A cinematic achievement that never truly grows old.

Rating: 7/10 (10 November 2010)

"You have no power here! Begone, before somebody drops a house on you, too!"
It seems a little silly to be writing a review of The Wizard of Oz. It's the movie that's been seen by more people than any other in history. Most of us have seen it 10 times by the time we're seven. But I'll put my two cents in anyway, from an adult's point of view.
As a kid, I thought the munchkins were slightly creepy and the winged monkeys much more so, but I loved Dorothy and I loved the songs, and the entire movie was just so bright and colorful that I find it hard to believe that any kid could dislike it. Now, at the age of 25, I can still recognize the merit of it, without being influenced much by a lasting nostalgia. The Wizard of Oz is a lot like Alice in Wonderland (my all-time favorite children's novel), it treats children like they're smart and clever and capable of understanding and handling ideas that sometimes we adults forget they can get a handle on. The danger and excitement of The Wizard of Oz is a true adventure, be it a candy-coated one.
I can also better appreciate now the staggering amount of work and creativity that went into bringing this novel to life. It's just remarkable, really. The choreography, the classic songs, the sets, the costumes, the special effects, they're all still impressive today. More so, really, because many of the tools used to make modern movie magic weren't available back then. And Judy Garland...really, what needs to be said about her that isn't blindingly and extraordinarily obvious? No one else could have been Dorothy Gale.
It was nice to revisit this once again, and while some of my childhood adoration for The Wizard of Oz may be gone, my admiration for it still remains.