Perfect fantasy entertainment...

Rating: 10/10 (10 June 2007)

1st watched 6/10/2007 - 10 out of 10(Dir-Victor Fleming): Perfect fantasy entertainment with singable songs and danceable tunes fit for the whole family. Prior to this viewing, I'm sure I saw the movie on television when I was younger during one of those annual viewings, but this is the first time I've seen it in it's entirety since taking on the challenge of reviewing movies and I must say this is the first time in a long time that I'm having a hard time finding any fault in a movie. It is fun from beginning to end even to a 42-year old, with excellent portrayals of all the well-loved characters from the L. Frank Baum novel. The closest thing to an issue I had was the cowardly lion's 2nd song about being the king, but even it had it's merits. The version I watched was at a special Turner Classics movie presentation with added sing-a-long titles that just added to the fun for the audience allowing them to participate. We all know the story, but I'll recap it here. It's about a girl Dorothy from Kansas(played by the immortal Judy Garland) having struggles at home being noticed(in black & white), then a tornado comes, she goes into a fantasy world(in color) where a lot of her family is portrayed behind the Oz characters. She eventually learns that there is no place like home after struggling to get back there thru many trials & tribulations mainly coming from the evil witch of the west. This is the basic story, but it is told with such inventiveness with excellent set pieces, songs, costumes and storytelling that keeps you interested to the very end(which changes to black & white). After watching this, I now understand why this movie & it's stars have been immortalized in filmdom for all time.