Movie · 1978 · Fantasy, Family, Adventure · 2h 14m · G · English
Curator score: 3.7/10 (73.3K ratings)
The wiz! The stars! The music! Wow!
Overview
Dorothy Gale, a shy kindergarten teacher, is swept away to the magic land of Oz where she embarks on a quest to return home.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.7/10
IMDb: 5.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.47/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 38%
Metacritic: 53
TMDB: 6.1/10
Director
Sidney Lumet
Production
Motown Productions
Cast
Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Theresa Merritt, Thelma Carpenter, Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, Stanley Greene, Clyde J. Barrett, Derrick Bell, Roderick-Spencer Sibert, Kashka Banjoko, Ronald "Smokey" Stevens, Toney Brealond, Joe Lynn, Clinton Jackson, Charles Rodriguez, Carlton Johnson
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A bold, uneven, and often dazzling musical fantasy that reimagines Oz through Black culture, disco-era spectacle, and a distinctly New York sensibility. It’s messy in places, but the production design, costumes, choreography, and performances give it a singular energy that has only grown more appreciated over time.
Best for
fans of large-scale movie musicals
viewers interested in Black cinema and cultural reinterpretations of classics
people who enjoy camp, spectacle, and maximalist design
audiences open to uneven but ambitious 1970s studio filmmaking
Skip if
you want a polished family fantasy with a smooth tone
you dislike theatrical, heightened performances
you need a faithful or reverent adaptation of The Wizard of Oz
you’re not in the mood for a strange, sometimes abrasive musical
Overview
The Wiz is one of those movies that feels more alive the messier it gets. Sidney Lumet’s direction gives the film an odd, serious backbone, while the songs, costumes, and sets push it into a fever-dream version of Oz that is both glamorous and unnerving. It’s not trying to be the 1939 film, and the best way to watch it is on its own terms.
Worth noting
What lingers most is the movie’s visual imagination and its sense of place. This is Oz filtered through 1970s New York, Black performance traditions, and a big-studio appetite for spectacle. Some scenes are awkward, some are overlong, but the ambition is undeniable, and the musical numbers have a raw, theatrical force that makes the film memorable even when it stumbles.
Bottom line
For viewers tuned to camp, reinvention, and cultural specificity, it’s a rewarding watch. For others, its tonal swings may be too much. But as a singular studio musical with an outsized legacy, it remains worth seeing at least once.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Kimi 🖤 (4★) · 2246 likes
if u don’t like this movie ur boring
and ur also probably white
Jason Alley🏳️🌈🐻 (3.5★) · 1998 likes
Is that a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup wrapper on Michael Jackson's nose?
brahski (4★) · 1566 likes
The costuming! The music!! The sets!!! THE SHEER HORROR OF THE SUBWAY SCENE!!!!
pilot · 1293 likes
doesn’t sync up with pink floyd
Diana Geraldine (4★) · 897 likes
Dorothy: *screams for Toto every two minutes*Also Dorothy: *forgets Toto as soon as a musical number starts and they begin walking away*
Fucking spectacular. Feverish and almost difficult to digest but oh so enjoyable.