The Wizard

Name: The Wizard
Director: Todd Holland
Released: 1989

Todd Holland

1989

Synopsis

A boy and his brother run away from home and hitch cross-country, with help from a girl they meet, to compete in the ultimate video-game championship.

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Cast

Recommandations

63
Miami Herald
Despite some forced lines and an overlong competition sequence, Holland holds The Wizard together well, supplementing the obvious stand-up-and-cheer climax with a moving conclusion. [15 Dec 1989, p.12]
40
Los Angeles Times
The Wizard is bright, fast and energetic, but there’s not much real life to it. It’s another movie that’s disappeared into its own marketing hook: Three kids on the road, living and loving, racing toward personal redemption and video ascension.
30
The New York Times
Video-addicted kids may well find this exciting, but for anyone old enough to stay out later than 9 P.M. it's a distinct bore.
25
Chicago Sun-Times
The Wizard is finally just a cynical exploitation film with a lot of commercial plugs in it, and it is so insanely overwritten and ineptly directed that it will disappoint just about everybody and serve them right for going in the first place.
25
TV Guide Magazine
The runaways' actions provide anything but responsible models for the children who make up the film's target audience, and the likable cast flails against the rampant idiocy and gross commercialism.
25
Chicago Tribune
A feature-length commercial for the Nintendo electronic games system, so thinly disguised that it wouldn't even fool a Reagan-appointed FCC commissioner. [15 Dec 1989, p.G]
25
USA Today
Before you go off to see The Wizard with your own video whiz kid, consider visiting an arcade instead. Your entertainment dollar would be much better spent on Double Dragon. [15 Dec 1989, p.6D]
20
Washington Post
The Wizard is not only tacky and moribund, but it teaches gambling and bad sportsmanship.