The Wiz Joins the Criterion Collection

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 12:32pm

Happy Pride, everyone! I just picked up a copy of The Wiz which was recently released on 4K by The Criterion Collection. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this film - memories, opinions, etc.

Criterion did a fabulous job with the release but it is pretty skimpy on the supplements, unfortunately.

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 1:43pm

I got to see the re-release Universal put in theaters a few weeks ago to show off the new restoration. The film looks the best it’ll probably ever look. The colors were so vibrant, and the MANY wide shots in the movie looked gorgeous on the big screen, especially the Emerald City sequence. Those COSTUMES.

My biggest takeaway was that the film isn’t THAT bad. The concept of Oz being a fantasy version of NYC is unique and memorable. The cast gives it their all, even if Diana Ross is WAY over the top (her screams got a lot of laughs at the screening I attended). What became extremely noticeable in the movie theater were the many completely silent pauses throughout the film. It’s bizarre. I think the pacing is what truly kills this film. Pauses like that might work in a drama, but they absolutely do not work for a fantasy musical comedy. I’d love to see a re-edited version of the film with those pauses taken out/made shorter. Not only would it cut down on the runtime, but it would make the comedy work better.

Something that I noticed is that this restoration accidentally removed a few bits of dialogue. One comes when Dorothy and friends get ready to visit Evilene. Dorothy says, “But how do we find her?” and the gatekeeper says, “Don’t worry, she’ll find you.” Both of those lines were missing. Also, right before Dorothy sings “Home,” she says the word “Home.” That dialogue was missing as well. Maybe the audio track they used for this restoration didn’t include them for some reason? It’s unfortunate, because the rest of the restoration is so well done, and this may very well be the last physical release this film receives.

Such a shame to hear that the supplements are lacking for the Criterion release. They’re usually chock full of extras. Maybe there was a rights issue? Either way, it’s cool that this film was selected for Criterion. Yes, it’s bizarre. Yes, Diana Ross was not the right choice for Dorothy. Yes, Sidney Lumet was the not the right choice to direct. But dammit, it’ll always have a place in my heart. 

 

[Bwaygurl2]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 1:47pm

One odd thing I've noticed over the years is people think this movie is called "OZ." Like I have referenced the TV show OZ a couple times to different people and they thought I was referring to this movie. 

[Kad]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 1:50pm

The film's art direction is incredible- its depiction of Oz-as-New York is such an inspired, specific move. 

And I think the individual musical sequences are all really successful. They work really well as standalone music videos. 

But when it's all put together, it just doesn't add up. 

[BJR]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 2:15pm

Kad said: "The film's art direction is incredible- its depiction of Oz-as-New York is such an inspired, specific move.

And I think the individual musical sequences are all really successful. They work really well as standalone music videos.

But when it's all put together, it just doesn't add up."

Completely agree.  I’ve always felt it was because you just don’t care about Diana’s too old Dorothy. Her crisis doesn’t hold you. 

[TheOtherOne2]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 2:17pm

It's imaginatively designed and the songs are well performed, but it's otherwise atrocious.  Diana isn't just miscast, she overacts so badly you'd think the devil had come for his due.  She'd been good (Mahogany) or great (Lady Sings The Blues) in her earlier films, but this effectively killed her film career.  (I still think she might have made a great Shug Avery in The Color Purple, but who knows if she would have wanted the role.)

Lumet was usually a brilliant film director, but he was at sea here.  

Many great stage shows have bombed badly on camera.  In different ways, A Chorus Line and Man of La Mancha were extremely theatrical projects and their failure on screen is understandable.  But a film of The Wiz should have been great and it's anything but.

[inception]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 3:59pm

On blu-ray.com people have been complaining about the soundtrack issues, like the missing dialogue.   Some noted that the blu-ray & 4k have been taken off sale on the Criterion site, so there may be a recall coming.

Reviews of the picture quality say it is the best it has looked on home video.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 4:11pm

Criterion is excellent about corrections and they go above and beyond for them. I hope they fix this.

[joevitus]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 8:21pm

TotallyEffed said: "Happy Pride, everyone! I just picked up a copy of The Wiz which was recently released on 4K by The Criterion Collection. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this film - memories, opinions, etc.

Criterion did a fabulous job with the release but it is pretty skimpy on the supplements, unfortunately."

Happy Pride, and thank you for sharing the information!

I saw The Wiz in first release, owned the soundtrack. Only knew there was a Broadway show afterwards (I was in the 4th grade). I really liked it as a kid, owned it on VCR. But I don't think it's a very good movie. It has a nearly perfect cast, but Pryer as the Wiz is a mistake (as is cutting his songs--though I'd rather no songs than a bad singer struggling through them). Love Quincy Jones' musical arrangements. The design is often spectacular: the tiny cabs, the living mike and camera in the Emerald City, the Flying Monkeys. But then the throne room and the giant Wiz head is dull, and later it's actually just lying on its side, dicarded. What???

