The Wizard (1989) - anyone have any fond memories of this film?

Submitted by OneOk2189 t3_123zsux in movies

I think I might have watched it as a kid but can’t remember. Maybe I just saw clips of it. Watched it as an adult and honestly it was kind of charming? It kind of makes you feel like a kid. I mean who wouldn’t have wanted to do a cross country trip (especially with a girl) to a Nintendo Championship? I thought the kid actors actually were pretty good and had good chemistry. Also I am now obsessed with that “Send Me an Angel” song. Was that Christian Slater fresh off Heathers as well? And of course you gotta love the whole Nintendo product placement elements but it is kind of cool to see a time where Nintendo ruled the world and arcades seemed to be everywhere. And I’m not gonna lie the ending where the kid puts the picture of his dead sister at the California dinosaurs actually kind of got to me. Ha ha anyone have any fond or not fond memories of this film?

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FiremanPCT2016 t1_jdx3rtd wrote

I love The Wizard. It's so bad.

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Bcatfan08 t1_jdyqry0 wrote

Lol. I saw it again like 6 months ago for the first time in like 25 years. It is not what I remembered.

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chalash t1_jdztlnu wrote

Came here to say almost the same thing 😂

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[deleted] t1_jdx3l29 wrote

The power glove!

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winter_rainbow t1_jdxb5ix wrote

If I remember correctly, as it’s been years since I’ve seen it, didn’t that kid hook up his power glove to a random stand-up arcade game? I seem to remember thinking, “How the hell did he do that?”

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porkchop2022 t1_jdxtq27 wrote

P$80 for the worst peripheral device I have EVER purchased in my life.

But boy oh boy, 8 year old me thought it was the absolute best.

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sharkfrog t1_je083hi wrote

I pooled all my birthday, Christmas, and allowance money and even washed some neighbors cars to get one and was so disappointed.

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TappyMauvendaise t1_jdx5cex wrote

I was the target audience. I was seven, played Nintendo several hours a day, loved Fred savage, and was awaiting the purchase of Mario 3. Love the movie. It takes me back in time!

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Nickrobl t1_jdyco13 wrote

Same, it is one of very few movies that makes me feel like I’m back when I was a kid, even if just for a little bit.

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Pete_Iredale t1_jebfrsc wrote

I was nine at the time and I just remember the hype machine for SMB3, including this movie, being a completely new and awesome experience. I don't think I've ever been that excited for a new game since then.

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kronicfeld t1_jdx5jai wrote

Jenny Lewis's acting and music arc has been incredible.

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HornFanBBB t1_jdxdlnt wrote

Rilo Kiley’s “Breakin’ Up” is my alarm clock song. But Jenny can’t be beat in Troop Beverly Hills.

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DIWhy-not t1_jdxfhnc wrote

Another fun Rilo Kiley/child actor trivia bit: Blake Sennet (guitarist) played Pinsky on Salute Your Shorts and Joey the Rat on Boy Meets World. He quit acting (and drugs) after almost dying from an OD, and started focusing exclusively on music.

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doodlebug02 t1_jdzv2ph wrote

His album Sun, Sun, Sun with his side project The Elected is one of my favorite albums of the 2000's! Didn't know that trivia, thanks for sharing.

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farmerarmor t1_jdx93yw wrote

I got a power glove for Xmas after this movie came out. Worthless. Piece. Of. Shit.

But I still have it in a display case in my office.

On a side note my parents had dropped me and my friends off at our local arcade when I was 5…. Besides the regular arcade they had several rooms with couches and Nintendo systems. …. Anyhow I vividly remember the owner coming in with a copy of super Mario bros 3. And putting it into the system in the largest room… had like 3-4 couches.
Nobody had played it yet or seen any gameplay outside of in the Wizard…. I sat for 3 hours watching a group of 12-13 year olds play Mario3 instead of playing arcade games myself.
A core memory that I’ll never forget.

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shf500 t1_jdxub8t wrote

> I got a power glove for Xmas after this movie came out. Worthless. Piece. Of. Shit. > >

I wonder how many parents got angry at their kids when the kids played the Power Glove for maybe 5 minutes and then stopped playing it.

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farmerarmor t1_jdxvpcn wrote

My dad wasn’t happy until my mom (cuz her hands fit in it) tried it and said it didn’t work very good.

