My Science Project (1985) User Reviews

Great, strange, quirky film

[Agent10 · 7/10 · 13 August 2002]

Sadly, My Science Project was a very big risk that seems to transcend it's teen film genre. While people will cite better time-travel themed movies like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Back o the Future, this one will certainly stand on its own due to the Twilight Zone quality of it. Great visuals, great idea, and the story didn't try to insult it's audience by making the story painfully obvious.

I especially liked Mike's character, a kind of good guy that was a diamond stuck in the pond scum. Unfortunately, his entire performance was stepped on by Fisher Steven's over the top performance. Dennis Hopper made a perfect cameo performance that really fit his bi-polar acting style.

While this film won't be considered one of the elite teen films of the 1980s like The Breakfast Club, Bill and Ted, River's Edge, Say Anything, Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but it will fit comfortably with the silver medalists of that area, much like Can't Buy Me love, The Wraith and Three O'Clock High. A great film for teen movie aficionados.

Classic 80's Sci-Fi

[chvylvr80 · 6/10 · 25 September 2003]

Man I've been watching My Science Project since way back when I was a kid. It was better then but the only thing that has really dated it is the special effects. The story is still good, Fisher Stevens is still funny, and Dennis Hopper is still far out man! I'm not saying that this movie is better than Star Wars or anything but it's a pretty good example of cheesy 80's Sci-Fi. The trick to watching My Science Project or indeed, any movie from the 80's, is to not take it seriously. Turn off the white hot critic's eye and just enjoy this movie for what it is. It's a great movie. Bottom Line: I can't think of many 80's movies in this genre that are this film's equal, except for maybe The Last Starfighter. If you can let me know.

A forgotten classic!

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 3 September 2018]

When I saw this movie, way back when I was 13 years old, I wondered when every other kid would embrace it and treat it like the blockbuster I was sure that it would be. Then, it never happened.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower is brought to Area 51 in the middle of the night to see a UFO. He orders them to get rid of it.

28 years later, it's found by high school gearhead Michael Harlan (Christine), who is searching through an airplane graveyard for something to turn in for his final science project so he can graduate. He's brought along Ellie (Danielle von Zerneck, La Bamba), his nerdy friend who wants to be his girlfriend, and along with her and his friend Vince (Fischer Stevens, not playing an Indian as he did in Short Circuit or a Hollywood style hacker as he did as Eugene "The Plague" Belford in Hackers) he has to figure out how the device works and how to not destroy the world.

Hippie science teacher Dr. Roberts (Dennis Hopper, in one of his first mainstream return roles) realizes that the gizmo is actually a portal to another dimension before he is teleported away. The machine goes out of control, helped by the meddling of jealous nerd Sherman (Raphael Sbarge).

All ends up well and good, despite a dinosaur attack, post-apocalyptic mutants attacking the school and the police searching for our heroes. Dr. Roberts even comes back, getting to see Woodstock one more time (Dennis Hopper is wearing the same outfit he wore in Easy Rider). Our hero gets an A and the girl. All is well.

Known as TimeBusters in Sweden, this is an 80's film about time travel. And no, it's not Back to the Future. It's interesting, though. And pretty much forgotten. It's worth revisiting.

"When you're cool, the sun shine on you 24 hours a day."

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 8 February 2015]

High school student Michael Harlan (John Stockwell) is a kid with a fairly narrow focus: he's a car junkie. His girl dumps him because she thinks he spends more time tinkering with cars than with her. To get his science teacher Bob Roberts (Dennis Hopper) off his back, Mike scours a local military junkyard for any piece of junk that he can pass off as a science project. Well, the item that he steals is no ordinary junk: it was discovered back in the 1950s and is apparently an alien device that can create time-space warps. When Mike, his buddy Vince (Fisher Stevens), and Bob start messing around with the thing, an immense amount of havoc ensues as the high school is inundated with characters and animals from the past and a possible future.

