Truly Dreadful Film

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Wow I loved this movie I am a 80's kid and I never seen this. I really enjoyed this movie

I was born mid 1980's. I remember seeing this film early 90's. I loved it when I first saw it. It basically inspired me to pursue knowledge. It was after this film that I began disassembling my toys and making bigger cooler toys. It sparked my imagination. It's the film that made me pursue Physics up to now. :) It's a classic film that's underrated by most. The soundtrack is awesome. The last scene when Everybody wants to rule the world by Tears for fears starts playing is very Nostalgic. It makes me remember all my memories as a child growing up. It actually makes me wonder that in this fantasy world of Real Genius what's going to happen to these guys (C. Knight and gang). Do they start their own company? Do they get rich? Anything is possible. Sometimes I really hope they made a series out of this with the same actors because their chemistry is really awesome. It would have been more fun to see more of them working on something. :)

There really is a difference between smart people and nerds. You can be smart and fun at the same time. You can be witty and someone socially desirable all at once. Getting good grades doesn't necessarily sentence you to a life as a social pariah. Most of the characters we meet in Real Genius are not actually nerds. The Kent character would be an exception. But Real Genius is a fun and reasonably intelligent comedy with exceptionally smart people as its heroes. And unlike the protagonists in Revenge of the Nerds, they aren't people you'd necessarily make fun of. But you can certainly laugh at them.Real Genius is the story of a handful of whiz kids at mythical Pacific Tech University who are unwittingly being used to develop a deadly weapon for the CIA. It turns out their smarmy professor (William Atherton) is using a government grant to refurbish his home while his students relentlessly spend all of their waking moments in a lab developing a laser beam which can eradicate a human target from space. Gabe Jarret is a 15 yr old new to the team who finds himself roomed with Val Kilmer; a genius who has long ago decided not to take school so seriously. Jarret only wants to work on the laser and live up to the expectations of his parents and the faculty. Kilmer wants to teach the kid how to have some fun. And all the while this dangerous weapon is being created in their lab. Finally, after several plot complications, the weapon is complete. But it takes a former whiz kid living in the steam tunnels beneath the dorm to point out that this laser can really only have one use. Feeling betrayed, the students gang up on their professor and use his weapon to teach him a lesson. Real Genius is not a particularly plausible film in terms of its plot, but it succeeds at its most basic goal. In other words, its funny. Kilmer has never been better, spouting smug one-liners that would make Chevy Chase or Bill Murray smile. Atherton always got to play the creep back in the 1980s, and as usual he does it quite well. Gabe Jarret never did much else, but he's as good as he needs to be as the new "stud" who can hardly believe he's doing what he's doing at age 15. The film has dated fairly well. It has a good soundtrack, good special f/x for the laser, and good cast with several memorable performances. There are some unnecessary elements, such as the mixer with student beauticians, and perhaps Jarret's relationship with the hyper girl down the hall was tacked on. But overall its still a winner after so many years. Worth a rental if you don't own it already. 8 of 10 stars.The Hound

While there were a lot of popular teen comedies from the 80's only a few really standout in retrospect, this film along with most of John Hughes work is amongst them.The story follows teenage prodigy Mitch who is recruited by the fictitious Pacific Tech University so that he might join other top young scientific minds bent on developing a powerful laser ostensibly to advance science but in reality to provide the military with a weapon for their arsenal.Mitch is played by Gabriel Jarret who is adequate in the role, while the supporting cast includes William Atherton (Die Hard, Ghostbusters) as the professor in charge and Michele Meyrink playing the hyperactive Jordan who becomes Mitch's love interest, Meyrink is very effective in her role but didn't have much of a career subsequently. The big star of the film though is Val Kilmer who plays Chris Knight who mentors the uptight Mitch both academically and socially.The films director is Martha Coolidge who seems to have had less success than her talent might have justified.The film offers an interesting portrayal of college campus life in the 1980's (at least) which seems for the most part far more accurate than other depictions. The film also covers the fairly common 1980's theme of a government conspiracy.In closing the film features a great choice of closing title music, at least for the 1980's with "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears.