just watch it!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

The Wiz is a 1978 Africa American adaptation of the 1939 classic film, the Wizard of Oz. It stars Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and Richard Pryor. The musical numbers are very catchy and well choreographed. I really liked Diana Ross, she has a beautiful voice and was really suited for the role, my one and only complaint about Diana Ross was that a few times I felt like she was a little too wimpy, I just felt like a few times she went a little overboard with that persona. Michael Jackson was perfect as the Scarecrow! No complaints at all for him. I also loved the sets and style the movie possessed! Everything seemed so colorful and unique. The urban/modern setting was also neat to see. I think this movie would be a good choice for family movie night, there's really just one scene that might be objectionable to families, and that's when the people are freed and they emerge from their ugly rags and are in white cloths resembling underwear. Other then that, I would definitely recommend this to a family audience. My only other complaint, is I feel like the musical number in the city of Oz was a little too long and drug on a bit longer than it should have. 7/10

I've mentioned my admiration of the directorial resume of Sidney Lumet before, but every director has a missstep somewhere along the way and for Lumet it was definitely the 1978 musical The Wiz, the overlong and overblown film version of the Broadway musical that was an "urban" re- working of The Wizard of Oz about the little girl who is transformed to a magical world where she meets three friends who she helps during her own journey back home.In the original L. Frank Baum novel, the character of Dorothy was 10 years old. Judy Garland was 17 when she played Dorothy and Stephanie Mills was in her early 20's when she created the role of Dorothy in the stage version of The Wiz, but the role had to be re-thought when Diana Ross pretty much purchased the role of Dorothy for herself, so for the film, Dorothy has become a 31-year old schoolteacher (who looks 40) which legitimizes Ross' casting in the role, but does not legitimize the story because the story here is a little girl's dream and the fact that Dorothy is no longer a little girl, makes the whole thing a little hard to swallow.Ross works hard in the role, but is pretty hard to take as a 31 year old living a 10 year old girl's dream. Michael Jackson is annoying as the Scarecrow and Ted Ross is serviceable repeating his Broadway role as the Lion. The only completely satisfying lead performance for me was actually by Nipsey Russell, who brings a humorous dignity to the role of the Tin Man, which is actually quite entertaining. Mention should also be made of the legendary Lena Horne, who stops the show with her one number, "If You Believe" and Mabel King, repeating her Broadway role as Evillene, the wicked witch who commands the screen with "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News."But other than that, this film is long and boring and despite a lot of glamorous trappings and the obvious money than went into the production, including the hiring of Quincy Jones to overhaul Charlie Smalls' original score, the film is a huge disappointment, especially if you've seen the show onstage. This was Lumet's first and last foray into directing musicals and I think that's a small mercy.

