DVD: The Wizard of Oz (70th Anniversary)

Mathew Plale reviews "The Wizard of Oz (70th Anniversary)" Read More...

THE WIZARD OF OZ 70th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Review

I had a friend who had done some jail time. I was always very curious about this because I knew that it would be hugely unlikely I would ever see the inside of a cell (knock on wood). He told that one of the most beloved movies by prisoners was Wizard of Oz. This made [...]

The Wizard of Oz on Blu-Ray

I’m really impressed with The Wizard of Oz on Blu Ray. Let me qualify my expectations for it. If they had found some way to make it look like The Dark Knight, that would have been cool but it wouldn’t have been The Wizard of Oz. This Blu Ray is the perfect example of how to maintain the aesthetic of a classic but bring it up to HD standards.

The Wizard of Oz in HD
The opening black and white sequences actually appear sepia. There are gorgeous shades and you still see detail in the farmland, the planks of wood around the house, even Toto’s spiky frays of hair. You see grain, but they are pure, tiny evidences of film authenticity. The twister tinged sky stretches the ability to preserve the presentation, but it holds up.

Wizard Of Oz - Exclusive Blu-Ray Featurette Clip

The 70th Anniversary Blu-ray is packed with cool bonus features like this one.

Making The (Up) Grade: The Wizard Of Oz

If Hollywood's vast abundance of remakes, spinoffs and sequels weren't enough to kill your appetite for spending money on "new" entertainment, it seems like almost every one of these releases finds its way onto home video in multiple forms. Sometimes the studios issue different iterations of a film all at the same time, in a thankful moment of honesty that at least allows consumers the option of which version they want. More often, though, the studios will re-release, expand and double-dip their top earners time and time again in order to wring out a few more dollars from the less dull entries in their back catalogue. And especially now, during the still-early days of Blu-ray, there's even more new and different editions being released in stores, some of which are honest-to-Jah improvements on the presentation and packaging, while others are merely the next generation of mediocrity.

As such, we're launching the first installment of "Making The (Up) Grade," a comparison of some of the more high-profile (or maybe just personally-preferred) Blu-ray releases. And with Warner Brothers' deluxe reissue of The Wizard of Oz arriving in stores this week, it seemed like a good place to start to let readers (and eventually, consumers) determine with a little more specificity what you will be buying (or not buying) if you trade in an older edition for a newer one. To wit:

Filed under: DVD Reviews, Family Films, Home Entertainment

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This Week On DVD and Blu-ray: September 29, 2009

DVD LINKS: DVD NEWS | RELEASE DATES | NEW DVDS | REVIEWS | RSS FEED The Wizard of Oz (70th Anniversary Edition) Warner Home Video's remastering of the 70-year-old classic The Wizard of Oz is certainly this week's big release, but how many of you are going to be willing to shell out the dollars for the [...]

Weekly Poll Results: Best Movie About Gamers

Last week's poll was another strange assortment of movies from various genres, and I guess I'm not too surprised to see that the documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters came out on top. If you take the poll title literally, I think it really is the best movie about gamers. Still, it's nice to see the rest of the votes spread around fairly evenly. The Wizard, Tron and eXistenZ all received plenty o' love from Film Junk readers, and we had our first ever three-way tie for 5th place between Wargames, The Last Starfighter and Grandma's Boy! Do you agree with these results? 1. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters -- 26.8% 2. The Wizard -- 15.3% 3. Tron -- 14.4% 4. eXistenZ -- 10.4% 5. Wargames -- 9.8% 5. The Last Starfighter -- 9.8% 5. Grandma's Boy -- 9.8% 8. Brainscan -- 1.7% 9. Cloak and Dagger -- 1.2% 10. Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over -- 0.9%

FOR MORE DAILY MOVIE GOODNESS, VISIT FILMJUNK.COM!

Netflix Streams The Wizard Of Oz For Free

Netflix To Stream The Wizard of Oz For Free Online

Netflix has announced that they will present a free and commercially uninterrupted online screening of the newly restored 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz, on Saturday, October 3, 2009. Full press release and details after the jump. Netflix Invites America to Instantly Watch 'The Wizard of Oz' for Free Online Digitally Re-mastered Classic, Celebrating its 70th Anniversary, Will Be Streamed Instantly by Netflix on October 3 Jennifer Hudson Headlines Free Outdoor Concert and Movie Screening In New York City on September 29 to Kick Off 'Oz' Celebration LOS GATOS, Calif., Sept. 8 -- Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, today announced that it will treat America to a free and commercially uninterrupted online screening of the newly restored 1939 classic, "The Wizard of Oz," on Saturday, October 3, 2009. The film, celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and to be reissued later this month by Warner Bros. Home ...

Todd McFarlane Gives an Update on His Dark Wizard of Oz

Spawn creator Todd McFarlane has been pitching a "darker" take on The Wizard of Oz for years now. We first wrote about it back in 2007, where McFarlane said he wanted to create a film with "a 2007 wow factor." Everyone forgot about it until last week, when a rumor hit courtesy of the UK's Daily Express saying that Dakota Fanning might be playing Dorothy. Empire caught up with McFarlane recently, who not only debunked that rumor ("I haven't heard that. If we just do a sugary, sweet Dorothy that everybody has seen over and over for 50 years, as far as I'm concerned, that's too obvious.") but updated them on its status. Warner Brothers, who is re-releasing the original Wizard of Oz musical on Blu-Ray this month, licensed McFarlane's Twisted Land of Oz series of action figures (more details here). A script was written by Josh Olson (A History of ...