The Wizard of Oz 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Wizard of Oz 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

I've got you, my pretty.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 28, 2019

NOTE: These screenshots are from the included Blu-ray, which is identical to the 75th Anniversary Edition.

Perhaps the most well-known and enduring film of its era (or perhaps any era), Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz has been treasured by generations of film lovers during the past eight decades. It's also been released on home video an embarrassing number of times in a variety of formats -- pretty much all of them, except for HD DVD. To celebrate its 80th anniversary, a brand-new 8K 16-bit scan of the original Technicolor camera negative has been used for the film's first true 4K release. Will it be the last? That's doubtful, but this new two-disc package easily stands tall as the most impressive edition of The Wizard of Oz to date; perhaps not size-wise or even in the way of extras...but from a purely technical perspective, it's a landmark release for the format that fans are sure to enjoy.

A plot summary is pretty much pointless by now, so instead I'll refer you to former Blu-ray.com reviewer Kenneth Brown's write-up of the 75th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray, which was reprinted from several earlier reviews of other editions. For obvious reasons, we'll jump right to the technical portion; while Warner Bros.' new 8K-sourced transfer is obviously the main attraction here, the audio and extras have changed slightly from past releases as well.

The Wizard of Oz 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner Bros. have outdone themselves with The Wizard of Oz's sparkling new 2160p transfer. The earliest Blu-rays were VC-1 encoded discs that, while more than respectful for their time, exhibited obvious compression artifacts and excessive noise when viewed on larger displays. Even the improved 75th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray, which made use of a then-new 8K master of the original Technicolor camera negative -- the same master used for this 4K release, incidentally -- showed signs of contrast boosting which likewise yielded over-saturated colors. This new 4K disc wipes all of those problems completely off the map, revealing a truly natural and film-like image that easily stands as Oz's strongest appearance on home video to date. Flesh tones and textures are very pleasing with excellent image detail, not to mention much more dialed-back contrast levels that suffer from no discernible signs of blooming or black crush. (Somewhat surprisingly, the film's darkest scenes offer the most immediately striking improvements.) The production design's vivid color palettes are a close second, appearing bright and vivid without venturing into cartoonish territory; this is clearly thanks to a strong but tasteful use of HDR color enhancement, which likewise replaces those artificially boosted hues with much more organic ones. A natural layer of film grain rounds out the picture perfectly, replacing all the noise and compression artifacts that plagued those earlier releases. All told, this is easily one of the best-looking 4K catalog titles to date, standing toe-to-toe with last month's release of The Shining...if not beating it by a slim margin. For these reasons and more, this outstanding 2160p transfer is worth the price of admission alone.

As mentioned earlier, the included Blu-ray is identical to the 75th Anniversary Edition (which is the source for this review's screenshots, hence the limited number), so please refer to that linked review for a judgment of its visual merits. Of course I'd have preferred a new Blu-ray for those who have not jumped to 4K yet, but no such luck.

The Wizard of Oz 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Although a cursory glance at the 75th Anniversary Edition's tech specs also shows a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix, like The Shining there are a few subtle differences on this new 4K disc. The most obvious are boosted channels in several key scenes, including the Wicked Witch's "Surrender Dorothy" warning and the flying monkey attack, as well as stronger amounts of LFE during the pre-Oz tornado touchdown. Additionally, several animal sounds during the opening farmhouse sequence seem to be more pronounced. But as a whole, this new 5.1 mix sounds reasonably faithful to earlier surround tracks and, more than likely, most fans won't even pick up on any of these subtle differences.

Frustratingly, another way this release mirrors The Shining is that the 4K disc omits The Wizard of Oz's original mono mix. (Since the included Blu-ray copy is identical to the 75th Anniversary Edition, it's still present on that disc.) This is a slightly disturbing trend in my opinion, but one that likely arises from simple laziness rather than a case of purposeful revisionism: a lossless mono track takes up such a small portion of disc space that it easily could have fit on here. Die-hard purists might even consider this a deal-breaker, and for this reason I would strongly advise Warner Bros. to reconsider their approach to audio options on future 4K titles. Seriously, it's not that hard.

The Wizard of Oz 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Wizard of Oz: 80th Anniversary Edition arrives in a dual-hubbed keepcase with...um...interesting cover artwork, a matching slipcover, and a Digital Copy code. Although the on-disc extras can't help but pale in comparison to several earlier releases (the 70th Annivesary Emerald Edition and the 75th Anniversary Gift Set, for example), there's still plenty to dig through. The extras we do get here are nearly identical to those found on the two-disc 75th Anniversary Edition, with one addition: a 1990 CBS TV documentary that's been absent on home video since 2009.

4K Disc:

• Audio Commentary - This group track features John Fricke with Barbara Freed-Saltzman, Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, John Lahr, Jane Lahr, Hamilton Meserve, Dona Massin, William Tuttle, Buddy Ebsen, Mervyn LeRoy and Jerry Maren, and has been included on almost every previous Blu-ray release of the film.

• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic - This charmingly dated 1990 CBS TV documentary (which celebrated the film's 50th anniversary) is hosted by Angela Lansbury; as mentioned earlier, it has not been included on any Wizard of Oz home video release since 2009's 70th Annivesary Emerald Edition. Please refer to that review for a more thorough description of this 51-minute documentary.

Blu-ray Disc:

This disc is identical to Disc 2 of the 75th Anniversary Edition and even features a 2013 copyright mark. Please refer to that review for a detailed description of the extras listed below, which are mentioned in name only.

• Audio Commentary (same as above)

• The Making of The Wizard of Oz

• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook

• We Haven't Really Met Properly…

• Music & Effects Track

• Original Mono Track

• Sing Along Tracks

• Audio Jukebox

• Leo is on the Air Radio Promo

• Good News of 1939 Radio Show

• 12/25/1950 Lux Radio Broadcast

• Stills Galleries

• Trailers

The Wizard of Oz 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz is timeless family entertainment and one of film history's most treasured classics. You've likely seen it dozens of times and probably own it on at least two different home video formats, but Warner Bros.' new 4K release should absolutely be on your radar. It's arguably the format's most visually stunning release to date, a true top-tier effort that richly captures the appearance of its Technicolor negative in new and exciting ways. Much like last month's 4K release of The Shining, it's a must-own that's just about perfect in every way. Although the absence of an original mono track on the 4K disc is disappointing (as is not having the full platter of extras from The Wizard of Oz's more lavish Collector's Editions), this new transfer is easily worth the price of admission alone.