everything was fine until they misnamed the princess with the mix & match heads Mombi! Mombi was a wicked OLD witch with a patch over one eye & a crooked walk. She was responsible for turning Princess Ozma into a boy (thus hiding her) named Tip. The princess with the changing heads was called Princess Languere & she was easily bored, thus she changed her look & mood. This may seem a minor detail to the novice, but they basically
left out a huge chunk of story by trying to combine characters.
Read the books!
Rating:
Summary: Best Underrated Fantasy Film Ever
Review: This is one of the best fantasy films you've never seen. It's truly a _fantasy_ not a cute musical that's more about Hollywood than the story. "Return to Oz" sticks to Baum's original concept. True fantasy is sometimes dark and speaks to our psyche, and Baum's original characters and setting is all here in this film which has more to say to us about honesty and compassion than a dozen of Disney's other "sweetness and light" films.
Rating:
Summary: BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL!
Review: I was subjected to watching The Wizard Of Oz every year while I was growing up. I am sure that it is a fine movie, but I truly became tired of it and now prefer to not watch it. When my wife suggested watching Return to Oz I simply stated that I had never heard of it and was slightly scared of what it might be like. I LOVED IT! I was relieved to see a different cast and entirely different feel to the movie. This movie will surprise you with the slight darkness to it, but keep you very entertained. This one I can watch more than once a year and still look forward to seeing it again.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Compelling Story of Oz I've Ever Seen
Review: I first saw this film when I was about 5 years old (1987) and from that first viewing I was hooked. The film haunted me until I saw it again in the early 1990's. The tale is one of an Oz that Dorothy would never have survived in. An Oz that is only an eerie shell of what it once was. It was truly a modern day retelling of the land of Oz. I strongly recommend this movie to anyone whether or not they've seen the first Wizard of Oz; this film can stand on it's own.
Rating:
Summary: Return to Oz, a hidden classic
Review: Return to Oz has always been one of my favorite films. It is very different from the Wizard of Oz, but Return to Oz is much closer to Baum's Oz books. The movie is based on Baum's books Ozma of Oz and The Marvolous Land of Oz. Many people will not even watch this great film simply because it does not contain the same cast as The Wizard of Oz. While mostly everone else has not even heard of this film. This film is indeed a hidden classic and I know that one day it will be looked upon as one of the greatest films ever made. This is one movie that no one can be dissapointed in buying. The Wizard of Oz is my all-time favorite movie and I approve Return to Oz as a perfect addition to the Oz story.
Rating:
Summary: I'm an 80's film buff.
Review: I loved this film. I would love to see it again. I thought it was fantastic. Adventurous and sort of darker than the original. Worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: A worthy sequel
Review: One of the big trends of the 80's was the seemingly endless trend of half-baked sequels, remakes and other assorted attempts to "improve" what was already recognized as perfect (remember the new coke?). Perhaps that was why so many people dismissed Disney's sequel to the 1939 film. "The Wizard of Oz." It is a shame that "Return to Oz" did not get the exposure it was due, because it is a great movie. Fairuza Balk was exceptional as Dorothy. She was the right age for the character (Judy Garland, talented as she was, was considerably older than the Dorothy of the books). More importantly though, she was everything a child star should be. Her Drorthy was brave, compassionate and enjoyable, without a trace of the cloying "cutsieness" or smart aleckiness many child actors demonstrate. The supporting characters, particularly Brian Henson's Jack Pumpkinhead, were not only excellent, but very true to the original books. The special effects that went into bringing them to life hold up very well today, excpet for Billina, the yellow hen, who is obviously mechanical. Her wit and pluck make her a very enjoyable character anyway though. Some have said that this movie is too scary for kids, which really makes no sense. The scary parts of the movie; the wheelers, the gnome king, the deadly desert that turns people to sand, the witch Mombi, the princess who changes her head to suit her whims and threatens to take Dorothy's, all of these were created by L. Frank Baum, the creator of the Oz series. They have lived in his books for almost 100 years, and will probably outlive us all. When did these elements suddenly become "too scary" for children? My complaints about the movie are few. For one thing, when Dorothy arrives in Oz she passes by her old house and then, in the next scene, arrvies at the Emerald City. Later she looks out from one of the city's towers and sees the desert surrounding Oz. This gives the impression that Oz is about four square miles. Second, Dorothy notes that the deadly desert will turn anyone who touches it into sand. When did she learn this? Because reference is made to the ruby slippers, we can assume this is a sequal to the 1939 movie and not the book (which featured silver shoes), but when was this fact revealed in the movie? This latter detail is a bit of a nit pick I admit. Overall there is much to recommend in "Return to Oz." Do not watch it expecting to relive the 1939 picture. Instead, try to appreciate it for its own merits.
| 
