Still Magical After All These Years

Rating: Null/10 (12 November 1998)

I went to see "The Wizard of Oz" for the first time in I don't know how long; I was mostly curious about the restoration, which was very good, not perfect (there were telltale signs of fringing and misregistration probably caused by varying shrinkage in the triple Technicolor negatives or separation masters, not surprising given the age of the movie).
What I didn't expect was to be as bowled over by the movie itself as I was; I'd assumed I was a little too old for it by now. I know it forwards and backwards as, I'm sure, did most of the grownups who took their children to the screening at the Cineplex Odeon Uptown in Washington, D.C.
It was a surprisingly and delightfully magical experience. Hearing Judy Garland sing "Over the Rainbow" for the umpteenth time and feeling as though it was the first - that alone was worth the price of admission. Oz was simply dazzling in Technicolor. And the special effects held up extremely well, even in this day and age of Industrial Light & Magic. The wizardry of Oz is a reminder that the effects should serve the story, and not the other way around. Which brings up something else that often seems to get overlooked: the film's witty and thoughtful script.
(Note to anonymous of Boston, MA: that "TV format" that disappointed you so much was the way the movie was shown originally!)