1980s Road Trip Comedy Is An Important Part Of Video Game History And It’s Being Tossed Away

As a child of the ’80s/’90s, it’s hard not to look upon the film with anything other than nostalgia. Sure, it’s a cash grab, but it’s a cash grab with heart. Before Barbie proved that movies about mass-produced toys could be art, The Wizard and its central theme of family reconciliation had us reaching for our tissues.

The Wizard follows three kids as they travel alone across the country to compete in a video game tournament in California.

The trio consists of Fred Savage’s Corey, his emotionally withdrawn younger brother Jimmy ( Luke Edwards), and Haley, a streetsmart girl they meet along the way. Fun fact: you might know Haley’s actress Jenny Lewis better as part of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley.

Corey’s family experienced a tragedy prior to the events in The Wizard, where Jimmy’s twin sister Jennifer drowned. The incident split the family up with Jimmy staying with his mother and brothers Corey and Nick (Chrisitan Slater) going to live with their father (Beau Bridges).

Plagued by PTSD from his twin’s death, Jimmy has taken to carrying around a lunchbox constantly and saying nothing but the word “California.”

When Corey finds out their mother is going to commit Jimmy to a mental hospital, he grabs Jimmy and runs away, setting off the plot of The Wizard. Along the way, the two children meet Haley at a truck stop.

When Haley and Corey witness Jimmy dominating a Double Dragon arcade machine, they hatch a plot to have him compete in Video Armeggedon in California.

Throughout the film, Jimmy is shown playing several video games—mostly for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Such montages are to be expected, but then The Wizard takes the product placement a step further.

In one scene, Corey and Haley are seen calling The Nintendo Power Hotline, a real service Nintendo used to advertise where players could call a number and “Get tips from the pros” relating to whatever NES game they were currently stuck on.

If The Wizard sounds like a 100-minute commercial for Nintendo products, it pretty much is.

To be fair, the over-the-top product placement does lead to one of the greatest lines ever uttered in the history of cinema. “I love the Power Glove. It’s so bad!” Followed by the second greatest line, “Yeah well uh, just keep your Power Gloves off her pal.”

So we’re talking about a “so bad, it’s good” movie then? Surprisingly no. The Wizard is a genuinely fun movie that will seriously touch your heart. It might not be Flight of the Navigator or Goonies, but as far as live-action family movies from the ’80s go, it’s definitely a keeper.

Don’t get me wrong; it was definitely made for the wrong reasons. As I briefly mentioned, a 1988 shortage of ROM chips delayed the North American release of Super Mario Bros. 3.

As a result, Nintendo decided to take the extra time to promote the game with a feature film. Around the same time, Universal Studios approached Nintendo of America about a movie based on the company’s real-life video game competitions. Thus The Wizard was born.

GFR SCORE

It should have been a sterile product of a movie, but somehow, the script, the director, and the actors elevated the project. I dare anyone to watch The Wizard and not get misty-eyed when Jimmy reveals his lunchbox is filled with pictures of him and Jennifer.

And when the movie reveals Jimmy’s real reason for going to California is to leave the pictures in a spot the family visited on their last happy vacation before Jennifer passed away? Product placement or not, you’d have to be a robot not to shed a tear at that.

Sadly, 35 years after the movie was released, The Wizard is mostly remembered these days for Power Glove memes and as a footnote in Nintendo’s history. The fact it isn’t streaming anywhere doesn’t help.

If you’re looking for a fun movie to watch with your kids and you can get your hands on a physical copy, I highly recommend showing them The Wizard.

After all, how else will Gen Alpha find out just how bad the Power Glove really is if we don’t keep The Wizard alive?