alvaro

Saw somewhere (maybe on Reel) that the DVD Wizard of Oz is not the restored version. Anyone know what this means?

Frank A

The Wizard of Oz DVD was released in 1997. While it is OK DVD, it is not the restored version that was showing in theatres last fall. Rumor is that a remastered DVD with extras will be released in the near future.

Greg Lovern

MGM restored the color portions of Oz in 1993 for a large laserdisc box set called "The Ultimate Oz" ($100? list), and then restored the black & white portions in 1996 for another laserdisc ($40 list). For the color portions of the 1996 laserdisc, MGM used their 1993 restoration.

It would seem weird if MGM reverted to what had been available before 1993 for the DVD. I'm not sure why they might have wanted to do that; how would it save them any money?

More telling is the review of the DVD by "The DVD-Laserdisc Newsletter", which reviewed the laserdiscs in '93 and '96, and reviewed the DVD in its April 1997 issue:

>> [the DVD]...looks even better [than the 1996 lasercisc]. The black-and-white sequence is crisper, and when Dorothy lands in Oz, the colors are richer and sharper.

Greg Lovern

I posted the above before noticing Frank A's response.

Perhaps the most likely explanation is that the DVD uses the 1996 restoration, but not the 1998(?) restoration.

jbuchman

I don't know, fellas. I have the disc right in front of me, and it has a '98 copyright on it. I'm no legal expert, but I don't think MGM can release a movie with a copyright that is dated after the release. I don't think it's the same disc that was initially released in '97.

Just from my own viewings, I tend to think that it is the restored version. If it's not, then they didn't really have to do too much work to restore it. It's a very good transfer. Is it possible that they just didn't bother to update the packaging to say 'NEW - Restored 1998 Version'??

[This message has been edited by jbuchman (edited 04-18-99).]

Greg Lovern

Hmm, it was reissued with a keepcase (originally it had a snapper), but I think that was still in late '97.....?

Greg Lovern

Last night I compared the DVD to "The Ultimate Oz" laserdisc (1993, color part restored, black & white parts not restored). I don't have the 1996 laserdisc (black & white parts restored).

Color part:
The DVD was somewhat sharper, as I would expect of a well-made DVD compared to a well-made laserdisc. The colors were very, very slightly more vivid, but so little that I had to go back and forth many times, on a couple different parts, to be sure.

Black & white parts:
The DVD was much, much sharper, and much, much higher contrast. There was a huge difference. When Dorothy reads the big wooden sign near the beginning, I couldn't read all of the text on the laserdisc. But on the DVD I could easily read all of it.


These differences are about what I would expect if the DVD uses the 1993 & 1996 restorations (but not the 1998 restoration).

MakeUMelt

I got the VHS (ok, now don't flame me. I needed something to do the "Pink Floyd experiment") rented and it's the THX version. Why even use THX when the movie is mono? Sure the THX sound was cool but the rest of the movie came out of the center channel. I haven't seen the DVD but the VHS's black and white version seemed dull and unrestored. The color part was wonderful, although seemed like 'too much' saturation. But then again, this is from a VHS, the DVD may look way better.