Debuting director Jonathan R. Betuel, who'd written "The Last Starfighter", does alright with this first feature. It doesn't display *that* much imagination (we get cavemen, mutants, and a dinosaur, but not that much more), but it does have some good energy. Nicely shot in 2.35:1, it gets off to a solid start, and the characters are amusing to watch. Stockwell is likable in his first top billed role (after playing the best friend to car junkie Keith Gordon in "Christine"), and Danielle von Zerneck is appealing as his leading lady. Stevens, and Raphael Sbarge as the nerdy Sherman, are very much playing stereotypes, but they do give the roles 100%. The adult actors are largely wasted - Barry Corbin as Mikes' dad, Ann Wedgeworth as the dads' new wife, Richard Masur (who gets to be broader than usual) as a detective. The true standout performance in "My Science Project" comes from Hopper, who's perfectly cast as the former hippie who's all too happy to relive his protest filled youth. Robert DoQui, Michael Berryman, Pamela Springsteen, and an uncredited Al Leong all have small roles.

The music by Peter Bernstein is appropriate, the visual effects are well done overall (especially that dinosaur, the work of Doug Beswicks' team), and there are some funny lines here and there. All in all, the movie is juvenile, silly, and ridiculous, but it does do a respectable job of entertaining its audience. Stevens's line (used as my summary), when asked why he's wearing shades indoors, is truly a howler.

Seven out of 10.

Great little sci-fi film for a good time.

[GordonFly · 5 April 2002]

I love 'My Science Project'. I first saw it on HBO one day back in 87 and loved it right away, it's a great sci-fi thriller, with many moments of comedy as well.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

It concerns a car nut high school student played by John Stockwell (you'd think that after the hell he went through with Christine, he'd stay the heck away from cars), who needs a science project to pass his science class, problem is, he doesn't have one. So one night he, and his new girlfreind are rumaging around in an old military junk yard outside of town hoping to find something suitable to impress his teacher, and find a very odd little machine. It's high tech looking, with a glass globe mounted in the middle that when powered up, emits electricity that resembles one of those plasma globes you'd find at Spencers Gifts in the mall. As he's cleaning it, he decides to hook it up to a power supply, this turns out to be a huge mistake as 'the gizmo', as it's called in the film, turns out to be an engine from a spacecraft and can locally warp time and space, bringing objects and people from other times into our own. It soon goes wildly out of control and eventually the whole school is caught in a warp, and it's up to Stockwell, and his wise cracking freind, played wonderfully by Fisher Stevens, to shut down the gizmo for good.

A very underrated film, with impressive visuals that still hold up well (except for the dinosaur), great acting from it's cast, inspired writing, and when watched on a good surround set up, a great audio mix to boot. It means no harm, and is fun.

My Science Project: Underwhelming comedy sci-fi

[Platypuschow · 4/10 · 23 June 2018]

Starring the late great Dennis Hopper and underrated talent Fisher Stevens this is an odd little 80's sci-fi comedy that I'd never heard of. I can only assume this is because it didn't do all too well.

It tells the story of a car nut who finds a mysterious device while searching for something to use for his science project. The device distorts time and space building to an epic climax featuring dinosaurs, laser firing space men and everything in between.

On paper this should have been outstanding but for whatever reason it fell flat.

The sci-fi side looks pretty terrible and does not even remotely meet its potential while the comedy element is so lacking it's hard to believe they even call it that. In fact the only comedy comes from Fisher Stevens who is one of the movies saving graces.

Those into 80's cheese might appreciate this but don't go expecting Weird Science (1985) because it isn't even close.

The Good:

Solid script

Fisher Stevens

The Bad:

Doesn't flow very well

Isn't funny

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

You can wear sunglasses during mug shots

Great for a kid

[dice-5 · 6/10 · 19 January 2003]

I just saw this on DVD for the first time in probably about 15 years. I used to love it when I was about 7 years old. I was amazed how many lines I remembered. Though often I didn't remember them from this movie. I just remembered them as lines my 2 brothers and I worked into our vernacular growing up. Especially the timeless "Make my semesta!!!" Besides all the great one liners, there were guns, explosions, gladiators, monster's from the future and past, a TREX, dynamite, and lot's of cool electricity effects. Everything a 7 year old boy would love. So I highly recommend it for a boy child. But for everyone else, only if you are bored or really like seeing cheesy 80's flicks.

