The Wiz - Cult Classic?

[jobeterob]

Despite the fact the Wiz is now listed as a cult classic and has become a success, I don't think it is such a good movie either !

[nomis]

Andy Warhol went out for a night on New York town with Diana and Ashford and Simpson in 78..his diaries record how the black communtiy Diana mingled with that night praised the film..he tells Pat hackett in the diary that this surprised him as the movie was a commercial and critical disaster,,,now Im not saying Warhol was an expert on african American tastes but the man had his pulse squarely on pop culture..theres few who understood trends more than Warhol..he was not the kind of person easily surprised but he was to the support Diana recieved that night about The Wiz..he also witnessed a backstage fight between her and Gordy when he refused to spend any more cash on The Wiz songs she was performing in her current tour..he pulled the plug on rehearsals and Diana was left crying in her dressing room in front of her guests she tried to explain her lack of rehearsal in the show saying to the audience.."forgive me my fans..",

[SupremeBoy]

I've been listening to the Original 1975 Original Broadway Cast Album as well as the Original 1978 Motion Picture Soundtrack to THE WIZ a lot this past month alone. The musical boasts a wonderful score of songs which are timeless.

That being said, it is unfortunate that the much anticipated-at-the-time film version was a huge disappointment. Diana Ross' casting in the role of "Dorothy" was definitely one factor, but the other big one was that they completely re-did the book of the show. The original show as presented on Broadway was still the story we all grew up on. The "Dorothy" Stephanie Mills portrayed in the original Broadway production was very much still the young, wistful and hopeful little girl from Kansas who gets whisked off by a tornado to the magical land of Oz.

Joel Schumacher's adaptation did away with all that and re-wrote the character of "Dorothy" as a 24 year old spinster schoolteacher living in Harlem who gets whisked off in a snowstorm to an Oz that was just a fanciful re-imaging of New York City. The only real component carried over from the original stage version for the film were the musical numbers, everything else was re-worked and re-imagined and not in a very good way.

There are elements of the film which I have to admit still hold up. Michael Jackson is an endearing Scarecrow, Ted Ross and Mabel King get the opportunity to reprise their stage roles as "Cowardly Lion" and "Evelene", respectively. Nipsey Russell and Lena Horne are also standouts in their roles. I don't really care for Richard Pryor as "The Wiz".

The film is entirely too dark and just too damned long. That entire "Emerald City Sequence" is a waste of time and film stock. I get that on some level because of it's all star cast and the wonderful musical adaptation by Quincy Jones of the score that the film has garnered a cult classic status, but I still cannot sit through the whole thing without thinking how this wonderful little show which won 7 1975 Tony Awards including Best Musical became one of the all time musical failures in Hollywood history.

[jobeterob]

I just watched the movie The Wiz [[Michael Jackson and Diana Ross) with my kids, and thoroughly enjoyed it. What movies did you see as a kid that get you excited to watch again as an adult? [[self.movies)
submitted 21 hours ago by mamajunebug


Actually I'll agree and also say The Wiz. It is such a entertaining energetic movie that some people look past because they altered a classic story into something entirely different.
permalink


goonies always
permalink
save



I LOVE goonies!!
permalink
save
parent
[+]Tob22 2 points3 points4 points 19 hours ago [[0 children)
[–]Tob22 2 points3 points4 points 19 hours ago

Hook


My mom actually plays that for her 1st and 2nd grade students. They absolutely love it.
permalink
save



I love The Wiz. I've watched it a million times and it still doesn't get old

[Motown4Ever518]

A huge disappointment to me when it was originally released. I will admit that I was not expecting Fredrico Fellinis, Satiricon, but it had an incredible promotional push, which got folks into the theaters, and it simply could not meet the hype.

However, any movie that I can watch with my daughter repeatedly over the years, from the time that she was a young child, she is 14 now, is OK with me.

[smark21]

Why is it so important for some Diana Ross fans that The Wiz be popular? Isn’t it more important that they consider the movie good, at least for their particular viewing pleasure?

