Real Genius (1985)

Director:

Martha Coolidge

Writers:

Neal Israel (screenplay)
Neal Israel (story)
(more)

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 | Science | Military | Student

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Val Kilmer	...	Chris Knight
Gabriel Jarret	...	Mitch Taylor (as Gabe Jarret)
Michelle Meyrink	...	Jordan
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
JoAnn Willette	...	Girl at Science Fair
Ina Gould	...	Old Lady
Nadine Vix	...	Student at Science Fair
Paul Tulley	...	Mr. Taylor
Joanne Baron	...	Mrs. Taylor
Chip Johnson	...	Darlington Recruiter
Monte Landis	...	Dr. Dodd
Sandy Martin	...	Mrs. Meredith
Severn Darden	...	Dr. Meredith
Randy Lowell	...	Cornell (as Randolph Dreyfuss)
Robert Prescott	...	Kent
John Shepherd Reid	...	Carter
Tommy Swerdlow	...	Bodie (as Tom Swerdlow)
Mark Kamiyama	...	'Ick' Ikagami
Martin Gundersen	...	Math Professor
Brett Miller	...	Carpet Man
Dean Devlin	...	Milton
Yuji Okumoto	...	Fenton
Lynda Wiesmeier	...	Chris' Girl at Party
Penny Baker	...	Ick's Girl at Party
Marcia Karr	...	Cornell's Girl at Party
Isabelle Walker	...	Girl at Party
Marii Mak	...	Girl at Party
Cheri Wells	...	Girl at Party
Catherine MacNamara	...	Girl at Party
John Vasily	...	Student
Ed Garrabrandt	...	TV Makeup Man
Isabel Cooley	...	TV Stage Manager
Robin Stober	...	Waitress
Deborah Foreman	...	Susan Decker
David Marvit	...	Student in Hall
Michael Crabtree	...	Air Force SP at Gate
Charles Sweigart	...	Air Force SP at Gate
Peter Parros	...	Air Force SP at Gate
Ronald Taylor	...	Computer Technician
James Carrington	...	Air Force Major
Michael Backes	...	Air Force Controller
Corki Grazer	...	Air Force Sergeant
Jeanne Mori	...	Laser Technician
David Ursin	...	Engineer
Joe Dorsey	...	Congressman Dougton
Will Knox	...	Laser Specialist
Kevin Hurley	...	Air Force Technician
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Helen Kelly	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
David Monterosso	...	Student In Cafeteria (uncredited)
Joy Michelle Moore	...	Party Girl on Surfboard (uncredited)
Tom Tangen	...	Student on Ice Skates (uncredited)

Directed by
Martha Coolidge

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Neal Israel		screenplay
Neal Israel		story
Pat Proft		screenplay
Pat Proft		story
Peter Torokvei

Produced by
Sam Crespi-Horowitz	....	associate producer
Robert Daley	....	executive producer
Brian Grazer	....	producer

Original Music by
Thomas Newman

Cinematography by
Vilmos Zsigmond

Film Editing by
Richard Chew

Casting by
Janet Hirshenson
Jane Jenkins

Production Design by
Josan F. Russo

Art Direction by
Jack G. Taylor Jr.

Set Decoration by
Phil Abramson		(as Philip Abramson)

Costume Design by
Marla Denise Schlom		(as Marla D. Schlom)

Makeup Department
Zoltan Elek	....	makeup artist (as Zoltan)
Edie Panda	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Billy Ray Smith	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stephen McEveety	....	first assistant director (as Steve McEveety)
Joseph Paul Moore	....	second assistant director (as Joseph P. Moore)
Mike Schilz	....	third assistant director (as Michael J Schulz)

Art Department
Erin M. Cummins	....	set designer
David L. Glazer	....	assistant property master
Jim Husbands	....	leadman
Steven Wolff	....	set designer

