Mazes And Monsters is a film about two controversies... the first very much of it's time, the second (not of it's own making) would only be apparent decades later. Let's get the more recent one out of the way: there is a lengthy scene set in the now destroyed World Trade Centre. This is probably enough to stop it ever being shown on American television ever again. No big loss there, let me assure you.The main thrust of the story though, regards Dungeons And Dragons (Name changed to avoid a long courtroom battle), which was a huge craze back then, only matched by the paranoia of parents and preachers who thought it encouraged Satanism and campaigned voraciously against it. All stuff and nonsense of course, but nowhere near as daft as what is on display here... as Tom Hanks loses his mind, and goes on a quest to find his long-lost brother.Whether the movie blames his mental breakdown on the board game or views it as an innocent party (The same way a bit of Grand Theft Auto wouldn't lead you to steal cars and mow old ladies over, unless you had something pretty sick lurking inside you already) I don't know. What I am quite certain of is that Mr Hanks would love to round up every copy of this junk, attach a large weight to it and hurl them down into the Bottomless Pit Of Dross, never to be seen again.I mean, let's look at what he gets up to. He starts having a few fun sessions of fantasy role-playing with his friends, and starts a relationship with a fellow female gamer. But before he knows it, his mates have got tired of the tabletop version, and transplant it to a REAL LIFE setting... in some conveniently nearby abandoned caverns. Here's where Hanks goes completely loco: During a particularly intense moment in the dark while playing, he reimagines himself as his fictional character: a 9th level priest. He breaks up with his girlfriend to be 'pure', gives away all his possessions and starts blessing everyone. Then, one Halloween night... he just disappears.Where has he gone? Why, New York of course... in search of the mythical Twin Towers (and yes, that IS a Tolkien reference) to hurl himself off the top. Along the way, he stabs a mugger to death he thinks is a monster, and gets directions from a hobo whom he believes is The King Of France. It's just like a giant reinterpretation of Knightmare... except, the dungeoneer is a complete fruit loop. This is all very, very silly... but played totally straight by Hanks & Co, who may be labouring under the misapprehension they're making a serious cautionary tale. I think one look at the rather sorry finished article may be enough to change their deluded minds.In different hands, this may have had some saving grace as a cult film... but most of the time it's just deathly dull, and the moments that aren't are too stupid even to be appreciated by lovers of camp. AND STOP PLAYING THAT GODAWFUL LOVE SONG WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING IN THE MOVIE ALREADY!! When Hanks retires, and his colleagues hold a reception in his honour..., expect clips of this to end up in a compilation of his 'best work'... you know, as kind of an inside joke. Hanks's reaction? He'll smile, laugh and move swiftly on. Being the consummate professional he is. But really, he'll be absolutely mortified. Never mind Tommo, we've all gotta start somewhere... 3/10

Yes, about the only thing this film is memorable for is that it starred a youngish Tom Hanks who only a few short years later would be a relevant star in Hollywood. Here though is not a movie that is going to showcase his talents much at all and the only other thing that might be considered somewhat entertaining about this flick is the scene where he thinks he sees a monsters and runs a guy through. Yes, this movie is about the evils of playing a game that makes a group of people use their imaginations and try to come up with interesting scenarios. Basically, an after school type special about the evils of the game Dungeons and Dragons cleverly retitled here as Mazes and Monsters. Apparently, the makers of this film thought that nerds should not have fun of any sort unless they were going to go out and do underage drinking, drugs, having lots of unprotected sex and harass other weaker children like all the popular kids were doing. No, these bad people were playing a game that actually required one to use there brain, heaven's no! Not that, if they have a brain they actually may be able to think for themselves and not be brainwashed by certain groups out there. Yes, I think this movie is utterly stupid and a waste of time. Granted, it could be a movie against addiction, but there are a lot fewer people who died taking Dungeons and Dragons to far in its entire existence than than say what drunk driving claims in like a month.

If you didn't know better, you would believe the Christian moral majority in their preachy testimonial of the sins of the young, their questing for Satan, and that Hell was just brimming with Advanced Dungeons and Dragons fans.None of these items bears one grain of truth, folks. This work does nothing but give the Southern Baptists a chance to take a breath, while the movie continues to spout their erroneous and alarmist views concerning a creative and original gaming system.Tom Hanks contributes a stellar performance for this work, but even that wasn't enough to save it. It's crap. It's beneath crap. It is ignorance breeding ignorance and as such, it rates NOTHING from...the Fiend :.

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.