[jobeterob]

What is most fascinating is that it IS pretty much an unwatchable movie but something about it has a charm ~ for me it's the music that is attracting. That is more interesting than whether I like it; I don't like it much.

[BayouMotownMan]

The Wiz was painful to sit through in a movie theatre in 1978. I was a movie and record critic for a local publication at the time and I got free lps to review and free movie passes. I remember well it was released during the holidays and even though I knew that there was skepticism about Ross playing Dorothy, I ignored it because there was also that same skepticism about her playing Billie Holiday.

I remember thinking the movie would never end. It just lumbered on and on and on. To me Ted Ross and Mabel King were the only viable performances in there. Nipsey Russell and Michael Jackson were passable. I'd even say Michael was impressive in his movie debut but didn't get enough screen time. Richard Pryor was stiff and wooden. Lena Horne's version of Believe In Yourself was rather embarrasing [[Believe in Yourself, WOOP, yea).

Diana gave one of her worst performances. The little wig and plain dress didn't help. She was clearly aging and because of this the character of Dorothy seemed childish in a way that bordered on having mental issues. It simply did not work and should have been halted. Also her performance of Home in the movie had her reaching for notes out of her range, sounding raspy at times with her veins sticking out of her neck. One would never expect that same actress to give such arresting performances in Lady Sings and Out of Darkness.

The movie has a cult following because of Michael Jackson. It's his only big screen role. After the explosion of Thriller in 1983 the movie did far better in tape and DVD sales than it did in its theatrical release...where it lost millions and millions of dollars. It tanked Ross's big screen career. Whatever profits it may have turned after the monumental losses came too late.

I remember after Thriller one of the networks ran The Wiz in prime time. After the commercial break the announcer would say "And now back to The Wiz...starring Michael Jackson."

[jobeterob]

The Wiz - referred to in the article on the new Diana Ross release!

[captainjames]

Actually, when I first saw the WIZ on Broadway I hated it. Sorry,but I said this is crap. The movie I thought was even worse but Miss 1 had me laughing all the way through the song. Today, I have probably seen the movie maybe 7 or 8 times because of kids, nephews and nieces. In reality its really not that bad. Miss 1 is still funny, Evileen is hilarious, I love Diana's cartwheels in Everybody Rejoice and if Michael rolled his eyes one more time like that I would be in stitches. It was entertainment for me.

[jobeterob]

For whatever reason, it is popular whether with kids, seniors, as a cult classic or with Michael Jackson fans. The music is good. I always thought every version of it was airy fairy good feeling fluff but it's a break from Isis, bombings, and Donald Trump

[Bluebrock]

Actually, when I first saw the WIZ on Broadway I hated it. Sorry,but I said this is crap. The movie I thought was even worse but Miss 1 had me laughing all the way through the song. Today, I have probably seen the movie maybe 7 or 8 times because of kids, nephews and nieces. In reality its really not that bad. Miss 1 is still funny, Evileen is hilarious, I love Diana's cartwheels in Everybody Rejoice and if Michael rolled his eyes one more time like that I would be in stitches. It was entertainment for me.

I agree. I have only seen it once and I thought it was terrible. I haven't been brave enough to watch it since. I think I shall check out the soundtrack and see how that holds up before approaching the movie again.....

[REDHOT]

BayouMotownMan,you are on point,i also remember watching the Wiz on TV,and when they said starring Michael Jackson,all i could think,how times have changed lol,from what i heard,back in the day,they wanted Melba Moore to star as Dorothy,and Jimmy Walker as the Scarecrow,it was Diana,who wanted Michael Jackson in the movie.

