The Wiz - Movie Review

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

This Broadway mainstay is horrifying -- nightmare-inducing, really. Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and Nipsey Russell make for a triple threat of overacting and bad costumes in this Harlem-set bastardization of The Wizard of Oz. Ted Ross, as the cowardly lion, is the only one to escape relatively unscathed. There's one song here worth remembering (the "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" update "Ease on Down the Road"), the rest is an acid trip of bad dancing, garish sets, and a Joel Schumacher-scripted mess that runs 135 agonizing minutes. Thank God for the irreverent Richard Pryor as the titular Wiz.

Facts and Figures

Year: 1978

Run time: 134 mins

In Theaters: Tuesday 24th October 1978

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Production compaines: Universal Pictures, Motown Productions

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 1.5 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 30%
Fresh: 6 Rotten: 14

IMDB: 5.1 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: Sidney Lumet

Producer: Rob Cohen

Screenwriter: Joel Schumacher

Starring: Diana Ross as Dorothy, Michael Jackson as Scarecrow, Nipsey Russell as Tinman, Ted Ross as Lion / Fleetwood Coup de Ville, Theresa Merritt as Aunt Emma, Lena Horne as Glinda the Good, Richard Pryor as The Wiz (Herman Smith), Mabel King as Evillene, Thelma Carpenter as Miss One, Stanley Greene as Uncle Henry

Also starring: Rob Cohen, Joel Schumacher