| | | | The Wizard
(1989) |
o you like playing computer games, think you're pretty good? bet you can't beat The Wizard.
If you enjoy 80s films then you'll get a nice kick out of this one, ignoring the fact some people (not me) think it's a 95 minute advertisment for Nintendo, the story's pretty good and the film keeps on going at a steady pace, not focusing on any specific style, a nice all-rounder.
The film starts off with a long distance shot of a kid walking along a dusty road in the middle of a desert, we find out that the kid, Jimmy Woods (played by Luke Edwards) is Autistic and is walking to California, along comes a plane and spots the kid who alerts the sheriff where the kid is, he's taken back to his mother where adults discuss putting into a home.
Cut to his half brothers, Corey (Fred Savage, played Kevin Arnold in The Wonder Years) & Nick (Christian Slater, played Jason in the '89 film Heathers) sitting at a table with dad (Beau Bridges, played Frank in the '89 film The Fabulous Baker Boys) arguing about why the pickup had mud on it and Corey trying to tell brother & dad that his half brother is going to be put in a home.
Jimmy is put into the home, Corey is in his room listening to his dad & brother still arguing about drinking and taking the pickup without permission, he decides to run away but where, so throws some darts at a map of America on his wall and one lands on California. Corey decides to disappear off to the home and take Jimmy to California with him.
Understandably the parents go nuts, Jimmy's mom & step-dad hire a bounty hunter guy to retrieve Jimmy, Corey's brother & dad decide to set off to find them too, but the bounty hunter doesn't like it because he won't get paid if he doesn't get to the kids first.
On their way to California, Corey puts Jimmy in front of a Double Dragon arcade machine and says "play" while he goes off to try and get bus tickets to LA, a police car pulls up outside and Corey grabs Jimmy away from the machine to hide but stops for a moment noticing Jimmy got 50,000 on Double Dragon. A girl (played by Jenny Lewis) sees what's going on and goes to find out why they're hiding from the police, the conversation turns to video games and Corey bets Haley that Jimmy can "wax your tail" at Double Dragon. Her tail is waxed and they all miss the bus because of the game playing. Waiting around for the next bus they discuss their options, Haley realises that Jimmy is a wizard and thinks there's no way they'd put Jimmy into a home if he won the big video game contest in LA.
From then on Haley teams up with the half-brothers and the film turns into a great road trip movie, hitching & stealing rides wherever possible. Along the way they get money up by hustling video game players, one video game player in particular, Lucas, who is extremely good with a powerglove says he's entering the contest too. Jimmy bottles out of the showdown when he saw how good Lucas was at video gaming.
The brother and dad are still mad at each other but start to get along (hey what's an 80s film without differences resolved?). They also run into the bounty hunter a few times with disasterous results, the bounty hunter plays nasty and tries to stop them from finding the kids, the dad retaliates by crashing his pickup into the guys car a few times.
Corey, Jimmy & Haley eventually get to a big city where Haley uses a friend of her dad's to win some money at a casino so they can get heaps of quarters for video games machines to train Jimmy up in 97 different video games in preparation for the big contest in LA. Whilst there the bounty hunter eventually tracks them down, they escape to Haley's home which appears to be in the middle of nowhere, the bounty hunter tracks them there, too and takes Jimmy. Haley calls a few friends and Jimmy is retrieved from the bounter hunter in great style (I won't spoil that bit for ya), then one of the friends gives the trio a lift to the Nintendo video game contest.
How does it end, does Jimmy win? I haven't given away the entire plot and I'm certainly not letting you know how it ended :)
 Don't forget that The Wizard is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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I loved this film and am kicking myself I didn't discover it years earlier, it has a real 80s film feel to it, a lot of fun in the style where the good guys win, the bad guys get ruffed up, inconsolable differences are dissolved, new friends are made and people go on a journey of discovery.
The kids play their parts well, the 'bad guys' parts are played just as well and if you were ever an early Nintendo fan then why haven't you seen this film before? (me, I'm more of a Sega fan)
It has to be said there are a few cringeworthy, "I can't believe he just said that" type lines, but without them the film just wouldn't be the same.
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Nintendo used this film to hype up the forthcoming (at the time) release of Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES, it sold 18 million copies worldwide when finally released, grossing $500 million. On top of all that Universal Studios paid Nintendo big licensing fees for the rights to use their products in the film. 
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The year after the release of this film Nintendo really did hold a national contest in America to find the "World Nintendo Champion". The winner and some runners up got to keep ultra-rare gold plated NES carts, I saw one that got bids of $6,000 on eBay once and the reserve wasn't met.
The Wizard was FINALLY, after years of petitioning, released on DVD in the United States in 2006. It preserves the films original widescreen format. -Thanks to Michael
Previous to the 2006 DVD release, the movie was only available in full screen format in Germany under a different name, "Joy Stick Heroes", and without the original English soundtrack.
