The Wizard of Speed and Time

I saw this first years ago, when I was kid, around the time it came out. My dad loved it, and we had it on tape. It was then lost in the streams of time and I totally forgot about it. About a year ago, my sister and her husband, while i was over visiting, pulled a video out of their shelf and asked if I'd ever seen this. It was "The Wizard of Speed and Time", and I said that it looked familiar. From about 10 seconds in, I remembered this movie competely, and was filled with merriment in the way people get when you see something again that you loved as a kid, and is still as good.

Jittlov wrote, directed, produced, audited, gripped, funded, cranked, cameraed, composed, googled, flamboozed, and starred in this almost one-man show. He's extremely talented, in all respects. The movie is extremely cleverly written, well acted, well directed, and amusing to the point of extremes. Very clever shots are taken to many different facets of hollywood, as Mike tries to complete a movie he's making. The ending is witty, the romance is credible, and this movie is just plain fun. It even has good music! Definately high on my list of all time goodies. I did get a bit sick of it after watching it about 30 times or so, but very few movies keep my attention that long. A warning though, you really have to be a certain kind of person to enjoy this movie. Most people I tried to get to watch it didn't enjoy it. Let's face it, Mike is a nerd, getting all the chicks, and stands up for nerds everywhere. You kinda have to be a nerd to enjoy this movie. And I am a nerd. 9/10

I first saw this movie back in 1989 with some friends of mine, we were in the habit of going to the video store and TRYING to find a movie none of us had seen. One trip brought us this rare gem. We watched it and were thoroughly amused by this story of Mike Jittlov vs. Hollywood. The stop-motion effects were simply amazing, executed with skill that would make ILM green with envy. The story was funny in a poking-fun-at-Hollywood-and-ourselves kind of way. NOTE: Our rental copy included the movies own hilarious trailer, this trailer does not seem to be included in copies available today (5 YEARS in the making! 5 DAYS in the theaters! ect). Watch it, love it, share it with your friends.

I didn't see it noted, but there were 2 versions of this movie released on video. One from SGE and one from StarMaker. Both have the same picture on the box, but the StarMaker version is easily recognized by the gold border around the picture. (The one pictured on IMDb while I write this.)

Most people agree, the SGE version is the better version.

A lot of the jokes in the film do revolve around Hollywood, unions or the IRS and the characters' somewhat Dilbert-like frustrations that the process of making films or money is not nearly the straight-forward process they'd expect.

A good bit of lore has built up around the movie as well, as many ironic stories have sprung up around it. A usenet newsgroup dedicated to Mike Jittlov fans has been around for a long time (relative to the internet anyway.)

It also has the unusual distinction of having parts being played by the real people: the filmmaker is played by a filmmaker, the evil producer is played by a ....well, producer, the musician is played by a musician, his mother is played by his mother, his brother is played by his brother... etc, etc, etc.

The truth is, eye came across this movie in a video store and thought it looked like the most stupid thing ever. Im 17 & interested in film-making & so like to watch total low-budget crap and laugh at how poor some low budget movies are!

But not this. The wizard of speed & time is literally more than a movie. I feel like Mike J is a movie & magic pioneer in the industry showing that Creativity and magic are still very much alive:)

The film is just so magical & feel-good. There are odd sequences cut & pasted together & look so different. There are 3 unicorn references (I love unicorns) and the fact Mike J basically MADE THIS MOVIE HIMSELF is a testament to how much passion he put into this project. The Prince of the movie industry! The sequence with Mike going to all the unions is a clever & witty dig at the ugly crapiness of hollywood. This movie is a reminder of all the guys & girls sitting in their rooms making the most magical stories,pictures & music that only they will hear. I just wish that Mike J had been sucessful and given us more movies like this. Well, at least the movie lives on.....

Peace Nyrone (uk)

Welcome to the church of Cinematology....

The story of one man's impossible dream: to create with the aid of Hollywood a feature length motion picture with a real story, with real people and special effects that mean something.

CAN it be done?

Mike Jittlov is employed by two producers to work an a special effects extravaganza for their network. Of course they make a bet whether he can do it all in time, cue: the sleaze trying to sabotage Jittlov at every turn.

Okay, babe.

It may not sound too original but the film's quirky sense of humour, staggering attention to detail, several thousand jokes and inspirational messages and cast of characters you actually CARE about set it apart from other formulaic hokey comedies.

What a way to make a living.

And as if that wasn't enough the film features some of the most amazing stop-frame work seen since Harryhausen (except less jerky and unnatural), all building towards the film's climax - Jittlov's finished piece the "Wizard Run".

Nothing can stop the creative spirit.

What more can I say? Be amazed, be happy and (you've guessed it) may all your good dream and fine wishes come true!