Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Binding: VHS Tape
Brand: MGM
EAN: 0027616000132
Format: Black & White
Label: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Publisher: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Release Date: 1992-04-15
Running Time: 119
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Theatrical Release Date: 1939-08-25

When it was released during Hollywood's golden year of 1939, The Wizard of Oz didn't start out as the perennial classic it has since become. The film did respectable business, but it wasn't until its debut on television that this family favorite saw its popularity soar. And while Oz's TV broadcasts are now controlled by media mogul Ted Turner (who owns the rights), the advent of home video has made this lively musical a mainstay in the staple diet of great American films. Young Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), her dog, Toto, and her three companions on the yellow brick road to Oz--the Tin Man (Jack Haley), the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger)--have become pop-culture icons and central figures in the legacy of fantasy for children. As the Wicked Witch who covets Dorothy's enchanted ruby slippers, Margaret Hamilton has had the singular honor of scaring the wits out of children for more than six decades. The film's still as fresh, frightening, and funny as it was when first released. It may take some liberal detours from the original story by L. Frank Baum, but it's loyal to the Baum legacy while charting its own course as a spectacular film. Shot in glorious Technicolor, befitting its dynamic production design (Munchkinland alone is a psychedelic explosion of color and decor), The Wizard of Oz may not appeal to every taste as the years go by, but it's required viewing for kids of all ages. --Jeff Shannon

DVD features
The Wizard of Oz DVD released in 1999 was loaded with extra features, but it's now safe to throw away that version in all its cardboard-package glory in favor of this new two-disc edition. First things first: All the bonus material from the earlier disc is there (with one small exception). That includes the Angela Lansbury-hosted documentary The Making of a Movie Classic; the outtakes and deleted scenes, including Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow" reprise and the home-movie recording of "The Jitterbug"; the sketches and stills and composer Harold Arlen's home movies; the audio underscores and radio programs; the 1979 interviews with Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, and Jack Haley; and other items too numerous to mention. (Some text introductions to the features have been replaced by narration by Lansbury, for whatever reason.) Brand-new to the 2005 edition is a sharp restoration using Warner's Ultra Resolution process and an accompanying featurette on how it's done. The technicians also discuss how the sound was remixed, though that would have been more effective had it included surround-sound demonstrations (the featurette is in 2.0). Other features on the new set include a commentary track by critic John Fricke supplemented by vintage cast interviews (he offers a lot of trivia, and debunks the myth that Shirley Temple was ever close to getting the Dorothy role); profiles of nine cast members and clips of other movies they appeared in (including Toto); a lightly animated 10-minute storybook again narrated by Lansbury; 2001 and 2005 behind-the-scenes featurettes; and a 1950 Lux Radio Theater broadcast. Oh, and if you were still wondering about the missing material mentioned above--the 1999 disc included one-minute excerpts of three early treatments of The Wizard of Oz. Those excerpts are not included in the two-disc special edition, but the third disc of the three-disc collector's edition includes the complete versions of those treatments and more. --David Horiuchi

Customer Rating:
Summary: DVD does not play
Comment: DVD arrived in a timely fashion; however, it is not compatable with any of the 5 DVD players in our home????

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Wizard of Oz
Comment: I was sent the French DVD of The Wizard of Oz. I sent it back to sender and asked for the English version. I hope I receive it.

Cindy Selby

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Wizard has it All.
Comment: "There's no place like home." Dorothy and her friends seek the answer to their desires in a land of dreams and nightmares. Brilliant use of color and sepia. Classic songs, incredible performances and special effects that still hold up today. One of my ten best.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Wizard of Oz - "Better than ever in Widescreen "
Comment: I certainly have enjoyed "THE WIZARD OF OZ" through-out all these years. One thing remains a mystery to me. The original Laserdisc versions had an "extras" feature about the movie. The MGM re-release showed coming attaction trailers that introduced the Movie's arrival again. Even in the Turner Intertainment ( 1989 dvd version) the following trailer indicated:

IF YOU'VE SEEN IT BEFORE... YOU'LL GET A LIFT ALL OVER AGAIN
ALL THE MAGIC. THE SPECTACLE AND BEAUTY... Better than ever in WIDESCREEN ! This is not in reference to the Version that was shown
in Theatres around 1998 either !

Where is the Widescreen Version made mention of in this trailer ?

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Over the top
Comment: This product has an amazing amount of supplementary material. More than I ever realized existed about this subject!

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