Conceptually, it's misguided in many respects. Okay, make Dorothy a young woman who needs to get out in the world rather than a young girl who needs to get back home. I like that. But then you can't end the movie with her singing home and walking back home--it kills the message. And what a lame final shot that is; no imagination. No imagnation of what they should go through when the Poppies push them into the funnel of the neon sign's lips. 

There's also a sort of violent aspect to it at times that I think is tonally wrong for what is intened as a kid-friendly movie: the Cowardly Lion's freakout when he thinks Dorothy is dead after the encounter with the Poison Poppies, and Dorothy's explosion at discovering the Wiz is a phony.

On the other hand, I think the subway sequence is just the right kind of menacing--sorta cartoony, but still threatening. Oz needs that quality, as well. 

Updated On: 6/28/25 at 08:21 PM

[joevitus]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 8:24pm

Bwaygurl2 said: "One odd thing I've noticed over the years is people think this movie is called "OZ." Like I have referenced the TV show OZ a couple times to different people and they thought I was referring to this movie."

They are probably confusing it with the Aussie film from the 70's of that name. Also a rock musical (sorta). Also a moderized re-telling of The Wizard of Oz.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 9:17pm

It’s a beautiful transfer VISUALLY but when they created the new Dolby Atmos soundtrack for this release several bits of dialogue are missing. The most glaring one is before Diana starts singing “Home”. When Diana says the word “home” right before she sings the song is missing. There are several others. 
 

They should have included the original theatrical mix as an option. 
 

Whoops! Someone else addressed these audio issues! 
 

 

Updated On: 6/28/25 at 09:17 PM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 9:24pm

Another issue I have with this film is that Lumet takes the film’s most famous song: “Ease on Down the Road” and shoots the damned thing 50 feet away and from behind Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 9:38pm

There’s a grotesque melancholy about his film I’ve never quite understood. As a little kid it made me feel confused and uncomfortable. It’s a lonely film. Diana Ross is directed in a way that is so over the top it becomes freaky, her bugging eyes and constant weepy screams border on camp. Michael Jackson is quite fantastic, he has a tender warmth that is really missing from the rest of the film. The sets and costumes are at times masterful, but again, that depressing aura looms over those as well. The wide shots have been criticized but I sort of love how absolutely massive these sets are. I like seeing the scope and scale. Give me that over bloated CGI any day.

 

But the movie is so, so long. Thirty to forty minutes should have been cut. It’s just ballad after ballad after a while.

 

I agree with Joe that the tone is all over the place. At times it almost becomes an adult movie. The poppies are hookers, the Winkies sensually strip when they are freed, and the lyrics to the Tin Man’s song are soft gay porn.

 

I’m obsessed with Lena Horne’s big number. The constellations of floating babies are both beautiful and bizarre.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 9:43pm

Every time Diana screams for “Toto!” Me and my friends take a shot of tequila. By the end of the film we are LIT!

 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 9:55pm

She just can’t get that damn dog under control. Judge Judy would be very unforgiving!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 10:49pm

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 6/29/25 at 12:20am

This is my guilty pleasure movie. From the amazing set to Diana running around screaming in those heels…how does she do it ? 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/29/25 at 12:47am

BrodyFosse123 said: ""

I am not a fan of the cover art. They should have gone with a variation of Victor Gadino’s original illustration for the movie poster.

The artist who illustrated this is extremely talented and I am a fan of his other work but this is just not IT. 
 

How do you manage to make Diana Ross and the legendary Lena Horne look so…ugly?

It’s an eye sore. 

 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/29/25 at 1:28am

It’s supposed to evoke a Harlem street mural.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/29/25 at 1:49am

TotallyEffed said: "It’s supposed to evoke a Harlem street mural."

Yes, an ugly Harlem street mural…

I thought the artist was trying to evoke some of the more nightmarish aspects of this film.

 

 

 

[Kad]

Posted: 6/29/25 at 11:21am

There are plenty of beautiful Harlem street murals... and that ain't one of them. 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 6/29/25 at 11:59am

Yes, I’m sure everyone would prefer the terribly photoshopped covers of previous releases, or the overused 1978 standard one.

It’s different, it evokes feelings you get when watching the film, and isn’t terrible just because you don’t like it. Just like the film itself. 

[cmorrow]

Posted: 6/29/25 at 12:01pm

I saw this film on its original release, at a huge cinema in downtown Chicago. The soundtrack was already getting radio airplay, and some people in the audience were singing along. In fact, I'll never forget: during "Ease on Down the Road," a few people were literally dancing in the aisles! I've never seen that at theater (with a semi-exception of Rocky Horror) before or since.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/29/25 at 12:02pm

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "Yes, I’m sure everyone would prefer the terribly photoshopped covers of previous releases, or the overused 1978 standard one.

It’s different, it evokes feelings you get when watching the film, and isn’t terrible just because you don’t like it. Just like the film itself."

Cool then let’s just stop sharing our subjective opinions on things I guess. 

[tomorrowBIGLITES]

Posted: 6/29/25 at 1:19pm

Production design and Quincy Jones- just wonderful on this. And the songs are all fantastic

 

the rest? God it’s just so bloated and kinda dull after a while.

 

Lena Horne in a shower cap with shower cap babies floating all around her is absolutely insane