The Witches of Oz Blu-ray features poor video and decent audio, but overall it's a disappointing Blu-ray release
The Witches of Oz follows the exploits of the grown Dorothy Gale, now a successful children's book author, as she moves from Kansas to present day New York City. Dorothy quickly learns that her popular books are based on repressed childhood memories, and that the wonders of Oz are very, very real. When the Wicked Witch of the West shows up in Times Square, Dorothy must find the inner courage to stop her.
Certain stories become cultural touchstones for anyone to use. The Land of Oz has been mined
for inspiration by creators from Mel Brooks to David Lynch, but every so often someone has the
nerve (or the gall) to try digging up a whole new version. It worked well enough for the creators
of the Broadway musical Wicked (based on a 1995 novel), which is still selling tickets at a
steady clip after nine years, but that's the exception.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is this disastrous reboot by writer-director Leigh Scott. The
Witches of Oz was shot as a movie, re-edited (and cropped) as a two-part miniseries shown on
SyFy and Starz, then re-edited again (and partially reshot) into a 100-minute movie currently
making the rounds in limited theatrical release. The 164-minute version on this Blu-ray is the TV
miniseries, but with no break between parts 1 and 2. It's a meandering mess that has to stop
periodically to deliver incompatible chunks of exposition and backstory. Even its makers regard
it as less than a finished product, according to their Facebook page. I haven't seen the
theatrical version, and I have no idea (and little curiosity) whether a more coherent or entertaining
film could be hacked from this thicket of poppies, but there's no doubt that the disc is a quick-buck
release to be avoided at all costs.
And in case you read past it the first time: The Blu-ray's image has been cropped. Skip to the
"Video" section for further explanation.
Even Glinda the Good Witch can't save herself from being cropped out of the frame.
Disclaimer: Much of The Witches of Oz's "mythology" is confusing, and I had neither the desire
nor the patience to rewatch the film in what I was pretty certain would be a futile attempt to
decipher it. I may have some of this wrong, but I don't think it matters.
A lengthy prologue introduces the story's MacGuffin, a mystical key that unlocks a book
containing the single word used by a powerful munchkin wizard to create Oz out of nothingness.
Why he did this and where the munchkins lived before Oz are questions best not examined too
closely. The Wizard of Oz (Christopher Lloyd) was the keeper of this book, but many years after
the events so familiar from the story we all know and love, he traded the book to the Wicked
Witch of the West (actress unspecified; you're supposed to be surprised) in return for her pledge
to end all present and future attacks against Oz. Wisely not trusting the Wicked Witch with such
power, the Wizard arranged with Dorothy (Paulie Rojas) to steal the key at the signing of the
peace treaty (actually a "pinky-swear"—I swear!). Stolen key in hand, Dorothy is whisked back
to Kansas by a conveniently timed twister, where she's found by Uncle Henry (Lance Henriksen)
and Auntie Em (Liz Douglas).
In the years that follow, Dorothy loses all memory of Oz. She also loses all memory of her life
before Oz, resulting in yet another lengthy and improbable flashback at the beginning of what
would have been episode 2 of the miniseries to explain Dorothy's true origin. But Dorothy's
memories of Oz return in dreams, and she begins writing a series of books, which her friend
Allen (Ari Zagaris) illustrates into a series of successful graphic novels. Except that the graphic
novels aren't based on Dorothy's dreams; they're really based on an earlier series of books
written by her great-grandfather (Jeffrey Combs), who apparently was L. Frank Baum, the
original author of the Oz books. These are now, according to Dorothy, in the public domain—or
at least that's the position of a hotshot agent from New York, Billie Westbrook (co-producer
Eliza Swenson), who wants to sell the movie rights to Hollywood. A big-time star, Ilsa Lang (Sasha Jackson), is interested in playing Dorothy.
Billie brings Dorothy and Allen to New York so that they can complete the last graphic novel in
the series while negotiating a movie deal, but strange things start happening as the denizens of
Oz hop worlds and begin closing in on Dorothy. (No one ever explains why they've waited all
these years, and why it wouldn't have been just as easy—indeed, easier—to pursue their prey in
Kansas.) The Wicked Witch appears with her obsequious servant, Princess Langwidere (Mia
Sara), whose head detaches like that of the Moon King in The Adventures of Baron
Munchhausen. Two miniature beings called muckadoos (Sean Astin and Ethan Embry) try to stir
Dorothy's memories for the location of the mystical key by dosing her with magic memory dust;
this attempt to introduce a comedy team into the proceedings is so ham-handed that the pair is
named "Frick" and "Frack", and their antics mimic those of the two brownies, Franjean and
Rool, in the George Lucas production, Willow, where the idea already felt trite.
