Starring: Fairuza Balk, Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, Matt Clark Directed By: Walter Murch Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Walt Disney Home Entertainment Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: February 03, 2004 Running Time: 110 minutes Theatrical Release Date: June 21, 1985
Product Description: Dorothy finds herself back in the land of Oz, where she meets both new friends and new enemies. Genre: Feature Film Family Rating: PG Release Date: 3-FEB-2004 Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com: You don't fool with Mother Nature, spit into the wind, remake Casablanca, or trash the land of Oz. Perhaps that is why the 1985 live-action sequel split critics and audiences alike. The 1939 classic musical is so beloved that it's almost impossible to imagine seeing Dorothy in shock therapy, a crumbled yellow brick road, the ruins of Emerald City, and the Tin Man turned into stone. But L. Frank Baum, the author of the original Oz books, portrayed just that with his continuing stories of Dorothy. When you get by these tough facts, the film version is solid entertainment for the over-7 set.
Dorothy (a 10-year-old Fairuza Balk in her debut) is back in Kansas, where Aunt Em (Piper Laurie) is at the end of her rope: her niece is not sleeping and going on about a place called Oz. Therapy may be the answer, but luckily the scary clinic goes dark before Dorothy can be, er, cured (but the lead-up will scare the munchkins out of most kids). She wakes up in the land of Oz, now in tatters, and searches for its king, the Scarecrow. A new set of friends, including a tin soldier, a talking chicken, and a pumpkin man, help her against new villains, including Princess Mombi (Jean Marsh)--complete with a set of detachable heads--and the evil Nome King (Nicol Williamson with a great assist from Will Vinton's Claymation). The sole directorial effort of Oscar-winning editor Walter Murch is stuffed with marvelous effects that foreshadow later works by Tim Burton and the Henson non-Muppet films. --Doug Thomas
Childhood Memories I watched this movie as a kids and taped it off television when it was playing on the network, now that I have a clean copy where my brother hasn't taped over chunks of the film, I watch it more then ever. I am suprised how many of my friends have actually heard and/or seen the film too!
Scared me to death as a child. Return to Oz is a film I watched when I was a child and even this fantasy gave me the willies, but I couldn't help but enjoy this bizarre child-like adventure. So much darker than the Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland, Return to Oz stars Fairuza Balk who in some ways is more connivincing as Dorothy Gale. The good and evil characters are pretty scary, so probably this film should not be viewed by children under the age of 8. There is this one scene that still sticks out for me, where all the mannequin heads come to life, creepy as can be!!! Gotta give this '80s classic a viewing, it will trip you out, enjoy!
the best way to travel down the Yellow Brick Road As a fan of Baum's original works, this has always been my most favorite film version of his world.
And as a child of the 1980s, this film has always had nostalgic appeal. Yes, the film scared me as a child. But that very darkness, mixed with the light fairy tale images, the violence and the childish sense of logic and imagination, is also much closer to Baum's wonderful Oz.
The film comes from the Golden Age of Fantasy Films, the 1980s. The time when they knew how to make clever, visually-imaginative, and often dark fantasy films for children. Return to Oz is absolutely beautiful and perfect. The special effects and production design is better than most films today that are overly CGIed without the same heart and spirit as the Jim Henson company instilled in every film.
I know that the 1939 musical is considered an unparalleled classic, but it has a very plastic and staged feel. It lacks the spirit of Baum's works. Although Return to Oz is often criticsized (and, I believe it bombed at the box office at the time), it has a special place in the hearts of children who grew up with it, as well as fans of the original works.
First of all, the film much more accurately portrays Oz and is much more loyal to the books. Dorothy (perfectly portrayed) is the right age, for starters. Not only do many things more closely resemble the illustrations of the books (especially the characters and the Emerald City), but the world looks much more real and occupied than the 1938 version. The mood of the film is also much closer to Baum's works, mixing silly childish logic and imagination (building the Gump) with darkness and danger of a child in a strange world (the fear of turning into an ornament or to stone or having your head cut off). The film is just as magical and mystical as Baum's books.
Second, I love seeing Oz as "fallen". The Yellow Brick Road reclaimed by nature. The Emerald City crumbling and the people all turned to stone. The Gnome King's palace where people are turned into ornaments. The theme, ironically, of the story is trying to return home doesn't always meet your high expectations and desires. Fits for a film constantly compared to the 1938 musical. Even in a fairyworld, things change and fall away.
This DVD is in widescreen, which is the only way to ever see any movie. There are some cool special features, including a recent interview with the star, Balk. But, best of all, is the film itself, and being able to revisit a childhood favorite for all of us that grew up in the 80s.
LOVE IT. I absolutely LOVE this movie. When I was younger, we used to make a weekly trip to the video store and this is always the movie that I rented. I watched it almost daily for many years. There is another reviewer I saw that said that it would be insane to show this movie to kids, but I can say that as a kid who was obsessed with it, I came out unharmed and still love it. Buy this movie, you won't regret it.
Psychologically brilliant... and a 5 star film at that 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.
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