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Mazes and Monsters

Play trailer Poster for Mazes and Monsters PG 1982 1h 40m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 4 Reviews 19% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A college student (Tom Hanks) begins to live the role he plays with three friends in a medieval fantasy game.

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Mazes and Monsters

Critics Reviews

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Judith Crist TV Guide 05/25/2006
What follows leads to a sophisticated and credible conclusion, a rarity among made-for-TV films. And it's engrossing all the way. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 10/01/2005
2/5
Nicolas Lacroix EnPrimeur.ca 09/10/2004
2/5
James Sanford Kalamazoo Gazette 01/23/2004
1/5
Although intended as a cautionary tale, it's far more likely to inspire snickers than shudders. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Melissa L @Agent99 Jul 19 I think this was a fun movie with Tom Hanks made before his movie career took off. I recommend it...especially if you are into games like "Dungeons and Dragons." Or want to see Tom Hanks. See more Terugspoelen P Jan 17 If you bashing on people who are fond of 'silly roleplaying', then don your helmet and cape and be sure not to drink any sleep-well-tea. We enjoyed the theme of friendship by games, but the rest is as fake as the caves they get lost in. Is this movie truly worth a rewind? Our verdict: 1 out of 5 rewinds. See more nick s 08/03/2024 The movie certainly didn't go where I thought it was going. I was hoping for a little more spectacle. It was actually closely aligned to a real life incident on which it was based. I feel a lot more could have been done in the editing/sound room to give it a trippier vibe and foreshadow the main character's arc. Overall it fell a bit flat. The acting was generally good but there were a few soft patches. Sometimes the voices faded to a mumble... not sure if that was to do with the media I was watching. See more 05/10/2021 A made for TV movie released at the peak of the moral panic about role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. A young Tom Hanks plays a college student who becomes so obsessed with his in-game character that he can no longer distinguish between the game and reality, eventually suffering a complete mental breakdown. Based loosely on the real life case of James Dallas Egbert III whose suicide was erroneously linked to D&D. I hoped Mazes and Monsters would be good for a laugh, but instead of being so-bad-it's-good it's mostly just bad. Tom Hanks does a decent job of portraying his character's mental deterioration, though. Probably best avoided unless you're interested in the historical controversy surrounding Dungeons & Dragons. See more 12/01/2019 If you take it as a social commentary on fantasy role playing games, this movie seems shrill and over the top. But I have to admit that the scene on top of the world trade center towers took me back to a long time ago, when the towers still stood, and we hadn't mired ourselves in an ugly foreign war. It is a time when Tom Hanks was young. If you take it as a piece of entertainment this movie holds its ground. Watching Hanks' character go slowly mad is sad, and that makes the final scene all that more pathetic. A good movie, and recommended especially to gamers. See more 07/19/2017 "Mazes & Monsters" is the "Reefer Madness" of the gamer set, hilariously mired in the early 1980's preposterous hysteria over the satanic influence of fantasy games like Dungeons & Dragons. Tom Hanks performs admirably well in an early role - although few others can claim that distinction. The script is weak (as one might expect for a fear-mongering art-screed). The lighting is poor. The direction is imitative of TV soaps like "Day of Our Lives" or "Ryan's Hope". The movie is on film stock of such poor quality, one might be excused for believing it was lifted from Soviet military surplus supplies circa 1978. The soundtrack is abysmally bad - I suspect also possibly acquired from Soviet overstock circa 1978. There's little to like in this hot-mess agitprop other than its delicious absurdity and an appreciation for Tom Hanks' evolving skill. Fun - but only if you're in the mood. See more Read all reviews
Mazes and Monsters

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Movie Info

Synopsis A college student (Tom Hanks) begins to live the role he plays with three friends in a medieval fantasy game.
Director
Steven Hilliard Stern
Production Co
Procter & Gamble Productions (PGP), McDermott Productions
Rating
PG
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 12, 2017
Runtime
1h 40m
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