Return to Oz
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Movie Reviews of Return to Oz
Movie Review: Psychologically brilliant... and a 5 star film at that
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't often say something is perfect, but that's what this movie is. I don't know why I like Return to Oz so much. I like the MGM movie, I guess, and I've never really found the books captivating. Or even the anime series in the '80s.
This movie gets me for so many reasons. For one, it's so diverse in its intentions, and packs a load of hidden gems.
For one, it's a kids film... for adults. It's hard to explain. On its initial release nobody saw it because back then, kids saw mind-numbing kids movies, and adults saw mature films. It never mixed, so nobody really gave this a chance. But now, in the age of discovery and acceptance, it's a cult hit. Who would have guessed? Well, me. I saw this when it aired twice on television in the early '90s, and never forgot it. I went out and rented the badly damaged VHS tape in the late '90s and have loved it ever since.
But this DVD is... brilliant. It looks like it could have been made yesterday. Perhaps this is because the original version was not touched very often. The picture is breath-takingly sharp, and the 5.1 surround sound is perhaps some of the greatest I've ever witnessed, and I'm a bit of a picky perfectionist. The surround in the climax builds and builds. It's simply grand.
For a movie that has been shunned by Disney (their sort of illegitimate daughter), it sure is given the good treatment here, and rightfully so. It is in my opinion one of the finest movies ever made. It's dark, twisted just like the books, has a wonderful cast, BEAUTIFUL music, and an eerie "make up your own mind" twisted logic where reality is concerned. Is Dorothy dreaming it all up, or is it real? Sort of a Pan's Labyrinth situation, really. I'm a bit of a downer, I think that it's all in Dorothy's head, and this makes me sad because I think of what she would have gone through in her later life suffering from these mental problems. Clearly she has no real friends besides from Toto.
The hidden gems as I mentioned above, aren't all that hard to find, if you're perceptive. For instance, in the asylum, there is a shot of HEAD Nurse Wilson standing next to a door with the number '31' printed on it. Nurse Wilson's neck is covered by her dress, so all you see is her HEAD. Later in the movie, the Oz-counterpart of Wilson, being Mombi, keeps her original HEAD in cabinet 31.
Another instance, Doctor Worley continues to dapple with electricity and wishes to become a sort of electrical 'marvel'. In Oz, his counterpart is the Nome King, who is a marvel himself, a magician of sorts... who longs to be 'human'. The exact opposite of his Kansas counterpart. Which brings us to Ozma... Some say she is Dorothy's counterpart, which is why they only meet at the beginning and end of her journey. This could be why Ozma is only seen through mirrors. Perhaps this is how the two wind up in Oz, by disappearing in the reflective waters of the river. I don't know. This is just theory. Anyway, all of the characters in Oz, minus Billina the hen, have their own sort of counterparts in Kansas. You've just got to keep your eye out for them in the 20 minutes leading up to the dramatic escape from the asylum.
So yes, Return to Oz. Quite a brilliant film from a psychological stand-point. Quite a terrifying film on most other points. Eerie is the word, actually. Either way, it far surpasses the original movie, and anybody who disagrees is not a fan of the books, or the original plot, and quite frankly is just a grump.
Movie Review: Disney's Dark But Fatally Flawed Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
"Return to Oz" came at a time when the world of children's movies was at its darkest. In only a few short years, studios would release, in addition to "Oz," "The Neverending Story," "The Dark Crystal," "The Black Cauldron," and "Labyrinth." If there was ever a more frightening time to be a kid at the movies, I don't know when. And, like most of these, "Return to Oz" failed to earn money. In fact it lost money ... a lot of money.
But then again, "Return to Oz" was bound to fail from the start. It is impossible to make a sequel (and it's definitely a sequel, although many fans try to claim otherwise) of what's got to be the most beloved movie ever made and not fail. Audiences wanted "Return to Oz" to recapture all the old feelings that MGM's "The Wizard of Oz" brought to them. Instead, writer/director Walter Murch didn't even attempt to recreate the MGM version of Oz.
Too much of the movie was unfamiliar to audiences. Dorothy, Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are all played by actors much younger than their MGM counterparts. Oz is filmed, for the most part, in the real world, with real trees and rocks and hills. MGM filmed its movie entirely on a sound stage, creating the plastic flowers that somehow flourish in Munchkinland. The Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion are little more than bit players in "Return to Oz," with only the Scarecrow receiving any lines -- and he only has about three lines of dialogue.
Lastly, audiences were turned off by the surprisingly intense violence and frightening images in "Return to Oz." There were reports of children being led, crying and trembling, from the theatres.
