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The Wizard

Play trailer Poster for The Wizard PG 1989 1h 39m Kids & Family Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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29% Tomatometer 24 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
After his little brother, Jimmy (Luke Edwards), is put in a mental institution, Corey (Fred Savage) breaks him out and the pair run off together to California. On their travels, Corey meets a girl named Haley (Jenny Lewis) and discovers that Jimmy is a master at playing video games. With talents like his, he could easily win the top prize of $50,000 at Video Armageddon. While the three travelers hitchhike to the competition, the boys' parents hire a bounty hunter to track them down.
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The Wizard

Critics Reviews

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Neil Jillett The Age (Australia) 12/13/2024
The Wizard is fairly inoffensive stuff, if you do not object to heavy doses of American materialism and sentimentality and the notion that running away from home is a normal way for a child to respond to a minor disagreement with a father. Go to Full Review Janet Maslin New York Times 05/20/2003
1/5
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. Go to Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
1/4
It was only after the three kids arrived safely at the championships that I began to question the ethics of the film, which is, among other things, a thinly disguised commercial for Nintendo video games and the Universal studio tour. Go to Full Review Tom Ryan The Sunday Age 12/13/2024
That the film is able to link family renewal and the product it is so capably marketing should only serve to remind us of what a valuable selling-point the family can be. Go to Full Review Tom Ford Toledo Blade 08/03/2022
The Wizard would have been better on the TV screen, where its programmed predictability would have more closely paralleled that of the games themselves. Go to Full Review Sebastian Zavala Kahn Más Gamers 05/16/2020
2.5/5
It's turned into a cult classic, especially for video-game and 80s fans. "The Wizard" is pure nostalgia; uneven and confusing, but fascinating. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Prometheus L Nov 25 What if the ultimate quest wasn’t for the Holy Grail, but for the Warp Zone in Super Mario Bros. 3? This movie is less a narrative and more a love letter to Nintendo, wrapped in a road-trip buddy comedy that’s equal parts "Rain Man" and "River City Ransom." If you grew up in the 80s, it’s impossible to not consider this as the greatest work of cinema ever created. See more Stephen C @bob25009 May 27 LOL, 1 hour and 39 minutes of family comedy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The worldwide gross is $14,278,900.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Audience M May 18 A gamers delight! I liked the story and I love the nostalgic video game feeling you get from it! Underrated by others but a cult classic nonetheless. Fun film! 5 stars See more James K Apr 30 As a kid and a love for video games I loved the movie and it has a cult following. As for all you karens you can pi#$ off and keep your opinions to your self See more Deepest Bluest Suede Darius Dick Stinger Apini Emanuel Grouch Nukem III AKA The Rumble AKA Jennyanyany McPoopface Bridgerton AKA The Count of Monte Fisto Apr 12 Just a 99 minute Super Mario Bros 3 advertisement. See more Ken W Jan 30 Gyatt damn. I just left a 45-minute write-up on the site, and the submission error'd out and is unretrievable... all that wasted time. :( Always copy your work into Notepad before your do an online submission kids, unless you want to risk losing your work. Sorry, not writing the review again. Just don't watch the movie unless you really have nothing better to do with your time. Yes, it's that bad and totally did not live up to the hype. See more Read all reviews
The Wizard

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Todd Holland

Director

Fred Savage

Corey Woods

Beau Bridges

Sam Woods

Christian Slater

Nick Woods

Jenny Lewis

Haley

Luke Edwards

Jimmy Woods

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The Wizard

The Wizard (1989) The Wizard (1989) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis After his little brother, Jimmy (Luke Edwards), is put in a mental institution, Corey (Fred Savage) breaks him out and the pair run off together to California. On their travels, Corey meets a girl named Haley (Jenny Lewis) and discovers that Jimmy is a master at playing video games. With talents like his, he could easily win the top prize of $50,000 at Video Armageddon. While the three travelers hitchhike to the competition, the boys' parents hire a bounty hunter to track them down.
Director
Todd Holland
Producer
David Chisholm, Ken Topolsky
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Production Co
Universal Pictures
Rating
PG
Genre
Kids & Family, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 15, 1989, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$12.3M
Runtime
1h 39m
Sound Mix
Surround
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