The Wizard 35th Anniversary re-release

[Mario_Friend1982 | 176]

For its 35th anniversary next year, "The Wizard" should be released in theaters in its original 2.5 hour long cut.

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

Would of been cool to do a sequel where the "kids" that grew up at the same time as the movie kids are adults with their own kids.  Could of done a cool story about old school gaming versus new school.  Have Nintendo tie in a new video release with the movie.  

But to your point I'm sure there will be some theaters that will do a special week/weekend where they do show that movie.  I see them do that semi frequently for classic films so people who never had a chance to see them in theater can do that.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

16 hours ago, Mario_Friend1982 said:

For its 35th anniversary next year, "The Wizard" should be released in theaters in its original 2.5 hour long cut.

Not sure it has the cachet for anything remotely close to a wide rerelease.

 

Now, a 4K anniversary release from someone like Shout?  Yeah, it's possible.

[Ferris Bueller | 495]

8 minutes ago, FireHazard51 said:

Would of been cool to do a sequel where the "kids" that grew up at the same time as the movie kids are adults with their own kids.  Could of done a cool story about old school gaming versus new school.  Have Nintendo tie in a new video release with the movie.

They did a Blu-ray for the 30th anniversary and in the special features, there is a panel I host with the Producers/Writer and I think we discussed something along these lines. Ken Topolsky did The Wonder Years and it was being rebooted at the time, so he said he thought doing the film again with a girl as The Wizard might be an interesting concept.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Ferris Bueller

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

9 minutes ago, Ferris Bueller said:

They did a Blu-ray for the 30th anniversary and in the special features, there is a panel I host with the Producers/Writer and I think we discussed something along these lines. Ken Topolsky did The Wonder Years and it was being rebooted at the time, so he said he thought doing the film again with a girl as The Wizard might be an interesting concept.

Man, why you gotta tell me this. Now I REALLY want them to make that movie.  Market is primed for another The Wizard movie with so many video game related films.

[Estil | 1,265]

I've refused to watch the Academy Awards ever since The Wizard was snubbed for Best Picture...and didn't even get one nomination besides!

PS: Originally in that iconic line I thought she said "He touched my brother!"

[Estil | 1,265]

34 minutes ago, FireHazard51 said:

Would of been cool to do a sequel where the "kids" that grew up at the same time as the movie kids are adults with their own kids.  Could of done a cool story about old school gaming versus new school.  Have Nintendo tie in a new video release with the movie.  

Something as magical as The Wizard (which showed SMB3 for the first time in the US) would only be possible in the pre-Internet era.

[RH | 4,904]

11 minutes ago, Estil said:

Something as magical as The Wizard (which showed SMB3 for the first time in the US) would only be possible in the pre-Internet era.

Three words—Switch 2 Reveal

[Tulpa | 3,501]

47 minutes ago, Estil said:

I've refused to watch the Academy Awards ever since The Wizard was snubbed for Best Picture...and didn't even get one nomination besides!

 

I told you. It won the previous year when they titled it Rain Man.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Tulpa

[Sumez | 2,952]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Not sure it has the cachet for anything remotely close to a wide rerelease.

The existing DVD barely has a "wide" release. I had to import it from overseas to get a copy.

[Brickman | 3,986]

Criterion should do a 4K edition  

I had no idea there is a 2.5hour cut. Does the blu ray have it? 

[RH | 4,904]

3 minutes ago, Brickman said:

Criterion should do a 4K edition  

I had no idea there is a 2.5hour cut. Does the blu ray have it? 

Only if it’s on LaserDisc. Man, I could really be down for that.

[Tulpa | 3,501]

4 minutes ago, Brickman said:

Criterion should do a 4K edition  

I had no idea there is a 2.5hour cut. Does the blu ray have it? 

Yeah, the Blu-ray has it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_(1989_film)#Production

"Filming took place between June 5 and July 25, 1989.^[1] In a 2008 reunion,^[14] as well in an interview in 2014,^[15] Todd Holland revealed that the original cut of the film was 2.5 hours long and included an extended backstory for Jimmy and Corey.

In an interview with Retro Gamer, director Holland admitted that he had some issues with the final script: "I argued with the studio that we were shooting way too much footage – more than we could ever possibly use [...] I lost the argument and was told flat out by Universal to shoot the entire script".^[10] According to Holland, the original cut of the film was over 2.5 hours long and that nearly an hour of footage needed to be deleted in order to make the film a suitable length for family viewing. The deleted material was finally released in 2020 on the collector's edition Blu-ray of the film. Most of the deleted footage comes from the original cut of the opening act which explores Corey's home life in more detail, including deliberately antagonizing his older brother, his mother's emotional issues surrounding Jimmy and her divide from her former family. Nick's alcoholism is also explored in more detail as well as additional clips from the road trip scenes. Trucker Spanky gets more screen time in the deleted scenes also, explaining his role in more detail, and there are more clips from the final Video Game Armageddon contest."

[AirVillain | 489]

2.5 hours is too long for this movie, my friend. 

But it's one of the greatest films ever, of course. 

I watched the deleted scenes when I bought the special edition Blu-ray which originally wasn't even going to see the light of day but a fan led movement pushed them to get it done through SHOUT. 

They got all the deleted scenes and some are quite cool. Jimmy playing NES in his room before "running away", etc.

There was a bunch of stuff that came in the package, one being a poster as they redesigned the cover for the Blu-Ray. I personally hated it though because of the blatant disregard for canon and colour schemes.

Jimmy's lunchbox wasn't even YELLOW!  



I was happy though because they made the cover double sided with the original VHS cover on the flipside. So that was pretty neat. 

 

On 9/29/2023 at 2:18 PM, Ferris Bueller said:

They did a Blu-ray for the 30th anniversary and in the special features, there is a panel I host with the Producers/Writer and I think we discussed something along these lines. Ken Topolsky did The Wonder Years and it was being rebooted at the time, so he said he thought doing the film again with a girl as The Wizard might be an interesting concept.

You HOSTED the panel? As in... it's you doing all the questions and MC'ing? 

Neat!!

I believe I watched that section of the Blu-ray, but not 100% sure now. Might have to pull it out now... 
 

On 9/29/2023 at 2:44 PM, Estil said:

I've refused to watch the Academy Awards ever since The Wizard was snubbed for Best Picture...and didn't even get one nomination besides!

PS: Originally in that iconic line I thought she said "He touched my brother!"

I always thought the line was funny because she says "breast". I never really considered it outside of that context of her saying a "bad word", either. Of course, we are much more sensitive to these things now, and that being used as a plot device would never happen today.

It brings up a good question. 

How does that line make you feel about the movie on a whole watching it today? 

It used to be a funny line for me, but after something like the "Me too" movement, and knowing friends personally who were abused, it's a little cringy to watch. 

I know "times are different" and Todd Holland does address it in the Blu-ray commentary.... but still.

One one hand I do think it's okay to take it as it was.... just a one liner where it's funny that a kid doesn't want to swear so she says "breast"..... but on the other hand it's fucked up to think about that type of thing happening, especially when you're watching a movie about the young girl. 

Thoughts?