Thanks for the link, @pt100 . Yes, that tornado was really creepy. It really weirded me out when I first saw it as a kid. Another neat effect was the stuff seen in the Wicked Witch's crystal ball.

It's impressive how well really everything about this movie still totally holds up, from casting and performances, to special effects, costuming and make-up, set design and decorating, etc. Likewise, of course, the tunes.

I infinitely prefer the look of the special effects in this movie to what we see nowadays in new/recent movies that - yes - have splashy special effects, but that are so obviously CGI.

I completely agree. Along with King Kong and The Thief of Baghdad, this is one of those movies from the early days of talkies whose visuals still dazzle today. One can only imagine how eye-popping they must have appeared to audiences at the time:

This movie, in 1939, must have been sensory-overload inducing, there being so much about it that audiences weren't used to seeing back then.

It seems incredible that this actually is a film from 80 years ago, as it continues to exude so much life, vibrancy, and imagination, and certainly doesn't seem in any type way "backwards".

@genplant29 said:

I infinitely prefer the look of the special effects in this movie to what we see nowadays in new/recent movies that - yes - have splashy special effects, but that are so obviously CGI.

I recently watched an interview w/an actor who was bemoaning the fact that even though something done in a recent movie was NOT a CGI effect, audiences will probably assume it was, and will shrug it off as such.