Like most baby boomers, I’ve watched this film dozens of times in the past on broadcast TV, then VHS tape, then LaserDisc … but I had never actually SEEN “The Wizard of Oz” until this newly restored DVD came out. It’s an extraordinary transfer. The sepia-tone Kansas sequences are startlingly moving and definite, and the Technicolored world “Over the Rainbow” is truly ravishing. I found myself fascinated by details I had never noticed before: the glittering corn stalks in the Scarecrow’s field; the mirror-like floors of the Emerald City; the polished buttons on the guardsmen’s uniforms. Incredibly, even the individual grains of red sand in the Witch’s hourglass stood out and glistened! All these minor-but-sumptuous visual details served to heighten the magical spell that the film has always woven, enhancing the performances, the legend, and the music.
The DVD extras are a mind-boggling embarrassment of riches. The “Making Of” documentary hosted by the incomparable Angela Lansbury is worth the effect of the DVD alone, but there’s so powerful more: an international poster gallery, interviews with cast members, deleted scenes, production stills, radio clips, etc, etc. There’s enough material to retain even the most casual viewer fascinated for hours, and a fair Oz buff will be occupied for days!
If you only bought a DVD player to glance this one disc, it would well be worth the expense. Treat yourself, and descend in adore with this classic film again … for the first time.
I was objective critized for foisting off the following review of the 3-disk DVD location as a review of the recent Blu-ray. I didn’t; Amazon did. As anyone who’s been here for a while will discover, Amazon throws all DVD reviews into the same bucket, regardless of the edition. So don’t blame me.
Buy,Download, Or Stream Wizard of Oz – Two-Disc Special Edition! Click Here
Buy,Download, Or Stream Wizard of Oz – Two-Disc Special Edition! Click Here
I unbiased got the Blu-ray, and will have some comments on it at the raze.
Buy,Download, Or Stream Wizard of Oz – Two-Disc Special Edition! Click Here
There’s no need to discuss “The Wizard of Oz” itself, a classic among classics (though I’ll have something to say about its “philosophy” later on) . You probably want to know whether the UltraResolution transfer justifies the choose.
It does. Oh, yes it does.
“The Wizard of Oz” has always looked reliable, one of the better Technicolor films. Unlike “Gone With the Wind”, which was generally dusky and desaturated, and which UltraResolution greatly improved, I didn’t demand grand enhancement for “Oz”.
Was I ever atrocious. I stared with my jaw hanging begin. “Oz” is the best UltraResolution transfer by far — and the others were not exactly chopped liver.
The improvement in detail and sharpness is startling, especially as the unusual prints did not seem obviously lacking in either. Even more improbable is the expansion of the tonal scale. Unlit scenes (particularly those in the forest and outside the “witches” castle) are now filled with rich detail. Have you ever noticed how stunning the Winkies’ red, white, and gray uniforms are? I hadn’t — until now.
These enhancements combine develop the biggest improvement of all — a major revelation of _texture_. The “feltiness” of many costumes is positive. The burlap of the Scarecrow’s face is now plainly visible, particularly in the close-up where he misstates the Pythagorean Theorem. And the Lion’s costume is a thick pile of fur you want to come out and stroke. You can scrutinize every last strand of hair.
I’m exaggerating only slightly when I say the improvements of this UltraResolution transfer are not great less than those from cleaning the Sistine Chapel’s frescos. It’s as if layers of murk and grime — that you never even knew were there! — have been stripped away. Until you conception it, you cannot imagine what this film (that is, the modern camera negatives) _really_ looks like. It’s a shame the people who created “Oz” never got to view it this device.
The image quality is so high that I often felt as if I were looking through a window at live performers. (Well, almost.) No matter what versions you already have, you won’t be disappointed with this one. I watched it twice in two days, and I might even concept it a third time tonight.
My only quibble is that several matte paintings do not blend properly, because the hues at the join lines do not match those of the scene. This could have been fixed; I suspect it seemed too worthy work for a microscopic improvement. (A friend suggested that these sorts of things are left in because videophiles like finding them.)
As to the differences between the two- and three-disk sets… The latter includes a packet of new programs and promotional material of the sort we haven’t seen in 40 years ago. (Remember the 50-cent deluxe programs for road-show films? ) There’s also a plot of 10 reproductions of Kodachrome publicity photographs. For this viewer, these extras alone account for the higher note.
