Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road

[thunter34]

So I'm watching the Sci-Fi Channel, and I know...I know...Sci-Fi Original Movies are notoriously horrible, but I have heard so much buzz lately about this "bold re-imagining of The Wizard of OZ" that I thought I would give "Tin Man" a peek.  Oh, Lordy.  Where do I begin?  It was loaded with profanity, violence, the Tin Man was some sort of bounty hunter / hit man something or other, the "wizard" of "the O-Z" (Richard Dreyfuss, no less) was some sort of drug addict and...ah, hell:  it was this enormously overblown, self-important piece of cinematic crap. 

It was one of those creations that seems to think it automatically gains validity by virtue of being "dark", so it makes every effort to posture its gritty self in front of you.  Within minutes I began to play a mental game with myself to guess what serious and grimy plot turn might come next - and then howled as each of my guesses proved correct.

I dunno.  There's just something wholly unmagical about seeing a work that I've always found so timeless and inspiring turned into something so soulless.  I only managed about 45 minutes until I had had enough.  The last thing I saw was the lion strapped to some machine and grieving about "the pain...oh, the pain" and I knew the journey was done for me.

This friend of Dorothy was ready to click his heels and his mouse and come home to AM and dish it out with you good folks.  Perhaps it might deserve credit for having courage in attempting such a reworking, but from my armchair it seemed completely bereft of any brains or heart.

On further thought, never mind the title of this post.  Forget the "Tin Man" instead.  I'll stick with the old road, thank you.  It's tried and true, and has never failed to take me where I needed to go.

[anniebc]

I think I will stick with the original..the one you were watching sounds awful...how dare they ruin the image of wonderful movie.

Hugs
Jan

[thunter34]

I think I will stick with the original..the one you were watching sounds awful...how dare they ruin the image of wonderful movie.

Hugs
Jan

Oh, honey...I only pray that our dear Alan didn't go there. 

[anniebc]

I hope not ..it would destroy him...

Hugs
Jan

[Robert]

geez....timmy...

you should know better. IF the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion are good enough for Alan, they're good enough for me....and for you and the rest of us.

....remember, there's no place like home, there's no place like home.

robert

[swede_dish]

This movie looks like total rubbish. I spit at it.

[BT65]

So glad I didn't watch it.  How dare they make a mockery of such a wonderful story!

[Teresa]

I watched until Dorothy told I assume it was the scarecow that his fly was open and he zipped up his head. That was enough for me.

Teresa

[Iggy]

Eh.  It was a re-telling of an old story as envisioned on a subsidiary NBC which is owned by General Electric.   I guess my expectations might not have been so high and taken for what it was - it's ok. 

I understand it follows some plot points of the book (which I am told is apparently dark) and more closely than the classic movie.  Jeromy told me it is similar to Wicked in some plot points as well, which may explain some of the things that got play considering Wicked's success.

I did enjoy the little winks to the classic, and admit I got a great chuckle out of the wizard being a sort of meth head   Somehow that made a lot of sense and I it did make me want to do that old trick of watching the original with the Pink Floyd soundtrack....hmmm I was wearing my pig shirt last night.

Anyway, it was just the first part of a three part miniseries so I watch it through- it's not like I have a habit of watching Masterpiece Theater every night anyway.

[AlanBama]

I had watched a show called "The Making of The Tin Man", so I kind of knew what it was going to be like.....

I taped it last night (you KNOW I couldn't miss Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters) but I don't think I'll even watch the tape.   I don't think there is any way they could ever top the original (for me at least).   

How long is this series supposed to be?  It's something like 6 hours isn't it?

Hugs,
Alan

[thunter34]

I taped it last night (you KNOW I couldn't miss Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters) but I don't think I'll even watch the tape.   I don't think there is any way they could ever top the original (for me at least).   

How long is this series supposed to be?  It's something like 6 hours isn't it?

Yes, I also watched DH (and they had a twister of their own, don'tcha know!) and B & S.  Those are my "can't miss" shows.  I was watching the encore presentation of Tin Man. 

And yes, apparently this thingy is stretched out over 3 nights. 

Ordinarily, I am willing to give any such "reimaginings" a go, and I don't shy away from "dark" material.  But there seemed to be such a lack of warmth in the bits I saw, and it was all so heavy-handed.  The characters didn't seem to care for one another, so I didn't give a darn about them either.

[AlanBama]

I prefer to think of the Tin Man as Jack Haley with a funnel on his head, rather than this "Indiana Jones" type guy.

And I'll take Judy Garland as Dorothy as opposed to this "DG" any day!

Does this new "Tin Man" series have a character that is supposed to be Glinda?   I couldn't distinguish her in the preview show I saw....

Alan (who has actually seen the blue & white gingham dress and the ruby slippers, well at least one set of them!  it's known that there were 4 or 5 pairs)