The Wizard of Oz
When it was released during Hollywood’s golden year of 1939, The Wizard of Oz didn’t start out as the perennial classic it has since become. The film did respectable business, but it wasn’t until its debut on television that this family favoriteWhen it was released during Hollywood’s golden year of 1939,The Wizard of Oz didn’t start out as the perennial classic it has since become. The film did respectable business, but it wasn’t until its debut on television that this family favorite saw its po
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An OZ-some DVD Experience,
The DVD extras are a mind-boggling embarrassment of riches. The “Making Of” documentary hosted by the incomparable Angela Lansbury is worth the price of the DVD alone, but there’s so much more: an international poster gallery, interviews with cast members, deleted scenes, production stills, radio clips, etc, etc. There’s enough material to keep even the most casual viewer fascinated for hours, and a true Oz buff will be occupied for days!
If you only bought a DVD player to watch this one disc, it would well be worth the expense. Treat yourself, and fall in love with this classic film again … for the first time.
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|(Blu-ray update) Not a restoration, but an entirely different view of the film.,
I was just critized for foisting off the following review of the 3-disk DVD set as a review of the new Blu-ray. I didn’t; Amazon did. As anyone who’s been here for a while will notice, Amazon throws all DVD reviews into the same bucket, regardless of the edition. So don’t blame me.
I just got the Blu-ray, and will have some comments on it at the end.
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 purchase.
It does. Oh, yes it does.
“The Wizard of Oz” has always looked good, one of the better Technicolor films. Unlike “Gone With the Wind”, which was generally dark and desaturated, and which UltraResolution greatly improved, I didn’t expect much enhancement for “Oz”.
Was I ever wrong. I stared with my jaw hanging open. “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 original prints did not seem obviously lacking in either. Even more amazing is the expansion of the tonal scale. Dark scenes (particularly those in the forest and outside the “witches” castle) are now filled with rich detail. Have you ever noticed how beautiful the Winkies’ red, white, and gray uniforms are? I hadn’t — until now.
These enhancements combine to produce the biggest improvement of all — a major revelation of _texture_. The “feltiness” of many costumes is obvious. 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 reach out and stroke. You can see every last strand of hair.
I’m exaggerating only slightly when I say the improvements of this UltraResolution transfer are not much 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 view it, you cannot imagine what this film (that is, the original camera negatives) _really_ looks like. It’s a shame the people who created “Oz” never got to see it this way.
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 view 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 much work for a small improvement. (A friend suggested that these sorts of things are left in because videophiles enjoy finding them.)
As to the differences between the two- and three-disk sets… The latter includes a packet of original 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 set of 10 reproductions of Kodachrome publicity photographs. For this viewer, these extras alone justify the higher price.
The third disk will be of most interest to lovers of all things Oz. It includes a handsomely produced biography of L. Frank Baum (interesting enough that you might want to watch it more than once), plus all the silent Oz films and a Technicolor Oz cartoon. The existence of these is well-known 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 bear little relation to the original book. The Larry Semon — a once wildly-popular but now virtually forgotten cartoonist and comic — version is especially obnoxious, as it is little more than a vehicle for Semon’s brand of physical comedy. The Baum estate is at least partly to blame — _any_ movie version must have seemed more attractive than none, especially as the technology to make a convincing version of “Oz” would not exist for another 15 years.
The film’s opening titles praise the book’s “kindly philosophy”, which seems to be either “You already have everything you need to be happy”, or “The answer to your problems lies within yourself”. These are not so much “kindly” as reflections of the hard-nosed “All your problems are your own fault” and “If you’re not a success, it’s because you’re lazy” homilies that grew out of the great opportunity for personal development and material success this country offered.
