Return to Oz (1985)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This film shows more of what OZ really was, or is, if you believe an alternate universes. It's a mirror of our own world. And we can exist there and here at the same time, all we need is a pair of ruby slippers and a counterpart who lives in a mirror. I rented this on a beta tape and watched it with my mom after it had finished its original theatrical run. We both liked it, but without the widescreen format and a theatrical sound system, it lost some of its ability to overwhelm us. But we still enjoyed it, quite a bit. I wish my mother were here now that I have a 50" HDTV and a halfway decent DVD copy, and a Kenwood surround sound system. I can sit in the middle and it is just as if I am sitting in a seat in a theater because that's where this needs to be watched. Because when I watched it last night, I was completely overwhelmed by this amazing movie. The "Kansas" scenes are very dismal, not sure where they were filmed actually although I know some of this was filmed in London. But the landscapes looked very much like a dismal Kansas late fall prior to the turn of the 20th century. Nicol Williamson represents a type of "doctor"/quack that dangerously fiddled around with electronic devices before people really understood how electricity worked, and his Oz mirror alternate is none other but the Gnome King himself . Joan Marsh was his nasty looking nurse (and Mombi). Piper Laurie is Auntie M and Matt Clark is Uncle Henry. But the breakaway performance in this film is Fairuza Balk who really captures the spirit of Dorothy as laid down by Judy Garland. The DVD which I found has a very good interview with Fairuza where she talks about being one of 1000 girls that they interviewed for this part, of all the kids that they looked at she was the most perfect for this. Although this film does not have musical numbers, it does have animatronics by Brian Henson and I didn't know it at the time but claymation by none other than Will Vinton, who put life into the Gnome King in such a frightening way. Some other reviewer said this, but this is actually a horror movie, the last we saw Oz before Dorothy went home it was not like this Oz. This is apparently six months after that and something very bad has happened and it is up to Dorothy, her chicken, and the Royal army of Oz "Tic Toc" to find out what is going on. And there is also a mysterious girl who shows up in mirrors, that gives Dorothy a helping hand now and then: Who is this? This movie could have and should have been made long ago, shortly after the original had been made. But if it had been, there's a high probability it could not have been done as well as this. And somebody else also said this is not a sequel to the original, but it is a continuation of that same story. Most importantly, it reveals characters that were part of the Oz stories that were not mentioned in the first film. Bellini, Tic-Toc, Ozma, Mombi. Maybe in another 20 years they can continue the story. It could happen, and it should happen.

Return to Oz was the best Oz movie I've seen. As being an mixed adaptation of The Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz, it worked really well. The effects were great The characters were great The story was great It was really great a restoration of Oz. I really wondered what the deadly desert looked like, it was mysterious. I spotted A lot of characters in the coronation scene such as Polychrome, Tommy Kwikstep, Scraps, the braided man of pyramid mountain and Santa Clause. It wasn't too colorful but that made it unique. I would recommend it I would give about 9 1/2 to a 10 Really great unique definitely 10/10 just one of the best movies I've seen

This a very good fantasy movie. 6.7 is overrating it just a little. But still it is a good movie. Oz the great and powerful is better. But still this is better then The Wizard of Oz (1939). And that is not easy to do. This is a very good sequel to a classic film. See it. The Wizard of Oz (1910) is better. His majesty the scarecrow of Oz is better. This is better then The Wiz. It is kind of scary at times. It has great acting. It also has a great story line. It also has great special effects. This movie is a most see. The Wiz is a must see. And this is a must see. This is a great film. You should see it. If you like good fantasy stories see. It does not look our feel anything like The Wizard of Oz. But I say big deal. It is a classic fantasy.

Forty six years had passed since the classic musical The Wizard of Oz was released, and Disney decided it was time for there to be a sequel, since there were the books to base a story on, but with some rather significant differences. Basically it has been six months since Dorothy Gale (introducing The Craft's Fairuza Balk) and her dog Toto were transported from Kansas to the magical land of Oz somewhere over the rainbow, and she cannot sleep thinking about it, and this is worrying Auntie Em (Piper Laurie) and Uncle Henry (Matt Clark). Since they are concerned for her, talking about imaginary places and people so much she is taken to a mental hospital for electro-shock treatment, but with another mysterious girl she manages to escape going down river in a chicken coup. After surviving some rough waters Dorothy wakes up in the land of Oz, and the chicken Billina (Mak Wilson, voiced by Denise Bryer) is talking, but the land has been destroyed, including the Yellow Brick Road, Munchkin City and the Emerald City, and she finds her friends the Cowardly Lion (John Alexander) and the Tin Man (Deep Roy) have turned to stone. Exploring the ruins she finds a clockwork mechanical man named Tik-Tok (Tim Rose and Michael Sundin, voiced by Sean Barrett), who tells her that the king of Oz, her friend the Scarecrow (Justin Case) has been captured by The Nome King (Nicol Williamson), who destroyed the land. Dorothy, Billina, Tik-Tok and new friends Jack Pumpkinhead (Stewart Larange, voiced by Brian Henson) and Gump (Stephen 'Steve' Norrington, voiced by Lyle Conway) are now on a journey to try and save the land and the people turned to stone. As they journey, avoiding the Deadly Desert and heading for the Nome King's mountain and domain, The Nome King himself, a rock creature, appears and explains that he kidnapped the Scarecrow as he stole emeralds from him to build the Emerald City. He has turned the Scarecrow into an ornament, and the Nome King, who has also taken the Ruby Slippers, gives each of them the opportunity to guess which of the hundreds in a room it is, Dorothy correctly guesses after spotting a green ornament. The Nome King in anger tries to eat the friends, and in panic Billina lays an egg which is thrown into the monster's mouth, eggs are poisonous to Nomes and he crumbles, the Ruby Slippers are returned, the land is restored and everyone turned to stone are freed. In the end the girl from the mental hospital appears, it is actually Princess Ozma (Emma Ridley), Jack's creator and the true ruler of Oz, Dorothy is sent home but is promised to return whenever she wishes, and she is asked to keep the existence of the magical land a secret. Also starring Jean Marsh as Nurse Wilson and Mombi the Witch, Sophie Ward as Mombi II and Fiona Victory as Mombi III. Balk is likable as the little and younger Dorothy, certainly not as memorable as Judy Garland but not bad, and the new characters introduced as her companions are sweet, I certainly see that this film has a darker side, and this is not a musical like previously, I agree the animation for faces in rocks and Claymation is impressive, this is easy to digest entertainment, a fun family fantasy film. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Effects, Visual Effects. Worth watching!