The Wizard (1989 film)

The Wizard (also known as Joy Stick Heroes in Germany, Sweet Road in Japan, The Video Game Genius in Brazil, Vidéokid in France, Game Over in Finland and Gameboy in Sweden) is a 1989 adventure comedy-drama film starring Fred Savage, Luke Edwards, and Jenny Lewis. The film follows three children as they travel to California. The youngest of the three is emotionally withdrawn with a gift for playing video games. The Wizard is famous for its numerous references to video games and accessories for the Nintendo Entertainment System and has been called a feature length commercial. The film was also well known for being North America's introduction to what would become one of the best-selling video games of all time, Super Mario Bros. 3. Over time, the film has gained somewhat of a cult following.

Plot
Jimmy Woods (Luke Edwards) is a young boy who has suffered from an unnamed, but serious mental disorder (strongly implied to be autism) ever since his twin sister Jennifer drowned in a river two years earlier. He doesn't interact with anyone, spending most of his time building things out of blocks or boxes, and he always carries his lunch box with him. He's determined to go to "California", at first nearly the only word he can say since the tragedy. The trauma of the drowning and Jimmy's condition has broken up his family: he lives with his mother Christine Bateman and stepfather, while his half-brothers Corey (Fred Savage) and Nick (Christian Slater) live with their father Sam (Beau Bridges). When Jimmy is put into an institution, Corey breaks him out and runs away with him to California. Christine and her husband hire Putnam (Will Seltzer), a greedy and sleazy runaway-child bounty hunter, to only bring back Jimmy, who competes with Sam and Nick to find the boys and sabotage each other's efforts.

Along the way, they meet a girl named Haley (Jenny Lewis), who is on her way home to Reno. Discovering that Jimmy has an innate skill at playing video games, Haley (who nicknames him "the Wizard") tells them about "Video Armageddon", a video game tournament with a cash prize of $50,000. She then agrees to help the two reach Los Angeles to participate in it for a cut of the money. By doing so, they hope to prove that Jimmy doesn't need to live in an institution. The trio hitchhike across the country, using Jimmy's skill and appearance to hustle people out of their money by playing video games. Along the way, they encounter Lucas Barton (Jackey Vinson), a popular preteen big shot who shows off his Power Glove and his skills at Rad Racer, declaring he is also entering the tournament.

They finally arrive in Reno, where it is revealed that Haley wants her share of the prize money to help her father buy a house. With the help of an acquaintance trucker, Spankey (Frank McRae), they use money won at the craps tables to train Jimmy on several games in the Reno arcades, using Nintendo PlayChoice-10 machines. At the tournament, which is held at Universal Studios Hollywood, Jimmy qualifies as a finalist after a preliminary round of Ninja Gaiden. The Woodses and Batemans convenes at the tournament, as well as Putnam, who chases the kids through the park and almost causes Jimmy to miss the final round. Jimmy competes with two other finalists, including Lucas, in a game of Super Mario Bros. 3, which at the time had not been released in the United States, and wins the tournament at the last second after finding a Warp Whistle.

On the way back home, the family passes by the Cabazon Dinosaurs, a tourist trap, and Jimmy becomes so excited and restless that they pull over. He runs from the car up into one of the dinosaurs, his family in pursuit. Inside, Jimmy takes from his lunchbox one of his pictures of Jennifer, taken at the foot of the dinosaur with the rest of the family during a vacation, and Corey realizes that he simply wanted to leave his sister's mementos in a place where she would be happy. He leaves the lunchbox inside the dinosaur and, at Christine's request, Sam drives the boys and Haley home.

Soundtrack

 * BoDeans – "You Don't Get Much"
 * Patsy Cline – "Leavin' on Your Mind"
 * BoDeans – "Red River"
 * New Kids on the Block – "You Got It (The Right Stuff)"
 * Real Life – "Send Me an Angel '89"
 * New Kids on the Block – "Hangin' Tough"
 * Martha & The Vandellas – "Nowhere to Run"
 * Paul Carrack – "I Live by the Groove"
 * Bobby Brown – "Don't Be Cruel"
 * Paul Anka – "My Way"
 * Sally Dworsky – "I Found My Way"

Reception
The movie received negative reviews from some critics, who considered it little more than a 100-minute commercial for Nintendo games and Universal Studios Hollywood. Roger Ebert reviewed it as "a cynical exploitation film with a lot of commercial plugs" and "insanely overwritten and ineptly filmed" Washington Post staff writer Rita Kempley opined that the movie was "tacky and moribund." The Wizard holds a 24% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, the movie was popular enough to receive cult film status and to receive a reunion screening from Ain't It Cool News at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX on December 7th, 2007. Stars Fred Savage and Luke Edwards were in attendance along with director Todd Holland to take questions from those nostalgic fans in attendance.

Box office
The movie debuted at No.5.

Release history
The Wizard was released on VHS and Laserdisc three times, in 1990, 1992 and 1997. It was first released on DVD in Region 2 on February 2, 2001 and finally in the US and Canada (Region 1) on August 22, 2006.

Games featured

 * Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
 * China Gate
 * Contra
 * Dr. Chaos
 * Double Dragon
 * F-1 Dream
 * Mega Man 2
 * Metroid
 * Ninja Gaiden
 * PlayChoice-10
 * Rad Racer
 * Rampage
 * Super Mario Bros. 2
 * Super Mario Bros. 3
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
 * Zelda II: The Adventure of Link