The Wizard of Oz (1939, reissued 1998) 4 stars out of 4. Starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Frank Morgan, Margaret Hamilton and Billie Burke.
A Kansas farmgirl, unhappy with her life, runs away from home, gets caught in a storm and winds up in a strange land where she is helped by some friendly, but vertically challenged people and harassed by an older woman sorely lacking in social skills and suffering from a phobia about houses.
The young girl embarks upon a quest to find her way home. Along the way she is helped by three kindly strangers, a befuddled individual who continually falls apart in a crisis; a stout, but cold gentleman who's a bit rusty at heroics; and a mangy coward whose bark is worse than his bite.
The quartet seek help from a powerful, but mysterious person who may be able to solve all their problems.
In the end, of course, the four, through many trials and tribulations, learn themselves about their own true worth and that "there's no place like home."
What we're referring to, of course, is The Wizard of Oz. And unless you've been locked in solitary confinment for the past 40-plus years or have been living with some cult that shuns modern applicances, you know this story as well as any fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen.
For the first time in almost 50 years, you can see one of the most beloved movies of all time on the big screen, remastered and remixed - that means the picture and sound have been improved.
The question is, Why should I pay money at the theater to see a movie I already have on video (or laserdisc)?
The answer is simple: Nothing is as magical as a movie theater when the lights dim and the opening credits fade in. Sure, you know the story, you can sing along with the songs, you may even know every word of dialogue.
But seeing Judy Garland at her young and innocent peak on the big screen before she began that long slide that eventually landed her over the rainbow for eternity is an experience not to be missed.
On the big screen you will be able to really appreciate the sets and costumes, and especially that wonderful moment when Dorothy steps from her drab black-and-white world into the Technicolor splendor of the wonderful land of Oz.
Seeing The Wizard of Oz in a movie theater, the way God and Louis B. Mayer intended you to see it, is like being at Cape Canaveral for a space shuttle launch instead of watching it on television.
It's an emotional, once-in-a-lifetime event that you will later regret you missed.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at cbloom@iquest.net
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