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It has a steampunk sensibility, the only munchkins you see are quite possibly cannibals, and everything you thought you knew about Oz is wrong. What's not to like? Well the music feels like it was stolen from Stargate SG-1 cues and if you worship the '30s musical you'll hate this series. I despised the MGM travesty as it schmaltzed its way into the subconscious, but I loved 'Return to OZ' for its faithful rendition of Ozma of OZ. Tin Man is different. The casting is inspired, especially Cummings as Glitch/Ambrose the formerly smartest man in the world and Robertson as Azkadelia whose performance in the 3rd part steals every scene. Dreyfus is excellent and Deschanel makes a great spiritual successor to Dorothy Gale and Ozma as the outworlder who is actually a combination of the two characters. (Extra props for the appearance of the correct "silver" slippers on the original Dorothy). I have read all the famous forty, and while this is far darker then what most people think of Baum's and Thompson's work it actually is very close in tone to many sections of especially Baum's books (See the Road to OZ, The Emerald City of OZ, The Patchwork Girl of OZ, The Nome King of OZ, and The Land of OZ). Those books had violent situations, coercion of body and mind, and some pretty impressive monsters. It is obvious that the screenwriters of Tin Man read those books as well. In conclusion I loved the series and would really like to see more from the O.Z. The story ended well and the characters are still interesting.

Chuck Norris, playing very much against type, and Lou Gossett, appear to be having a ball in this semi-Romancing the Stone ripoff. The two play a pair of soldiers-of-fortune/treasure hunters that are hired by a lovely Melody Anderson to help find a fortune in gold. Directed by J. Lee Thompson of various Charles Bronson movies, and Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the movie does not take itself at all seriously, and Norris and Gossett look relaxed and energetic as they tear into the ridiculous script. Hey, it even has a great role for Jonathan Rhys- Davies as Corky, the greatest Englishman ever! It's got Martial Arts, it's got gun play, it's got a psychotic Chinese general in a golf cart, it's got Rhys-Davies singing...I mean really, what more could you want. This is one of those movies that gets reamed for being bad, when all it's trying to be is a fun diversion with scenery-chewing aplenty. Go on, watch it. I won't tell...