When Cinema Becomes a Theme Park Ride: My Uneasy Delight at The Wizard of Oz at Sphere
Sphere, Las Vegas
Greg Ehrhardt, OnScreen Blog Editor
It was with great excitement, and a bit of trepidation, that I visited The Sphere in Las Vegas to experience The Wizard of Oz in all its spherical glory. I can safely report that, yes, it is an experience that most Las Vegas tourists and The Wizard of Oz fans should behold, if you have $125 to spare (or much more, depending on your seat).
The Wizard of Oz is a movie I respect, but it does not hold a particularly dear place in my reservoir of nostalgia. It is that quality that made me curious about whether The Sphere could make me more enthralled with the 86-year-old movie than even the Wicked movie adaptation could pull off. After all, besides providing sheer entertainment, it is possible that this specific AI-enhanced adaptation could engage moviegoers like me more with the story on its 1939 terms (with 2025 enhancements), perhaps more so than a traditional remake or screening.
To that end, did this succeed? Yes and No.
It succeeded in immersing the audience more deeply in the world of Kansas and Oz. The screen of the Sphere extends far above your head and (depending on your seat) behind you, thus putting you on the set and in the world with Dorothy and the friends (and foes) she meets along the way to the Emerald City. This new background is all AI-generated, and obviously so, even if you didn’t know any better, but it is effective nonetheless. It also generated a sense of motion within its story, drawing you in at times closer to Dorothy and the supporting characters, making you feel as though you’re moving on set. Theme parks usually apply this trick on faster terms, but this was more subtle and more effective.
Besides immersion, the Sphere applied 4D effects more effectively than any small movie theatre has ever attempted, particularly in the tornado scene, where seats vibrate and massive fans blow simulated winds and fake leaves throughout the theatre, once again pulling off the immersion without losing the effect of watching a movie.
The Sphere couldn’t go to the same well too many times (there’s only so many ways to vibrate your seats), so it employed more practical effects throughout the movie. (If you want to avoid spoilers, I recommend skipping the next paragraph.)
Unfortunately, as cool as it is to see practical effects like bubbles floating in the air, Styrofoam apples dropping from the ceiling, or actual flying monkeys flying through the arena, these effects amount to more of a distraction than an immersive experience. When the apples drop from the ceiling, the audience is left wanting to try to catch one, rather than watching the movie unfold or trying to spot more flying monkeys in the arena, instead of watching Dorothy escape them. If you’ve seen The Wizard of Oz a dozen or more times, this won’t matter, but for new audiences, this will do nothing but provide visceral thrills instead of absorbing the weight of the story unfolding in front of them.
The Sphere did not overuse its bag of immersion tricks. Much of the experience is enjoying The Wizard of Oz on a gigantic screen with enhanced modern visuals.
Still, this experience has me worried about the future of movies, because while there will (likely) only be one Sphere in the US, some movie chain will eventually replicate this on a much smaller scale. Will the future of movies be presented as a Universal Studios ride? Is that a bad thing, especially when dealing with a film that's over 80 years old?
I don’t have answers to either of those questions yet, but I know, based on the success this has been for The Sphere, we are certainly getting more of it. (The first movie that came to mind for the Sphere treatment was The Lord of the Rings, but the second was weirdly Rocky. Can you imagine an AI-enhanced Rocky presentation where you could see Rocky fight Apollo with AI-added crowds filling up the arena, loudly cheering and chanting? I’m a cynic when it comes to AI and cinema, but even I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about that.)
Sphere, Las Vegas
Some people are worried movies will become more about spectacle than story. This doesn’t bother me much because movies have always tried to be about spectacle; it was just a matter of what technology would allow. The 1974 movie Earthquake used Sensurround to simulate the shaking of seats, as just one example.
The more interesting question is whether immersion will become an audience expectation and requirement for future movies? Theaters might welcome it, as it would be hard to pull off at home (outside of widespread adoption of VR).
In summary, I enjoyed The Sphere: Wizard of Oz, particularly how well it immersed me in both Kansas and Oz, and how it incorporated 4D elements. What makes me nervous about the future of this type of entertainment is how it trained me to look for the next distraction instead of paying attention to the movie itself, much like modern amusement park thrill rides.
This trend may very well represent an amusement park ride; thrilling at first, but there’s no reaching the initial highest peak after it's gone. Hopefully, it doesn’t make us sick by the end.
