A grown-up Dorothy Gale is a successful children's book author from Kansas. She travels to New York to develop her Oz books and she soon discovers that Oz is a real place. She and several of the Oz characters have been deposited into the real world and forgotten their origins. The Witches and Princess Langwidere are after the key to the Book of Bini Aru which holds the Changing Word that created Oz.This is almost three hours of a modern revision of the Wizard of Oz. The premise could be interesting but this is an utter mess. There is the confused exposition to lay down the groundwork at the beginning. The main actors are bland. There are a few bigger actors slumming it here. It's a grind of confusing characters, unnecessary turns, and second-rate CGI. The ambition simply outstrips the abilities.

My brother thinks this is the absolute pinnacle of bad movies. Me personally? It's not that bad. That however is faint praise coming from a person who saw the Three animated titanic films, Night Of Horror, Monster A Go Go and a list of others.The plot to this movie is that Dorothy Gale, author of a new set of Oz books finds out that she in fact is the same Dorothy that she writes about. While this is going on we find out that her publisher is the Wicked Witch Of The West (which also ignores her melting at the end of THE MOST BELOVED OZ STORY) and wants to retrieve a magic book (That wasn't in any Oz book I've ever read). The Wicked Witch sides with Princess Langwedire (I know I'm nitpicking like a fanboy should but... She was in Ev, not Oz). While the characters from The Wizard Of Oz are there too with real life character parallels.Where do I begin. Firstly I'm not going to criticize the special effects because it's obviously low budget but I'm going to devote this paragraph to more holes in the Oz series. First of all, The Nome King... WHAT DID THEY DO TO HIM! Out of all the characters I felt this one was given the worst treatment out of all the character's featured (and that says a lot). All he does is fight the Tin Woodsman (who for some reason is a robot in this one)... and scream the line "No one beats the Nome King!" Where was the magical diabolical monarch from the books because whoever that... THING was he was NOT the Nome King.For a kids film, if they don't mind getting talked down to there are 2 other things wrong with it. If it can't get an Oz fan invested in the story (I'm not kidding I was looking at my watch frequently) then I'm sure children wouldn't be. The other one is that there is a scene where Langwedire asks Dorothy if she can sex Oz up... This is a world where anything is possible, one where children can read (or watch the movies) and find escapism and they're being told to sex it up.Anything else, The writing is horrible. I've seen one of Leigh Scott's films before and I think he writes great premises when doing something that isn't a rip-off. The problem is that the way it's executed is horrible. Sometimes in the very first few scenes that we see L. Frank Baum as a character we are to feel sorry for him because Dorothy is swept up by a tornado (in this one she's L. Frank Baum's daughter and Uncle Henry's aunt) I'm sorry but he has 2 scenes, one of which was a montage. We can't feel sympathy for him as a character.Finally there's the acting. The person who played The Wicked Witch Of The West seems to be the inspiration for Mila Kunis' in Oz: The Great and The Powerful... And she was one of the best actors in this thing. They under-use Christopher Lloyd and Lance Hendricksen and Sean Astin is annoying.So what's my recommendation? If you like low budget movies and have little knowledge of Oz then this is perfect. The characters are misrepresented from the books, you can't get invested in the story, it doesn't seem like it's for kids with that "Sex up an 11 year old" talk, the writing is horrible and the acting is hammy at best. The only redeeming feature for this is that very few times in this movie, it was unintentionally funny. It isn't the worst movie ever made... Hell, it would barely make my bottom 30.

I saw The Witches of Oz--or Dorothy and The Witches of Oz, as it's come to be known recently--last year, and I LOVED it. I seem to be in the minority in my love for this film, but I found it to be quirky, deeply imaginative, and adorable. It appealed to the kid in me that still finds a dream in Oz...and also to my 23-year-old self, who still keeps Oz close to my heart! I've been an Oz fan ALL of my life (so I must admit I'm a tiny bit biased) but I really did wholeheartedly *appreciate* this movie. Everything you'd expect to be there is there. The quintessential foursome: CHECK. Good witch(es): CHECK. Bad witch(es): CHECK. Magical items: CHECK. And so much more! So much more is brought to the table, and it's fun getting to explore the ins and outs of the characters and the world of this film. The Witches of Oz may get a lot of flack, as far as reviews I've read on the internet and message boards, but I'm really opposed to looking at films simply as surface-pieces. I try to really appreciate time and effort, as well as the passion of actors and crew. The creative minds behind this cared enough to give nods to the books that I've never seen done in film before, so that was a delight to see. It warmed my heart, as a reader, that Baum's creations--however wackily or faithfully they may have been portrayed in this film--were alluded to, and given credit. The audience sees the Oz they thought they knew taken to a place that they may have subconsciously wanted to go, but films or other media just haven't gone before. Oz and its inhabitants were really portrayed in a new light, and I applaud them for such decisions...as well as the guts to go there! Paulie Rojas is undeniably adorable as Dorothy Gale. She personifies the innocence that is essential in Dorothy, but also shows a lot of strength. Ari Zagaris definitely deserves credit, as he brought a lot of quirkiness to Allen, while acting as a real anchor for Rojas's Dorothy. Their pairing was definitely believable, as a creative team, the minds behind the stories and images of Oz. It was good to see Mia Sara take on an evil role, and she added a certain bubbliness to hercharacter that was refreshing. Christopher Lloyd was perfect for this. He brought with him every ounce of his usual gusto and whimsy, and acted accordingly as The Wizard. I was really happy to see Billy Boyd as a normal guy--and with his natural accent, yay! Sean Astin and Ethan Embry were cute as Muckadoos, and it was good to see them both taking on more family-friendly roles, nonsensical though they were at times. I can't imagine the film without their mischievous little Muckadoos! Eliza Swenson gave a delightful performance as Billie (and her nefarious alter-ego--I'll let that be a surprise!). She was deliciously devilish in both turns, and she also deserves praise for her score-work! Brava, Eliza! Beautiful work. I have to praise the practical effects as well; rarely do you see such lengths gone to when CGI could compensate. It was refreshing to see old-fashioned makeup and costume take place of what could have easily been bad CGI-work. On that note, the CGI and computer work is pretty well done.. It's not shoddy, it's consistent. It's bright, beautiful and unflinchingly magical. The effects only help add to the illusion, and the suspension of disbelief that these events really could happen in our world. Leigh Scott is criticized quite a lot for his films, from my understanding, but this little film deserves more PRAISE. What I saw in The Witches of Oz was an attempt to achieve a very vivid, very important vision, and the success of working to create that vision. This film seemed to have a lot of heart in it. Clearly, the cast and crew cared a lot about the project. Everyone just seemed to lose themselves in it, and really have a lot of fun, cast and crew alike. In that respect, as an audience member, I couldn't have enjoyed it more. It may come across to some as campy or stupid to some, but I definitely enjoyed it. If you're looking for a story with a lot of fun, heart, all the magic of Oz and more, look no further!

I was expecting garbage and I was surprised. Owing that this movie came out of SyFy's stables, I thought it was going to be a bunch of CGI trash. I was quite wrong. While the acting is not strong at times, I think that is because the writing is a little flat. Some of the Acting is quite hammy at times, and over the top. Sprinkle in a judicious use of munchkins, and other baddies and I guess it balances out. Some of the prop work and costumes are pretty cool. Christopher Lloyds outfit is spot on Steampunk at it's best, as well as The Tin Woodsman prop works. Some of the City EFX, are lacking, as mentioned the lightning is a little lame. I guess all in all though, it was worth a watch, and could be viewed by the kiddies.