I Was a Teenage Time Traveler.

[vertigo_14 · 5/10 · 19 April 2004]

'My Science Project' was a fun idea. John Stockwell is Michael Harlan, a slacker car jock who's got to come up with a real science project if he wants to pass his class. Digging around in some condemned military land, he finds a wierd gadget that causes major van damage. In the course of trying to figure out the extent of power of the little electrifying gizmo, his hippie science teacher, Bob (Dennis Hopper) is sucked into a time warp. But, he doesn't leave before figuring out that the thing that Mike Harlan found opens up all time warps. So, now Harlan and his friend Vince Latello (Fisher Stevens), Ellie Sawyer (Danielle von Zerneck), and a hopeless nerd named Sherman (Raphael Sbarge) have to fix the time dimensions while getting chased by strange guys from the government and dinosaurs and midevil warriors, and everything else. Mike's got a real mess on his hands.

It's probably one of the few films I really liked John Stockwell in because he didn't have to try to hard to be Mike Harlan, slacker car jockey who doesn't say much and likes to be left alone. Although, the better character in the movie was his big shot friend, Vince. But that's a typical kind of character for Fisher Stevens, who's always good in comedy.

And yes, as one viewer already mentioned, it follows a long line of 80s science fiction comedy or 80s sci-fi teen movies like 'Real Genius' (teens build a super laser); 'Back to the Future' (teen travels to past, present, and future via a Delorean time machine); Weird Science (teens make a girl on their computer); 'Peggy Sue Got Married' (adult goes back in time to relive being a teen); 'Mac and Me' (teens find friendly alien family), and so forth.

I like the idea for 'My Science Project,' but having all of the people and creatures from different time periods land in the present-day lacked a lot of fun that could've been achieved from a movie (perhaps a longer movie) like this. The finale battle scenes against the enemies from different time dimensions all took place in the school. So, the setting was static, and somewhat boring after awhile. Probably, too, because it was done so cheaply. A lot more could've been done if they were allowed to expand the setting by allowing Harlan and his friends to travel through time, too.

Nonetheless, if this be your cup of tea, then cheers!

Part of the science comedy movie craze.

[Aaron1375 · 8/10 · 17 February 2004]

Movies come in phases now and then where a bunch of movies with similar themes come out at about the same time. There was the underwater craze of 89 ("The Abyss", "Leviathan", and "Deepstar Six") and there was the body switch craze ("Big", "Vice Versa", and one with Dudley Moore). This movie came out during the comedy with a science twist. The other two movies that came out during this phase are "Real Genius" and "Weird Science". I liked this phase as I enjoyed all three movies quite a bit. This one was no exception as it combined humor and science fiction very well. This one has a couple of kids finding this strange device that I think ended up being some type of engine. Anyway when this thing gets hooked up with power and turns on all sorts of strange stuff starts happening. The thing seems to be able to move time or open portals. The end is great as the thing really goes berserk and it turns the school (I think it was the school) into a battle zone complete with different times. There is a dinosaur and mutants. All in all I am probably in the minority in liking this one, but I thought it was really good.

good comedy science fiction movie for teens

[myriamlenys · 7/10 · 16 February 2019]

A young student realizes that he urgently needs to find a "science project" in order to graduate. Since he's pretty handy with all things automotive and mechanical, he sneaks into an army depot where old equipment is stored and steals a dusty, disused object which looks like a motor. He will soon find out that he has stumbled upon a piece of alien technology...

The 1980's, an excellent decade for fantasy and science fiction ! Here we've got a comedic version aimed at a teen audience and it works very well, mainly thanks to a jolly, unpretentious plot, good effects, good casting and good acting. There's good fun to be had as an unremarkable high school in an unremarkable town becomes the centre of an ever greater distortion of the space-time continuum.

