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Cast: Paulie Rojas, Billy Boyd, Sean Astin, Ethan Embry, Mia Sara, Lance Henriksen, Christopher Lloyd
Dorothy Gale (Paulie Rojas) is a simple girl in rural Kansas who writes children's books based on the land of Oz created by her grandfather. Her mundane life is turned upside down when she receives an offer from a big New York agency to represent her books. In New York, Dorothy soon realizes her books, and her grandfather s stories, are based in reality. The magical world of Oz and all of its inhabitants are very real and they are coming to New York City! Dorothy and her friends are the only ones who can stop the evil Wicked Witch of the West and her plans for global domination.
I have seen a lot of negative comments about "The Witches of Oz" some of which I agree with but the film isn't as bad as most say it is, it needs to be taken for what it is in order to be enjoyed. For starters when you start messing with the story of an original classic things can get a bit hairy but you have to remember that this doesn't try to remake the classic but instead this is a "what if." It's a look at what might happen after Dorothy grew up and became a writer of children's books without any memories of her past in oz. One must also remember that this was a TV mini-series that first aired in the UK so you can't expect big budget effects here but in the end I felt the film had several things going for it.
For starters I thought the cast did a terrific job including Paulie Rojas, Billy Boyd and Sean Astin, plus you have to love seeing Christopher Lloyd and Lance Hendriksen in anything. The effects were surprising good considering and the story moves along at a very quick pace. There's lots of fun moments, some cheesy parts and plenty of laughs as well as a few scary moments as well.
I may be alone on this but I certainly enjoyed the film for what it was, I really liked the idea behind the story and thought it was clever and original. I recommend checking this out but go into it with an open mind and don't think you're going to see a remake of oz here because that's not what this is. Over-all this was an entertaining film the family can enjoy together.
Available on DVD and Blu-ray, both have Special Features that include:
Trailer
Behind the Scenes Featurette with Writer/Director Leigh Scott
Released by Image Entertainment
*** Out Of *****