Goofs for
Real Genius (1985) More at IMDbPro »

• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: They speak of increasing laser output by "an order of magnitude" to 6 megawatts. While they are currently at 5 MW, the increase referred to an earlier model which was presumably operating at around .6 MW.
  
  
• Continuity: Chris' earmuffs appear and disappear in the ice skating scene.
  
  
• Continuity: During the party scene, Chris first puts a blue lei around Mitch's neck and has a red lei in his hand. In the next shot, Mitch is wearing the red lei and Chris is holding the blue lei. Then in the next shot, Mitch is wearing the blue one and Chris is once again holding the red one.
  
  

• Continuity: When Jordan is showing Mitch her rebreather, she is in some camera viewpoints carrying a diving mask, and in some the mask is missing.
  
  
• Continuity: When Chris is warning Mitch about "ending up in the steam tunnels" like Laslo, Mitch is holding a pile of laundry. In some shots it is a plaid shirt in his hands, in others a bright yellow blanket.
  
  
• Plot holes: When the students are trying to break into the military computer, Laslo comments, "Oh, we'll get in; it's just going to take six hours." A six letter string using only the 26 letters of the alphabet (and no numbers or case changes) has approximately 308.9 million possible combinations. There are about 31 million seconds in one year. That means that trying every combination once every five seconds would give Laslo the chance to try about 6.3 million combinations per year. Given that there are 300 million possible combinations, it would take approximately 47 years for Laslo to try every possible combination.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: Reflected in the bathroom mirror.
  
  
• Miscellaneous: In the end credits, the name of the Hewlett-Packard company is misspelled as "Hewlitt-Packard".
  
  
• Factual errors: The laser that Knight finally gets to work supposedly works at 600 nanometers. Unfortunately, that would make it an orange laser, not a violet one as shown in the film (which would have a wavelength closer to 650 nanometers).
  
  
• Continuity: Kent smudges the optic lens to sabotage it, but the smudge is different later in the movie.
  
  
• Continuity: When Chris is excited about possibly figuring out the solution to the laser's power problem in the break room, he leans into the snack machine and jumps up and kicks the freezer door, knocking off the shelf bar. in the next shot the shelf bar is back in place.
  
  
• Continuity: When the gang are waiting outside Dr. Hathaway's house, the zipper on Jordan's top is at varying levels between shots.
  
  
• Boom mic visible: When Hathaway first goes into the laser lab and exchanges conversation with Kent and the others, you can see the shadow of the overhead mic swinging back and forth. The shadow appears faintly on the far wall.
  
  
• Continuity: When Chris is taking his final exam, he is wearing a yellow t-shirt with a blue-striped shirt tied around his waist. During the exam, Chris is seen wearing this shirt over the yellow t-shirt. When he is done, he walks out and the striped shirt is around his waist. When he enters the lab, the striped shirt is over the t-shirt again.
  
  
• Continuity: When the recording of Mitch's telephone conversation is replayed in the lunchroom for Mitch and everyone else to hear, we hear the full conversation being replayed, including the very beginning of the call, the part that gave Kent the idea to record in the first place.
  
  
• Continuity: The successful laser test shoots a hole through the cinder blocks, out the lab window, and through the head of the statue on the campus lawn. Later, the statue is shown with the head intact.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When Kent rolls out of the front door with the popcorn, it is obviously a stunt double due to the man's hair being brown/black and Kent having blonde hair.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Dr Hathaway is wearing a wedding ring even though he is single .
  
  
• Factual errors: The coordinates entered into the computer to redirect the laser at the end of the movie actually point to a place in China near Dongkan Town (34D 10M 15.21S North, 119D 7M.) However, if treated as West longitude, the location is near Oxnard, California (slightly north of Point Mugu NAS).
  
  
• Continuity: When Mitch is leaving his dorm room to go to class and encounters the ice made by ICK he is carrying a text book. He trips and falls, and the book disappears. Mitch makes no effort to retrieve or look for the book so that he can proceed to class.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the scene where Chris is cutting dry ice coins for the vending machine, a fire extinguisher on the wall behind Mitch is seen in some shots but not others. However, a student can been seen removing the extinguisher, but it happens very quickly.
  
  
• Continuity: In the scene where Kent goes into Dr. Hathaways house and sees the popcorn wrapped in foil he touches it the foil is rounded and full but when the laser hits it its much flatter then begins to pop and bulges.
  
  
• Continuity: Chris fakes a quarter to put in a vending machine where drinks cost 20 cents, yet there is no sound of change being returned.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Jordan brings Chris and Mitch the fake IDs to get into the military base she first gives the wrong one to each of them, then switches as Chris Knight (Val Kilmer) is looking at his he flips it over to another picture of him, but the name on the top is that of Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret). Jordan gave them the wrong badges because she accidentally mixed up which picture went on which badge.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: After Lazlo tells Chris what the laser's intended use is as they're celebrating in the restaurant, Chris sprints to the lab, and is fumbling with the keys in order to unlock the lab door. Without ever having located the key or entering it into the lock, or without even turning the doorknob, the door "magically" opens itself, even though there is no one inside the lab.
  
  
• Factual errors: During the laser test, the range controller clears the B-1 to Flight Level Six-Five-Zero, which is 65,000 feet. The service ceiling, or, highest altitude the B-1 can attain, is around 40,000 feet.
  
  

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