Tin Man is a three-part television miniseries reimagining of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It gives the story a heavy science fiction/fantasy emphasis and gives only allusive references to most of the original story. Produced by RHI Entertainment and Sci Fi Pictures original films, it was originally broadcast over three nights on the Sci Fi Channel between December 2, 2007 and December 4, 2007 at 9 pm Eastern. All three parts reaired on Sunday December 9, 2007 and December 24, 2007 from 5 pm Eastern to 11 pm Eastern on the same channel.

According to preliminary ratings data released by Nielsen Media Research, the first night of the miniseries averaged more than 6.3 million viewers from 9-11 p.m., making it the most-watched telecast in the network's history.

The miniseries can be viewed on the Sci Fi Channel web site. A DVD release has been announced for March 11, 2008.

Part 1

DG (Zooey Deschanel) is a waitress who has never felt like she fit in her small town life. Her dreams are plagued with strange visions of places she's never seen and a lavender-eyed woman warning her that a storm is coming. These dreams are realized when the sorceress Azkadellia (Kathleen Robertson), tyrannical ruler of the Outer Zone (O.Z.), sends her soldiers through a travel storm to kill DG, inadvertently dragging DG and her parents into the O.Z. Mistaken for a spy, she is captured and meets Glitch (Alan Cumming), a "headcase" whose brain has been removed by Azkadellia.

DG and Glitch manage to escape, and discover Cain (Neal McDonough), a former policeman ("Tin Man") who had been locked in an iron suit for denouncing Azkadellia's rule. They soon meet the fourth member of their group, a "Viewer" -- an empathic half-human, half-lion -- named Raw (Raoul Trujillo),whom they save from being eaten.

The group arrive at Milltown, where DG is reunited with her parents. She learns that her "parents" are actually robots who had been tasked to raise her by her real mother, the lavender-eyed woman of her dreams. DG is told to go Central City to meet the Mystic Man (Richard Dreyfuss), who has a message that will help her find her real mother.

The Mystic Man tells DG to go to the Northern Island, and there she finds the abandoned castle of the former Queen of the O.Z. They learn that Glitch was once the former Queen's advisor, DG is the daughter of the former Queen herself, and Azkadellia is DG's sister. As children, Azkadellia killed DG using dark magic, but the Queen revived her by light magic, and whispered to her instructions to find the "Emerald of the Eclipse", an item that Azkadellia has been searching for.

Azkadellia and her Longcoats confront the group at the castle. DG and Raw are captured, and Glitch is left for dead after a struggle. In a fight with the Longcoat leader Zero (Callum Keith Rennie), Cain learns that his family, whom he thought died years ago, are still alive. Zero shoots Cain in the heart and he falls out the castle window into the ice lake.

Part 2

At the Northern Island, Glitch and Cain are both alive, and journey back to Azkadellia's castle to rescue DG.

Azkadellia interrogates DG about the Emerald of the Eclipse, but the only clue she can get is that the Emerald is protected by the "Gray Gale". DG is placed in a cell adjacent to the Mystic Man's, and he tells her that now she has to go South. The Mystic Man is then killed by Azkadellia.

DG is released from her cell by a little dog, and she quickly finds Raw and is reunited with Cain and Glitch. After escaping Azkadellia's castle, the dog is revealed to be a shapeshifter named Tutor (whom DG as a child called "Toto"). The group head South, and the Toto is revealed to be a spy for Azkadellia, marking their path so that Azkadellia's flying monkeys may follow.

During their journey south to the lake country of Finaqua, the group again crosses the fields of the Papé, who were once farmers instead of hunters. DG rediscovers some of her magic by restoring one of the Papé's withered trees, after which the Papé leave the travelers in peace. The group meets some of the resistance, who help them cross a great chasm without alerting the Longcoats. In the south, Cain discovers the cabin where he was told his family had resettled, but he only finds his wife's grave and an empty iron suit. As they near Finaqua, Tutor is nearly discovered when Cain shoots and kills one of Azkadellia's mobats.

Arriving in Finaqua, more of DG's memories return. As children, she and Azkadellia were very close and loving, but that changed the day that DG found a cave in the Finaqua woods and accidentally released the spirit of an ancient, evil witch. Faced with danger, Azkadellia knew that if they stuck together and held hands, their combined magic could protect them from harm, but DG panicked and ran, resulting in Azkadellia being possessed by the evil witch.

DG is horrified by her recovered memory, realising that everything bad that has happened to the O.Z. is her fault.

Part 3

DG finds a magical recording left behind by her mother, which instructs her to go further south to find Ahamo, who is DG's father. Cain leads them to the Realm of the Unwanted, where Ahamo supposedly lives. Following their trail is Azkadellia, who also finds the recording and learns about Ahamo. The group learn that Tutor is a spy, but he insists that he wants to help, and he only dropped a few markers to buy DG time in order to relearn her magic. The others accept his company on the condition that he remain in his smaller, canine form.

The companions enter the Realm of the Unwanted and are told by a fortuneteller that only the Seeker can find Ahamo. The fortuneteller betrays the group to Zero and his Longcoats, and they are all captured except for DG, who is quickly snatched away by Seeker, and Toto, who in dog form follows DG's trail. The Longcoats march their prisoners out of the Realm of the Unwanted, but they are attacked by resistance fighters en route. The leader of the resistance is Cain's son, Jeb, who has become hardened following the death of his mother.

The resistance learns the rest of Azkadellia's plan from Zero. Her great machine is run by a brain codenamed Ambrose, which is Glitch's real name. Ambrose had designed a machine called a Sun Seeder, which was meant to extend the growing season in O.Z. Azkadellia removed his brain to get the plans and turn it into an Anti-Sun Seeder, which she will use to lock the O.Z.'s two suns behind the moon during the double eclipse, which is due to happen soon. After convincing Jeb not to murder Zero, Cain locks Zero in the empty iron suit and tells Jeb they will return for him in a few days if they succeed.

Although initially furious at her father for abandoning her mother, DG learns that he has been in hiding, preparing for her return. Ahamo gives her a magical compass, which DG uses to point toward the Emerald. Travelling by air balloon, they find the magical resting place of the entire royal family since past. Prominently featured is the mausoleum of Dorothy Gale, DG's "greatest great-grandmother" and the "first slipper" who traveled to the O.Z. from Earth. A gray apparition of Dorothy (i.e. The Gray Gale, complete with shiny slippers) gives D.G. the Emerald.

Before DG can escape with the Emerald, Azkadellia takes it and entombs her in a sarcophagus of green marble within the royal mausoleum. DG escapes using her magic, and is reunited with Glitch, Cain, Raw and Toto, and together they head back to Central City.

As the double eclipse nears totality, Azkadellia uses the Emerald's power to lock the suns in place behind the moon. DG tries to reason with her, encouraging her sister to fight back, invoking her memories of their love. Meanwhile, Cain, Glitch, and Raw are attempting to stop the Anti-Sun Seeder. Finally, Azkadellia clasps hands with DG, who pulls her free of the beam, separating her physical body from the spectral form of the old witch. The two sisters hold hands, their combined magic shielding them against the witch's attack until DG's companions are able to reverse the Sun Seeder pulse, causing her to melt.

The royal sisters are reunited with their mother and father. Together with Cain, Glitch and Raw, they watch the suns come out from behind the moon and bathe the O.Z. in "suns-light."

From Wikipedia