If you visit the location of the dinosaurs from the final scene of the movie (which is located in Cabazon, CA) if you enter the gift shop inside the Brontosaurus, Jimmy's yellow lunchbox (as of 7/21/07) is still in the alcove where he left it in the movie and can be seen on display. -Thanks to Michael
A very young Tobey Maguire, now of spiderman fame, has a very small role with no speaking lines in the film. He is part of the gang that chase Fred Savage. -Thanks to Andy Douglass
In the scene where Putnam is blocked in by the Truckers, The truck that spanky is driving, is the same truck that was in "Over The Top" that was driven by Sylvester Stallone. -Thanks to Josh Wheatley
The woman who says "ROGER, ITS THEM AGAIN" is the woman who dies trying to get off the bus in "Speed". -Thanks to Spencer Lent
Jenny Lewis is the lead singer in indie rock band Rilo Kiley who are now on a major label. Jenny can often be seen performing in vintage Super Mario Bros. and Zelda T-shirts. It is also worth noting that a Rilo Kiley fan created a Web video game that features Jenny Lewis as one of the players. Check out their music at RiloKiley.net. -Thanks to Bob
Rilo Kiley have played The Coachella Valley Music Festival and on Late Night with David Letterman and Conan O'Brien. -Thanks to Librarian
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Rediscover your favorites! If you like
The Wizard or 80's Family Fun classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Annie ..... Labyrinth ..... E.T. ..... Dark Crystal ..... Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court ..... Goonies ..... NeverEnding Story ..... Who Framed Roger Rabbit ..... Dragon That Wasn't (Or Was He?) ..... Savannah Smiles ..... Ratboy ..... Frankenweenie ..... Santa Claus: The Movie ..... Explorers .....[More]
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The scene where Jimmy uses the flute to open the warp cuts to his avatar on the video game screen, it shows his points rising quickly because of it. In reality, using the warp flute in the game earns you no points at all. -Thanks to Sue
In the scene where Jimmy is playing Ninja Gaiden with Corey and Haley watching, Haley remarks that it's Jimmy's "second time through and he hasn't even taken a hit yet!" However, if you look closely at Jimmy's health meter, it clearly shows that he HAS taken a hit. -Thanks to Joe Pingree
Having seen the movie 62 times the biggest mistake I noticed is when they're driving through Reno in the back of the pick-up, there is a clock visible in the background that keeps changing times, from 12:07 I believe to 11:42 and then back 12:08. -Thanks to Mojo Shivers
When Corey's father & brother pick up the truck at the junk yard, the father is playing Zelda II. The game is correct, but the music is not. The music is the overworld music when you walk around in Zelda II, not when playing through stages. -Thanks to Luch Tarantino
When Christian Slater unplugs the Nintendo, they wrap everything up and leave, but look closely and you'll notice they left behind the R/F switch for the Nintendo -Thanks to Luch Tarantino
The cover of the movie is wrong. Corey is on the cover wearing the Power Glove on his left hand, when it should be on his right. (considering Lucas wore it on his right, and the box clearly displays a right hand.) -Thanks to Luch Tarantino
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|  |  |  | | The Wizard
Locations |
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The Wizard was was filmed on location in my hometown of Minden, Nevada. The Hwy that runs through these two towns is the state hwy called 395 and it was also shot in Fallon, Nevada and the Sierra Hwys. Then it was filmed in Reno, Nevada at one of the casinos and at Carson City, Nevada. [Thanks to Natalie]
Working in Reno was tough because the casinos were VERY strict about where the kids could go and how long they were there.
In the scenes after Corie, Jimmy, and Haley get picked up by the motorcycle gang to the song "Send me an angel", we see a black VW beetle with pipes welded to it to make one kickass looking "Black Widow" spider piece of modern junk art sculpture. People have written in to say that, in fact, it isn't in Nevada, it is right outside of Palm Springs California [Thanks to Brandon Anderson] but that must be another one because a crewmember wrote in to say that ...The black widow Volkswagen that they pass on the road is in Moundhouse, Nevada. Period, the END. It was made by an auto wrecker in Dayton, Nevada as a tribute to the VW. I know because I was a PA on the set and worked for HOURS trying to find stuff to drive by that kids would look at. [Thanks to Dave]
The Wizard was also filmed on location at Cabazon, California and at Universal Studios Theme Park, Universal City, CA.
Can you help? Do you know any of the Nevada filming locations used for The Wizard? [Please send them in]
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Comments: Germany only |
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The music really helps make the film, with such kicking tracks as "You Don't Get Much" by BoDeans and "Send Me An Angel" by the Australian band Real Life, including more somber/ambient melodies involving panpipes, not dissimilar to the music used in the other 80s Autism related film, Rain Man.
There was no official soundtrack released, however these are the tracks listed in the film credits:
BoDeans - "You Don't Get Much"
Patsy Cline - "Leavin' On Your Mind"
BoDeans - "Red River"
New Kids On The Block - "(You've Got It) The Right Stuff"
Real Life - "Send Me An Angel"
New Kids On The Block - "Hanging' Tough"
Martha And 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"
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