Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
This week, I saw a re-release of the 1939 film, ‘The Wizard of Oz’ starring Judy Garland, at Showcase Cinemas in Nantgarw, Cardiff. It was great to see the film on the big screen with my parents. My Dad certainly enjoyed it as this was his film and it was nice to see the audience rows decently filled in there.
Last year, my parents and I saw a re-release of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ in its extended version. I hoped we’d get re-releases of ‘The Two Towers’ and ‘The Return of the King’ at the cinema afterwards. Sadly, it wasn’t to be. But I’m pleased we saw ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at the cinema.
It’s ironic that I saw this movie re-released at the cinema the day after my parents and I watched ‘Tom and Jerry & The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz’ on DVD to get us in the mood for watching the actual ‘Wizard of Oz’ film on the big screen. It was a nice Easter treat for us this year. 😀
This wasn’t my first experience of seeing ‘The Wizard of Oz’ on the big screen. The first time I believe was back in late 2014 to celebrate the film’s 75th anniversary. And the film was shown in 3-D, I believe. But I saw that at a different cinema in Cardiff Bay, not in Nantgarw. The experience was still great though.
Watching this film again at Nantgarw was equally good. I knew who the characters were and what their lines of dialogue were after seeing it for the umpteenth time. But it was nice to watch it on the big screen. I’ve realised that it’s the film’s 80th anniversary in 2019. 80 years since it was made! Wow!
‘The Wizard of Oz’ still holds a special place in my heart and has reduced me to tears, especially as I watched it on the big screen. There were even kids in the cinema when my parents and I watched the film. The movie still manages to keep kids interested even after all these years. That is pretty amazing!
I was hoping that the cinema might have shown the film with the extended version of Ray Bolger’s Scarecrow song of ‘If I Only Had A Brain’. Sadly it didn’t, which is a shame. But it was still great to see the film with the musical numbers, especially with Judy Garland’s Dorothy singing ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’.
I found how much I enjoyed the Cowardly Lion when watching the film on the big screen, especially when he was funny being cowardly towards the others and before meeting the Wizard of Oz. In fact, the star cast of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion were compelling to watch.
The climatic scene of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man; the Cowardly Lion and Toto being chased by the Wicked Witch and her minions at her castle is still pretty epic to watch on the big screen. Even after seeing it countless times, I could not help be thrilled by the fantasy action scenes featured in this.
It was extraordinary to watch the film move from its sepia black-and-white tone into its full colour tone on the big screen. Of course, having seen the film countless times, I’ve become used to the transition. But it was still incredible to watch the colourful world of Oz once Dorothy had arrived there.
Watching it again at the cinema makes me realise how it still stands the test of time. It must have been a pretty ground-breaking film for its time, especially with its fantasy world set design; special effects; costume design; etc. I’m amazed they made film like this back in 1939 considering the budget they had.
Someone described ‘The Wizard of Oz’ has being a timeless film and that is certainly true. No matter how many times you’ve seen the film on DVD/Blu-ray and watched it on the big screen, ‘The Wizard of Oz’ will still remain a true classic. I am so pleased that I’ve watched this film on the big screen lately.
I still get a laugh when the Emerald City Doorman demanded, “Who rang that bell?” in the film. 😀
Please feel free to check out my full DVD/Blu-ray review on ‘The Wizard of Oz’ in the link. I’ve updated my review with brand-new info on the DVD/Blu-ray special features as well as new photos and a new movie poster.
Enjoy!
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim. 🙂
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