Oz the great and powerful 20 when shady circus magician oscar diggs james franco is hurled away from kansas into the wonderful land of oz, he thinks that fame and fortune are his for the taking. Nine yards and david lindsay abaire rabbit hole, robots ties itself too closely to its progenitor. Director sam raimis affection for the story stands out, but otherwise, the latest attempt to rekindle his magic is a mediocre, bloated exercise in big. The film also stars zach braff as diggs circus assistant, and braff will also. Oz the great and powerful is a 20 american fantasy adventure film directed by sam raimi and written by david lindsayabaire and mitchell kapner from a story by kapner. Oz the great and powerful is a 20 fantasy film directed by sam raimi, and produced by the same people behind tim burtons alice in wonderland 2010 and following the leads of thenrecent darker and edgier versions of notable literary creations such as the aforementioned alice in wonderland, guy ritchies sherlock holmes films, and snow white and the huntsman. I went into oz with an open mind, even if i had low expectations.
The arrival of oz couldnt have been written any better. The wizard of oz is nearly 75 years old, and somehow, it stands alone as the only critical. Oz the great and powerful imagines the origins of l. James franco is the wizard in new oz film, oz the great and powerful. Oz the great and powerful opens in theaters in disney digital 3d, reald 3d, and imax 3d march 8. Prize winner david lindsayabaire rabbit hole for two more. Its an unfortunate fact that any wizard of oz related story, particularly a prequel, is going to be compared to the musical, wicked, and will most likely suffer from that comparison. The witches of oz chapter 1, an oz the great and powerful. In the scene where the wicked witch is furious because dorothy and pals have been saved from the poppy field, the flying monkey hands her a golden cap. Some of the surprises in oz the great and powerful, the muchanticipated the wizard of oz 1939 origins movie, are delightful. Oscar meets the gorgeous theodora and she believes that he is the powerful magician from an ancient prophecy that will release her land from the wicked witch.
All the visual spectacle is on the bluray, with great visuals and engaging audio, but that doesnt make up for the somewhat weak attempt making the wizards journey one of redemption. Others, however, sink the movie just below the point of recommendation, with the primary drawback falling on the lovely shoulders of michelle williams and mila kunis, as early versions of glinda the good witch and. A bad decision is not a plot hole 3 points 1 year ago. Mitchell kapner has been hired to write a script for the followup. Considering all the factors, oz the great and powerful is expected to reel in. Theodora only wants peace to come to the land of oz and truly believes that a prophesied wizard will arrive someday to restore order. With james franco, michelle williams, rachel weisz, mila kunis. At times, raimi tries too hard to connect all the dots between his film and the original, creating an awkward gray area between spiritual predecessor and prequel that may be offputting to oz canon purists. I really enjoyed this movie of oz the great and powerful. I met sam to discuss this film around the oscars two years ago, franco.
Oz the great and powerful is now available on bluray combo pack and hd digital. In oz the great and powerful, oscar diggs james franco, a stage magician of little ability, makes a stunning escape just in front of a rampaging mob in kansas in 1905 in a balloon. Im really not a james franco fan but tolerated his acting for this movie. Frank baums early 20th century oz novels and set 20 years before the events of the original 1900 novel, the film is a spiritual prequel to the 1939 metrogoldwynmayer film the wizard of oz.
Oz the great and powerful sequel already in the works. The golden cap is used in the book to summon the flying monkeys. Oz, and hired pulitzer prize winner david lindsayabaire rabbit hole. Oz the great and powerful and wizard of oz pictures. See more ideas about wizard of oz, the witches of oz and land of oz. Yards and david lindsayabaire rabbit hole miss the essential elements of. Teaser artwork for sam raimis coolsounding wizard of oz prequel oz. It stars nicol williamson, jean marsh, piper laurie, and fairuza balk as dorothy gale in her first screen role. Oscar diggs james franco, a smalltime circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty kansas to the vibrant land of oz. A frustrated circus magician from kansas is transported to a magical land called oz, where he will have to fulfill a prophecy to become the king, and release the land from the wicked witches using his. He is thought to be the wizard that the land and creatures of oz have long awaited. Get oz the great and powerful dvd and bluray release date, trailer, movie poster and movie stats. With oz the great and powerful currently in theaters, were reacquainted with some classic movie characters that first graced the screen in the wizard of oz 74 years ago. I cant wait to see it again because it really is one of the best 3d movies ive seen and i have seen a lot.
Oscar is then enlisted to restore order in oz, while struggling to resolve conflicts with the witches and himself. Oz the great and powerful official site disney movies. This movie had a pretty good story line and kept my interest most of the time. How would he know such things being from oz and not even hearing of kansas. Oz flees in a balloon, but a tornado strikes his balloon and he lands on the land of oz. When oscar diggs james franco, a smalltime circus magician with dubious ethics, is. The great and powerful oz is from america, of earth.
Oz the great and powerful 20 cast and crew when shady circus magician oscar diggs james franco is hurled away from kansas into the wonderful land of oz, he thinks that fame and fortune are. Oz the great and powerful is a fantasy andscience fiction book. Milas transformation featurette oz the great and powerful. The sad, centurylong history of terrible wizard of oz.
