The Wizard (1989)
Genre: Comedy / Family
Duration: 99 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Todd Holland
Stars: Fred Savage, Beau Bridges and Luke Edwards
IMDb score:
6,1 (17.728)
Releasedate: 15 December 1989
The Wizard plot
"It's more than a game...it's the chance of a lifetime."
Corey (Savage), kidnaps his emotionally disturbed brother from a home. Together they travel halfway across the country and they meet Haley. Corey and Haley discover that the little one has a gift for video games. The three of them head to California where a video game competition is being held, chased by concerned parents.
Actors and actresses
Jimmy
Tate
Christine
Counselor
Bateman
Sam
Corey
Nick
Putnam
Bus Clerk
Reviews & comments
StevenMighty
-
- 312 messages
- 275 votes
A nice, beautiful film that I have seen again.
I used to absolutely want to see it because of the latest games of that time that it contained, such as Double Dragon, TMNT and Super Mario Bros 2 & 3. Games that we played at home, so that was recognizable. 
I think the story of the film itself is well thought out. A road movie about 3 young children who fled to California and took part in a games event there. Along the way they encounter several opponents and their parents and a detective are hot on their heels. Of course, all this makes for a film that will not get boring.
Fred Savage, who at that time already played very nicely in The Wonderyears, was also good in this, little Jimmy very faithfully portrayed an autistic child and also quite big names such as Christian Slater and Beau Bridges, that is always good.
The final match itself was very unbelievable with how the scores went at a certain moment. For example, in real life the score in Super Mario Bros 3 does not get a boost at all by using the flute to warp, which was the case in the movie.
Definitely a film to see if you like retro video games and/or family films.
3.5 stars
Translated from Dutch · View original
thoyouknow1980
-
- 171 messages
- 172 votes
Made for me
Very special film for me, and as a little boy at the time it was wonderfully good.
My love for games was already there and when I saw this one I was enchanted
It's about a boy who participates in a Mario Bross 3 competition.
Maybe not so good for everyone, but very decisive and special for me.
Not available on DVD by the way, that's a shame☹
By the way, there is a very nice video clip available online SEND ME AN ANGEL THE WIZARD.
This movie will be in my heart forever❤
Translated from Dutch · View original
FlorisV
-
- 1869 messages
- 803 votes
Wonderful eighties film. Autistic boy turns out to have a talent for computer games and enters a big competition.
As a former owner of the 8-bit console, I take the shameless advertising for Nintendo for granted. Super Mario 3 was shown for the first time in this film, clever marketing. I had to laugh a bit at the number of girls they showed as participants in the competition...that would actually only be a fraction, nowadays there are more female gamers but they are still heavily in the minority.
We still see beautiful snapshots of the often desolate environment, apparently Utah, it is partly a road movie.
Fortunately, at the end there is a bit of depth in an otherwise very simple story. I found the least credible the red-haired girl (Jenny Lewis) who was apparently allowed to go wherever she wanted without concerned parents.
A number of well-known names participate: Beau Bridges, the brother of Christian Slater (not too big a role) and Fred Savage from Wonder Years. Jenny Lewis was only 13 here but was already clearly growing into something. She later became a singer.
As far as the music in the film is concerned, Send me an Angel from Real Life is a nice one, during the scene with the bikers.
Nothing special but just fun for those who want to get a taste of the atmosphere of Stranger Things, all the ingredients are there, except the monsters.
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