Tin Man: Season 1
  • Network: Syfy
  • Series Premiere Date: Dec 2, 2007
  • Season #: 1
Metascore
54 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critics

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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  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    30
    It's a dour retelling of the L. Frank Baum story, and it just keeps sinking further and further into pointless thematic complexity and visual density.
  2. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    30
    Writers Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle are certainly inventive, if inventive can mean willing-to-crib-from-sci-fi-culture-past, but the Tin Man story doesn't hang together well.
  3. San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa Times
    Reviewed by: Charlie McCollum
    30
    Baum's work almost collapses under the weight of a misguided re-interpretation.
  4. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Doug Elfman
    25
    The execution of "Tin Man" is flat, flatter, flattest. The dialogue is utilitarian, except when it's "Dungeons and Dragons" cliche.
  5. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Linda Stasi
    12
    There is a point to this mess, but what it is, I can't say.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 97 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 68
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 68
  3. Negative: 23 out of 68
  1. Tss5078
    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 »
  2. NealeB
    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 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 »
  3. brucem
    7
    I liked the characters although the ending was convoluted and wanting also Zooey seems out of it and the tin man character over acts the violence just did not fit… Full Review »
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