Movies like The Wizard (1989)
The best movies like The Wizard (1989) are Hero Mode (2021), 8-Bit Christmas (2021) and Tron (1982). If The Wizard hooked you with its adventure and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTetris (2023)7.8/10 from 2,123 votes
- NewestTetris (2023)Released 2023
Hero Mode (2021)
A teenage coding genius has just 30 days to create the world's greatest video game or his family loses everything. No pressure.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & family
8-Bit Christmas (2021)
In suburban Chicago during the late 1980s, ten-year-old Jake Doyle embarks on a herculean quest to get the latest and greatest video game system for Christmas.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTron (1982)
When brilliant video game maker Flynn hacks the mainframe of his ex-employer, he is beamed inside an astonishing digital world and becomes part of the very game he is designing. In his mission through cyberspace, Flynn matches wits with a maniacal Master Control Program and teams up with Tron, a security measure created to bring balance to the digital environment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (2014)
Based on the hit web series of the same name, a disgruntled gamer must overcome his fear of the worst video game of all time in order to save his fans. Hilarity ensues as a simple road trip becomes an extravagant pursuit of the unexpected.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Goonies (1985)
Young teen Mikey Walsh and his friends set off on a quest to find Pirate One-Eyed Willie's treasure in hopes of saving their homes from demolition. However, on their quest to find the treasure, they run into a family of recently escaped criminals, determined to capture the kids and reach the treasure first.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWarGames (1983)
High school student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Department of Defense's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions. Together with his friend and a wizardly computer genius, David must race against time to outwit his opponent and prevent a nuclear Armageddon.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisToys (1992)
Leslie Zevo is a fun-loving inventor who must save his late father's toy factory from his evil uncle, Leland, a war-mongering general who rules the operation with an iron fist and builds weapons disguised as toys.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisSpy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
Carmen's caught in a virtual reality game designed by the Kids' new nemesis, the Toymaker. It's up to Juni to save his sister, and ultimately the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisExplorers (1985)
Middle schooler Ben spends his free time watching sci-fi films, playing video games and reading comic books. Surprisingly, his affinity for all things fantastical yields a real result – when he has a vivid dream about technology, his prodigy best friend Wolfgang manages to create a working spacecraft. Joined by their buddy Darren, the boys take off into outer space and encounter some very odd extraterrestrial life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Starfighter (1984)
Video game expert Alex Rogan finds himself transported to another planet after conquering the video game The Last Starfighter, only to find out it was just a test. He was recruited to join the team of best Starfighters to defend their world from the attack.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCloak & Dagger (1984)
Davey Osborne is an average 11-year-old boy with an overactive imagination. He spends his days playing video games and pretending to be a spy with his imaginary father-figure, Jack Flack - a substitute for his real father, who is struggling with the recent death of Davey's mother. However, fantasy becomes reality for Davey after he witnesses the murder of an FBI agent, who in his dying breath, gives Davey a mysterious video game cartridge called Cloak & Dagger, which in actuality contains top-secret government information. With the help of his younger friend Kim, the tech savvy Morris, and even a little help from his fictional secret agent mentor, Davey must stay one step ahead of pursuers as he tries to survive a real-life game of espionage in the streets of San Antonio, Texas.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlight of the Navigator (1986)
12-year-old David is accidentally knocked out in the forest near his home, but when he awakens eight years have passed. His family is overjoyed to have him back, but is just as perplexed as he is that he hasn't aged. When a NASA scientist discovers a UFO nearby, David gets the chance to unravel the mystery and recover the life he lost.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
The eccentric and childish Pee-wee Herman embarks on a big adventure when his beloved bicycle is stolen. Armed with information from a fortune-teller and a relentless obsession with his prized possession, Pee-wee encounters a host of odd characters and bizarre situations as he treks across the country to recover his bike.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoney, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNoobz (2013)
Four friends hit the road to LA to compete in the Cyberbowl Video Game Championship, but will they be able to compete with the worst hangovers of their lives?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisLittle Monsters (1989)
A young boy is scared of the monster under his bed. He asks his 6th grade brother to swap rooms for the night as a bet that the monster really exists. Soon the brother becomes friends with the monster and discovers a whole new world of fun and games under his bed where pulling pranks on kids and other monsters is the main attraction.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe NeverEnding Story (1984)
