We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages to date: The Shining, (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Batman Returns (software uniformly simulated HDR), Don't Look Now (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Man Who Killed Killed and then The Bigfoot  (software uniformly simulated HDR),,  Bram Stoker's Dracula (software uniformly simulated HDR), Lucy (software uniformly simulated HDR), They Live (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Shutter Island (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Matrix (software uniformly simulated HDR), Alien (software uniformly simulated HDR), Toy Story (software uniformly simulated HDR),  A Few Good Men (software uniformly simulated HDR),  2001: A Space Odyssey (HDR caps udated), Schindler's List (simulated HDR), The Neon Demon (No HDR), Dawn of the Dead (No HDR), Saving Private Ryan (simulated HDR and 'raw' captures), Suspiria (No HDR), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (No HDR), The Big Lebowski, and I Am Legend (simulated and 'raw' HDR captures).

This audio is not in Dolby Atmos but rather a very robust DTS-HD Master in 5.1 surround (no mono). Separations are not intrusively abundant but exist in spots (tornado) and there is some prominent depth present (3679 kbps and 24-bit). The filmed is filled with iconic music: Over the Rainbow sung by Judy Garland, the Munchkinland Medley: 'Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are', 'The House Began To Pitch', 'As Mayor of the Munchkin City', 'As Coroner, I Must Aver', 'Ding Dong The Witch is Dead', 'Lullaby League', 'Lollipop Guild', and 'We Welcome You to Munchkinland' sung by Judy Garland, Billie Burke, The King's Men, Ken Darby, Rad Robinson, Bud Linn, Jon Dodson, The Debutantes, Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig, Delos Jewkes, Abe Dinovitch, Betty Rome, Carol Tevis, Lois Clements, Zari Elmassian, Nick Angelo, Robert Bradford, and Virgil Johansen (dubbing the Munchkins), Follow the Yellow Brick Road sung by The Debutantes, Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig, Delos Jewkes,, If I Only Had a Brain sung by Ray Bolger and Judy Garland, We're Off to See the Wizard sung by Judy Garland and Ray Bolger, If I Only Had a Heart sung by Jack Haley and the off-screen voice of Adriana Caselotti and the rest - it sounds amazing in the lossless - much deeper and richer than the Blu-ray. There are multiple optional DUBs and subtitles including English (SDH) and as with all 4K UHD discs, this is Region 'Free' - playable worldwide. 

The only extra on the 4K UHD disc is the previous commentary and the 1-hour 9-minuts The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz: The Making Of A Movie Classic. The Blu-ray offers mostly the recycled extras from the old Blu-ray - Angela Lansbury reading Baum’s original story, galleries, a Music and Effects track, the original Mono track, Sing-Along, Audio Jukebox, Radio Promo and lengthy 'Good News of 1939' broadcast, and trailers. There is a leaflet with a code for a digital copy.

What can you say? - an absolute must-own and every few years, or 1/2 decade, I revisit and remember the film's brilliance. Our culture would be weaker without The Wizard of Oz and this is, quite handily, the best home theatre presentation of all time. It's hypnotic at times - once it starts you can't stop. Our highest recommendation!

***

ADDITION: 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray - September 09: Well, what is unfortunate about this is that we don't get the option for a single-disc Blu-ray of just the film and a few important extras. I assume it will eventually surface (just like it will for Casablanca) but do we all need the wristwatch? Admittedly the non-digital supplements are pure class - a great booklet, vintage reproduction photos etc. all in a whopping big case (see above). Those wanting to pare down this gargantuan behemoth may opt for the 3-disc Blu-ray UK edition - which also, we'll safely assume, is region free.

Regarding the image - we all knew The Wizard of Oz was going to be done in HD and it was remastered from the original three-strip Technicolor negatives (cyan, yellow and magenta), and scanned at 8K resolution (like Baraka).

NOTE: Albert tells us in email: "Just a small correction, if you allow me to do, about the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz had the original camera negatives destroyed in a fire in the 70's, just like Singing in The Rain. The best surviving elements were fine grain separation master positive from each Technicolor color strip (RGB) made in 60's. But the fine grain was made without wet gate, and so many scratches were printed in the image. The digital restoration for DVD, and latter ultra resolution restoration (4K) for DVD edition and Blue Ray, removed the scratches and other defects. Black&white fine grain stock of 60's was able to get quite close to the camera negative's details, despite not get so much close as to original negative as modern fine grain film stock of today, which can produce not just a master positive also internegative virtually indistinguishable from original negative. That's way the Blue ray looks so good after digital restoration and precise alignment by Ultra-resolution." (Thanks Albert!)

Sent from George in email: "I thought I ought to let you know that the comments you posted via another person regarding the original camera negatives to OZ are inaccurate.

The original Technicolor negatives of OZ did not burn in the Eastman house fire in 1978. They were mercifully spared from that horrific event, and have been maintained in meticulous condition. The OZ original Technicolor camera negatives were scanned at 8K for the new transfer created for the BD release.

What DID burn in the fire were the two B&W/Sepia "Kansas" scenes that open and close the picture. Those elements are (unfortunately) 2nd generation, but we are pleased with the final result they have yielded in this new transfer. Perhaps it is the loss of the original neg for the Kansas scenes is what misled this person to believe that such a fate had befallen the Technicolor footage. Happily that is not the case." (Thanks George!)

The image is in it's original 1.33 aspect ratio matted onto a 1.78 frame. Colors take a huge leap in vibrancy and good film grain is still very visible. To quote Robert Harris "What you'll see on the Blu-ray of The Wizard of Oz is the sharpest, most highly resolved and most visually perfect representation of the film... Ever! " I'm not one to argue - Warner used the VC-1 encode with the feature taking up almost 23 Gig of the first dual-layered disc. Ohhh... there is a second, single-layered Blu-ray (18 Gig worth) of extras, a double-sided DVD (with 6 hour documentary) and a digital copy for use with portable devices.

Audio: Despite not being the most dynamic track ever - the TrueHD 5.1 at 1308 kbps sounds just splendid. The mix is not diverging so far from its more basic roots so as to be 'out of place'. I applaud those who took part - it's as marvelous as the image - maybe even better. We have subtle separations, crystal clear musical numbers with surprising range, ominous bass notes and lilting violin strings. Purists can also opt for an optional Music-Effects-Only or original Mono track. Subtitle options are rife - confirming this is the 'International' and probably 'only' Blu-ray disc, and transfer, that will be available worldwide.

Extras - it was a pleasure to once again hear the late Sydney Pollack's voice as 'host' of the older commentary. Actually, many of the supplements can be found on the 3-disc DVD release from 2005 - but there is also plenty of 'new' to indulge - some of which are in HD. I've only 'sampled' so far - there must be over 14 hours worth of silent films, featurettes and documentaries, profiles, outtakes and deleted scenes, stills galleries, sing-along features, the MGM doc - it's certainly too much for one sitting. It will take a few days to cover, but everything I've seen is professional and 'Oz' related. So, is it worth it? Of course! It's a tremendous keepsake of vintage material - ripe for any collection although I still wish we had the option of purchasing just a single disc.

 - Gary W. Tooze

***

ADDITION: Region 2,4,5 PAL DVD Dec 05': Everything appears status quo with the typical extra subtitle and DUB options of the PAL DVD and the noticeable slight cropping (on all 4 sides) of the NTSC DVD by comparison. Something may be missing from the extensive extras in the PAL collection, but we haven't come across what it is yet.  

*****