Return to Oz
1985 Directed by Walter Murch
Synopsis
An all-new adventure down the yellow brick road.
Dorothy, saved from a psychiatric experiment by a mysterious girl, is somehow called back to Oz when a vain witch and the Nome King destroy everything that makes the magical land beautiful.
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I know I've seen this movie before, but I honestly don't remember anything from it other than the clockwork soldier.
That said, I'm almost positive my brain blocked out the rest of this film because it is definitely one of the most disturbing and terrifying "kids film" ever released. It's easy to see why this film flopped so hard at the box office; it's almost the polar opposite of the beloved classic THE WIZARD OF OZ.
Whereas THE WIZARD OF OZ played like a joyous, brightly colored dream, RETURN TO OZ is nothing short of a nightmare come to life. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as the film is always engaging and thoroughly surprising. It's just so. Damn. DARK!…
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After this rewatch I can safely conclude that it'll be a long while before I show this to my children. It is a very disturbing film.
L. Frank Baum's first foray into the world of Oz already had, even though it is a classic novel for children, some dark undertones in that it dealt with themes such as death, overcoming evil and dealing with the treacherousness of the adult world. This film borrows heavily from the third novel in the Oz series, Ozma of Oz, and manages to delve deep into the darker subtext of the premise of the Oz universe.
In essence, Oz only exists in Dorothy's mind. One could even say that Oz is her and the different…
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The 1980s were a fascinatingly strange time for Disney, as the studio's attempts to appeal to older audiences resulted in some very dark and offbeat (for Disney) films like The Watcher in the Woods, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Black Cauldron (also released in summer 1985) and this sort-of sequel to The Wizard of Oz that is a more faithful adaptation of L. Frank Baum's books. I don't recall Dorothy ever being threatened with electroshock therapy in the books, however, which is precisely how a sinister doctor played by Nicol Williamson proposes to cure the girl of her hallucinations of a place called Oz. And Aunt Em, who doesn't really understand what this is going to do to Dorothy's…
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I remembe why this film terrified me as a kid....
a headless lady and rocks that look like deamons... dont forget the wheelers...
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While based on the second and third book in the Oz series Although for some reason this movie is considered a sequel to the 1939 MGM musical film, but after watching the film I found this to be a completely new interpretation of the Oz stories and what happens to her mentally after she returns home. While I’ve read some of the Oz books, this film is the most faithful to its original source material then all other previous film adaption. However the film make quite a few references and lots of homages to the 1939 film whether intentional or not, an example of some is a prologue in Kansas where the supporting actors foreshadowing characters in Oz, and the…
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Man, what a crazy movie. It seriously reached Coraline levels of fucked up kids movie imagery. Also, a fully grown, bearded man man of stone, showing off his pretty red slippers will never not be funny.
I'm seeing Oz, The Great And Powerful later today, hopefully I'll enjoy it as much as this.
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I don't know how I never saw this film, being such a huge fan of The Wizard Of Oz and all.
Okay, two things really bugged me to not be able to give it five stars like the original film, and the prequel that was just released.
One, Dorthy and her family are much younger in this sequel. It's clear that this one takes place years after the original film, so why did everyone reverse in age???
Two, the original characters seemed to have such a bond with Dorthy and most have nothing to do in this film. Tin Man and Lion are turned to stone for most of this film, and have mere cameos in the end, while Scarecrow…
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Fairuza Balk makes an excellent Dorothy, the Wheelers are very creepy and this film is way too scary for children even though it's marketed towards them. It has pacing issues and the story is not that strong.
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It has that 'old movie' charm to it.
I did not have high expectations before i watched this film, but I'm glad to say I actually enjoyed it. I fell in love with the main character although the other characters seem to be lacking.
The graphics are some how both good and atrocious. This movie will probably give little children night-terrors but i found it funny and oddly intriguing.
If you like those old movies and/or ones that have puppets; you may like this one. Be warned It's not for everyone...
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Almost positive that I saw this when I was a kid, but I'm not sure I'd seen it all the way through. What a headcase of a movie. Dorothy given shock treatment because her family thinks Oz is a manifestation of her feeble mind?! Head-swapping queen? Everything the Gnome King does?! Even if large portions of the film are taken directly from the book, it's still a twisted kid's movie.
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Holds up pretty good. Damn you Wheelers!
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Una película de culto merecido. Mucho mas fiel y acorde al trabajo de Frank Baum, con una buena galeria de personajes con gran presencia. Y oh, Fairuza Balk, nuestra atormentada Fairuza, ahora lo entiendo todo.
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Some bits of this are pure nightmare fuel. Mid-80s fantasy had to have traumatized kids of the era.
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This picture is all kinds of fucked up.
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Unfortunately didn't live up to my child hood memory and expectations. I remember this being quite a 'dark' take on Oz but is a little boring in parts now. It also very much a kids film. Enjoyed it a lot more growing up then I did revisiting it nearly two decades later.