Forrest Gump. Captain Phillips. The Green Mile. The Da Vinci Code. Cast Away. The Terminal. Big. What’s your favorite Tom Hanks movie? Everyone has one.
But before there were memorable Tom Hanks movies, there were a handful of others.
Mazes & Monsters was one of his earliest roles, released in 1982 – and if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s something to track down just for how weird this movie is to see today.
M&M was released at the height of the moral panic surrounding board games and Dungeons & Dragons. People had decided at this point in time that board games must lead to serious moral decay and debauchery – and a lot of fiction about board games gone wrong is the result.
This was originally based on a book written by author Rona Jaffe, which apparently had to be a movie.
It follows the story of young Robbie Wheeling (played by Hanks, of course) who loses his mind to a board game that’s very, very similar to Dungeons & Dragons, although just different enough to have avoided a copyright lawsuit at the time.
Well, this was moral panic at its best. With movie effects. And Tom Hanks.
People are wiser today. Board games are encouraged instead of banned – and, well, I don’t think anybody has blamed TCGs or board games on the devil much since then. (Or at least, I hope not.)
It’s a little like the Jumanji of its time. Just weirder.
It’s one of the best, yet worst movies I’ve ever seen. And I couldn’t help but share it with bridge players and fans of appropriate board games everywhere.
See the original teaser for Mazes & Monsters thanks to the wonder of the internet.