Real Genius DVD

 IF YOU EVER WANT TO FEEL SMART
I COULD NOT COMPLETE MY 80'S COLLECTION WITHOUT HAVING THIS MOVIE. THIS MOVIE GAVE BIRTH TO NERD SARCASM ALL OVER THE WORLD. LAUGHTER IS A CONSTANT, FROM BEGINNING TO END.
Submitted by iamworthy21 (NEWPORT NEWS) 
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 A Lost Gem of the 1980's
I didn't appreciate it at the time I first saw it in 1985, but "Real Genius" is a very clever and engrossing movie. This comedy-with-a-subtle-message is a true "lost" gem of the 1980's. The plot centers around corrupt Pacific Tech professor Dr. Jerome Hathaway (William Atherton) cajoling, threatening, and manipulating his students - among them 15-year-old Mitch Taylor (Gabe Jarret) and senior Chris Knight (Val Kilmer) into building a 5-megawatt laser. Unknown to the students, the laser has a specific purpose behind it; namely, to provide the CIA a weapon in order to vaporize human targets from space. The movie is a hoot, propelled by Kilmer's engaging perfromance as Chris Knight, a onetime nose-to-the-gridstone tech geek who has found a way to keep his sanity through absurd behavior. Knight wears T-shirts with slogans like "I (heart) Toxic Waste" while wearing bunny rabbit slippers on his feet and staging events like "Smart People on Ice" and an indoor tanning party with bikini-clad girls. ("Given the type of people you are and the environment you're in, you have to admit the strong possibility that this might be your one chance to have sex" he explains to his fellow geeks.) AS he showed in his debut film "Top Secret" (1984) and in many of his films, Kilmer has a natural flare for comedy and it's a shame he doesn't do more of them. Atherton does a good job (as he also did in "Ghostbusters" and - yep! - "Bio-Dome") as the a--hole to root against. Michelle Myerink nearly steals the show as the hyperkinetic Jordan, who talks a mile a minute and can make anything in a matter of minutes. There is a serious undercurrent in the movie, mostly about scientists working on projects without realizing what their work is really accomplishing. In a parallel to the Manhattan Project of World War II (and "Star Wars" of the 1980's), Kilmer, Jarret, and their team of fellow students are so caught up in getting the laser to fire that they don't recognize the purpose behind the device. Supersmart ex-student Lazlo Holyfelt (William Gries), when informed that the laser works, asked Knight "What would you use that for?", to which a fellow student points out (offhand) "Making enormous Swiss cheese". After Knight has this revelation, the plot shifts to the group stopping Hathaway and the weapon. It's a shame a soundtrack album was never put out to this movie. There are some great songs that are readily available ("Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears, for example), but other great tunes in the movie are hard to find. (Recently, the album "Seven Day Weekend" by the Comsat Angels was rereleased on CD, in large part due to people trying to get the song "I'm Falling", which was used in "Real Genius".) Maybe Rhino, as they did for "Valley Girl", could remedy that situation... Bottom line - it's worth the money, as you'll be watching it again and again.
Submitted by JetblastAZ (Tempe, AZ USA) 
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 A well kept comedy secret.....
As time goes by, this movie continues to hold up..funny, well written, great cast, great dialogues(the kind people quote in the office for laughs). Although Val Kilmer has acted in some great films since Real Genius was made, this role may still be his best...he is flawless...William Atherton plays the classic "A-Hole" that steals every scene he is in....and Gabe Jarrett comes across as almost real, playing the teenager trapped with a genius mind, never having a lust for life or anything to live for until hooking up with Kilmer. A quiet comedy/cult classic if there ever was one! Cheers!
Submitted by markstarr21 (St. Louis, MO) 
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 Classic 80's movie at its best!
If you loved "Sixteen Candles", if you laughed your ass off at "Better Off Dead", this movie won't disappoint! Full of cheesey 80's humor, Val Kilmer is hysterical as the brainy, not-so serious Chris Knight who delivers some of the funniest lines of all time. Even if you've never seen it, buy it, you won't regret it!
Submitted by a reviewer (Houston, TX)
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