Product Details

• Actors: Lynda Aldon, Harvey J. Alperin, Paulette Breen, Steve Brodie, Deven Chierighino
• Format: Color, EP, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• VHS Release Date: October 6, 1997
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303340997
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,720 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a Must See for all Film Making Students, February 15, 2003

By 

Rose "Love, Appreciate Life, Create wonderfu... (Richmond, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wizard of Speed and Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Mike Jitlove is a Genius who managed to do more with imagination, a lot of stop motion animation, and hand creating each frame of special effects. He is light years ahead of his time with this classic movie about Making a movie. He shows the humorous/frustrating side of Hollywood and all the Guilds and Unions it takes to make a movie. I first saw this when taking Special Effects Make-up classes in Orlando. The teacher had a copy on Laser Disc. I would actually buy one of the old Laser Disc Players just to have a copy of this movie, that is how good this movie is.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you can get your hands on this, grab it!!!, October 10, 2002

By 

"cjfbooks" (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wizard of Speed and Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

My father found a copy of this film at a video store in Cleveland, of all places, years ago, and it quickly became my family's all-time favorite film. We rented it constantly, until I saw a copy one day in a pre-viewed pile for sale and grabbed it. I managed to find a second copy the same way, so (thank goodness!) I can have my own copy without depriving my parents of one.

I was thirteen when I first fell in love with the Wizard of Speed and Time. I'm 25 now, and I could still watch it over and over again. It's become a family classic - my brother and I have found ourselved sprinkling quotes into normal conversation - "it's the ultimate in low-tech," "my uncle's got friends in high places - he's got high friends everyplace!" and on and on. We've introduced many, many friends to it over the years. I've yet to show it to someone who hasn't loved it.

See it for the amazing animation. See it for the quirky characters. See it for the sight gags. See it for the songs. Most of all, see it in celebration of the magic that truly is possible. You won't be sorry.

P.S. Mike's a pretty amazing guy, too! My brother and I each have a signed film poster to show for it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Of all the words of mice and men..., February 21, 2006

By 

Michael Weber "fairportfan" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wizard of Speed and Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

...the saddest are "It might have been."

Having encountered a tall fellow in a green jacket at 2AM or so at the World SF Convention in Boston in -- ummm -- 1980? -- and greeted him with "You're Mike Jittlov -- and i'm not!", I stood and talked with him for some time about Things.

I got a crick in my neck -- he don't look it on film, but he's tallenough that six foot tall me had to look up while talking -- and he told me some of his plans.

First, though, i asked him how the *%*^& he made the stop-motion animated frisbees in "Mouse Mania" spin as they cruised by (when i point out that effect to people who know/have done stop-motion, their jaws drop) and he told me.

And then he told me about the wonderful movie he had planned, spinning off from a segment of Disney's promo show for The Black Hole. (Which, incidentally, aside from the Barnstable twins, was the best part of the program -- oh, no -- i tell a lie -- Frank and Caroline Mouris [Frank Film] did a beauty of a cut-out animation sequence.)

It was going to be titled "The Wizard of Speed and Time", and it was going to be the story of a man who gained the ability to use 100% of his brain instead of the roughly 10% we allegedly use in our normal lives.

He would be superintelligent, nd superfast and generally superish, and the normal human authorities would feel threatened, and...

It sounded great. But it didn't happen -- instead we get this sad travesty.

Yes, it's funny. Yes, it recycles parts of some of Jittlov's previous work -- but, none of the shorts used are complete, and none have the proper original music cues.

Yes, he gets some revenge on a Large Hollywood Production Company which shall remain nameless but they did a teevee special (mostly pretty unspecial) about special effects that Jittlov worked on.

Yes, he lays some zingers on the Hollywood guild-and-union system.

Yes, there are some wonderful gags layered in here and there -- try freeze-framing the "Japanese Jumping Wall" segment as the Wizard scoots along the wall, and be sure to read all signs and placards and so on in the background.

But "the system" managed to grind down even such a wild talent as Jittlov's, and, not only it ain't what "might have been," but i understand Mike got such a screwing from the producers/releaseing company that, according to one report, he left film-making entirely...

Another good man done gone...