The viewer also gets to enjoy some satirical snipes - for instance at the American army, which invests billions in state-of-the-art weaponry and then stores the results in some dusty, rusty depot remembered only by God. (By the way, I may live on another continent, but the phenomenon is common here too.) The movie even contains fleeting moments of visual poetry, what with the corridors of a modern high school getting used by a beautiful Egyptian princess being carried around by attendants. In the best Egyptian tradition, she even throws her admirers a lotus flower, as a token of her benevolence or amorous intent...

On the other hand there are a certain number of missed opportunities : the story, for instance, could have used some additional twists and turns. (I for one would have loved to see the "science project" of the protagonist battle it out with the "science project" of some of his fellow students.)

Still, an enjoyable romp - and Shakespeare at his wittiest, compared to some of the current cr*p.

If "Plan 'B' From Outer Space" is the worst movie of all time, this is the runner up.

[KADC · 3/10 · 22 August 2010]

Whenever I watch a terrible movie I always wonder why the cast and crew don't collectively yell "CUT!!!" and tell the director, "That makes no sense whatsoever, perhaps a bit of a rewrite is in order before we kill anymore braincells." The worst that could happen is they are fired, saving them the disgrace of being associated with such a disaster.

This movie had reasonably good actors and a reasonably good budget which allowed for special effects reminiscent of "Ghost Busters", but the writing -- oh, the abysmal writing -- is so bad I have to question the intelligence of the script writer.

Oftentimes a good director can still salvage something worthwhile with even the worst script to work with, but unfortunately in this case the director is the writer, and though he passably directs the movie, he clearly believes too strongly in the plausibility of his own script, forcing the cast to seriously deliver lines that should only be said with tongue in cheek.

This movie would be an excellent candidate for a remake, missing only a bit of self-effacing humour to turn it into an excellent science fiction comedy. As it stands, I recommend only watching it if you are high. Very, very high.

This is a great sci-fi film!

[Samanticks · 10/10 · 20 November 2005]

My Science Project is a great 80s sci-fi movie about a kid in high school who sneaks into an old air force junkyard and stumbles upon an alien device discarded in a 1950s fallout shelter, and tries to turn it in as his science project. When his teacher, played by Dennis Hopper, finds a way to power the device, he zaps himself into another time dimension and from there, all hell breaks loose. Eventually, the kid and his best friend, played by Fisher Stevens, find themselves battling their way through Roman gladiators, the Viet Cong, post-apocalyptic mutants and even a Tyrannosaurus Rex in each room of their High School as they make their way toward the science hall to deactivate the device and save their town.

Those who criticize the writing and dialogue miss it's depth as it is as much a movie about trust as it is about time travel.

John Stockwell plays a believable high school cool kid who drives a muscle car and hangs out at auto shop. Fisher Stevens plays his hilariously bigoted sidekick buddy Vinnie from Brooklyn. Danielle von Zerneck plays Harlan's (Stockwell) geeky would-be bounce-back girlfriend after his bimbo girlfriend dumps him. Raphael Sbarge plays a hopelessly nerdy librarian that ultimately helps Harlan shut down the device. Dennis Hopper plays an unhinged ex-hippie turned science teacher who gets sent into another dimension but shows up at the end.

The special effects are dated but hold well. That T-Rex looked good! Don't get me wrong, it's no Jurassic Park, but it's no Gumby Claymation dinosaur either. If you can overlook the fact that the alien device looks like something you can buy from Spencer's Gifts and some of the cheesiness that comes with an 80s movie, it's a pretty exciting film.

If your a sci-fi fan, it's definitely worth a look. It's not just a good idea, it's a good movie as well. I loved it.

80s time travel kid's film

[parkerbcn · 7/10 · 17 June 2021]

The 80s was the decade of nerds in main roles in Sci-Fi and fantasy. With the big successes of "WarGames" and "Ghostbusters" in 1985 there were at least five movies with teenagers involved in some kind of Sci-Fi experiments and this movie was one of them, even when not one of the most popular. But the movie is a fun 80s adventure with time travel (kind of anticipating "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure"), a lot of silly moments and that stores some nice surprises, like Dennis Hopper in a cool secondary role.