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CourtOrderedPoster t1_jdxo5j4 wrote

Hats off to Nintendo for never giving up on the concept. It was just like a way early wiimote prototype.

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SirAdrian0000 t1_je2ui5y wrote

They should make power glove 2.0. They should market it as no longer “bad”

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Pete_Iredale t1_jebhfdl wrote

I feel the exact opposite. Motion control sucked then, and it still sucks now. Wii remotes just mean another bunch of Nintendo games that will be difficult to port onto new system, same as their dumb dual screen bs.

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rohobian t1_jdxjn4v wrote

Holy fuck it was horrible. I thought Punch Out might have been fun with it, and it was just a lost cause. I had Rad Racer, and you'd think that might translate well. It did not. I used it for about an hour in efforts to get it to work well with ANY game I had, and it just didn't. Glove got thrown into the attic storage never to be seen again.

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invuvn t1_jdyd8wm wrote

Dude, I’m so jealous: you played Rad Racer with the Power Glove? Did you also wear those 3D glasses that were just blue and green transparent plastic sheet cutouts? Cant get any more RAD than that!!

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farts_in_the_breeze t1_je02aan wrote

I did. Tried for 20 minutes. That was the day I learned people are liars.

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invuvn t1_je19jzh wrote

Given the chance, most would rather you drown with them than save you 🤨

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Pete_Iredale t1_jebhpsz wrote

I picked one up maybe 15 years ago and messed around with it some. I thought it actually worked pretty well for the pack in game, the problem is holding your arm up gets really annoying after like 1-2 minutes. Who would ever want to play video games by holding their arm straight up in front of them for hours at a time?

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Smurfy0730 t1_jdxa053 wrote

"I love the Power Glove, it's so bad."

OR

"I love the Power Glove, it's so rad."

fan?

I am for the former.

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farmerarmor t1_jdxccow wrote

Rad woulda definitely made more sense.

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invuvn t1_jdyczd8 wrote

But bad makes just as much sense as well…you just had to know how to read between the lines!

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crashfrog t1_jdz7rps wrote

We were saying "bad" for things that were good, in the 80's. It's just a piece of slang that was a little dated by the time they used it in the movie.

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AuntieEvilops t1_jdz8at5 wrote

Hell, Michael Jackson had a #1 single and #1 album named after its slang meaning. But yes, popular usage was wearing thin by the time "The Wizard" came out.

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glennbob81 t1_jdz9fjn wrote

Not where I grew up but we didn't get cable until 1990.

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Pete_Iredale t1_jebh6t8 wrote

Tom Petty's album Full Moon Fever has a song titled Yer So Bad, and there is a poster for the album on the side of an arcade game in the movie. Just a funny coincidence relating to this line of conversation I guess.

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jl_theprofessor t1_jdxilqq wrote

My Power Glove kept sending my Rocketeer in the wrong direction. My mother insisted I use the finger controls instead of the d-pad because "that's what she bought it for."

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Pete_Iredale t1_jebgk05 wrote

Before SMB3 was released in the US, my video rental store somehow had a Famicom version with an adapter that you could rent. A restaurant in town also had a Playchoice 10 arcade with SMB3 well before the US launch. The hype for that game was just unreal.

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Content_Ad_8952 t1_jdxaot4 wrote

Look closely and you'll see a very young Toby Maguire making his film debut

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JoeRoganIs5foot3 t1_jdxlnzp wrote

I used to watch this and Little Monsters all of the time. Fred Savage was running shit back then.

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glennbob81 t1_jdz9sp0 wrote

He stood out to me in The Princess Bride too. When I watched it with my kids for the first time I was surprised how ancillary his character was and how little screen time he had. I had a weird little asexual straight crush, in retrospect. The old Dobie gillis series too.

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DonCreech t1_jdy14mo wrote

The Wizard, unironically, is one of my favorite movies. Sure, it's a glorified ad for Nintendo, but it's basically Rain Man for kids. I love the chemistry between the cast, and I especially love Will Seltzer's performance as the antagonist, Putnam. That was the first movie character I can remember hating as a kid, what a great portrayal.

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idontwantanamern t1_jdzkubv wrote

It has been watched at least once a year since it came out for me (many early years after its release, probably more often).

