The Wizard (film)

Infobox Film
name = The Wizard


caption = DVD case for "The Wizard".
director = Todd Holland
producer = David Chisholm
Ken Topolsky
writer = David Chisholm
starring = Fred Savage
Luke Edwards
Christian Slater
Beau Bridges
Jenny Lewis
Will Seltzer
Frank McRae
music = J. Peter Robinson
cinematography = Robert D. Yeoman
editing = Tom Finan
distributor = Universal Pictures
released = December 15 1989(USA)
runtime = 100 min.
language = English
budget =
gross =$14,278,900 (USA)
imdb_id = 0098663

"The Wizard", also known as "Joy Stick Heroes", is a 1989 movie starring Fred Savage, Luke Edwards, and Jenny Lewis. The film follows three runaway children as they travel to California so the youngest, who has a condition that makes him emotionally withdrawn, can compete in the Nintendo World Video Game Championships. The movie was North America's introduction to one of the best-selling video games of all time, "Super Mario Bros. 3".cite web| title=Gamecubicle.com Super Mario Sales data| url =http://www.gamecubicle.com/features-mario-units_sold_sales.htm| accessdate = 2007-10-09]

It has been released on DVD on August 22, 2006.

Plot

Jimmy (Edwards) is a young boy who has suffered from a serious mental disorder ever since his twin sister drowned in a river. He doesn't interact with anyone, he spends most of his time building things out of blocks or boxes, and he always carries his lunchbox with him. He tried to run away to California many times. The trauma of the drowning and Jimmy's condition has broken up his family: He lives with his mother and stepfather, while his half-brothers Corey (Savage) and Nick (Christian Slater) live with their father (Beau Bridges). When Jimmy is put into an institution, Corey breaks him out and runs away with him to California. They are followed by Putnam, a greedy, sleazy private investigator (Will Seltzer) hired by the mother and stepfather, and also by Corey's father and older brother, who compete to find the boys and sabotage each other's efforts.

Along the way, they meet a girl named Haley (Lewis), who is trying to get home to Reno. Noticing that Jimmy has an innate skill at playing video games, Haley agrees to help the two reach Los Angeles to participate in a video game tournament with a cash prize of $50,000, in exchange for half 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 teenage boy who intimidates Jimmy by showing off his Power Glove and his skills at "Rad Racer", claiming he is also entering the championships.

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 a trucker friend, they use money won at the craps tables to train Jimmy on several games in the Reno arcades, using Play Choice 10 machines. They then head to the Championships at Universal Studios Theme Park, where the game played in the preliminaries is "Ninja Gaiden". Jimmy qualifies as a finalist, but is pointed out to the private investigator by Lucas (also a finalist) and the three are chased throughout the park, barely making it to the finals. The game in the finals is "Super Mario Bros. 3", which at the time had not been released in the US (it was only available in Japan), and Jimmy wins the tournament at the last second.

The family finally caught up to the children during the finals of the tournament. Although Putnam is not invited back, as he is fired for his delays and bad deeds. On the drive home, they stop at the Cabazon Dinosaurs, a tourist trap at which the family often stopped when they vacationed in California. Jimmy gets very excited, as this is the place he wanted to go to all along. It turns out that when he said he wanted to go to California, he meant that he wanted to go to the Cabazon Dinosaurs in particular, but he didn't know how to describe them any better than "California." He associates the Dinosaurs with his sister, with whom he visited them in the past, and he leaves his lunchbox, which contains photographs and other mementos of his sister, inside one of the dinosaurs.

Reception

The movie was not well received by critics, receiving a 36% (rotten) rating at Rotten Tomatoes.cite web| title=Rotten Tomatoes| url =http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wizard/| accessdate = 2007-09-07 ] Many commented it was little more than a 90-minute commercial for Nintendo games and Universal Studios Hollywood. Also, many of the situations the children find themselves in, such as walking alone down desert highways or hanging out outside of casinos, are implausible or even dangerous situations.cite web| title=rogerebert.com| url =http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19891215/REVIEWS/912150304/1023| accessdate = 2007-09-07 ] cite web| title=Washington Post| url =http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/wizard.htm| accessdate = 2007-09-06 ] Many video game players find the movie amusing, however, because of its campiness.who?

The movie is infamous for the number of video game related errors contained within. Some were so blatant that even those unfamiliar with video games, such as critic Roger Ebert, were able to notice them. These errors include a statement about how Jimmy hasn't taken any damage in the game he's playing (despite the screen showing damage being taken) and claimed high scores not matching what is shown on the screen (50,000 on Double Dragon during title screen). There are also many technical errors, such as the video game's background music not matching the action on the screen (they are pre-recorded videos of others playing), games continuing to play without people controlling them, and systems shutting off without the power supply being affected (by pulling out a controller, etc.) Fact|date=July 2008

References

External links

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