The Wizard (1989)

Director:

Todd Holland

Writer (WGA):

David Chisholm (written by)

Release Date:

15 December 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

They're on a cross-country adventure to the world's greatest video championship. It's more than a game...it's the chance of a lifetime.

Plot:

A boy and his two friends run away from home and hitch cross country to compete in the ultimate video game championship.

Plot Keywords:

Video Game | Championship | Cross Country | Young Boy | Nintendo

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Luke Edwards	...	Jimmy Woods / The Wizard
Vince Trankina	...	Tate (as Vincent Leahr)
Wendy Phillips	...	Christine Bateman
Dea McAllister	...	Councelor
Sam McMurray	...	Bateman
Beau Bridges	...	Sam Woods
Fred Savage	...	Corey Woods
Christian Slater	...	Nick Woods
Will Seltzer	...	Putnam
Roy Conrad	...	Bus Clerk
Jenny Lewis	...	Haley
Roderick Dexter	...	Trucker #1
Ray Bickel	...	Trucker #2
Chuck Skinner	...	Grease Monkey
W.K. Cowan	...	Salesman #1

Runtime:

USA:100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (1994) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:L | USA:PG | West Germany:6 | UK:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Cabazon, California, USA

Company:

Finnegan/Pinchuk Productions

Trivia:

Participating theaters would distribute issues of "Pocket Power" a pocket-sized version of "Nintendo Power" magazine.

Goofs:

Continuity: About 33 minutes into the movie, we see Corey, Jimmy, and Haley catching a ride in the back of a blue pick-up truck with some Navajo Indians, one of whom introduces himself in Navajo language. However, if you look closely at an earlier scene at the 27:30 mark, we see them getting out of the same truck with the same Indians. There is a continuity error here because the kids had parted ways with the truck after the first scene and got a ride with a biker gang. The two aforementioned scenes were obviously shot together and the editors overlooked or ignored this continuity problem.

Quotes:

Putnam: I want all of your driver's license numbers! Every one of ya! I want your driver's license numbers!
Spankey: So you touched her breast, huh?
Putnam: Oh, my God! All right! All right! Let's not lose our tempers. It's very hot...
[silenced by a punch from Spankey]

Movie Connections:

References Ninja ryûkenden (1988) (VG)

Soundtrack:

I Live By The Groove

A Sentimental Favorite

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.