The Wiz

"Bad"

The Wiz Review


This Broadway mainstay is horrifying -- nightmare-inducing, really. Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and Nipsey Russell make for a triple threat of overacting and bad costumes in this Harlem-set bastardization of The Wizard of Oz. Ted Ross, as the cowardly lion, is the only one to escape relatively unscathed. There's one song here worth remembering (the "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" update "Ease on Down the Road"), the rest is an acid trip of bad dancing, garish sets, and a Joel Schumacher-scripted mess that runs 135 agonizing minutes. Thank God for the irreverent Richard Pryor as the titular Wiz.


The Wiz

Facts and Figures

Run time: 134 mins

In Theaters: Tuesday 24th October 1978

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Production compaines: Universal Pictures, Motown Productions

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 1.5 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 30%
Fresh: 6 Rotten: 14

IMDB: 5.1 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Producer:

Starring: as Dorothy, as Scarecrow, as Tinman, as Lion / Fleetwood Coup de Ville, as Aunt Emma, Lena Horne as Glinda the Good, as The Wiz (Herman Smith), as Evillene, as Miss One, Stanley Greene as Uncle Henry

Also starring: ,

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