The movie was bound to fail.
"Return to Oz" has developed a sort of cult following (of which I am a member). A few of us, who saw the movie in the theatre, were frightened, but dazzled. Here was an Oz that actually existed -- I always hated those plastic Munchkinland flowers! If a scarecrow could actually walk on his own and a man could be made of tin, this is what they would look like -- not like men with face paint. "Return to Oz" made the land real for many of us, and it's those of us who hold on to movie.
As every other reviewer here has mentioned, "Return to Oz" is more faithful in tone and spirit to the original L. Frank Baum Oz books. But therein lies a major problem.
Reading about something scary and actually watching it on the screen are two very different things. Somehow, no one connected to the production of the movie seemed to have realized that. This forces an odd tone on the movie: the screenplay is strictly juvenile, with simplistic dialogue and goofy jokes. But the visuals are dark and geared more for adults. I personally think this is the only valid problem with the movie. It plays to both a young and old audience without ever truly providing a finished product to either.
If you like the books: you'll love "Return to Oz." If all you know is MGM's movie: you'll hate "Return to Oz."
It was a dark time for kids' movies and a dark time for Disney. But just because something is dark, doesn't mean it can't be wonderful.
Movie Review: My kinda Oz
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll probably be stoned for saying this, but I've never been a fan of Judy Garland's The Wizard of Oz. I don't think it's a bad movie, but the sunny, sing a long disposition and sugary tone made my teeth ache. I'm far from a "dark" person, but too much happy gets on my nerves. Return to Oz is where it's at for me. I was born 2 years after it's theatrical release, but fell in love with it at the age of 5 and consider it one of the best fantasy films ever.
First things first, this isn't a sequel to the 1939 musical. The only things they share in common are 1) ruby slippers are used instead of the book's silver and 2) people in Oz mirror those in Kansas. That's it. Return to Oz sticks closer to L. Frank Baum's books (a mashup of The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz, to be exact) so the story is given a darker backdrop. No breaking out into song on this one.
6 months after the tornado that transported Dorothy and her dog Toto to Oz, the little girl suffers from insomnia and talks incessantly about her adventures there. She becomes convinced that Billina, one of the farm hens, helped her find a key sent by her Oz friends on a shooting star. Aunt Em (as well as Uncle Henry to a lesser degree) grows concerned for her niece's sanity and takes her to see a Dr. Worley to administer electro-shock therapy to cure her of her "waking dreams", once and for all. Dorothy discovers that the hospital is really a poorly run mental institution with damaged patients locked in the basement. She's saved by a mysterious girl her own age and is transported back to Oz by way of a river during a thunderstorm. She wakes up inside a chicken coop with a talking Billina, but quickly discovers that Oz ain't what it used to be. The yellow brick road is in shambles, the Emerald City is an "emerald-less" wasteland, and all of it's residents have been turned to stone. It's up to Dorothy to set things right with the help of new friends Tik Tok (the mechanical man), Jack Pumpkinhead, and the oddly constructed Gump. Her new foes are the head collecting baddie Mombi, the freakish Wheelers, and The Gnome King who's stolen the emeralds as well as the Scarecrow.
Fairuza Balk does a phenomenal job as Dorothy. Not only does she fit the character's age (about 9 or 10), but her Dorothy is a combination of fearful, curious, and determined to save her friends. Jean Marsh is downright creepy as the cold, unfeeling Mombi and Nicol Williamson's Gnome King is calculating and maniacal. The sets are colorful and surreal, but also lifelike. So much like Baum's original vision for Oz. The animation isn't the best out there compared to today's standards, but not too bad considering it's from the mid-80s. I wouldn't recommend the movie for kids under the age of 6 or 7 (didn't scare me at all as a 5 year old though), but anyone older should be able to handle it. So grab a snack from the lunch pail tree, avoid the Deadly Desert, and enjoy a fantasy movie that'll keep kids and adults satisfied.
Movie Review: Brillant Voyage to Oz in a Highly Underrated Film
Summary: 5 Stars
"Return to Oz" was a spetacular flop for Disney in the 1980's as Walter Murch, formly a film editor was given the chance to take three novels from L. Frank Baum's series Oz and turn them into a movie made sequel for Oz. "Return to Oz" was definitely made and released at the wong time which definitely gives this viewer some sadness, but also is counteracted by the joy that, at least now the film is gaining appreciatation it deserves in reflection. Especially considering the darker toned movies of Burton and comic book interpretations and remakes that now populate the movie screen.