Good idea... terrible film

[Meredith-7 · 4/10 · 24 June 2000]

For some reason I liked this film when I was young, but now I can't imagine why. The dialogue is incredibly corny, and the characters were far too cliche. The film starts off fairly slowly, with only minor comic relief from Dennis Hopper. It does pick up in the last half hour, but the special effects have aged significantly over time- they were really cheesy, especially the dinosaur. I didn't really find any of the main leads likeable either - they were all fairly irritating and seemed to act in a way which seemed in contrast to the characters they were mean't to be playing. This is probably the worst of the eighties high school/teen science fiction tales, we all know it was made in the mid eighties- but did they have to make it so obvious? The story wasn't so bad- they just needed stronger characters, better dialogue etc...Unless your a fan of bad eighties teen films (and there are a lot of them) stay clear.

Good mid 80's flick.

[Dark Star · 27 August 2000]

This was an OK movie. John Stockwell and Fisher Stevens were a good team. Latello's (Stevens) wise-cracks are what made this movie enjoyable for me! The story is slow at times, but the action picks up and so does the movie. I recommend this for a Saturday afternoon when you have nothing to watch.

All in all, a enjoyable film.

Enjoyable / Amusing

[travisnadeau-23699 · 6/10 · 11 February 2019]

The movie had some great parts , funny and cheesy ! It reminded me over a bunch of movies rolled into one , like revenge of the nerds, back to the future , ghostbusters and jumanji. The only criticism was that the movie seemed to rushed. They went to the first act to the third act . Spoiler It's started of getting to know the characters and soon as they found gizmo BAM ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE ! It was fun for me to watch though and laughed on how cheesy the movie truly was

The sun shines on you 24 hours a day....

[FlashCallahan · 4/10 · 30 October 2014]

Michael and Ellie break into a military junkyard to find a science project for Michael's class, and discover a strange glowing orb which absorbs electricity.

When the orb begins to blend past, present, and future, its up to Michael and Ellie to stop the orb and save mankind......

Fisher Stevens is a fun screen presence, John Stockwell isn't, that's why I would have rather have had Stevens in the central role, rather than Cletus the slack jawed yokel.

And its easy to see why this film vanished without a trace, unlike similar films like BTTF, because that film was consistent fun, whereas this film doesn't get going until the final twenty minutes, when it's admittedly fun.

But you have to get through a whole hour of mundane narrative, and predictable stereotypes to get there. We know the girl with the glasses will end up with Stockwell, we know Stevens will be the best thing in the film, and yes, the makers decided to keep Hopper out of the film for the majority of it, and bring him back in his Easy Rider garb.

Its a shame, because it is a wonderful concept, but it should have been more family orientated, because it's too immature for its target demographic.

CHEER! - (7 stars out of 10)

[BJG-Reviews · 7/10 · 15 April 2023]

The stage curtains open ...

(for her high school newspaper interview) Ellie: "Now, what's your sign, Harlan?" Harlan: "Pontiac."

"My Science Project" (1985) emerged on the coattails of such popular films as "Weird Science" and "Real Genius", and songs like, "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby. There was about 5 minutes in the 80's when science was the going trend, especially in teen comedies. This movie was considered to be a bomb, and did not fare well at the box office. I actually remember when this one came out. It was pretty "out there", but I had fun with it. It is a bit of a forgotten gem, and today's youth have probably never even heard of it, and maybe never will.

In 1957, the military discover an UFO that has crash landed on Earth. The President himself is called in, and upon seeing it, he orders them to get rid of it. Flash forward to the year 1985. Michael Harlan (John Stockwell), a teenager in High School who loves working on cars, is feeling the pressure from his Science teacher, Bob Roberts (Dennis Hopper), to impress him with his science project, or he might not pass. Harlan takes the newspaper geek out on a date, and they decide to enter the old airfield where the UFO was brought to, back in 1957. They accidentally discover an alien artifact, that can generate power without any heat ... and is capable of creating a time/space warp where different time periods intersect together. Harlan figures this would be an excellent science project. But, when the device taps into the town's power source, all hell breaks loose and it is up to Harlan and his friends to stop it before it's too late.

