The Wizard

i first saw the wizard back in 1990. i still like it today. to go with the video game plot there is a plot that's bigger than that in this movie.about a kid that almost never talks,and tries to leave on the road a lot.his half brother cares about him more than anybody else does. they both go on a road trip by walking,and sometimes hitching to cali.along the way they pick-up a young teenage girl.that gives them the idea that the kid is good at playing video games,and that they should go to los angeles to enter him in a video game contest if he wins they would'en wanna keep him in a home.the family of the kids brother is after him riding in a truck.also a private investagater hired by the kids mom is also going after him. it is an entertaining movie,and sometimes funny.all in all it's a really fun movie.i give it *** out of ****

If you were born between the years 1974 and 1984 and were as obsessed as most of us were about Nintendo games, you will enjoy this movie. Yes, the plot is predictable and cheesy and the writing leaves a lot to be desired, but I guarantee if you fall into the above group, you will enjoy regressing back to 1989 where having "all 97 games," and "the power glove (it's so bad...)" were major status symbols. If you don't fall into this group, or couldn't really care less about old video games, then you should probably pass on this film. But for the rest of us, (I used to watch the commercial for this film just to get a glimpse at Super Mario Bros. 3) watch it and enjoy it time after time.

THE WIZARD is a sentimental favorite for anyone who raced home after school to turn on their gray and black Nintendo Entertainment Systems. For this set, born in the late '70s and early '80s, the excitement in the air was palpable when previews for the film appeared on TV. It not only combined our two favorite entertainment vehicles -- Nintendo and movies -- but also provided a thrilling sneak preview of the year's most anticipated game, Super Mario Bros. 3. NES geeks (of course they weren't geeks back then... Nintendo was cool) thought they'd died and gone to eight-bit heaven.

When we finally got mom and dad to take us to the theater or pick up the video, THE WIZARD was every bit as good as we'd hoped. Critics almost universally panned it as a 90-minute Nintendo commercial, but young viewers were enthralled. (Besides... a 90-minute Nintendo commercial wasn't exactly an awful thing!). The film combined very human storytelling with hardy laughs and wide-eyed exhilaration. It gave us playground catchphrases (Lucas with "I love the Power Glove. It's so bad" and Jimmy with "Calli-forn-ya... Calli-forn-ya!") Sure the highlight was all the cool video game-related stuff, but video games were a big part of our lives, one that our parents just didn't understand. The people who made this movie, whatever their intentions, did.

Most eight- or nine- or ten-year-olds who caught THE WIZARD upon release would give it two big thumbs up, if not the Oscar for Best Picture of All-Time. Of course we're not eight or nine or ten anymore, and THE WIZARD, in hindsight, is not actually a cinematic masterpiece. But nor is it the sort of mindless junk that stuffy critics would have us believe. The film is actually a sweet, harmless cross-country adventure. It has laughs (who could forget Haley's scream of "He touched my breast!" to ward off the hapless Putnam?) and emotion (Jimmy's reflections of his late sister are undeniably heartbreaking). And the video game competition finale holds up surprisingly well even with the novelty of the Super Mario Bros. 3 footage long worn off.

Beyond that, THE WIZARD carries deeper meanings that children can pick up on. Jimmy, the autistic video game prodigy, demonstrates that all of us, regardless of our limitations, possess marvelous gifts. Putnam, the cold-hearted family services worker trying to take Jimmy away, helps illustrate that families are what matter. And the villainous Lucas is an example of how we should treat our enemies: with dignity and by letting our actions speak louder than our words, as Jimmy does. Okay, it's not exactly Nietzsche, but it's not total fluff, either.

THE WIZARD is not the greatest movie of all-time. It's probably not even a great movie. But it is a special period piece, a reminder of a simpler time when our only worry in the world was passing math and knocking off goombas. It will forever hold a special place in the hearts of many.

A touching drama about a young boy's quest to help his autistic younger brother and a troubled young girl they meet along the way running from her own demons.....

Okay, so it's mostly just a 90 minute commercial for Super Mario Brothers 3, but it's also a great road movie with plenty of classic 80's quotable material ("I love the Power Glove. It's so bad."). It has a good soundtrack as well.

I think if a person sees the film for the first time nowadays they might not enjoy it as much as those who saw the film growing up and enjoy that oh so good feeling of nostalgia.

This movie explores the depths of human emotions. It incorporates dramatic struggles ranging from a family being ripped apart because of a divorce (all too common in this work-a-day society), and a complex friendship being stretched to the limit because of the legendary California Videogame Championship. Corey and Jimmy are half-brothers. Jimmy has a dead twin sister. Mom has a new boyfriend. Dad owns a landscaping business. Throw in Christian Slater as a bad-ass older brother, a love triangle with three 13 year olds, the power-glove, and the song "Send Me and Angel" by Real Life and you have 1 intense peice of cinema. Watch out for cameos by the black dude from Batteries Not Included*, a guy with the same voice as Dicky Barrett, and Las Vegas. I've seen this movie over 3 times, and I still get chills when Corey and Jimmy have to sleep in Goblin Valley. Damn.