I believe L. Frank Baum had something rather different in mind. “The…
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|2009 two, four and blu-ray version contents:,
Completely irritated by the lack of info I raked up my own for your pleasure:
THE WIZARD OF OZ 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition (4-Disc DVD Set or 2-Disc Blu-ray Set)
Also available in 2-Disc DVD Special Edition
(or 1-Disc Blu-ray)(CONTENTS BELOW)
Warner Home Video celebrates the beloved classic with spectacular new DVD or Blu-ray version, September 29, featuring 16 hours of enhanced content (four of which are brand new) — includes New Documentaries, Featurettes, a Sing-Along Track and Extraordinary Collectibles!
Burbank, CA — It is difficult to imagine a motion picture more magical and more wonderful than Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s beloved and classic 1939 musical, The Wizard of Oz. Over the last seven decades, the film has indelibly woven itself into America’s cultural consciousness: Is there anyone who doesn’t immediately think of the film upon hearing the words, “Dorothy,” “Toto,” “Emerald City,” “Ruby Slippers” and “Yellow Brick Road” — or the lines to the song “Over the Rainbow?”
Now, the colorful characters and unforgettable songs of Oz come alive as never before when Warner Home Video brings this cinematic treasure into the digital age with the September 29 Blu-ray release of The Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition. The commemorative edition contains nearly 4 hours of all-new and never-before-available bonus features and is housed in numbered collectible packaging, and will be available for a limited time only for $69.92 SRP (DVD) and $84.99 SRP (Blu-ray Hi-Def).
In order to bring all the visual splendor of The Wizard of Oz to the Hi-Def world of Blu-ray Disc, the film has been entirely remastered, with each of the original Technicolor camera negatives scanned using 8K resolution. From this scan, a final “capture” master was created in 4K, yielding twice the resolution seen in the master utilized for the film’s previous DVD release.
Working in “full film Resolution”, extreme care was taken to ensure that all of the image fidelity contained in the original negatives was properly captured for this new presentation. The sounds of Oz will come alive on Blu-ray disc utilizing the full audio spectrum capabilities available through Dolby TrueHD audio. The net result is one of unprecedented quality that is sure to make The Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary Edition a benchmark in the history of the Blu-ray format.
There will also be a dedicated official site for all Oz-related events and products: […]
The following components are ALL-NEW and exclusive to the Ultimate Collector’s Edition:
The Dreamer of Oz — which makes its long-awaited home video debut. Also remastered the occasion, this full-length motion picture was an NBC-TV special event in 1990 and thrilled critics and audiences as it told the back story of author L. Frank Baum, “the Royal Historian of Oz.” John Ritter shines in the title role — the man who defied all odds to create the famous characters and stories. Annette O’Toole beautifully co-stars as his supportive wife, with Rue McClanahan as his challenging witch of a mother-in-law.
Victor Fleming, Master Craftsman — a new feature-length documentary produced specifically for this release about the Hollywood director who, in the same year, miraculously brought both Oz and Gone With the Wind to the screen.
Hollywood Celebrates It’s Biggest Little Stars — a new featurette stars seven of the original “Munchkins of Oz” and tells the saga of the long journey, culminating in them receiving their own 2007 Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Magic Cloak of Oz — the first release of the complete 1914 silent film, including lost footage never before included in a home video presentation of this feature (produced by Baum himself).
The Patchwork Girl of Oz — another 1914 Baum-produced, feature-length silent film, new to Warner Home Video.
The Wizard of Oz Sing-Along Track — here making its home entertainment debut.
Reproductions of Archival Material — Extraordinary renderings of the original 1939 Oz campaign, exploitation, and press books. These materials constitute a Hollywood “holy grail” for Oz, Garland, and motion picture fans alike and, for decades, have been among the most sought-after and impossible-to-find collectibles.
Behind The Curtain — a 52-page miniature coffee-table book, assembled by pre-eminent Oz historian John Fricke. Encompassing much previously unpublished material, the deluxe volume includes behind-the-scenes Oz photographs, studio memos, and script pages for abandoned scenes and musical numbers.
Exclusive Wizard of Oz Watch — A collectible and numbered 70th Anniversary watch, incorporating art from the film and enhanced with genuine crystals. Available nowhere else, this beautiful timepiece was created specially for this DVD edition…
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