On W List of Movie Reviews

(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)


The Wiz (1978)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 3/24

TheWiz
3/24: The Wiz is too bizarre.

$24 million was budgeted for the film, but they couldn't squeeze five bucks out of it on light bulbs? At any rate, the film is so dark and ugly that I'm flabbergasted it received Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design. The voters must have been high on crack back then.

Another shocker is the running length of 134 minutes. I only could watch it for thirty minutes per day because my brain refused to take any more of the musical nonsense. So, this was meant to be a children's film while there were black strippers showing off a lot of skin? I don't remember any of that in the 1939 version which was 23 minutes shorter.

Then, there's the strange choice of Sidney Lumet helming the director's chair despite his zero background of musical pictures. This is the guy who did 12 Angry Men, Network, and Al Pacino classics such as Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon. What he failed to do is to make a connection between everybody's outpouring of soap operatic emotions and the main premise.

The most unbelievable of them all is the casting of 33-year-old Diana Ross in the leading role that's owned by Judy Garland who was 16 at the time. Finding that out is the biggest reason why John Badham, the original director, immediately stepped down. Irene Cara would've been a suitable choice since she had the musical chops and was the right age for it. Surrounding Dorothy are silly idiot characters who keep annoying me to no end, especially the Cowardly Lion.

I don't get musicals. I really don't. As for the dance scenes, all I see is a bunch of people running all over the place and throwing their arms in the air. What is it supposed to signify? They do that every single time. If you can explain it while making perfect sense, then I have a stupid-looking award ready for you. By the way, the script absolutely sucks which is full of "can do" positive thinking bullshit messages that can be found in the failed Erhard Seminars Training movement.

All in all, The Wiz is a famous bad film for lots of reasons.