Mark Kermode, Observer film critic 

The Wizard of Oz 3D review – unnecessary surgery to a classic

Mark Kermode: Why impose stereoscopy on images that never felt the least bit flat in the first place?
  
  

the wizard of oz
Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz: perfect. Photograph: Allstar/MGM/Sportsphoto Ltd Photograph: Allstar/MGM/Sportsphoto Ltd

What exactly are we reviewing here? The film, which is such a timeless classic that most children know it by heart by the age of four? Or the 3D Imax retrofit, which has blown the picture up to gigantic size and imposed an entirely unnecessary stereoscopy upon images that never felt the least bit “flat” in the first place?

Of the former there is little to be said that is not already universally accepted. The songs are perfect (MGM famously wanted to drop Over the Rainbow because they thought the opening was boring and didn’t like Judy Garland singing in a barnyard), the visual- and special-effects eye-boggling, and the performances heartbreaking; anyone who can refrain from weeping as Dorothy cries “Aunty Em, I’m frightened!” deserves to be locked in a tower for all eternity. More remarkably, the entire piece remains utterly coherent, despite the input of umpteen directors (Norman Taurog, Richard Thorpe, George Cukor, Victor Fleming et al) and the excision of key scenes such as the jitterbug sequence, which left lines of dialogue hanging.

As for the restoration, we must be thankful that no one decided to “fix” the colour (or lack of it) in the first and last act, and happy that the 3D is on the softer side, eschewing pointless pointiness. Even with the glasses, the image is crystal clear – clear enough to dispel those dopey rumours about a stage-hand hanging himself on set, the background movement here clearly revealed to be nothing more than a large bird stretching its neck and wings!

 

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