Tin Man on Sci-Fi

[Geekyfanboy]

Tin Man Explores New O.Z.

Craig Van Sickle, co-writer of the upcoming SCI FI Channel original miniseries Tin Man, told SCI FI Wire that he and partner Stephen Long Mitchell knew they were tempting fate by adapting something as beloved as L. Frank Baum's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

"Originally, we pitched this as a series," Van Sickle said in an interview. "The one-line idea was, 'Why don't we do a cop show in Oz?' SCI FI just immediately sparked to that notion. Before we even got back to our office, they'd decided they wanted to do a full-blown miniseries exploring the world of Oz, if you will. So that's where it started."

The six-hour miniseries sets the story in the Outer Zone ("the O.Z."), an alternate universe in which DG (Zooey Deschanel) is stranded. She sets out on a quest with three unusual partners: ex-cop Wyatt Cain (Neal McDonough); Glitch, a man missing half his brain (Alan Cumming); and Raw (Raoul Trujillo), a nervous, wolverine-like creature.

"There were a lot of days where Steve and I looked across the desk at each other and said, 'We're taking on a masterpiece here, a public trust,'" Van Sickle said. "I think we just tried to have fun with it and tried to cut loose with our imaginations and make it something that's unique as well as pays homage to the [Baum] story." Tin Man will premiere on Dec. 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. ?Ian Spelling

[Geekyfanboy]

Tin Man Will Excite & Entertain

http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2007/11/29/tin-man-will-excite-entertain/

In just 4 days the SCI FI Channel will be offering its new miniseries "Tin Man" to viewers, and if the channel's past track record for quality miniseries entertainment is any indication, then viewers will be in for an exciting treat come this Sunday.

L. Frank Baum's 18th Century The Wonderful Wizard of Oz gets a new look for a new era of television programming, one fit for the 21st Century. Director Nick Willing ("The River King," "Alice in Wonderland") takes all the greatness that lay in the classic tale and offers up a reimagined story that will be inspiring, beautiful to watch and very entertaining.

The screenplay adaptation comes from the pen of "24″ scribes Steven Long Mitchell, and Craig W. Van Sickle,who have already proven their ability write intense detail, with loads going on in a short space of time.

Many of the elements from the original telling will be there...a tornado, varied creatures, wicked witches, and the "little dog too!"

O.Z., an abbreviation for The Outer Zone, is a fantasy filled land rife with cowardly psychics, brain-drained inventors, a protector, the Mystic Man (Richard Dreyfuss), a twisted dancer and loads of other-worldly creatures and misfits. When DG (Zooey Deschanel) arrives, O.Z. is under the control of the wicked witch Azkadellia, deliciously played by Kathleen Robertson.

It falls to DG to usurp Azkadellia and return O.Z. back to the rightful leadership of the benevolent Queen Mother Lavender Eyes (Anna Galvin). Joining DG on this majestic quest are Glitch (Alan Cumming), Cain aka The Tin Man (Neal McDonough), and Raw, the Lion (Raoul Trujillo).

DG and her companions head for a rendevouz with The Mystic of O.Z. at his place in Central City and come across lots of exciting adventures along the way, both fun and dangerous.

This wonderful miniseries event will begin this Sunday, December 2 at 9/8C on the SCI FI Channel.

[Rico]

Looking forward to watching this starting tomorrow night....

[Rico]

Sneak peek....

[Geekyfanboy]

Okay just finished watching part one of this.. I liked it. I loved all the nods to the original Wizard of Oz... like DG's waitress outfit. This is definitely a re-imagining of the OZ world. But so far part one was good enough to make me want to watch part two tomorrow. What did everyone else think?

[Geekyfanboy]

Tin Man Is SCI FI's Biggest

The Dec. 2 premiere of SCI FI Channel's original miniseries Tin Man was the most-watched telecast in the channel's history, drawing a 4.2 household rating and an audience of more than 6.3 million viewers.

The first night of the three-night series, based on L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, also delivered the channel's best audiences in key demographics, including adults aged 25-54 and adults aged 18-49.

The miniseries also delivered better ratings than SCI FI's previous miniseries, including the Emmy-winning Steven Spielberg Presents Taken. The miniseries concludes Dec. 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

[Rico]

I finished up parts 1 & 2 and am enjoying this quite a bit.  Nicely done.  Stupid me didn't remember it was three parts.  Thank goodness Sci-Fi is repeating the whole mini-series tomorrow on Dec. 9th.  So I have the TIVO set to record part 3 then.  Check this out if you haven't yet.  It's good and doesn't tarnish the previous OZ stuff at all.

[markinro]

I enjoyed this re-take on the classic story.   I was beating my brain trying to remember where I saw the actress playing DG.  One of the best mini-series I have seen in a wHhile

[Geekyfanboy]

In case you missed it.. it's coming to DVD.

SCI FI Channel's hit original miniseries "Tin Man" will be released on DVD on March 11, 2008, by Genius Products, according to SCI FI Wire, the SCI FI Channel's official news site. The $30 million update of L. Frank Baum's classic story "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" premiered to record ratings on December 2 and was the highest-rated show in SCI FI's history, surpassing past record holder "Taken" by Steven Spielberg. The DVD will feature new bonus items, including a 30-minute "making-of" featurette. It will carry a suggested retail price of $19.95.

[Rico]

I finally finished this up the other day.  I thought it was really well done.  Alan Cumming I thought was very good and so was Neal McDonough as the Tin Man he was also in "First Contact").  Very cool design and sets.  I'll definitely be picking up the DVD.

[Jen]

I finally watched the entire series today. I liked all the subtile nods to the original movie too. Like the stick DG used to ward off the little painted dudes that swung down from the trees... Dorthy often used her basket in the movie to ward off the Munchkins when they decided she was a witch. The broom was used to ward off her father—an homage to the broom in the original movie. The wicked witch often pointed it at people for emphasis.

Another homage was the scene, where they followed Todo into an open field. The poppy field came to mind from the original movie—Glitch fell down just like the Scarecrow.

When DG was locked in the green marble sarcophagus, it reminded me of the scene where Dorthy was locked in the witch's tower. The two characters sobbed in those scenes before mustering the courage to go on.

The longcoats's costumes were in-line with the original soldiers of the witch's army... I particularly liked the way they flowed in the wind. I also like that the costume designer used the skirts that the witch's soldiers wore in WOZ for the resistance in Tin Man. Nice touch. There were many more scenes that mirrored the original...I can't think of them all. 

Tin Man borrowed ideas from quite a few stories and movies aside from the Wizard Of Oz. The Ewok Village  was pretty obvious in the beginning of the film. The fly through camera work they did in the Central City reminded me of Moulin Rouge. The line DG's father used...something  like: "magic is strong in you" reminded me of Star Wars. Those are only a few things that come to mind right now.

Richard Dreyfuss rocked the house.... but he's always great.

Things that bothered me a little about the movie: Neal McDonough's perpetual open-mouth-grimace started to bother me after a while. FYI I thought he was great in Band Of Brothers...



The scene where he was shot out the window, fell several stories into the ice and sank into the frigid waters only to be saved by a tin horse in his coat pocket was funny to me. I can see how that would stop a bullet but it doesn't explain how he survived that fall and the subsequent dip in the ice water. I really had to suspend my disbelief on that one.

Overall I liked the movie. :)

[moyer777]

we watched part one and no one in our house liked it much.  Then the power went out and we didn't get to see the rest.  I didn't like the main lady much, she seemed a little wooden and not so talented.  Oh well.

I guess I should watch the whole thing before I make this call!  :)