The Wizard

[dan]

The best thing about Netflix is that I'm able to revisit old movies from when I was a kid without having to worry about getting burned out of $5. With that in mind, I got The Wizard the other night.

Some of you may know this movie. Certainly, people my age would. It's about a kid (Fred Savage) who runs away from home with his autistic brother. Along the way, he learns his brother is a whiz when it comes to video games (a pretty obvious homage to Tommy), and they decide to go to California, to a video game competition. Their dad and older brother (Beau Bridges, Christian Slater) follow them, as does an evil private investigator, etc. etc.

The movie actually held up fairly well, considering I hadn't seen it since I was about 8 or 9 years old. Obviously, I'm not as into it as I was back then, but it's still a worthy kids movie, the kind they don't really make anymore.

Few things:

-There's no mistake that Nintendo is the star of this movie. Once the plot gets rolling, there's not five minutes that goes by before a character is playing a game and talking about how great it is.

-Despite that, there is still a surprisingly deep storyline. I remember, when I was little, being confused by Jimmy's autism, as I'd never been exposed to that before.

-Funny to see Jenny Lewis (now the lead singer of Rilo Kiley) so young. Sadly, I've had a crush on her since I was a little kid, and I still do.

-"I love the Power Glove.... It's so bad!"

-At one point, to get away from the evil P.I., Jenny Lewis's character (who's about 13) screams "he touched my breast!" in the middle of a casino, causing him to be immediately escorted out. There's a hilarious thread on IMDB about how this is a terrible example to set for children, that plenty of people are probably in jail unjustly now because of kids copying that line.

-So many ridiculous moments, but it's funny. How do 3 kids enter into a contest in which the prize is $50,000 without any guardian whatosever?

-Like many of these movies from my childhood (Goonies, Little Monsters), I'm stunned at the level of language and inappropriate situations for a PG movie. This thing never would've gotten a PG if it were made today.

-and, finally, the thing I remember most about this movie is how it was the first time anybody had seen Super Mario Brothers 3. Very exciting moment for Generation Y, ya know.

[Sitarro]

Wasn't that Rainman? I'm an Excellent driver.

[avatar4321]

i loved that movie. cant believe super mario bros 3 was ever that big though. but then i guess at the time it was revolutionary.

[dan]

i loved that movie. cant believe super mario bros 3 was ever that big though. but then i guess at the time it was revolutionary.

From Wikipedia:

Although widely regarded as being the best-selling video game of all time, the original Super Mario Bros. is actually the best-selling video game, at 40.23 million copies compared to Super Mario Bros. 3's 17.28 million (as recognized by the Guinness Book of Records[1], based on data given by Nintendo). Many figures put the sales at over 18 million copies sold. Because of the confusion that bundling causes with sales figures, Super Mario Bros. 3's achievement is often given more weight. When combined with its Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 versions, Super Mario Bros. 3 has sold over 33 million copies. The game was on the NES Top 20 list in Nintendo Power from its release until the NES list was discontinued in 1995.

I know, it seems nuts now, but them's big numbers for that time.

I can honestly remember that being the main selling point of the movie, though. As far as me and my friends were concerned, that was the ONLY reason that movie existed.

[actsnoblemartin]

my mom has netflix, it is preety cool, how long u had it for?

The best thing about Netflix is that I'm able to revisit old movies from when I was a kid without having to worry about getting burned out of $5. With that in mind, I got The Wizard the other night.

Some of you may know this movie. Certainly, people my age would. It's about a kid (Fred Savage) who runs away from home with his autistic brother. Along the way, he learns his brother is a whiz when it comes to video games (a pretty obvious homage to Tommy), and they decide to go to California, to a video game competition. Their dad and older brother (Beau Bridges, Christian Slater) follow them, as does an evil private investigator, etc. etc.

The movie actually held up fairly well, considering I hadn't seen it since I was about 8 or 9 years old. Obviously, I'm not as into it as I was back then, but it's still a worthy kids movie, the kind they don't really make anymore.

Few things:

-There's no mistake that Nintendo is the star of this movie. Once the plot gets rolling, there's not five minutes that goes by before a character is playing a game and talking about how great it is.

-Despite that, there is still a surprisingly deep storyline. I remember, when I was little, being confused by Jimmy's autism, as I'd never been exposed to that before.

-Funny to see Jenny Lewis (now the lead singer of Rilo Kiley) so young. Sadly, I've had a crush on her since I was a little kid, and I still do.

-"I love the Power Glove.... It's so bad!"

-At one point, to get away from the evil P.I., Jenny Lewis's character (who's about 13) screams "he touched my breast!" in the middle of a casino, causing him to be immediately escorted out. There's a hilarious thread on IMDB about how this is a terrible example to set for children, that plenty of people are probably in jail unjustly now because of kids copying that line.

-So many ridiculous moments, but it's funny. How do 3 kids enter into a contest in which the prize is $50,000 without any guardian whatosever?

-Like many of these movies from my childhood (Goonies, Little Monsters), I'm stunned at the level of language and inappropriate situations for a PG movie. This thing never would've gotten a PG if it were made today.

-and, finally, the thing I remember most about this movie is how it was the first time anybody had seen Super Mario Brothers 3. Very exciting moment for Generation Y, ya know.

[dan]

I like it a lot. I'm really into independent movies, and they have such a huge selection of movies I'd never get to see without paying a ridiculous amount to buy them. I watch a lot of movies, so it basically pays for itself. I love it.