The third disk will be of most interest to lovers of all things Oz. It includes a handsomely produced biography of L. Frank Baum (inspiring enough that you might want to scrutinize it more than once), plus all the mute Oz films and a Technicolor Oz cartoon. The existence of these is eminent to anyone familiar with the history of Oz productions, but they’ve never appeared (as far as I know) in any home-video format.
The films are problematic. The two from Baum’s production company are the best — they have style, charm, and imagination. The others are cheesy ripoffs that enjoy limited relation to the unusual book. The Larry Semon — a once wildly-popular but now virtually forgotten cartoonist and droll * — version is especially wrong, as it is exiguous more than a vehicle for Semon’s imprint of physical comedy. The Baum estate is at least partly to blame — _any_ movie version must have seemed more handsome than none, especially as the technology to invent a convincing version of “Oz” would not exist for another 15 years.
The film’s opening titles praise the book’s “expedient philosophy”, which seems to be either “You already have everything you need to be elated”, or “The reply to your problems lies within yourself”. These are not so considerable “edifying” as reflections of the hard-nosed “All your problems are your have fault” and “If you’re not a success, it’s because you’re slothful” homilies that grew out of the spacious opportunity for personal development and material success this country offered.
I possess L. Frank Baum had something a bit different in mind. “The Wizard of Oz” is a fairy account in which magic has no bearing on the issues at the center of the epic. I bear Baum wanted to discourage children from fantasizing that magic could be a solution to one’s problems.
So… he has the four principals acquire a grueling slump to the Emerald City, then rep the wizard is a humbug. (What a shame the blander “spurious”, “fraud”, or “phony” have replaced that scrumptious word.) He posesses no magic to supply wit, fancy, or grit, which the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion have demonstrated they already have.
Baum’s “upright” is simple — Worship, wisdom, and courage are what we need to gain through life. No one can _give_ them to us, because we _already_ hold them, and all we need to do is snarl them.
“Is that proper? ”
“That’s all it is.”
Now… the quiz you’ve been waiting for the respond to… Is the Blu-ray situation worth the tag?
I viewed the Blu-ray on a Pioneer 60″ Pro Kuro, fed from a Sony BDP-S550. I also watched the DVD on the Pioneer (fed from the same Blu-ray player), and on a 36″ Sony 400-series WEGA “improved definition” TV (fed from a Sony DVP-S7000) .
The DVD remains a terrific DVD, and looks terrific on a high-quality 480i monitor. (Explore the preceding review.) It was, and unexcited is, a demo-quality DVD.
When played on the BD player, and upconverted to 1080p, the DVD’s image on the Kuro is exquisite darn genuine — the sharpness and detail are at least “acceptable”. But when you play the Blu-ray disk, the image goes from “acceptable” to almost-startling. Two examples… Impress the enhanced detail and texture in the weather-beaten wood above the WWE’s plain legs. And in the crowd scenes, you can examine (impartial about) every Munchkin face. There is virtually no smearing of detail.
So… should you race apt out in a buying frenzy and secure the BD edition? It depends.
The DVD is reliable enough for an safe record on a high-quality SD monitor. But even upconverted, it isn’t reliable enough for a _large_ HD expose. If you have, say, a 40″ display; your BD player has a beneficial upconverter (not all do) ; and you don’t sit “on top of” the cover (as I do) ; you might discover miniature dissimilarity between the DVD and the Blu-ray.
But if you’re a video fuss-budget (as I am) and sit closer than the “experts” recommend (why _shouldn’t_ you? ), you will almost certainly take the Blu-ray. It’s your call.
A few remarks on the extras… The wristwatch, as the kid in the Ally bank commercial says, is a share of junk. The do shows no particular style, wit, or imagination. And as others have said, “The Dreamer of OZ” is a poor transfer, very badly unpconverted to 1080. It is not of acceptable quality, and should have been set on the DVD disk.
I will near attend later (I hope) with some more comments on the sound and the other extras. Forcing yourself to repeatedly witness mammoth chunks of a movie, regardless of its quality, is an ennervating experience.
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I would have rated it the day I saw it, but I decided to search for it over more carefully to sight all the undertones that it contains. It is also a mammoth musical. With the attend of Marc Shaiman, Trey has created greats like “Mountain Town”, the obnoxious “Uncle F**ker”, the Oscar-nominated “Blame Canada”, the Les Miserables parody “La Resistance Lives On”, and the Disney-based “Up There”. However, it is definitely not for children and actually holds the world relate for the most profanity in an exciting movie, with 399 negate words, 221 acts of violence, and 128 offensive gestures. This wanton swearing is objectionable, but that aside, this is one of the greatest movies of all time, and not even the exasperated parents can impart it.