The actors (and acting) is low grade. A waste of Alan Cumming's abilities. Ms. Deschanel is a silly, weightless presence (if I can even use the word "presence" for her, here) and everyone relies too heavily on that so-called (niche) talent of hers. The idea was really good but very poorly executed. Well-crafted nods to the original book or 1930's classic movie would have been great little "drops" in this series production but not done, or the few that were were again, poorly done. Why the focus on the Tin Man, I don't know. That character in this production is not in keeping with the original and the actor was not up to it. Goodness knows why the lion's character, Raw, was in there as he was barely a set decoration (again, weak, weak script and all the character names were weird, random and not clever). The scarecrow had a plausible twist but poor writing ability and script development dropped the ball and instead tried for random quirkiness which fell flat, flat, flat. The nemesis character was another waste. The costumes were as predictable (and therefore boring) as the script was goofy and meandering. I bought the DVD's for $5 and it's going in the trash.

Several years ago, the SyFy channel decided to take a crack at re-inventing the classic Wizard of Oz, a noble task, that many have tried and failed. I didn't know what to expect, but I assumed it would be some variation of the classic tale, hoping it would be more the like books and less like the films. Tin Man is defiantly not for kids and takes a unique approach to the classic story. In this version, OZ is not the friendly lovable place with strange characters and happy times for all. It's a dark story, about a dark place, where presently there is a lot of pain and misery. The big twist in the story is that this OZ is centuries past the one visited by Dorothy Gale. In the Outer Zone (O.Z.), Dorothy Gale is a revered as the start of the royal families bloodline, but she has been dead for centuries! That being said, quite ingeniously, the future residents of the O.Z. parallel the old story, but not because they have to, they are in a sense mocking the original story in subtle ways. There's D.G. (Zooey Deschanel), the girl from the other side, who was forced into the O.Z., with no memory of ever having been there before. She soon meets Glitch, (Alan Cummings) a man who had part of his brain removed for disobeying the Queen. As they try to figure out what is happening around them, they run into a man (Neal McDonough) being punished in a Tin Man suit. This man was a Cop or Tin Man in the O.Z. who was deemed a threat, and put into this horrible form of torture. Finally, they come to the rescue of a native healer, named Raw (Raoul Trujillo), who has become trapped by carnivores and is about to become dinner. Together they go to see the wise man, to find out how to proceed in helping D.G. The Wise Man (Richard Dreyfuss) turns out to be a drugged out magician doing parlor tricks! There are a million other parallels to the original story that make the journey through the O.Z. that much more enjoyable. Zooey Deschanel is the star and even though people often mistake her unique style of acting for inexperience, she was the perfect choice to play D.G. The other standout is veteran character actor, Neal McDonough, who gives a gut wrenching and strong performance as the tortured former cop, in search of his family. The rest of the supporting cast was equally as impressive, taking you through the full range of emotions. As I said before, this is certainly not the OZ you grew up with and it's certainly not what I expected. Everything from the special effects, to the story, and even the modernization, was extremely impressive. It really is a shame that this was only a three part mini-series, but this would have made for one hell of a regular series. Some of the parallels are obvious, but there were plenty of times where I legitimately forgot that I was watching The Wizard of Oz. Leave the musical for the kid, this is what Frank Baum had in mind when he started this series, and it's most defiantly meant for mature audiences only.

"Tin Man" is "The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz" re-imagined as a dark, epic steampunk fantasy. The concept of bringing out the darker undercurrents of a beloved children's tale reminded me a lot of the computer game "American McGee's Alice", although "Tin Man" isn't quite that violent. Another obvious influence is Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.It's a concept with the potential to be very entertaining, but it doesn't quite come together. The biggest problem is that "Tin Man" hasn't got any depth whatsoever - the original tale's messages are completely lost - and it doesn't have enough style to compensate for it's lack of substance.Some of the special effects just look cheap and some sets and costumes are terribly unimaginative. The cast isn't all that great either. Zooey Deschanel is adorable, but she makes a terrible action heroine, coming across as unintentionally clumsy and clueless. Worst of all is Raoul Trujillo as the laughable "Raw" (the character analogous to the Cowardly Lion). And the whole series just goes on for way too long.There are nice moments scattered throughout the series, such as the re-imagined Emerald City, and some of the actors do a pretty good job. But ultimately "Tin Man" is a wasted opportunity.

I'm a huge skeptic when it comes to Sci Fi channel movies, I've just been disappointed too many times. (I'm also not one for tampering with the classics). I saw the preview for Tin Man and was torn between "Wow, that looks neat" and "That's daring, they could screw it up easily." But I ate my words when I finally had time to watch it (being a three-part miniseries). I was glued the entire time and was in awe at how they kept many references to the original masterpiece while, at the same time, creating a whole new look for it. The casting was excellent (a few could've been traded but that's just my opinion). The vision of it all was ingenious, and the score (while somewhat repetitive) is catchy. I highly recommend "Tin Man" for those who haven't seen it.Although i do NOT recommend seeing it with really high hopes - I've noticed that tends to make all the corny parts of any movie stand out. Just sit back and enjoy it.