In 1982 the world was a completely different place. Where you now have LARPing, gaming cosplay and conventions, back then you had small groups of kids who enjoyed fantasy adventure games like Dungeons and Dragons, played out of the way of polite society, usually in a basement. Of course parenting was different too, nowadays it's not really an issue to have your kids hooked into the latest fantasy adventure film, back in Reagen-era America there was a worry that games like D&D would cause serious harm to your children's (to quote Eric Cartman) fragile little minds. This made for TV film explores just that, the effects of getting too engrossed in a fantasy world.
I understand that back in '82 this film missed the mark with it's fearful and sensationalist approach to subject matter, the same can be said about the film now. It has not aged well and is completely ridiculous. It feels like a propaganda piece made for the fearful Reagan-era America rather than a film to entertain. We follow Tom Hanks in one of his first roles as his life descends into chaos in a world which is far too adult and grown up for him. Starting out as as an innocent game with his college buddies the game soon moves underground into some off-limit caverns. He is 'wet behind the ears' as he wanders around a seedy New York, not knowing the dangers that he is never too far away from. It is established early on that Robbie has psychological issues and cannot separate fantasy from reality, but ultimately, it is the problem solving from the game that gets him back to relative safety.
This is a TV film which moves quite slowly, it is not really that engaging, and I found myself getting bored and distracted throughout. On the other hand, it does not require much thinking either, so I was able to pick things up again with ease. The truth here is that the draw to the film is probably Tom Hanks, he does a decent job in his first real film and manages to convey various emotions throughout. Unfortunately, I do not have many plaudits for the film itself and would not be in a rush to recommend it. I have watched it and endured it just to say I have seen it, but I won't be in a rush to even consider watching it again.
I understand that back in '82 this film missed the mark with it's fearful and sensationalist approach to subject matter, the same can be said about the film now. It has not aged well and is completely ridiculous. It feels like a propaganda piece made for the fearful Reagan-era America rather than a film to entertain. We follow Tom Hanks in one of his first roles as his life descends into chaos in a world which is far too adult and grown up for him. Starting out as as an innocent game with his college buddies the game soon moves underground into some off-limit caverns. He is 'wet behind the ears' as he wanders around a seedy New York, not knowing the dangers that he is never too far away from. It is established early on that Robbie has psychological issues and cannot separate fantasy from reality, but ultimately, it is the problem solving from the game that gets him back to relative safety.
This is a TV film which moves quite slowly, it is not really that engaging, and I found myself getting bored and distracted throughout. On the other hand, it does not require much thinking either, so I was able to pick things up again with ease. The truth here is that the draw to the film is probably Tom Hanks, he does a decent job in his first real film and manages to convey various emotions throughout. Unfortunately, I do not have many plaudits for the film itself and would not be in a rush to recommend it. I have watched it and endured it just to say I have seen it, but I won't be in a rush to even consider watching it again.