Excellent but underrated film

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This movie tries to be inspirational and have a message, but the message is ridiculously absurd and the movie is incredibly insensitive and incredibly sappy/stupid. By far one of the cringiest films I've ever seen.

Only worth watching out of interest in seeing Tom Hanks before he exploded into being a superb and super famous actor. It doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it about "mazes and monsters" for fans of the game? Is it about the evils of playing such games? Is it about a disturbed teenager's decent into schizophrenia due to the disappearance of his brother? IF it had tried to be any one of these, it could have been good. It tries to be them all and therefore fails at all of them. At one point, we have a character say that he wants to "win" and mazes and monsters. Anyone with any knowledge of the real world game of which mazes and monsters is an expy, will know that winning is not the point at all.

I remember seeing this film on T.V. back in the early 80's. I do not see what the big fuss is with this movie. It's far from Forrest Gump, but remember this was one of Tom Hanks first movie roles. Well this was the first movie I saw him in. The rest of the cast were new to me except Chris Mackenpiece(Meatballs), Murray Hamilton(Jaws), and Vera Miles(Psycho). To me I would give this movie a 6 1/2 star, but it is a good solid six. The reason for my rating because it sends out an important message to young people. I am familiar with the Dungeons and Dragons from the 80's. I wasn't a big player, but some of my friends were. I don't care who you are, if you start burning the lines between reality and fantasy, it's time to get out. In Mazes and Monsters, this is what happened to Robbie. He couldn't separate reality from fantasy; and the later took over. This not only happens with games, it can happen with movies, T.V., E.T.C.. I actually found it very interesting to say the least. I believe this was the first time a movie has discussed a mental illness. I think it was bold, sometimes we forget the struggles with a mental illness, as well as a medical illness. A good movie, with a powerful message.

I caught this movie at a small screening held by members of my college's gaming club. We were forewarned that this would be the "reefer madness" of gaming, and this movie more than delivered.Tom Hanks plays Robbie, a young man re-starting his college career after "resting" for a semester. What we, the viewer, find out as the movie progresses, is that Robbie was hopelessly addicted to a role-playing game called "Mazes and Monsters," a game that he gets re-acquainted with after a gaming group recruit him for a campaign.This movie is laughable on many, many levels. One scene features the group "gaming by candlelight," which is probably the best way I can describe it. While I'm sure that this was meant to be "cultish" in some way, as most gamers know, it's horribly inaccurate. Most role-play sessions are done in well-lit rooms, usually over some chee-tohs and a can of soda.The acting, while not Oscar-caliber, isn't gut-wrenchingly awful either. This is one of Tom Hanks's first roles, and Bosom Buddies and Bachelor Party were still a year or two over the horizon. The supporting cast, while not very memorable, still hand forth decent performances.Mainly the badness lies in the fact that it was a made-for-TV movie that shows the "dangers of gaming" Worth a view if you and your friends are planning a bad movie night.