Set 20 years before the events of both sources, oz the great and powerful focuses on oscar diggs, who arrives in the land of oz and encounters three witches. Told from the witches view as well as one missing witch. This also explains the plot holesits a hallucination, not a wellthoughtout story. A frustrated circus magician from kansas is transported to a magical land called oz, where he will have to fulfill a prophecy to become the king, and release the land from the wicked witches using his great but fake powers.
And now, the hundreds of millions of dollars disney threw at oz the great and powerful couldnt do it. Added more depth to the witches as well as filled in a few plot holes. The great and powerful 2 movie is currently in announced. However, when oz stands up the water only reaches his midthigh showing it is much too shallow for the basket to completely sink. The great and powerful, ozs personality with his assistant was kinda mean, he even said to his assistant that youre just a trained monkey.
Wicked witchs waltz featurette oz the great and powerful. Disney has to also be licking its chops when looking at the relatively weak competition oz will be up against during its opening weekend. At first he thinks hes hit the jackpotfame and fortune are his for the taking. Now disney is back with oz the great and powerful, which is kind of like a spiritual sequel to alice a 3d movie set in a familiar fantasy world that seems to demand to be seen on the big screen.
A shady circus magician james franco crashes his balloon in the magical land of oz, where he encounters three beautiful witches mila kunis, rachel weisz, michelle williams and becomes a reluctant leader in an epic battle of good vs. Oz the great and powerful 20 cast and crew moviefone. The movie storybook scott peterson made a lovely gift to entice my nieces and nephews to see the movie. The potential story problem for oz, the great and powerful is that, much like the star wars prequels, it is so slavishly devoted to the predetermined future events depicted in the earlier film. Oz the great and powerful is a good film but not a great one, and is in fact fairly interesting, though not perhaps for the intended reasons. Oz the great and powerful presents a captivating take on that wonderful wizard of oz fleshing out the character with a beautiful and emotional adventure. Oscar diggs is a magician for the circus with questionable morals. Oz the great and powerful dvd release date june 11, 20. Parents need to know that oz the great and powerful is considerably darker and more intense than the wizard of oz. That all changes, however, when he meets three witches, theodora, evanora rachel weisz, and glinda michelle williams, who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone. Return to oz is a 1985 britishamerican fantasy film directed and written by walter murch, cowritten by gill dennis and produced by paul maslansky. Consciously evoking the structure and iconography of mgms classic the wizard of oz without attempting to rival its impact, disneys oz the great and powerful can be enjoyed, up to a.
A frustrated circus magician from kansas is transported to a magical land called oz, where he will have to fulfill a prophecy to become the king, and. Take a look at six of the new film promos aired during this years game. They shot scenes involving use of the cap, edited them out, but left this one with the cap inexplicably being tossed about. The story follows the magician oscar who finds himself in oz. When oscar is launched from kansas to the beautiful land of oz, he thinks that he has hit the. In oz the great and powerful, a witch not only falls for the man oz, she also turns green from envy when he cozies up to a pretty blonde. Oz the great and powerful is a 20 american fantasy adventure film directed by sam raimi and written by david lindsayabaire and mitchell kapner from a. Oz the great and powerful is set to open on march 8, 20.
In the wizard of oz when the cowardly lion sings at the emerald city he refers to the sphinx and other historical facts from the world dorothy came from. Latest blog posts 25 mistakes you never noticed in great movies the biggest mistakes in the harry potter movies the biggest movie mistakes of the decade the 20 biggest friends mistake pictures the 20 biggest mistakes in the wizard of oz the 20 biggest mistakes in jurassic park 40 biggest mistakes in the big bang theory stan lees best cameos 33. Oz the great and powerful, starring james franco the. Oz the great and powerful, the lone ranger, fast and furious 6, star trek into darkness, world war z and iron man 3.
Theodora tells that her sister and she are good witches. Heres the official synopsis for oz the great and powerful. The great and powerful on bluray 3d was an excellent 3d movie. The film is an unofficial sequel to the 1939 metrogoldwynmayer film the wizard of oz, and is based on l. The prequel of sorts to the wizard of oz the film, not the book has good performances, clever direction from sam raimi and mostly impressive visual effects, but its reliance on 3d takes away from its overall cohesion, and its sometimescontrived scenes leave the movie riddled with plot holes. Designing china girl featurette oz the great and powerful.
Sam raimis oz the great and powerful poster moviehole. Frank baum novels are of public domain, there are plenty of stories that kapner can work with. First synopsis for sam raimis oz the great and powerful starring. Oz the great and powerful argument over oz clip youtube. Reviewed in the united states on february 12, 2014. The basket of the balloon is about waist high to oz. The whole nine yards and david lindsayabaire rabbit hole, robots. Meet the creative team behind the resilient, porcelain character china girl. Disneys oz the great and powerful is a fun movie, but only intermittently. Disney is already planning a sequel to oz the great and powerful. Dead man down is the only other new film opening wide this weekend and holdovers such as jack the giant slayer, 21 and over and identity thief should see business slowing down. If the creators of oz, the great and powerful had made a strong effort to make it consistent with early oz books like the wonderful wizard of oz 1900, the marvelous land of oz 1904, ozma of oz 1907, etc. Jul 14, 2012 now available on bluray combo pack and hd digital. This is a story about four sisters and how they deal with turmoil within their family.