[thommg]

I guess I am one of the people who thinks a good movie could have been made of The Wiz starring Diana Ross. The problem, for me, was the lack of imagination in the entire movie. There is no sense of fantasy once Dorothy gets to Oz. The filming of individual segments is mundane and often boring. The Emerald City sequence is a prime example. It is far too long and there is no payoff for such a lengthy sequence. The dance segment in Brand New Day relies on the same tracking shots of the ceiling over and over again. The big face of the Wizard that houses Richard Pryor is cumbersome and shows no sense of wonderment at all. Lena Horne hanging in the air and singing a song that focuses on babies that hang in the air is just bad filming. NYC is seen as a dark and dismal place instead of a fantasy wonderland. That, to me, is the problem with the film - bad film making. And, I don't think Lumet helped her in reimagining the character as a twenty-something adult who is lost.

[arr&bee]

The wiz is crap,i'll stick to the[1939]original.

[marv2]

The wiz is crap,i'll stick to the[1939]original.

I agree. I remember we had this great anticipation from all of the press. So great that as a freshman in college during the time, I wait until Thanksgiving break to go see it when I got home. That was Nov. 1978. I remember the theater quiet most of the time. No laughs, no gasps, no singing along LOL! Afterwards we pretty much just looked at each other like "what the heck was that?" and went home. I never try to watch it another time after that.

[marv2]

I guess I am one of the people who thinks a good movie could have been made of The Wiz starring Diana Ross. The problem, for me, was the lack of imagination in the entire movie. There is no sense of fantasy once Dorothy gets to Oz. The filming of individual segments is mundane and often boring. The Emerald City sequence is a prime example. It is far too long and there is no payoff for such a lengthy sequence. The dance segment in Brand New Day relies on the same tracking shots of the ceiling over and over again. The big face of the Wizard that houses Richard Pryor is cumbersome and shows no sense of wonderment at all. Lena Horne hanging in the air and singing a song that focuses on babies that hang in the air is just bad filming. NYC is seen as a dark and dismal place instead of a fantasy wonderland. That, to me, is the problem with the film - bad film making. And, I don't think Lumet helped her in reimagining the character as a twenty-something adult who is lost.

The Emerald City scene was cool, but it was out of place for this movie. It was just a bad film.

[luke]

So considering very mixed feelings about the Wiz at best why on earth is Motown now releasing this music again ? It seems to me people would be much more interested an a go go.

[thommg]

So considering very mixed feelings about the Wiz at best why on earth is Motown now releasing this music again ? It seems to me people would be much more interested an a go go.

This music isn't being released again. It is being released for the first time. While I think the movie is bad, I LOVE the music of this piece. Hearing Diana's solo versions, for me, is well worth my time. I still want A Go Go but I'll take this as well. And for those that are interested, here's the star-packed soundtrack of the LIVE! version:
http://www.broadwayrecords.com/cds/the-wiz-live-cd

[midnightman]

I'll just post Stephanie Mills' version of "Home" from the Apollo in '89:

[jobeterob]

Massive advertising for the new Wiz!

Songs sound like they did in the movie!

[jobeterob]

So considering very mixed feelings about the Wiz at best why on earth is Motown now releasing this music again ? It seems to me people would be much more interested an a go go.

They will far outsell Wiz music over A Go Go

[REDHOT]

Hey Luke,i agree with you,give me The Supremes A Go Go Expanded Edition.

[marv2]

Hey Luke,i agree with you,give me The Supremes A Go Go Expanded Edition.

Good solid business sense would have them go with a winner like "The Supremes A Go Go" not the Wiz music that was a loser the first time around in 1978.

[marv2]

I'll just post Stephanie Mills' version of "Home" from the Apollo in '89:

Stephanie should have been in the movie to begin with.

[marv2]

Massive advertising for the new Wiz!

Songs sound like they did in the movie!

Nobody is going to buy that. It will be sure loser.

[vgalindo]

Good solid business sense would have them go with a winner like "The Supremes A Go Go" not the Wiz music that was a loser the first time around in 1978.

The Wiz soundtrack was a double Gold Album in 1978. So I wouldn't call that a loser!

[jobeterob]

I wish that A Go Go would outsell The Wiz songs; but it wouldn't even come close. But when you come to Motown fans, we want A Go Go. But the world at large will take The Wiz, both new and old.