10 Movies That Are Nothing More Than Feature Length Commercials
2. Playing Nintendo Is Your Ticket To Glory - The Wizard (1989)
Since the birth of video game technology, video game manufacturers have created videogame tie-ins to simultaneously cash in on and promote feature films. Sometimes this results in high profile failures, like the legendarily awful Atari video game tie-in for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and other times it results in genre redefining masterpieces like Nintendo 64s GoldenEye. The number 2 spot on our list goes to a movie that flipped the video game tie-in concept on its head by making a feature length movie that was nothing more than a tie-in for a video game release. The Wizard chronicles the cross-country journey of a trio of children who want to compete in a Nintendo tournament. Much like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, the hero of The Wizard is a savant of sorts but, instead of having the highly lucrative ability to count cards, our hero has a latent genius at kicking arse at Nintendo games. When the borderline autistic child asks to go to California to compete in a Nintendo tournament, his friend do their best to make his wish come true. The heartwarming story of friendship and loyalty at the heart of the Wizard wasn't enough to distract critics from the fact that the movie's climax centered on the release of Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers 3 video game. Many pundits lambasted the feature for being little more than a flagrant and shameless video game commercial. Despite the critical hate,The Wizard remains a cult curiosity.
