Real Genius (1985)

Director:

Martha Coolidge

Writers:

Neal Israel (screenplay)
Neal Israel (story)

Release Date:

7 August 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Who ELSE can turn lasers into light shows, aircraft into armchairs, and high-tech into hijinks?

Plot:

Teenage geniuses deal with their abilities while developing a laser.

Plot Keywords:

Laser | Weapon | Professor | Student | Military

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Val Kilmer	...	Chris Knight
Gabriel Jarret	...	Mitch Taylor (as Gabe Jarret)
Michelle Meyrink	...	Jordan Cochran
William Atherton	...	Prof. Jerry Hathaway
Jon Gries	...	Lazlo Hollyfeld (as Jonathan Gries)
Patti D'Arbanville	...	Sherry Nugil
Stacy Peralta	...	Shuttle Pilot
Daniel Ades	...	Laser Ray Victim
Andres Aybar	...	Bartender
Louis Giambalvo	...	Maj. Carnagle
Ed Lauter	...	David Decker
Charles Shull	...	Air Force General
Beau Billingslea	...	George
Charles Parks	...	Larry
Sean Frye	...	Boy at Science Fair

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Iceland:L | Australia:PG | New Zealand:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Crystal Springs Ranch, Canyon Country, California, USA

Company:

Delphi III Productions

Trivia:

The aircraft featured in the movie was a B-1B "Lancer". Today, a real-life analog exists in the United States Air Force's Airborne Laser (ABL) project, a collaboration with Boeing, involving a modified 747 cargo jet carrying a megawatt Oxygen-Iodine laser, whose purpose is to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the end credits, the name of the Hewlett-Packard company is misspelled as "Hewlitt-Packard".

Quotes:

Chris Knight: As you know, Mitch and I were working on the cyanide system. Well, earlier today it ate itself. But, these little set-backs are just what we need to take a giant step forward. Right, Kent? Needless to say, I was a little despondent about the melt down, but then, in the midst of my preparations for hari kiri, it came to me. It is possible to synthesize excited bromide in an argon matrix. Yes, it's an excimer frozen in its excited state.
Bodie: Th... That's impossible.
Chris Knight: It's a chemical laser but in solid, not gaseous, form. Put simply, in deference to you, Kent, it's like lasing a stick of dynamite. As soon as we apply a field, we couple to a state, it is radiatively coupled to the ground state. I figure we can extract at least ten to the twenty-first photons per cubic centimeter which will give one kilojoule per cubic centimeter at 600 nanometers, or, one megajoule per liter.

Movie Connections:

References "The Mighty Mouse Playhouse" (1955)

Soundtrack:

Standing in Line

Jiffy Pop

The imagination and quality of Hollywood movies in the early and mid 80's had regressed back to the pre "Bonnie and Clyde" days (the early and mid-60's being the worst ever period of American movie-making).

Fortunately there were a few gems like "Real Genius" to sustain audiences. Any film that features a memorable moment like Deborah Foreman's articulation of her standards for a male companion, a memorable character like Michelle Meyrink's hyper-kinetic Jordon, and the memorable sight of a house exploding from the force of a giant Jiffy Pop container can never be forgotten.

And who doesn't feel good just watching the neighborhood kids play in a mountain of popcorn to the sound of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World".

Although "Real Genius" has not totally escaped the ravages of the past 20 years, it has held up reasonably well. Now it can even be appreciated as a sort of time capsule, demonstrating rather strikingly the complete computerization of the applied sciences that has occurred during the relatively short time period since its 1985 release. Other than Kent's incidental use of an early computer in his dorm room and a mostly decorative monitor in the lab, these now essential machines are absent from this techno film. Amazing!

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.