It's a really great movie and has a lot under the surface of that Nintendo ad.

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sakecat t1_jdx3oyj wrote

One of my childhood favorites as well but haven’t watched in a long long time. Time for a rewatch

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Jaredt982 t1_jdx6uha wrote

I loved this movie when I was a kid. The power glove AND Super Mario Bros 3 with Kevin Arnold. Perfect for 9 year old me.

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Foritified_5 t1_jdx53zg wrote

I was the target audience for this movie. I was an NES junkie and was a fan of Fred Savage. I wish I could explain it, but I honestly hated the movie then, and after trying to rewatch it about 5 years ago I can safely say still I hate it now. Still, it is/was kind of fun to see everyone's reaction to SMB3 being unveiled at the finale, and I like enough shitty movies myself to not cast aspersions on your opinion.

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tigerdactyl t1_jdy5vhx wrote

The Super Mario bros 3 reveal had me pumped. That was peak video game hype.

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n3u7r1n0 t1_jdx3ntx wrote

Absolutely one of my all time favorites

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Smurfy0730 t1_jdx9ufn wrote

Rain Man with Videogames, will watch it anytime.

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Nef_Fets t1_jdxdx35 wrote

Don't forget about Beau Bridges converting into a gamer.

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Anxiety-knitting t1_jdxwuuz wrote

I was obsessed with it! Now watching it as an adult it holds up just for nostalgias sake. Is it a good movie? Maybe not but I guarantee I’ll watch it whenever the chance presents itself. And then I’ll immediately play super Mario bros 3 for days afterwards.

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boostabubba t1_jdx5s0f wrote

YES!! I LOVED this movie as a kid. I was so hyped for SMB3. This movie hit all the right spots for a 6 year old me.

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jl_theprofessor t1_jdxipum wrote

I made my poor father drive all over town after we got out of the theater so we could buy SMB3. It wouldn't come out for a few more months.

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GFVeggie6 t1_jdy77g6 wrote

It was cute. I had forgotten about it.

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Agent101g t1_jdxu36o wrote

I was a Nintendo junkie so yes i loved it

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rock0star t1_jdxw1eq wrote

Yup. I remember it well.

It had the first appearance of the Nintendo power glove, super Mario Brothers 3, and Mario flying with the raccoon tail

The red head from T2

And Fred Savage

What more can you ask for

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bicmedic t1_jdyjogc wrote

>The red head from T2

Holy shit! How have I never noticed that before?

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HotdogFarmer t1_jdymql1 wrote

Pretty sure the redhead in T2 was Nikki Cox

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bicmedic t1_jdynsf7 wrote

Yeah, you're right. They sure do look similar though.

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HotdogFarmer t1_jdyofp2 wrote

They really do! I had to second check before posting just to make sure I wasn't having a 'bearenstein' bears thing going on and misremembered

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cosmernaut420 t1_jdxw32b wrote

This one was in hard rotation on my 90's-kid TV. Had that mother on VHS. That powerglove blew my mind. And as a Dinosaur Kid™ I loved the giant T-Rex building.

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TappyMauvendaise t1_jdxxeha wrote

I was in love with Christian Slater in 1989.

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idontwantanamern t1_jdzl472 wrote

I just commented that elsewhere! That I was equally excited about SMB3 as I was a new Christian Slater movie haha

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jert3 t1_jdy0m34 wrote

Prob still the best ever first-announce for a game in a movie. When I was a kid, the Super Mario 3 clip was the talk of the playground.

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tacoskins t1_jdy3eiz wrote

Dude, yeah I have so many fond memories of this flick. I probably rented it about a hundred times between 90-95 and I wanted to own it so bad but we could never find a copy. I think when Amazon first started selling movies I left a review for this one complaining that it was out of print lmao.

I own like 4 copies of the tape now and the bluray and a bunch of cool promo shit I've collected over the years. It is bad but it really is charming and wholesome even if it's a bit unhinged and dated these days.

Idk, it really makes me happy anytime I see it brought up because it's truly a relic of a time and kind of movie that doesn't really get made these days. For all the talk of it being a commercial (which it is) its also a sort of heavy for a kids movie story with good actors and alot of drama that isn't played for laughs...it's a weird ass movie but I love it.

