In the grand contemporary tradition of making money off older movies by repackaging and reselling, we have news that Warner Brothers has converted and will re-release in theatres The Wizard Of Oz in IMAX 3D.
That’s right: soon we will see Dorothy and her friends skipping down the Yellow Brick Road in full dioramic closeness. Warner Brothers is way too excited to bring us The Wizard Of Oz – they can’t even wait for the 75th Anniversary next year. We’ll be right up in the face of the Wicked Witch of the West on September 20, 2013.
IMAX President Greg Foster is unsurprisingly optimistic about the re-release. Here’s what he had to say:
The sound was exceptional, the sharpness was exceptional … But it’s the color that stands out. What they could do is truly amazing, maybe what people felt when they first saw it.
Ah, yes, the age-old claim that this is totally what people felt when they first saw a classic film. Because classic films do not even remotely have the ability to wow us anymore, and the beauty of The Wizard Of Oz is only about technology.
Up until I bit the bullet and went to see Jurassic Park in 3D, I was highly suspicious of the new trend of converting beloved films to IMAX 3D Smell-O-Vision On Ice. It seemed a silly cash-grab that would do little for the originals and probably make them look much darker and less, you know, good. While I am still not 100% convinced about this trend, I am now much more amenable to what can be done with digital technology.
The Wizard Of Oz will only appear in 400 theatres nationwide, but the Blu-Ray hits October 1. Then the 75th Anniversary comes around and I’m fairly positive that will mean another Blu-Ray and DVD release in very fancy packaging.
Will you go see a post-converted and remastered 1939 fantasy film in IMAX 3D? Let us know in the comments below.