Search - Max Magician and the Legend of the Rings on DVD

Hilarious "Bad Movie Night" Movie

John Nolley II | Fairfax, VA United States | 03/12/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Do you enjoy films so poor they become unintentional comedies? Do you find yourself delivering running commentaries during movies like the cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000? Then this little stinker is perfect for you!While the film's producers likely had loftier aspirations, Max Magician is one of the funniest fantasy films ever made. From actors who play multiple parts to wonderfully corny dialog to the unintentionally hilarious character foibles, this film is worth every penny if you enjoy "bad" movies.The movie is chocked full of contradictions and plot holes--Max, for instance, should be the butt of every bully at school; he nearly goes to class wearing a stage magician's cape, and his parents constantly complain about his lack of friends--but he seems rather popular with the girls when he does a "trick" that ends up covering a bully's face with egg. Still, when your best friend is a talking mouse with attitude and you look up to "tough" elderly gardeners, maybe you've got worse problems than bullies.That Max's gardening pal receives a warning of great danger from a man killed delivering it doesn't stop him from sending poor Max off with nary a word of caution into a world of poorly-made-up elves (or should they be fairies based on their hodgepodge mythological references?) and sneering, laughable bad guys off doing their "kingly things." The plot thickens about as much as water from there...The DVD version includes a number of "special" (like the short bus) features, including a documentary that features the curator of Natural Bridge droning on about how wonderful it was for a movie to actually film inside caves; the gung-ho armorer demonstrating "realistic" war hammers looking more like croquet mallets; and repeated rehearsals of one of Max's friends cracking an egg on a bully's head. These are nearly as funny as the film itself!The name and cover alone would disuade the fan of more serious fantasy, yet don't let that disuade you from picking this title up. If you want a great laugh at a great price, take Max Magician for a ride."

A classic of sustained awfulness.

R. C. Walker | Encinitas CA, United States | 06/07/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The "let's make a cheap (CHEAP) fantasy film" industry has over the years managed to generate at least as much bad acting as old westerns, 1930s-40s serials, Ed Wood films, and porn that aspires to plot lines. And it must be observed that Charles Middleton and Harry Reems (e.g.) could display some slight modicum of the thespian muse -- of which in this mutt of a film there isn't the slightest trace.

Imagine an average High School English class, slogging through a Shakespeare play by reading the parts and hating them. No, the acting here isn't that bad -- it's worse. The impression can't be avoided that that --um, "performers" in this film were selected based precisely on their inability to register emotion. We will dispense with the usual listing of the (understandably unknown) names in order to protect the guilty.

Overall, "Max Magician" is unusually derivative, unimaginative, and overwritten, even for a 3-day-wonder very-low-budget fantasy film. The situations that occur are frequently contrived to the point of absurdity and with an eye toward cheap melodrama.

The plot, such as it is, involves a kid named Max who has difficulties with a school bully (how original!) and is a not untalented amateur magician. He's given an obviously ancient book of (real) magic spells by an elderly neighbor, with the advice to "believe in yourself". Nobody ever explains what this means, but in every crisis the kid has somebody (a mouse or a hawk or whatever) yelling this generic bit of street-corner philosophy at him.

Max uses the book to enter a fantasy world in which there is a developing struggle between elves, trolls, and other inmates of your usual $5-per-CD role-playing game. A deus-ex-machina wizard shows up to teach him to use the spells in his book whilst dispensing platitudinous advice that makes Polonius look like a sage.

Max uses his newfound magic to assist the elves and their friends against the evil troll king (or whatever he is with the ostentatious horns on his head). Max's late confrontation with the latter doesn't amount to much but is nonetheless decisive. The "rings" of the title are a direct steal in basic concept from Tolkien, but have neither a legend nor a significant role to play in the film. In the end there is another confrontation between Max and the bully -- which, however, is unsatisfactorily indecisive.

I wish I could tell you that "Max Magician" has some redeeming feature or features. Alas. While the print used on the DVD is quite clear, it only serves to emphasize how cheesy the "magic" effects (such as they are) appear. Oddly, the makeup isn't all that bad, although elf ears are no more convincing than convention-issue Spock ears. Special effects are minimal and are generally foggy and sparkly effects superimposed on the film. The script, including the mandatory bwa-ha-ha-has from the chief bad guy, lurches from banality to banality.

I don't recommend this film, even for children. We have to maintain some sort of minimum quality standard insofar as they're concerned. Besides, anybody over the age of 5 (if not younger) will watch this with the constant thought that, "Gee, I could be watching mud wrestling instead."

It's instructive to note that prices for used copies on Amazon have plummeted to $0.01 (yep, 1 cent) ... although some idiot thinks he's going to get $50 for it. Probably from some other idiot."

Max cast no spell on this viewer

R. C. Walker | 06/06/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"They certainly were in love with their movie - the DVD even comes with a commentary track and "making of" featurette. It's just too bad it was no good, and you almost (almost) feel bad for hating it.

However, unless you are a fan of bad movies and enjoy taking them apart for fun [Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans take note], I would recommend staying at least 100 feet away at all times.

Let's start with the actors; Crimble the mouse for instance. Now, I love animals, but I would take no grief if someone stepped on that little rodent with the annoying laugh or tossed him into orbit. Max's acting was especially bad. While the director does point out he has no previous experience, I couldn't help but say out loud in a sarcastic tone, "And it shows." There are many scenes that I couldn't possibly list (as there are so many) that will either have you laughing or just staring in disbelief. You just have to see it for yourself.

The music and sound effects were very "stock," and even the music playing on the menu, which was the only thing I liked about it, was from something else. Very little if anything about this movie is original and it feels like they took parts of other, more successful fantasy films and combined it into one garbled mess. It's sad, but I don't think they realized that. Or they did but just didn't care and hoped nobody would sue.

It's hard to believe this was released a little less than 2 years ago. Actually, I hope they make more of these so I can continue to riff and poke fun at the newer adventures of Max or whatever else they pull out of wherever it is they got this silly script.

Overall this feels of a home movie I might've filmed over the course of a few summer days with friends, only without a shaky camera and paper-and-marker credit sequence. They didn't really pay attention to continuity and everything looks and feels cheap. Besides a few stupid looking giant cards, even Max's room looked like your average bland guestroom, and there was nothing kid about it. Perhaps if they had worked harder, thought this through better, the budget would not have mattered and they could've made a very nice movie. It can be done you know.

By the way, if you're going to film at an off season Ren Fest, at least unboard some of those windows so it will LOOK like people live there. Oh, and make it less obvious you're filming in small area of it. All that empty space drove me nuts. Just a thought.

"

A bargain for such a great movie!

David Cox | Iowa City, IA | 03/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those of you who share my love for pointless, plotless movies...this one's a true gem. It's Mystery Science Theatre material, I laughed the whole way through."