Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Ken Turner Blog Series: Influences and Inspirations Blog Entry #2 - THE WIZARD


"So, according to this, we're in Goblin Valley. Great. I mean, I mean, I mean... it couldn't be Happy Valley or Wonderful Valley. Goblin Valley. Why not, Axe Murderer's Valley?" - Corey Woods (The Wizard)

I was born in the 80's and one of the films from that decade I remember watching over and over was 1989's cult classic "The Wizard".  Most kids my age at the time were really into Nintendo and the producers of this film were able to develop a really great story about a broken family and video games.



The film starred Fred Savage (from the TV series Wonder Years, which I'll talk about in a future post),  Jenny Lewis, Beau Bridges, Christian Slater and Luke Edwards as the Wizard.

Haley
  "Hi, I'm Haley. If you don't tell me what you're doing, I'm going to scream."

Corey
"Could you scream quietly?"



The Wizard is a cross-country adventure about a shy boy named Jimmy, a video game prodigy, who along with his brother Corey and a girl named Haley set out to go to "Video Armageddon" a gaming tournament.  The movie has much deeper themes and meanings than one would believe.  Its also a great time capsule of a film which captures the Nintendo craze in the 80's.




Check out the trailer:


 "I've got video monsters, I've got movie monsters, I've got graffiti on the wall monsters" - Diner Manager


The film also has a brief cameo by a very young Tobey Maguire (far left)

I remember going to Universal Studios (where in the film the video game championships take place) and going on the King Kong ride.  Its one of those images from your memory that you can easily recall because it was so iconic.  I think I remember his teeth the most.


Another memory piece were the dinosaurs of Cabazon in the California desert.  These were also featured in another 80's classic "Pee Wee's Big Adventure".


The film featured another video game master named Lucas who probably had one of the most quotable lines in the movie.

"I love the Power Glove. It's so bad." - Lucas


 The video game montage clip:


 Check out the film if you haven't seen it or re-watch it and relive some 80's childhood memories.




Next time on the Influences and Inspirations : an 80's kids TV series

Cheers

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