While I was poking through Amazon listings to pick up a couple of upcoming entries for my
Joe Dante marathon, the algorithm suggested a Shout Selects special edition Blu-Ray of 1989's
The Wizard. I've never been so thrilled with an impulse buy. I had no idea this special edition existed (it was apparently released in 2020) and I couldn't believe that anyone cared about this movie enough to make a two-disc collectors' edition of it.
I've met very few people who have seen The Wizard - though many are familiar with it through memes - and I've met almost nobody who actually
loves the film the way I do. Part of it is simple childhood nostalgia. This was a movie I had on VHS and I rewatched constantly. The tape started with this TV spot for Universal Studios Florida:
The Wizard is mostly known for being a crass Nintendo and Universal Studios ad vehicle. That's not entirely wrong. NES games make several key appearances throughout the film; there's a whole montage dedicated to conversations with Nintendo Game Counselors; the last 25 minutes of the movie take place at Universal Studios and feature the U.S. debut of Super Mario Bros. 3.
One of the reasons I rewatched this movie so often as a kid was because it felt like a window into an era that I missed. I would have been watching this in the early-to-mid 90s when the Super Nintendo was on shelves and the big N's total domination of the western video game market was already over. Even as a kid I was already kind of nostalgic for this lost age and I felt I could get a glimpse of it in the movie.
But the other reason is because outside of all the video game stuff, this is an Americana-heavy road trip movie. The picture's cast bounces between downtown diners, cafes, junkyards, bus stations, casinos, roadside motels, crumbling drive-in theaters, and trailer parks, all set against the gorgeous backdrop of the Nevada desert. The atmosphere of this journey is something that I take with me on every car trip to a new place. Heck, there have been a few times where I've even packed my NES in my suitcase so I could plug it into a motel television like they do in the movie.
I also have always felt that the marketing goals of the movie don't get in the way of its emotional core. It's a movie about a broken family and specifically about a child whose needs aren't being met by his emotionally stunted parents. The video game stuff is all incidental to this - the only reason they decide to enter Video Armageddon is because they accidentally discover Jimmy has a talent for games, and they think his entering the contest might help him overcome his trauma. The movie doesn't take an easy route out of this, either. At the end, the characters are smiling, but the families are still broken. You get the sense that everyone realized something new about themselves, but there's still hard work to do once they get back home.
There's more I could say, but I'll finish up by noting that the features on the special edition are amazing. I'm excited to rewatch the movie with director commentary and the second disc has several featurettes. I've already watched the deleted scenes, which were apparently never released prior to this edition. I was surprised to find almost thirty minutes of material here, including an entire early subplot following Cory and three of his local friends who never appear in the final cut, as well as lot more content with Jimmy learning how to play video games.
Give this one a chance if you've never seen it. It might surprise you.