While hiding from bullies in his school's attic, a young boy discovers the extraordinary land of Fantasia, through a magical book called The Neverending Story. The book tells the tale of Atreyu, a young warrior who, with the help of a luck dragon named Falkor, must save Fantasia from the destruction of The Nothing.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTRON: Legacy (2010)
Sam Flynn, the tech-savvy and daring son of Kevin Flynn, investigates his father's disappearance and is pulled into The Grid. With the help of a mysterious program named Quorra, Sam quests to stop evil dictator Clu from crossing into the real world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShort Circuit 2 (1988)
Robot Johnny 5 moves to the city to help his friend Ben Jahrvi with his toy manufacturing enterprise, only to be manipulated by criminals who want to use him for their own nefarious purposes.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
After their father is called into work, two young boys, Walter and Danny, are left in the care of their teenage sister, Lisa, and told they must stay inside. Walter and Danny, who anticipate a boring day, are shocked when they begin playing Zathura, a space-themed board game, which they realize has mystical powers when their house is shot into space. With the help of an astronaut, the boys attempt to return home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Science Project (1985)
His high school teacher issues an ultimatum: turn in a science project or flunk. So Mike Harlan scavenges a military base's junk pile for a suitable gizmo. He finds one... and unwittingly unleashes the awesome power and energy of the unknown. Twisted dimensions. Time warps. A fantastic realm where the past, present, and future collide in a whirling vortex of startling adventure and superlative special effects.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReady Player One (2018)
When the creator of a popular video game system dies, a virtual contest is created to compete for his fortune.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrainscan (1994)
A lonely teenage horror fan and video gamer plays a new immersive and hypnotic computer game where he becomes a psychopathic killer, but when he emerges, he finds that the murder has actually happened.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTetris (2023)
In 1988, American video game salesman Henk Rogers discovers the video game Tetris. When he sets out to bring the game to the world, he enters a dangerous web of lies and corruption behind the Iron Curtain.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisD.A.R.Y.L. (1985)
Daryl is a normal 10-year-old boy in many ways. However, unbeknown to his foster parents and friends, Daryl is actually a government-created robot with superhuman reflexes and mental abilities. Even his name has a hidden meaning -- it's actually an acronym for Data Analyzing Robot Youth Life-form. When the organization that created him deems the "super soldier" experiment a failure and schedules Daryl to be disassembled, it is up to a few rogue scientists to help him escape.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAshens and the Polybius Heist (2020)
A heist like no other! A motley crew of misfits hunt down an infamous 80's arcade game that can supposedly control people's minds. But is the legend all that it appears? Can the No-Confidence Crew get to it before it's too late? And what do lawnmowers have to do with it? The clock is ticking...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & adventure
Avalon (2001)
In a future world, young people are increasingly becoming addicted to an illegal (and potentially deadly) battle simulation game called Avalon. When Ash, a star player, hears of rumors that a more advanced level of the game exists somewhere, she gives up her loner ways and joins a gang of explorers. Even if she finds the gateway to the next level, will she ever be able to come back to reality?
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrop Dead Fred (1991)
An unhappy housewife gets a lift from the return of her imaginary childhood friend, Drop Dead Fred.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & family
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Dirt Bike Kid (1985)
When his mother sends Jack off with money to buy groceries, he comes home with a magic supercharged dirt bike instead. His mother is furious, but when Jack uses the magic bike to save the local hot dog stand from the clutches of corrupt big business, he becomes the town hero.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidnight Madness (1980)
A genius grad student organizes an all-night treasure hunt in which five rival teams composed of colorful oddballs furiously match wits with one another while trying to locate and decipher various cryptic clues planted ingeniously around Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & family
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Wizard?
The closest matches to The Wizard are Hero Mode (2021), 8-Bit Christmas (2021) and Tron (1982). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Wizard?
People who watched The Wizard most often go on to Hero Mode (2021), 8-Bit Christmas (2021) and Tron (1982).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Wizard?
Tetris (2023), rated 7.8/10 by 2,123 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Wizard?
Tetris (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Wizard?
Yes: Hero Mode (2021), 8-Bit Christmas (2021) and Tron (1982).
How are movies similar to The Wizard chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Wizard, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.