Return to Oz (1985)

This trip back to Oz is great, but it's not as "happy go lucky" you might expect... The older Dorothy has been through some bad times and so is Oz. The creatures, environments and overall vibe is noticeably darker. It's a cool contrast and works well, the new characters both good and evil look great and have interesting personalities. A great fantasy story for sure, just maybe not for the really tiny kids!

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

I don't see why people got into such a hubbub about Return to Oz when it came out... actually, that's not correct for a couple of reasons. For one, sadly, it didn't do well at the box office, so presumably a lot of children didn't see it who might have. But for those that reviewed it, the consensus was it was "too dark" for kids. Hogwash. Kids can actually take much more dramatic and terrifying things than we think - maybe some may be more sensitive than others, but so are adults - and a response to feats of imagination are always eye-catching to them. If it was about the story and characters, that's another matter.On an artistic, sensory-visual level Return to Oz is mostly spectacular work, with a plethora of eye-catching and inspired practical effects (one of which I have to imagine the character of Jack Skellington was the inspiration for), matte paintings, marionettes and puppets, claymation, the works, with an Emerald city that looks like a Russian communist block from that time period (and I mean that in a complimentary way - it's exquisitely run-down) . And I liked how dark and weird it got, that was fine.If I didn't care for something it was most of the supporting characters who become Dorothy's companions. They didn't have the strong-memorable personalities or sense of enchantment (or even just good acting) of the three that accompanied Dorothy in 'Wizard' - or, hell, even the companions in Oz: The Great and Powerful, which I'd argue is maybe a more inspired film than this, albeit with CGI. And the villain - aho is appropriately bad-*ss and deranged, is only most effective by the third act, with a one-dimensional shrieking witch (albeit with wonderful multiple heads to choose from) in the rest of the film.So, Return to Oz is a really good movie. If it's a lost classic? Depends who you ask, I suppose. Nevertheless, Balk is fun to watch in a role where she's constantly thinking and reacting well in her acting - a sophisticated acting job young or otherwise.

After having watched the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz", I heard that Hollywood made a sequel a few years later in the 80s and unlike the original, which was owned by MGM, this was owned by Disney. I first watched it when I was 14 years old and I seemed to be a bit impressed by it. OK, it's not as strong as the original due to it's flaws, but it's a very good sequel and a very underrated one at that.First of all, I like how the story doesn't repeat the original and it's darker tone is represented well throughout the film, but aside from it's decent character development, it does derive itself from two books of the Oz series "Land of Oz" and "Ozma of Oz". The script does have it's problems with several scenes that were completely cut.Flaws aside, everything is done perfectly. The cinematography is brilliant, the stop motion effects on the Nomes, although dated back then, are splendid, the scenery is beautiful, the costumes and make-up on the new characters including the villain Mombi, the Nome King, Jack the Pumpkinhead, and others are perfect. The direction from editor Walter Murch is solid and builds a lot of tense and atmosphere to the darker tone of the film; the music from David Shire is pretty good too. The best part goes to the cast of actors. Fairuza Balk did a fantastic job portraying a much younger Dorothy (don't get me wrong. Judy Garland's role as Dorothy was timeless), Jean Marsh is a menacing Mombi, Brian Henson is a wonderful sidekick Jack the Pumpkinhead and Nicol Williamson is a frightening Nome King.Overall, Return to Oz isn't as excellent as "The Wizard of Oz", but I can see why this got a cult following over the past few years and I would recommend this to those who haven't seen it.