BeatlesFan3287 Reviews "The Wizard Of Oz"

Rating: 10/10 (26 September 2009)

As incredible as it might seem, phrases like, "Where not in Kansas anymore", and "I'll get you my pretty...and your little dog too!" were completely unknown 70 years ago. "The Wizard Of Oz" set more standards in the industry than just about any other film. If not for this film, "Dorothy", "Toto", and "The Cowardly Lion" would not be house-hold names. If it had never been released, the song, "Over The Rainbow" would never had been heard and it certainly wouldn't be one of the most celebrated songs of all time. Had this film not been released, fantasy as a film genre and even film in general would have turned out very different.
Judy Garland, in her trademark role, plays Dorothy Gale: a young girl who longs to leave her bleak country life in Kansas for a place that lies "over the rainbow". As we all know, Kansas was filmed in sepia tone where as Oz was in Technicolor. This was very experimental at the time and set a stark contrast between the two settings. To this day, film has seen nothing else quite like Oz. An amazing land of colorful flowers and plants, lofty mountains, and cities of emerald. Even more incredible than the land is the people who inhabit it. The diminutive munchkins, The Scarecrow, The Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion, and the wizard himself are just some of the many characters who the public has come to know and love. But even as Dorothy befriends most of them, she comes to realize, is the land of Oz really a substitute for her family back in Kansas? The acting is superb as each actor completely embodies the character he or she plays. Even more so than the acting, the visuals are what has made this film a classic. Every so often you get beautiful shots of Oz and its terrain, which is amazing considering the movie takes place entirely on an indoor set. The CGI of today rarely catches the magnificence of what was done by the set-designers of this production. All of this gives the film a much more organic feel than the often artificial films of today.
Many people will point to this film, rather than Gone With The Wind or Citizen Kane, as the defining movie of the Golden Age of Hollywood. And indeed, this film is just as golden as the yellow brick road Dorothy follows to reach her goals. This is a flawless piece of cinema that has set the standard for all fantasy films that have come after it.