Weird Science

I'm not sure how many people really read these reviews in IMDb but if there are people out there like me that enjoy this forum quite a bit, then they will know that I have loved Bill Paxton's work forever. I can tell you he was in Stripes and he was one of the punks in Terminator and he even had a small role in Commando. His three best films in my opinion are True Lies, Aliens and his classic turn as Chet in Weird Science. Anyone that has seen this film will tell you that they loved it when Chet comes home to find it snowing in his room. Or how fun it was to watch him torture Wyatt by extorting money from him. "For Christ sakes Wyatt will you cover yourself! " Bill Paxton may be best known for his work in James Cameron films but it is John Hughes that we have to thank for unleashing him onto audiences with this amazing turn as Chet Donnelly. He is the meanest, nastiest older brother and yet he is screamingly funny. Bill Paxton had a cameo in a film called The Last Supper years later and his character really could have been a grown up Chet. But it is here that we get to laugh at some of Paxton's best work. Weird Science is one hell of a funny film and John Hughes is responsible for that, but if Chet wasn't played by Bill Paxton then it just wouldn't have been the same.

As the film goes, it is quite good. I don't believe it is Hughes' best, that honour, in my opinion, goes to The Breakfast Club, but it is very very entertaining. And as one reviewer said before me, you had to have grown up in the 80's to really appreciate this film. And underneath all of what this film is about, it is still just a film about the insecurities of being a teen, getting the girl and living happily ever after. I think Hughes may have been writing the script for Sixteen Candles, stopped in the middle of it and then took acid with Chevy Chase or John Candy and then came up with this idea because some of the situations really are right out of nowhere.

Take for example the actual creation of Lisa. The two geeks hook up a doll to the game of Operation?? and then with bras around their heads, they connect the computer and then lightning and winds invade their room and then Kelly LeBrock walks out of their closet. Acid for sure.

Then there is the scene with Vernon Wells and his biker buddies. A highschool house party and then a bunch of guys on motorcycles straight out of Mad Max breaks into the house and starts to terrorize the kids. Acid trip for sure.

Acid aside, Weird Science is a trip through time. If you were born in the 70's and went to highschool in the 80's like I did, then you are probably familiar with the name John Hughes, and if you are then you are probably a fan of most of his work. Along with Ferris, Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club and some of his adult films like Planes Trains... She's Having a Baby and even Vacation, Weird Science is a film that should be seen again. It is 15 years old and perhaps people can say it is dated some, but to me it is a throwback to what films were like in the 80's. This film is fun, hysterical and enjoyable. And it has Bill Paxton in one of the funniest roles in any career. This is a fun film and if you haven't seen this in quite some time, then maybe you should.

8 out of 10

Weird Science is the best 80's comedy that was ever made. I'm saying it. Ghostbusters, Summer Rental, The Great Outdoors, Strange Brew, Gung Ho, Mr. Mom, all of these movies have their place, but none of them can match Weird Science for laughs or pure....eightiesness. Yes eightiesness is a quality. It's a corny, dated quality but one that is tangible and valued by my fellow eighties loving brethren to this day. Come back with me if you will to a time when Anthony Michael Hall was still fielding calls and Kelly LeBrock was French for sexy.

Weird Science has everything that an eighties comedy needs: A least one hot girl, a few actors who are no longer working or who do anything that will come along, plenty of dashing eighties threads, a corny as hell eighties soundtrack,(and Oingo Boingo is as corny and eighties as they get), and plenty of cheap funny jokes.

Undoubtedly the best thing about Weird Science is Bill Paxton, who plays Wyatt's older brother Chet. Chet is the worst big brother ever to grace a movie screen and is a role model for all big brothers everywhere, me included. Chet delights in extorting money and valuables from Wyatt in exchange for his silence about Wyatt's activities. The best part in the movie is when Chet gets turned into the toad thing or whatever it is. Man I love that part.

The rest of the cast does a good job of being their stock characters. Kelly LeBrock does a good job of being hot. Robert Downey Jr. shows none of the signs of future drug addiction. The film is unremarkable in the fact that it isn't anything groundbreaking or special. It's just a funny movie. And an eighties classic.

Bottom Line: If you grew up in the eighties and you never saw Weird Science then you must atone for your crimes by going out and buying it right now. Then send me an email telling me how grateful you are that I put you on the path to rightousness and eighties correctness.

Weird Science was a lot of fun, a perfect light and frothy 1980s movie.

Although, having said that it is quietly subversive and more than a little risqué, it is unlike the other Directorial works of John Hughes.

In a nutshell, whilst two high-school nerds are watching a colourised version of Frankenstein, they hit upon the idea of using a computer program to literally create the perfect woman, who promptly turns their lives upside-down.

In a scene that echoed the earlier WarGames and perhaps foreshadowed AI our nerds tap into non-specific massive computing power via a dial-up modem!?

In any case, that perfect woman turns out to be Kelly LeBrock at the absolute peak of her powers, and not only does she do a bang-up job as Lisa she also seems to be having an absolute ball.

Aside from the year before's The Woman in Red the rest of Kelly's career was rather a non-event, which on this showing seems a shame.

The film also contains very early appearances for Bill Paxton and a pre-Junior Robert Downey.

We also have Vernon Wells relatively fresh from his rather similar role in Mad Max II, who then went on to appear in the following years Commando up against Arnie.

Last of note is Michael Berryman, best known for playing Pluto in the iconic The Hills Have Eyes.

These latter two actors have gone on to have prolific careers racking up more than 100 movie appearances each.

Of the two lead actors, only Anthony Michael Hall's's career amounted to much, his co-star Ilan Mitchell-Smith went on to do very little else.

I mention all this to illustrate just how varied and fickle this business we call show can be.

As Lisa's classic first line goes, and these are words to live by: "so, what would you little maniacs like to do first"?

weird science is another good movie from the master of teen movies john hughes. this movie is maybe the funniest of all teen movies made by john hughes. but it's not the most entertaining. that award goes to the breakfast club. weird science is entertaining. john hughes goes a bit too far toward the end,but it's still unforgettable. weird science in my opinion comes from the greatest decade of all time.the 80's! i give weird science *** out of ****

I first watched this in 1985 on VHS as a 13 year old, so a lot of the sentiment was lost on me then. Having watching it again as a 50 year old after finding it on the BBC iplayer I decided to give it another go. I have to say that it was way more enjoyable now. It really brought back the feeling of being an awkward teenager and the fantasy of being guided through adolescence. There were a few quirks with the story but this can be overlooked by how the sensitivity of being an awkward teenager can be is portrayed. I do think the bones of the story could be updated for a remake that could possibly make more sense but still be a fun movie.