This was a crazy movie. It is literally all over the place. It starts out as your generic, 80's teen comedy with Fisher Stevens providing the comic relief (even though he is pretty much a jerk and a bully), but is a loyal friend to Harlan. It moves into your teen comedy/action with decent special effects for its day. Then it turns into an all out, violent action film when they are confronted by soldiers and even dinosaurs from all across time inside of their high school. You even get some futuristic goons with laser guns taking pot shots at them. I really don't know WHAT to make of this one, but it was still a fun movie.

Dennis Hopper doesn't really have much screen time, but he uses his time to the full, completely immersing himself into his role of the 60's loving experimenter. I only ever really remember seeing John Stockwell in this movie and in "Christine", but he does a decent job as the "cool car guy". With Danielle von Zerneck, I remember her in only two films as well ... this one and "La Bamba". Despite how crazy this movie is, I would still recommend it at 7 stars out of 10. It truly is a guilty pleasure, and a fun part of my 80's past.

By the by

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 13 August 2022]

MY SCIENCE PROJECT is an '80s teen high school sci-fi comedy that tends to get overshadowed in a decade full of similar pictures. And it's easy to see why, because there's nothing particularly remarkable about this film. It has stereotyped characters, including the rare chance to see Fisher Stevens as something very different from the role he played in SHORT CIRCUIT, and a time travel plot that doesn't really convince all that much. Plus the comedy is middling at best. It does have some cool special effects and a neat Dennis Hopper role, but other than that it's strictly by the by.

Hugely entertaining 80's sci-fi teen comedy blast

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 15 March 2021]

Car fanatic high school student Michael Harlan (a solid and amiable performance by John Stockwell) finds a mysterious globing orb in a military junkyard that he decides to pass off as his science project. Complications ensue when said orb creates a time vortex that threatens to unbalance the whole world.

Writer/director Jonathan R. Betuel relates the enjoyable story at a zippy pace, maintains a likeable lighthearted tone throughout, sprinkles in plenty of slyly amusing pop culture references, and pulls out the outrageous stops for the wild climax. Moreover, it's acted with zest by an enthusiastic cast: Fisher Stevens contributes a hilarious turn as Michael's wisecracking buddy Vince Latello, Danielle von Zerneck radiates tremendous charm as sweet nerdette Ellie Sawyer, Dennis Hopper has a field day as zonked-out ex-hippie science teacher Bob Roberts (and even pokes merry fun as his "Easy Rider" longhair persona), Raphael Sbarge makes a favorable impression as the geeky Sherman, and Richard Masur gets a rare chance to play it broadly as the browbeating Detective Isadore Nulty. In addition, the funky old school practical f/x hold up pretty well, there's a super exciting race against time chase set piece, and the teen protagonists are a colorful and appealing bunch. A total hoot.

One of those films from my Childhood

[The-Sarkologist · 6/10 · 5 June 2021]

I remember watching this film as a kid, or more so as a teenager. In fact it was one of those films that I would hire from the video store every so often because, well, it was cool science fiction where some high school students happened to be the heroes - one of the regular tropes that you would encounter in the 80s (and honestly you just don't seem to see that all that much these days, unless you are dealing with films like the Hunger Games, and its many clones). The thing is that unlike the more modern films, this one was pretty much complete in and of itself.

The film is about this teenage grease monkey named Micheal who has two weeks to come up with an awesome science project otherwise he is going to fail (that sounds familiar). There is also this woman, Sawyer (actually her first name is Ellie, but for some reason everybody seems to refer to each other by their last name, something that didn't happen at my school - oh wait, it did, but only if you happened to have an unusual last name, like I do) who is the class journalist, but she wants a date, and since Micheal has just been dumped she manages to get him to agree to be her date.

There is a catch though, she has to accompany him to the junk yard which is used by the airforce so he can look for something that would be scientific enough, and he happens to find this strange device hidden in a bunker. We know where it has come from, namely because we are told at the beginning of the film, but none of our heroes do. It turns out that it has some time bending abilities, so they take it to the science teacher who performs some experiments, and promptly disappears.

