Tin Man

:

Season 1
Metascore
53

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 20
  3. Negative: 5 out of 20
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Critic Reviews

  1. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    60
    The miniseries' trite finish falls short of capturing the amazement we felt the first time we saw Judy Garland bring Dorothy to life.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    58
    Unfortunately, Robertson's heaving bodice is her most expressive aspect; this miniseries needed a villain with a wicked sense of humor, but she and the rest of Tin Man are dour and punitive.
  3. Newark Star-Ledger
    Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    50
    Some of the performances are good, particularly by Deschanel (who gets to sing near the end, good news for anyone who saw "Elf"), McDonough and Cumming, but solid acting and monkeys flying out of, um, someplace aren't enough to justify spending six hours over three nights on a labored attempt to make a classic children's story seem grown-up and cool.
  5. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    50
    Replacing "Oz"'s joyfully timeless charm with perverse irony and nightmarish, hallucinatory imagery makes this three-night miniseries more of a lavishly quirky curiosity than a keeper.
  6. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    40
    Tin Man proves a bit of a mess. Sci Fi has done well with minis in December, but despite the intriguing concept three consecutive nights of this adventure falls several Yellow Bricks shy of a load.
  7. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Ray Richmond
    40
    While the preening and the chewed scenery from the cast are at times glorious to behold, there is no substance to wrap our heads around, no one to really root for
  8. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Tom Shales
    40
    Peeps of sentimentality only serve to emphasize the film's uneven mix of the sardonic and the heartfelt. Tin Man unfortunately seems as bereft of an efficiently functioning ticker as is the titular character himself.

Awards & Rankings

63
#63 Best TV Season of 2007
25
#25 Most Discussed TV Season of 2007
14
#14 Most Shared TV Season of 2007

User Reviews

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User Score
6.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 103 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 62 out of 103
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 103
  3. Negative: 27 out of 103
  1. LeZee
    Aug 31, 2014
    8
    The main concept was borrowed from 'Wizard of the Oz', but a modernized with the three episode tale. The director is not a stranger to me,The main concept was borrowed from 'Wizard of the Oz', but a modernized with the three episode tale. The director is not a stranger to me, because I liked his previous television mini series 'Neverland'. That was another reason why ended up watching this one. As far my observations, this director is very creative because he just takes the original concept as an inspiration and improvises it. Those were really the good work to build something around the original idea and somewhere he overlaps between the two to make a connection. In an understandable way to say, his TV mini series all were kind of unofficial prequels or sequels to the original classic fantasy tales.

    DG is a small town waitress that she's not happy to spend her rest of the life there. She always dreamt to escape it in search of a cheerful life. Like a wish come true, one night a storm take her to a land called OZ. It is a paradise, but affected by a magical spell cast by the evil force. She meets the people who suffered from the evil queen's outrage. Later she comes to know the reason she was brought there and her involvement in the ongoing issues in OZ. The present and the past both were simultaneously narrated about what happened and is happening and what should be done to stop the bad things. So the Dg's journey commences accompanied by a few men who help her to travel safe.

    ‘‘I'd shoot you in the heart if I thought you had one.’’

    The film had lots of upgrading items, like it was set in the modern world still the main character hop into the magical world called OZ. Here the OZ is abbreviated from 'Outer Zone'. All the three episodes were so good, each of them had twists at the end. The story was unexpectedly good, the fan of the original tale will definitely love it. The concept of protagonist and antagonist was built on a reasonable plan that will probably satisfy most of us at the end. It can be viewed by all ages. No silly costumes for the characters like from the storybooks. As it was a television product the quality was normal standard.

    Of course the technology and other options were easily fetchable, but the filmmaker used all the computer related resources in a limit. It's not like that they can't offer it, but to keep everything simple. I loved everyone's performances. In fact, Kathleen Robertson, who was in a negative role impressed a lot than the Zooey Deschanel. No one had the tough stunts in the movie, but felt that Zooey Deschanel had not comfortable with them. The guest appearance of the original tale was a surprise. Overall, it is the movie, a must see by the 'Wizard of the Oz' fans. A few things you must remember before giving it a try. It was kind of an sci-fi-fantasy, but the story and twists were the highlights.    … Full Review »
  2. Tss5078
    Feb 22, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. Several years ago, the SyFy channel decided to take a crack at re-inventing the classic Wizard of Oz, a noble task, that many have tried and failed. I didn't know what to expect, but I assumed it would be some variation of the classic tale, hoping it would be more the like books and less like the films. Tin Man is defiantly not for kids and takes a unique approach to the classic story. In this version, OZ is not the friendly loveable place with strange characters and happy times for all. It's a dark story, about a dark place, where presently there is a lot of pain and misery. The big twist in the story is that this OZ is centuries past the one visited by Dorothy Gale. In the Outer Zone (O.Z.), Dorothy Gale is a revered as the start of the royal families bloodline, but she has been dead for centuries! That being said, quite ingeniously, the future residents of the O.Z. parallel the old story, but not because they have to, they are in a sense mocking the original story in subtle ways. There's D.G. (Zooey Deschanel), the girl from the other side, who was forced into the O.Z., with no memory of ever having been there before. She soon meets Glitch, (Alan Cummings) a man who had part of his brain removed for disobeying the Queen. As they try to figure out what is happening around them, they run into a man (Neal McDonough) being punished in a Tin Man suit. This man was a Cop or Tin Man in the O.Z. who was deemed a threat, and put into this horrible form of torture. Finally, they come to the rescue of a native healer, named Raw (Raoul Trujillo), who has become trapped by carnivores and is about to become dinner. Together they go to see the wise man, to find out how to proceed in helping D.G. The Wise Man (Richard Dreyfuss) turns out to be a drugged out magician doing parlor tricks! There are a million other parallels to the original story that make the journey through the O.Z. that much more enjoyable. Zooey Deschanel is the star and even though people often mistake her unique style of acting for inexperience, she was the perfect choice to play D.G. The other standout is veteran character actor, Neal McDonough, who gives a gut wrenching and strong performance as the tortured former cop, in search of his family. The rest of the supporting cast was equally as impressive, taking you through the full range of emotions. As I said before, this is certainly not the OZ you grew up with and it's certainly not what I expected. Everything from the special effects, to the story, and even the modernization, was extremely impressive. It really is a shame that this was only a three part mini-series, but this would have made for one hell of a regular series. Some of the parallels are obvious, but there were plenty of times where I legitimately forgot that I was watching The Wizard of Oz. Leave the musical for the kid, this is what Frank Baum had in mind when he started this series, and it's most defiantly meant for mature audiences only.… Full Review »
  3. NealeB
    Dec 16, 2009
    1
    I must say I find this show inspiring, only in that I'm now inspired to take up writing myself, because certainly I couldn't I must say I find this show inspiring, only in that I'm now inspired to take up writing myself, because certainly I couldn't possibly write anything worse than this foetid piece of steaming manure. Touted as a re-imaganing of "The Wizard of OZ", this is in fact a no-imaganing by this show's producers and writers in a shameless attempt to cash in on a classic. The story line does not even raise itself to the level of infantile, the characters lack any dimension whatsoever and the acting, particularly by Zooey Deschanel, is quite simply appalling. Unfortunately, this show's producers still labour under the illusion that if you give viewers enough CGI razzamatazz they won't notice the complete lack of substance in every other aspect of the production. All I can hope for is that whoever produced this abysmal excuse for entertainment is promptly taken by a twister to a universe so far removed from ours that there will never be anything else produced by them in this universe and inflicted upon the viewing public under the guise of entertainment.… Full Review »
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