"Bad"
The Wiz Review
By Christopher Null
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
Contactmusic