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FasterThanTW t1_jdybn0k wrote

Being a kid when this movie came out was unreal. I don't remember if they hinted at super Mario Bros 3 in the trailers but somehow we knew it was going to be shown in the movie-maybe rumors from school?. As an 8 year old literally nothing else about the movie mattered. This was like the first Nintendo direct but a million times more exciting.

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Ronnie_J_Raygun t1_jdycn57 wrote

The biggest thrill as a kid was getting to see super Mario bros 3 before it was released. When O saw it in the theatre they gave you a little Nintendo power magazine as well

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kosarai t1_jdyoiq6 wrote

This is one of my most fond childhood movies. A shy kid going on adventure with his big brother, using his mad Nintendo skills to beat bad guys. I related so much because me and my big brother bonded over Nintendo games. I saw us in them.

And when I’d watch it a few years later I saw myself more in the big brother. Getting to be the cool guy and experiencing awkward pre-teen romance. I still love that movie even as I’m reaching 40.

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Klin24 t1_jdxjm5s wrote

"How'd he find the warp whistles if it's his first time playing?" was always on my mind.

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CourtOrderedPoster t1_jdxnl4q wrote

Love Christian Slater. The man never turned down work.

Edit to add: my kids are about the same age I was when The Wizard was released and I’m sure the Super Mario Bros Movie will be a lot better than any video game content we had back then.

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idontwantanamern t1_jdzl00w wrote

As excited I was for SMB3 -- even at a young age, I never turned down a Slater movie hahaha

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8tracked333 t1_jdxohb3 wrote

I remember hearing that there would be a Super Mario 3 from the movie trailer and almost shit my pants. I believe in the trailer they showed a level in world 2 with a koopa troopa being bounced around inside coin blocks. Will never forget that movie.

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Moms_spaghetti_6969 t1_jdxotal wrote

Haven’t seen it since I was a kid. Don’t remember much about it but it’s where I learned to warp in Mario 3. I live by those dinosaurs, forgot they were in this movie. Gonna have to watch it again

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gingo4780 t1_jdxse38 wrote

Was my favorite movie as a kid . I remember seeing it the theatre . While it gets panned as a glorified Nintendo advertisement I really think it has a lot more going for it . Jimmy is clearly suffering from very serious PTSD and finding the outlet of video games let’s him express himself and relate to his brother and others. As a kid I loved the video game scenes but as I got older I started to relate to Christian Slater and the guilt he felt for what happened and then Beau Bridges and dealing with the divorce . The cast does a great job as well . Did anyone else take anything else from the movie ?

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EyeDontReplyToIdiots t1_jdy4k62 wrote

Ya, I got a handy from my ex girlfriend during the power glove scene lmao

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Crystal_Pesci t1_jdyeim3 wrote

Of course! Got my first Power Glove and crush on Jenny Lewis after that. Haven't revisited since an obsessed little 9 year old but can't imagine it has any rewatch value?

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sweetgigolo t1_jdyp5sh wrote

I went to elementary school with Luke Edwards (the Wizard himself). Nice dude, but we lost touch after "Little Big League"

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Civilized_Brute t1_jdyramq wrote

I'm old enough to remember thinking "Holy fuck, there's a Super Mario Bros THREE!?!?" and the movie showed actual gameplay.

But I was too young to realize the movie was basically a 2 hour Nintendo commercial.

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Falchon t1_jdywsl9 wrote

This is my most watched movie of all time probably lol, just ahead of the first Ninja Turtles. I was a die-hard Nintendo kid, and this was one of the few movies I owned on VHS.

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bobatsfight t1_jdyxgzj wrote

Huge nostalgia. I saw this movie in theaters when I was 7. I remember seeing Mario 3 for the first time and getting so hyped. “California” became this mystical place that I hoped to visit some day. I’ve lived in CA for 12 years now and did a cross-country trip when I moved out here. I definitely thought of the movie and how it might have helped nudge me.

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Scuttler1979 t1_jdz5vfm wrote

Watched it 2 days ago!

My son, 12, loved it!!

Double billed it with little monsters.

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iamrade4ever t1_jdz6fd6 wrote

This movie, Double Dragon, The Garbage Pail kids movie, Rock'n Roll High School Forever, Kabuki man NYPD, those movies were pretty much on nonstop repeat when i was young... Sorry mom

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Transatlanticaccent t1_jdzj0wh wrote

I hadn't seen it in years and about 2 years ago I watched it again....