Mind you, he isn't the only person who wants to experiment with it because the class nerd stumbles across it and unleashes what could be considered an world of pain, and it happens that Ellie is trapped in the science lab along with it. Thus our heroes have to travel through the school, in which beings from across time and space have converged, to rescue her.

Yeah, the plot is pretty basic, and it has all of those sacrifice and bravery type of themes, as well as people being forced to own up to their actions and to fix up the things that they have broken. I guess it can also be described as a coming of age film where the heroes come out on their own. Don't expect too much, the plot is basic, as are the special effects, and it certainly didn't break the bank at the cinemas. In fact, it is one of those films that has basically been forgotten amongst all the other block busters that have appeared since. Still, if you like 80s sci-fi it is worth checking out, just don't expect too much from it.

Really bad teen 80s flick...

[preppy-3 · 3/10 · 20 September 2000]

and that's saying something! Story about some obnoxious teenager (John Stockwell) who finds a little "box" from a flying saucer that creates time/space distortions...or something. Bad beyond belief dialogue, a virtually incomprehensible plot (I assume that's from pre-release cutting...the film is barely 90 minutes), and lazy acting. Some of the special effects are cool (for 1985). I saw it primarily because of John Stockwell. A very handsome man, he was very good in other 80s flicks ("Losin' It", "Top Gun" and especially "Christine") but he's lousy in this. He looks depressed and like he doesn't care. Fisher's wisecracks are a blessing. A total waste of time. ALMOST bad/good.

Another 80's teen comedy, but a good one!

[mm-39 · 8/10 · 1 September 2020]

Another 80's teen comedy, but a good one! My Science Project is like the adventure of Michael and Vinney. There is the problem Mike needs a science project to graduate and Mike's girlfriend just dropped him. Mike the power mech guy heads off with a nerd type girl on a sorta date at the air force grave yard and picks up ,un knownly, a U F O time warp engine for Mike's Science Project. Throw in Easy Rider Hopper as the science teacher as a time warp opens up at the high school we got a time warp of humor. Vinny's T V comments with Mike, and the library guy makes for great comic situation humor. The science teen comedy pulls it off. Well acted, directed and acted. 8 stars.

I grade this project C+

[Stevieboy666 · 6/10 · 8 February 2023]

Teen science fiction comedy, I don't think that this movie was very well known in Great Britain, I have just watched it for the first time courtesy of Talking Pictures TV (UK). Petrol-head Mike and book nerd Ellie go on an unlikely first date - they break into a government aircraft graveyard. Mike ("Why can't women be like cars?") finds a glowing orb for his high school science project, unbeknown to him its origin is alien and has time warping capabilities. Is this a classic? No, but it is quite charming and fun, though it does feel stretched at times. As usual our "teens" were played by actors in their 20's, John Stockwell (Mike) was 24. I did like the chemistry between him and Ellie (Danielle von Zeerneck). The two standout things about Project for me were the legend that was Dennis Hopper playing a hippy science teacher and towards the end of the movie a battle between teens and a huge dinosaur. Worth a watch but it's not up there with Back to the Future, Weird Science, etc.

Great premise, but doesn't quite deliver.

[reuben-18 · 4/10 · 28 June 2013]

A car jock, his comedy sidekick, and a cute science geek have to work together to save the town from the destructive consequences of awakening an alien artifact of immense power. It may not be original, but it is a great idea for a story, and the first half hour or so works brilliantly. Unfortunately the logic and character development suddenly goes out the window at a certain point, becoming just an excuse for genre-jumping action sequences and special effects. Dennis Hopper shines whenever he is on screen: if this had been a movie about the science teacher, it would have been far more watchable. The other characters never really expand beyond their stereotypes.

The latter half of the story feels like it is assembled by taking a tour through a bunch of different sound stages on a Hollywood lot, and just hoping it'll all fit together somehow. Putting dinosaurs and laser guns and roman gladiators together may seem like the perfect recipe for excitement, but without a point to it, and without any sense of why or what is happening, there isn't much reason to care about any of it. There is no glue keeping all the assembled pieces together. It has a certain B-grade charm, but not enough to make it a classic.