Sound Department
Anna Boorstin	....	sound editor
George Budd	....	sound designer
David E. Campbell	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Dave Campbell)
Virginia Cook-McGowan	....	sound editor (as Virginia A. Cook)
Julia Evershade	....	supervising sound editor
Roxanne Jones	....	sound editor (as Roxanne R. Jones)
C. Darin Knight	....	sound mixer (as Darin Knight)
Carl Lewis	....	sound editor
John T. Reitz	....	sound re-recording mixer (as John Reitz)
Christy Richmond	....	assistant sound editor
John Roesch	....	foley artist
Gregg Rudloff	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Greg Rudloff)
John Vigran	....	sound recording consultant
Paul C. Warschilka	....	assistant sound editor
Marshall Winn	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Phil Cory	....	special effects coordinator (as Philip C. Cory)
Rocky Gehr	....	special effects technician
Raymond Klein	....	special effects crew (as Raymond J. Klein)
Mike Reedy	....	special effects technician
Robert Rowan	....	special effects crew
Ray Svedin	....	special effects crew
Thomas R. Ward	....	special effects crew
Jerry D. Williams	....	special effects crew
Hans Metz	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Richard Bennett	....	visual effects supervisor
Ernie Cervantes	....	visual effects crew
Syd Dutton	....	special visual effects
Dale Fay	....	visual effects crew
Michael Karp	....	visual effects crew
Marc Kolodziejcyk	....	visual effects crew
David Stipes	....	visual effects supervisor
Bill Taylor	....	special visual effects
Dana O'Connor	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Kenny Alexander	....	stunts
Cynthia Lea Clark	....	stunt driver
Shane Dixon	....	stunts
Kenny Ferrugiaro	....	stunts
Linda Lee Franklin	....	stunts
Allan Graf	....	stunts
David M. Graves	....	stunts (as David Michael Graves)
Marian Green	....	stunts
Bernie Pock	....	stunts (as Bernhard Pock)
Debby Porter	....	stunts
Spiro Razatos	....	stunts
Edward J. Ulrich	....	stunt coordinator (as Ed Ulrich)
Edward J. Ulrich	....	stunts (as Ed Ulrich)

Camera and Electrical Department
Colin J. Campbell	....	electrical gaffer (as Colin Campbell)
John J. Connor	....	camera operator
Frederick Elmes	....	photographer: second unit
Robert Jason	....	electrical best boy (as Robert E. Jason)
Ken Nishino	....	first assistant camera (as Kenneth Nishino)
Robert Samuels	....	second assistant camera (as Robert B. Samuels)
William D. Barber	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Frank Montoya	....	grip (uncredited)
Emmanuel Vouniozos	....	on-set technician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Jill Simpson	....	casting assistant

Editorial Department
Arthur Coburn	....	additional editor
Albert Coleman	....	first assistant editor
Alexandra Leviloff	....	second assistant film editor
Bruce Pearson	....	color timer
Bill Wilner	....	assistant editor

Music Department
George Doering	....	musician
Becky Mancuso-Winding	....	music supervisor (as Becky Mancuso)
Michael Papale	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Joanie Blum	....	script supervisor
Ron Cobb	....	laser technology
Brad Dechter	....	source arrangements
Joan Eisenberg	....	unit publicist
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Judith Gill	....	production coordinator
Joseph A. Liuzzi	....	location manager
Jan Walker	....	assistant to producer
Robert J. Woodhead	....	hacking consultant
Craig Miller	....	marketing consultant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Delphi III Productions

Distributors

• TriStar Pictures (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1989) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (1986) (Argentina) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (2002) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2002) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• RCA (video)

Special Effects

• Apogee Productions
• David Stipes Productions (visual effects)
• Movie Magic
• Universal City Studios Matte Department

Also Known As:

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 | Portugal:M/12 | 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:

A scene where Chris floats outside his classroom suspended in a lounge chair attached to several balloons appeared in the preview version but not the release version.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the scene where Chris confronts Mitch about wanting to leave, right after he says, "If you want to leave," you see Chris' mouth move, but the sounds "go ahead" happen after he turns away.

Quotes:

Professor Hathaway:[reading his TV script] Your colon: what does it look like?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: The Old and the Restless (#2.12)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

The Walls Come Down

More than just a guilty pleasure of a movie . . .

Siskel and Ebert once ran a special show entitled "Movies I'm Embarrassed to Admit I Liked." I suppose that if I composed such a list of guilty pleasures, this one would be one of them . . . but upon reflection, it's really a lot better than that. Fifteen year-old science prodigy Mitch (Gabe Jarret) is recruited by ambitious college professor Jerry Hathaway (William Atherton, in yet another of his patented roles as a loathsome character) to work on the professor's prize laser project, not knowing that Hathaway is really developing a government weapon. Along the way, Mitch is mentored by Chris (Val Kilmer), another prodigy a few years his senior who teaches Mitch how to loosen up.

This could have degenerated into nothing more than just another teen revenge comedy, but there's so much more: the dialogue is laced with sharp wit; there are some lovely scenes that have nothing to do with the story yet are carefully set up, almost as blackouts (e.g., Mitch goes to a lecture at which a few students have left tape recorders instead of attending; later, at another lecture there are more tape recorders than students; and, in a final scene, one large tape recorder gives the lecture to a room populated by nothing but other small recorders!); and throw-away scenes that make you want to stop and back up the story to watch again (e.g., Chris off-handedly cutting a slice off a bar of dry ice to make a slug for the coffee machine).

It's also one of the few movies to boast the presence of the memorable Michelle Meyrink -- as Jordan, the "girl-nerd" who made being smart and female something to emulate. And there's Tears for Fears' great song, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" providing the perfect coda as the closing credits begin to roll . . . . Yes: really now, what's there to be embarrassed about?