Dude...the "HE TOUCHED MY BREAST!" scene is fucked up! The guy was hired to find a runaway mental challenged child that went over multiple state lines. Now he was gonna get his ass kicked by all the people in the casino and probably be arrested (can't remember if he was) for pedo sexual assault when he didn't do anything. All just so they could play in a videogame tournament. Wtf?

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JohrDinh t1_jdx5v77 wrote

Loved this movie growing up, was always a more quiet child who just liked playing video games at the time...felt comforting. And now, tho the scene is a bit corrupt and messy right now, I do enjoy myself some esports tournaments and this felt like one of the first big dips into that concept in a way.

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cbbuntz t1_jdx5vm0 wrote

That's one of those movies that I don't remember watching but somehow I remember the plot. I must have watched it when I was a kid.

I guess it's kind of a sports movie but adapted to video games. And it's basically one giant Nintendo product placement

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Arfguy t1_jdxo3p5 wrote

Californiaaaaaa....CALIFORNIAAAAAAAA!!!

Wait. What am I singing? Counting Crows?

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rSisterBubba t1_jdxoi6a wrote

"fond"...I'm not sure I saw it 3 times in the theater I saw the first two scenes, then woke to, "'Another thing Mother taught me she didn't teach you' with MD20/20 barfed all over my chest. Yes, 3 times. I'm a slow learner.

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Telkorenar t1_jdy60fg wrote

Nostalgia for sure.

Everyone loved nintendo at the time, and a movie about video games was a cool concept.

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zeroxray t1_jdy9p7p wrote

He touched my breasts!!

She doesn't have breasts

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timallen445 t1_jdykwmd wrote

I got this on Ebay on VHS in high school to watch with friends so I guess that's it? I think it was probably in my first ten purchases off the internet if I had to guess, probably five.

I wonder if you took the same story/actors but swapped Nintendo for Skateboarding or Pogs or some other fad like competition if it would still hit.

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srstone71 t1_jdz3oy0 wrote

This was, for a long time, far and away my favorite movie. And despite only seeing it once in the past 25-30 years, it still may be the movie I’ve seen the most in my life.

There was a stretch in the early 90s - I would have been around 8 or 9 - when I would go to the video store every Friday with my mom. She’d rent a movie for her and my dad, a movie for my sister, and a movie for me. While my parents and sister would get something different every week, I got the Wizard. EVERY SINGLE TIME.

My mom would constantly try to get me to pick a new movie, but I wasn’t having it. Every weekend was the same. I’d get the Wizard and then I’d try to watch it as many times as I could before we had to return it. Sometimes I’d get maybe 5 viewings in on a single weekend.

This continued for a couple of years so I’d say that between 1991 and 1993 I may have watched this movie close to 300 times. There was a time when my barely developed 9 year old brain could recite almost the entire movie’s script.

Like I said, I’ve only seen it once in the past 30ish years. That was a couple of years ago when I saw it was streaming and I made my wife watch it with me. Boy was it not as good as I remembered lol. That said, the Tobey Maguire cameo was a pleasant surprise!

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primitiverootweiner t1_jdz924z wrote

The Wizard was basically Rain man (1988) with kids. Just compare the two movies. They are remarkably similar in some ways and deal with similar themes.

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Arizonagreg t1_jdzlv34 wrote

My dad hated that movie. I kept hounding him to get me that glove. I never did.

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A_Dog_Chasing_Cars t1_je0788b wrote

I do, but it's a lot better as a memory than as a movie, lol

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Pete_Iredale t1_jebf9u7 wrote

I unironically love this movie. I just watched it the other night with my kids for the first time, and they also got a kick out of it. The asshole private dick is such a great antagonist, you just love every time something bad happens to him. The Nintendo nostalgia is in top form. And it's fun seeing Jenny Lewis in that role all these years later. Hell, I think my wife first introduced Rilo Kiley to me by telling me their singer is the girl from The Wizard.

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amerijohn t1_jdy9jjs wrote

The 90 minute Nintendo commercial?

I just saw it again in my late 30s. My god. There's a scene where a father and son reconnect after a kid's death...by playing Nintendo. What dead son?

It was made for kids, so it has a lot of kid logic.

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