The Wizard, too, pops up in various guises, including a cab driver (how original!) and a street
musician, as does the good witch Glinda (Noel Thurman). A love interest is provided by Nick
Chopper (Billy Boyd), who may or may not be someone from Oz, because Dorothy seems to
recognize him. Though he's a commodities trader, Nick seems to have unlimited free time to
follow her around Manhattan, as the forces of darkness gather and lay siege to wherever Dorothy
happens to be. At one point, she has to return to Kansas, where she's attacked and knocked out.
When she awakens in New York, she seems unconcerned that she's been magically transported
halfway across the country.
I confess to not fully understanding how it all works out, but that's because the initial setup
made no sense. Director Scott was obviously more interested in the mechanics of flying
monkeys, the digital machinery for Princess Langwidere's collection of interchangeable heads
and the Wicked Witch's elaborate make-up than in such details as plot logic or narrative
consistency. And the performances are all over the map, from Astin's and Embry's mugging, to
Rojas's Mickey Mouse Club wholesomeness, to Sara's soap opera villainy. Only Lance
Henriksen manages to bring a glint of integrity to the proceedings, no doubt because his character
never leaves Kansas.
Perhaps because The Witches of Oz appeared on TV before being released to theaters, it does
not bear the usual disclaimer about the film being modified to fit your TV screen. But it should. The
disc's producers effectively make that very announcement with the brief featurette they've
included. There writer-director Leigh Scott solemnly explains that he outfitted the Red One
digital camera with anamorphic (anamorphic!) lenses to obtain a widescreen image, because he
wanted the film to have a "bigger, studio look". In the behind-the-scenes footage, monitors
marked with a 2.39:1 rectangle are clearly visible. Witches was shot for this aspect ratio,
and because of the lenses Scott used, there's no extra image at top and bottom that can be used to
"open up" the film for reframing at 1.78:1. Indeed, the excerpts from the film included in the
featurette are in the wide AR, not the cropped AR used on the disc.
So the TV version presented on this Blu-ray contains an image that has been cut down at the
sides from 2.39:1 to 1.78:1, and you can spot the compromised composition in shot after shot.
Even when it isn't obvious that people and props have been arbitrarily split off at the edge of the
frame, the whole enterprise feels claustrophobic, which is precisely the opposite of what Scott
wanted. As if to add insult to injury, the version on this disc does contain one quick shot that's
been letterboxed to the original aspect ratio, probably because cropping it would have interfered
with the viewer's ability ro read a large sign spread across the bottom of the frame. (See the extra
screenshots for a capture.)
What remains of the digitally captured image is acceptably reproduced, with good but not
exceptional detail, varied but not overly saturated colors and black levels that are generally strong
with some minor crushing. It would have been a perfectly fine image, if it didn't constantly suffer
from feeling cramped and narrow due to cropping.
Image has once again opted for a BD-25 on a program that seems too long for such limited
digital real estate. However, one of the advantages of Red One-originated projects is that they
compress effectively, and the company seems to have gotten away with the single-layer disc here.
Although The Witches of Oz arrives with a full-fledged lossless 5.1 track presented in DTS-HD
MA, the results are underwhelming. No doubt due to budgetary constraints, the scenes that would
most benefit from aggressive 5.1 sound mixing are relatively restrained (e.g., twisters, magical
devices, flying monkeys). Phenomena like Manhattan traffic noise, which becomes an issue for
the country transplants Dorothy and Allen, aren't expanded into the full ambient presence that
would give them their due. On the plus side, the dialogue is clear and the musical soundtrack by
co-star and co-producer Eliza Swenson is well-mixed. Unfortunately, no amount of mixing can
improve the quality of the script, which is clunky, or the score, which is disposable.
An alternative DD 5.1 track is included, but the bitrate is an anemic 320 kbps, which is less than
even the earliest DVD soundtracks. I'm sure there are still potential purchasers out there who
lack the ability to decode even lossy DTS, but those are likely to be people who are listening in
stereo through TV speakers rather than home theater systems. Anyone with an older HT setup
should opt for the DTS "core" of the Master Audio track.
Behind the Scenes Featurette (HD, 1080p; 1.78:1; 2:48): It's too short to
provide much more than a general sketch of the project's origin and the information already discussed
about the aspect ratio.
Trailer (HD, 1080p; 1.78:1; 1:46): "It was all real!"
As noted in the introduction, the creators of The Witches of Oz consider their shorter
theatrical release to be the finished product. If anything about this project piques your curiosity, I
suggest waiting until that film is available, either in a local theater or on video. It has to be
better than the jumbled, visually compromised mess on this Blu-ray for the simple reason that it will
take one less hour of your time. The current Blu-ray hasn't one thing to recommend it. Pass, because it
fails.
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