80s Movie: Real Genius

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears has always been one of my favorite 80's songs. I've recently rediscovered this song's movie counterpart, "Real Genius" starring a very young Val Kilmer. It's joined my library of great 80's movies that you can watch over and over again...especially on rainy days!




If you get a chance, re-live this funny movie! Does this movie sound somewhat familiar or just wondering what it's all about before re-queing your Netflix account?

Here's a brief synopsis: Mitch Taylor is no ordinary 15 year-old. He's a bonafide genius and gets accepted to an engineering college for brainiacs just like him...only older. He's roommates with the legendary Chris Knight (played by Val Kilmer), who is a bit quirky and rides the fence of being clinically insane. Between studying for exams and working on a "project" with a team of envious classmates, he's trying to find time to make friends and enjoy his time at college. There's a bigger plot involving the "project", but I don't want to give away the whole movie, but I might anyway! Let's just say, it involves a blackmailing professor, a top-secret weapon for the military, Kent talking to "God" via his dental work, and a very large version of Jiffy-Pop in someone's living room. Sounds crazy? That's what makes this movie entertaining to watch!

Here's some funny dialogue about Kent (pictured below) who is Professor Hathaway's personal "Gofer":

Chris Knight: This is Kent (note those nasty braces!). This is what happens when a person gets too sexually frustrated.

Kent: You're all a bunch of degenerates.
Chris Knight: Oh, really? Well, what about that time I found you naked with that bowl of Jell-O?
Kent: You did not.
Chris Knight: This is true.
Kent: Yeah, well, it was hot and I was hungry.

Made in 1985, it's right smack in the middle of this awesome decade! This movie reminds me of a young "National Lampoon's Van Wilder" with a touch of "Revenge of the Nerds". It's the epitome of an 80's movie. Here's why:

1) There's the token Asian dude: Although they were all considered "geniuses" on campus, "Ick" Ikagami was the only one to temporarily convert their dorm hallway into an ice skating rink. How awesome is that?!?!?

2) Not ONE, but THREE 80's song montages: It's true, there are three great 80's montages that show Mitch adjusting to college life and exams, Mitch and Chris perfecting the laser, and the whole gang attempting to foil their professor's plan.

3) Parties on campus: Even though this campus is 100% geekdom, Chris (Val Kilmer's character), throws a "Tanning" party in a lecture hall by inviting the local beauty school over to socialize with the geeks. Best part, he converts the orchestra pit into a pool with a water fountain, inflatable slide, and fake palm trees! There's also random dancing, roller skating, and grilling by the poolside!

4) Randomness: There's plenty of random characters including: Lazlo, a legendary brainiac who flipped out from the pressure of college and now lives in Chris and Mitch's closet. Lazlo has been working on his own "project" that will ultimately get him out of the closet (no homosexual pun here...)! And then there's Jordan, a fast-talking insomniac who invents random gadgets and happens to be Mitch's love interest.

5) A typical bar scene: When the gang is celebrating the success of their laser, they go to the local bar. It's so typical of an 80's movie...people dancing (the 80's version of Bel Air's "Carlton") in a smoke filled room, biker dudes with pitchers of beer shooting pool, and butch-looking women fighting on top of a pool table.

Here are some of my favorite scenes:

During this montage, it's exam time and unlike Mitch, some students prefer to record their lectures. Look what they use to record lecture! Boom-boxes! I can just imagine them bringing them to class on one shoulder.


At the end of this montage, the guy randomly stands up in the study room and starts to scream from the stress. He screams and screams while everyone else is just looking at him like he's crazy. Eventually, he runs out of the room screaming and Ick (who's directly behind him in the picture), picks up his things and takes his place at the study table. Survival of the fittest!

At the end of the movie, Dr. Hathaway's house explodes at the seams with popcorn. Kent, who thought God was talking to him, becomes mesmerized by the growing Jiffy-Pop bubble in the house. He gets swept up out of the house in the popcorn "wash out". Funny scene that leads to the closing credits and my favorite song, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"!

So, I hope you get a chance to watch this movie. It recently aired on Encore! television and I found it highly entertaining. I hope you do too!