Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2383 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-03-22
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 105 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Return to Oz is a 1985 live-action sequel that split critics and audiences alike: you don't fool with Mother Nature, spit into the wind, remake Casablanca, or trash the land of Oz. The 1939 classic musical is so beloved that it's almost impossible to imagine seeing Dorothy in shock therapy, a crumbled yellow brick road, the ruins of Emerald City, and the Tin Man turned into stone. But L Frank Baum, the author of the original Oz books, portrayed just that with his continuing stories of Dorothy. When you get by these tough facts, the film version is solid entertainment for the over-seven set.

Dorothy (a 10-year-old Fairuza Balk in her debut) is back in Kansas, where Aunt Em (Piper Laurie) is at the end of her rope: her niece is not sleeping and going on about a place called Oz. Therapy may be the answer, but luckily the scary clinic goes dark before Dorothy can be, er, cured (but the lead-up will scare the munchkins out of most kids). She wakes up in the land of Oz, now in tatters, and searches for its king, the Scarecrow. A new set of friends, including a tin soldier, a talking chicken, and a pumpkin man, help her against new villains, including Princess Mombi (Jean Marsh)--complete with a set of detachable heads--and the evil Nome King (Nicol Williamson with a great assist from Will Vinton's Claymation). The sole directorial effort of Oscar-winning editor Walter Murch is stuffed with marvellous effects that foreshadow later works by Tim Burton and the Henson non-Muppet films. --Doug Thomas

Synopsis
In 1899 Dorothy Gale returns to the land of Oz, only to find the enchanting Emerald City in ruins, and all her old friends have been captured by the Nome King and the evil Princess Mombi...

Customer Reviews

Return to your childhood.
Based on two books in L. Frank Baum's OZ series, Return to Oz is a truly underated film, that is unfortuantly often overlooked by fans of the 1939 Judy Garland film.

The story takes place in the year 1899, unlike the first adventure which apparantly took place in 1938, and once again finds Dorothy on her Kansas farm, unable to sleep. It has been 6 months since she returned from Oz, and now her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are considering sending her to a mental institution.

Familiar characters from the 1939 film reappear as well as a group of new friends who accompany Dorothy through the new Oz. The look and atmosphere of this movie is very different from the original, and some young children could find some parts of the film quite scary. An example of this is the Wheelers, strange creatures with wheels for hands and feet that chase Dorothy around screaming madly.

Judge the film by itself, instead of making too many comparisons to the masterpiece of the first Oz, and the film is very enjoyable.

The dvd contains no special features, only an interactive menu and english subtitles.

Great film that has still holds up
I still really like Return to Oz. For one reason, the central performance of Dorothy is really strong. Secondly, the costumed character effects in this are some of the best ever, even by today's standards.

Some parts are dated, but hell, that happens to every movie, right?!

Those who love the whimsy and wonder of The Wizard of Oz probably won't like this. This shows an Oz in decline, which is why I like it, it makes it more believeable and creates a genuine sense of tension. It's also pretty scary in places!

It doesn't really have any weak points, the only reason I'm giving it 5/5 is because it has dated just a little. But a great movie.

Wildly different from the original, but still excellent
Fans of the original 1939 film won't recognize much in this 1985 rework. That's not to say that "Return to Oz" isn't an intriguing film in its own right.

Fans of the fantasy genre will love the atmosphere of the film, although in parts the surrealism borders on the disturbing. Granted, not many "family" films begin with scenes of primitive electro-convulsive therapy being administered to a child.

By the time Dorothy reaches Oz, the weird quotient of the film has been turned up to 11. The yellow brick road has become grey, the emerald city has been trashed, and the technicolour world of Oz has acquired a distinctly darker hue.

The parade of freaks that follows is enough to frighten most adults, let alone a child. Psychotic men with wheels instead of limbs, a mandolin-playing princess with interchangeable heads, evil talking rocks, a depressed talking chicking and a man with a pumpkin for a head who insists on calling Judy his "mom". These are probably the characters that Judy Garland saw in her darkest hours of amphetamine and barbiturate abuse.

By the end of the film, just about the only character whose head hasn't fallen off is Judy. A god made of rock has been poisoned by an egg (don't ask), several key characters have died and been reincarnated, and the wicked witch has been defeated.

Perhaps this is a superb allegory on freedom, mental illness and self-expression. Perhaps it's just a particularly odd children's film. But it's certainly something that everyone should make an effort to see once.

Then bury it in a barrel in the garden, and try to forget about it.