Fairuza Balk

Nicol Williamson

Jean Marsh

Piper Laurie

Matt Clark

Michael Sundin

Tim Rose

Sean Barrett

Mak Wilson

Denise Bryer

Brian Henson

Stewart Harvey-Wilson

Lyle Conway

Stephen Norrington

Justin Case

John Alexander

Deep Roy

Emma Ridley

Sophie Ward

Fiona Victory

Pons Maar

Rachel Ashton

Robbie Barnett

Ailsa Berk

Peter Elliott

Roger Ennals

Michele Hine

Mark Hopkins

Colin Skeaping

Ken Stevens

Philip Tan

Rob Thirtle

Bruce Boa

Tansy

Jon Jacobs

Barrie Holland

Kevin Hudson

Cherie Hawkins

Guy Standeven

Andy Bradford

Gareth Milne

Stuart Fell

Tip Tipping

David Shire

Walter Murch

Paul Maslansky

Gary Kurtz

David Watkin

Leslie Hodgson

Cheryl Brown

Sarah White

Elaine Ford

Alison Lynn

Nicola Roche

Paul Vachon

Susie Figgis

Raymond Hughes

Denis Rich

Jim Dawes

Colin Michael Kitchens

Ian Hickinbotham

Jane Feinberg

Marci Liroff

Maurice Gillett

Ray Corbett

Fred Hole

Harley Jessup

William McPhail

Norman Reynolds

Charles Bishop

Michael Ford

Kieron Phipps

John Stephenson

L. Frank Baum

Bruce Sharman

Mike Ploog

Sally Jones

Richard Blanshard

Bill Rowe

Robert Watts

Ken Worringham

Barry Peake

Tony Morris

Henry Selick

Gordon Hayman

Michael Murray

Peter Hancock

Martin Evans

Richard Holland

Peter Musgrave

George Lucas

Gill Dennis

Walter Nelson

Geoff R. Brown

Herbert W. Spencer

Philip Kohler

Grania O'Shannon

Mike Fenton

Robin Grantham

Beryl Lerman

Magdalen Gaffney

Stan Witt

Pat McDermott

Michael Hopkins

Dan Farrell

Reg Bream

John Palmer

Will Vinton

Adventure

Family

Fantasy

Return to Oz

Oz Productions Ltd.

Silver Screen Partners II

United Kingdom

United States of America

English

princess

donkey

electric shock

sequel

pumpkin

imaginary land

mental institution

mechanical

based on young adult novel

mirror

<em>'Return to Oz'</em> is alright, I personally didn't enjoy it though.

I did like the horror edge it has to it for the first portion of the film, it's something I wasn't necessarily expecting so it was pleasing to see. That's about all I did rate from this though, with Oz itself not looking as magical as it should while the non-human characters are boring to me.

Talking of the onscreen lot, Jean Marsh as Princess Mombi is the only performance I felt entertained by - she's very good. Away from her, there's not much to note. Fairuza Balk is solid in the role of Dorothy, nothing really to say about her other than she does an OK job; considering her age. The Wheelers are kinda interesting, they do look cool.

It's a shame they don't make use of Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion and Tin Man - the latter I'm actually glad they didn't, given how awful his design was. I get why they don't feature more, given the source material, but it feels a needless change-up especially with Billina, Tik-Tok and Jack Pumpkinhead being so lame.

I read that this is apparently true to the original book series, which is respectable. However, the point of a film is to make it a good film first and foremost - this doesn't quite do that in my opinion. Each to their own, of course!

CinemaSerf

There are some positively darker elements to this follow-up story of the young "Dorothy" (Fairuza Balk). Traumatised by her first visit to "Oz" her desperate "Auntie Em" (Piper Laurie) resorts to electrical therapy to try and help her young niece. Luckily, a thunderstorm comes to her rescue and escaping from the asylum where she was to be treated, she finds herself back in a now desolate land of "Oz". The yellow brick road has been torn up and the emerald city is but a ruin. It turns out that the subterranean "Nome King" has determined to reclaim all the precious stones stolen (as he sees it) from his realm, and so together with the Princess "Mombi" has reduced the once mighty city to rubble. It falls to young "Dorothy" and her new friends "Jack Pumpkinhead" and the rotund tin soldier "Tik-Tok" to find the mysterious powder of life and try to outsmart the pair and restore the kingdom. This story has much more menace to it. The treatment scenario at the start (aided well by Nicol Williamson and Jean Marsh) works effectively, and the multi headed Princess gives Sophie Ward and Fiona Victory an opportunity to spread a little mayhem too. My biggest gripe with this is that Miss Balk looks much younger that Judy Garland, and she isn't a terribly engaging actress either. The animation is a bit on the basic side, too, but it does move along well with plenty of flying sofas and a message that green is always good!

Return to Oz (Theatrical Trailer)

Return to Oz( 1985)

An all-new adventure down the yellow brick road.

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A review by r96sk

Written by r96sk on Wed Sep 16 2020

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