"Return to Oz" takes place almost a year after Dorothy (played in her debut by a wide eyed and absolutely adorable 10 year-old Faruiza Balk) returned from her voyage to Oz, her head filled with the colorful landscape of Oz and it's vivid characters. Sadly Dorothy has never really left Oz (apparently) for her head is still filled with images of Oz and she now cannot sleep, nor can her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry imagine what to do with her as she is little help to both of them on the farm and winter is fast approaching. However a blessing (or trouble) in disugise comes in the form of a doctor, with new "technology" for use in curing patients, mainly electro-shock therapy which (as we see now) only works for severe depression and back then it did more damage then good.
From there Dorothy is swept away to Oz (as she was in her return voyage to Oz in the novel "The Land of Oz") in a chicken coop and what we have is far from the fun and sometimes (sort of) dangerous land of Oz instead we have a darker place that bears more resemblance to Baums odd novels. In this land of Oz, the Munchkins are all gone and the Emerald City and all of it's inhabitants and Dorothy's friends are turned to stone. The culprit being the Nome King (played by Nicol Williamson who also plays "The Doctor" in Dorothy's world) and the detatchable headed Princess Mombi (played by Jean Marsh who also plays the "Nurse" in Dorothy's world). Surrounding all of the tragedy is the mysterious character of Ozma. Dorothy's companions this time are a talking tin solider (Tik-Tok), a talking chicken (Belina, all animals talk in Oz you know), an animated pumpkin/scarecrow man (Jack) and a movable couch with the head of a Gump (think, a green Moose).
Murch's Oz is expertly crafted with wonderful claymation that while not dazzling by today's standards were still oscar nominee worthy at the time and stand up with the rest of the plot. Balk is a lovable, well acted, brave and very realistic Dorothy who is a very real little girl that quickly endures herself to the viewer. Even the mysterious girl early on in the picture makes an impression in this brillaint picture that definitely deserves a place on the shelf along with "Labyrinth", "The Dark Crystal", "Legend" and other fantasy movies that (particularly 80's movies) that remain underrrated and yet still brilliant to this day. A DEFINITE reccomendation.
Movie Review: Astonishing, Original, and Funtastic Movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
100 Snazzes on the 100 point Snazz-o-scale. Perfect!
-Return to Oz is a fantastic and phenomenal movie. It did flop at the time of its release, I'm sad to say. I recall one critic calling it grim and gloomy, saying they could have at least had a little "Over the Rainbow" in it. I also saw a Return to Oz float once at Walt Disney World, during the Main Street Electrical parade. It's a great parade but I think most people looked at the float and thought "What is THAT?"
-But it is a great movie nevertheless. The characters are wonderful; from Dorothy to her friends, Jack and Tic-Toc, to the villains, Mombi and the Wheelers. Mombi stealing lovely young maiden's heads for her own is a frightful prospect. And the Wheelers are very cool looking. They are men with wheels on their feet and hands, and they go tooling about on all fours. I wonder how long they had to practice to learn to wheel about like that?
-Dorothy is played by Fairuza Balk and she does an excellent job, especially noting she must have acted continuously with special effects men, puppeters, and just her imagination. All about her in Oz are wonderous creatures but very few humans at all.
-The character that steals the show though is the Nome King. I think he's one of the greatest villains ever put to film, right up there with Darth Vader. For much of the movie, you only hear him and don't see what he looks like, which builds his menace. You see his nomes. When you finally DO see the Nome King, he's a claymation character made of rock. This was way before computer graphics and he looks astonishing; a large, crowned, bearded face peering out of a wall or a side of a mountain. I do believe Will Vinton did his animation, and he and his company are experts at claymation.
-But the Nome King has more than looks going for him, he is arrogant, powerful, manipulative, short-tempered, selfish, and just plain mean. He has some superb lines.
"That's not fair!" Dorothy cries.
"No? Well it seems fair to me," the Nome King replies. "And MY opinion IS all that matters."
When Mombi arrives at the Nome King's throne room with the news that Dorothy Gale is in Oz and approaching, she gasps and then says "You already know?"
"I know everything," the Nome King replies confidently.
Some of have said it's not a child's movie, being too dark and scary. It may be for older children, but I think it's very enjoyable all the same, and you can't have really good good guys without really bad villains. In addition to the great characters and great special effects, there is also some wonderful humor. Dorothy discovers headless dancing maidens turned to stone in the ruins of the Emerald City.
-"That's just plain careless," notes Belinda, her talking chicken.
-Give Return to Oz a try, you will fall in love with it.