I watched "The Wiz" again, nearly forty years after my first exposure to it in 1978. I didn't hate it, as many posters on this title claim to, but I didn't like it either at the time. It just sat there on the screen, oozing diffidence in every frame. I use the word diffidence since that seems to best describe the entire movie (def: hesitant in acting or speaking through lack of self-confidence 2 archaic : distrustful 3 : reserved, unassertive). I noticed this same feeling watching the movie again after so long. Suddenly, it dawned on me that the movie lacks any tension at all. It simply moves along at a snail's pace to an ending that's suddenly rushed beyond belief. The use of Diana Ross to play Dorothy never bothered me. Anyone paying attention to the screenplay knew even in 1978 that the story had been reimagined in nearly every aspect except for the basic plot line. It seems that the real reason Miss Ross isn't regarded very highly by many is not that she's "too old", but rather, not very good. She's alternately whiny or frightened, which doesn't make for much of a performance. Only when she sings "Home" do we get to see her range; those very real tears are worth waiting for. Director Sidney Lumet treated her cruelly, sweaty armpits in "Brand New Day" and the unflattering closeup of her feet in the Silver Slippers. Given great direction, Miss Ross could have been brilliant. We cannot blame her for working with someone who seemed to have no interest in her. So, that's that. Everyone, all major characters. suffer from being underwritten. That's the fault of screenwriter Joel Schumacher. There's so little information about anyone that we can't care very much. It's as if Schumacher thought we all know the basic story and players so well that it wasn't necessary to flesh them out while throwing them into new territory. The actors do the best they can here but cannot overcome the poor screenplay. For instance, why does Glinda send the "snowclone" that brings Dorothy to Oz? We're never told. Has she been watching Dorothy from afar or something? This simple scene is crucial to the plot, yet we're given nothing to base the activity on. Here is what I feel is the biggest mistake made by Shumacher: since the source material for "The Wiz" came from a children's story, a great villain is necessary to move the protagonists along in whatever quest they're on. "The Wiz" throws away it's greatest asset, Evillene. The director Victor Fleming (for the 1939 "Oz") understood that the threat of the Wicked Witch was very important to the story. He used the incomparable Margret Hamilton exactly right, allowing her to underscore the lighter parts of the story until her denouement brought the story to a great climax. "The Wiz" hides Evillene until the last third of the movie, making her show stopping "...Bad News" number less potent than it should have been. There's no sense of relief as she goes down. She's been dispatched with with no real sense of urgency, so let's all dance around. Mabel King was pretty much robbed of what should have been the juiciest role in the whole production, but it's a testament to her talent that what we do have is so memorable. Evillene's wickedness is handed off to that weird peddler and his puppets, and never explained at all. It's supposed to be frightening, but is so random there's no real fear. Everyone screams and runs around until the bad trash cans are defeated. The ending of this whole unfortunate film is a shouting match between all the characters. Richard Pryor is simply dropped once he's discovered and screamed at by everyone. The elegant Lena Horne is saddled under a gigantic glitter-covered shower cap surrounded by babies hung on wires. "Believe in Yourself" is belted out for people in the cheap seats, a real misfire on what should have been a great ballad. Again, very poor direction. Miss Ross says bye-bye to all her pals, belts out "Home" and hey presto, she's back. She runs in the house. The End. That's all folks. No tying up loose ends with the family, or resolution. It all feels empty. The visuals set up by designer Tony Walton look better than you remember. His vision of Oz as NYC is memorable in many ways; it's always great to remember the Twin Towers as they were. Enough years have gone by for the patina of time to soften the hard edges of the mistakes made. So, for what it's worth, "The Wiz" is still a viable watch. The blame for this misfire can be laid on the shoulders of Lumet and Shumacher. They took out the magic and wonder, which is the lifeblood of such tales.

I've never heard of this film before or the musical this was based on, but when I got on to Youtube and searched for The Wiz, I listened to the songs from the movie and I think that they're pretty good and the lyrics were decent and memorable too. So, when I watched the whole movie, I had little low expectations to whether or not it's going to be good since I loved the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. Well, let's just say that in terms of songs and dance sequences, I think that this is a guilty pleasure for me despite it's negative reviews and a personally underrated film at that.First, let me get to the cons. I've heard that the screenplay was written by Joel Schumacher, the person who would later direct Batman Forever and Batman & Robin (which is by far the most terrible superhero movie in the history of mankind although not the worst), so I will admit that his screen writing seemed phoned in.The story's pretty good, but it had some unnecessary changes and scenes that go completely nowhere (changing the farm in the play where Dorothy lives to New York City and the scene where Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow, and Lion encounter some monsters in the subways were absolutely pointless). Also, I had mixed feelings for Diana Ross as the lead role. Her singing voice is good, but failed to capture the innocence of Judy Garland and came across as somewhat whiny. Plus she was also old for the role. Even Richard Pryor as the Wiz was disappointing. He was only using that role as a comedy skit and boy was it lame. The pacing is a combination of slow and rushed with the ending as the worst part.There are, however, some good things that save this movie. Michael Jackson did great as the Scarecrow and captured the energy and innocence very well. Nipsy Russell and Ted Ross did great as the Tinman & the Lion and Lena Horne also did great as the lovely Glinda. Mable King is a great Villianess and her song "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News" was nicely rendered, though the way she died felt too obvious. Some of the actors did great with their performances. The sets, although cheap, are beautiful and expensive-looking and the costumes for the Scarecrow and other characters are great, but the costumes on the Winkies are kind of lame. I mean, motorcycle Winkies? Come on! Anyway, it had some decent dialog (Not great, but good), but the strongest aspect goes to the songs. They're great and memorable with "Ease On Down The Road" as the best and catchiest.Overall, I understand the criticism this movie had and tanked at the box office and yet the soundtrack were sold millions to other people. I'll admit that it did had some problems, but I think that this is an underrated musical film. Not the greatest film out there, but I've seen much worse movies. The Wiz is a flawed, but underrated musical that is worth-watching to die-hard fans of the play.