The Wizard of Oz

“A work of almost staggering iconographic, mythological, creative and simple emotional meaning, at least for American audiences, this is one vintage film that fully lives up to its classic status and should play with outstanding success to contemporary audiences of all ages. Happily, Warners had done a first-rate job in technologically reproducing and enhancing the look and sound of the picture. The initial black-and-white Kansas section has been printed in an attractive, subtle sepia, and the special effects involved in creating the twister are outstanding even by today’s standards… The moment when Dorothy opens the door on the riot of colour that is Munchkinland still represents one of the great visual coups in the history of American cinema, and leads to the extended musical sequence involving the little people that has no known equivalent. Even while reveling in the fabulous music, clever lyrics, berserk art direction and costume design, and amazing faces and voices on display, film-wise viewers will no doubt also ponder the sheer perversity of the scene’s conception as well as the real-life challenges that went into finding all these pint-size performers.

“For those seeing the film for the first time in many years, one of the great and more subtle pleasures can be found in the incidental music and orchestrations; the constant invention in the musical area is tremendously impressive, and the digital sound on the new prints nicely presents the score without distorting or overly amplifying… the colour work on Wizard perfectly represents both one’s memory of the film and its proper look; so clear is the print that the string or wire attached to the Cowardly Lion’s tail is quite visible on more than one occasion…

“These lines and icons… have become part of the American cultural parlance, and the answers to why they resonate, more with deep meaning and feeling than with kitsch value to millions of people, lie throughout this remarkable film.” — Todd McCarthy, Variety, 9/11/98