Real Genius | 
| Director: Martha Coolidge
Actors: Val Kilmer, Gabriel Jarret, Michelle Meyrink, William Atherton, Jon Gries
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.95
Buy New: $4.78
You Save: $5.17 (52%)
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Rating:  165 reviews
Sales Rank: 447
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dts Surround Sound, Dvd, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 99
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: COLD07734D
ISBN: 0767881206
UPC: 043396077348
EAN: 9780767881203
ASIN: B000065U1Q
Theatrical Release Date: August 7, 1985
Release Date: June 11, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
MITCH IS ONE OF THE YOUNGEST STUDENTS EVER ACCEPTED TO A UNIVERSITY KNOWN FOR ITS PROGRAMS FOR GENIUSES. HES PARTNERED UP WITH HIS ROOMMATE, SCIENCE CLUB LEGEND CHRIS KNIGHT, ON A PROJECT TO DEVELOP A HIGH POWERED LASER.
Amazon.com
An underrated little picture, Real Genius offers a rare college comedy that doesn't rely on gross-out humor--and a look at Val Kilmer before he turned into a star. A high school whiz kid (Gabriel Jarret) arrives at a brainy college, where the creme de la creme of the science students are marshaled under an ambitious professor (expert villain William Atherton). Unbeknownst to them, the kids are working on a weapons system that the prof plans on selling to the government. The star student, and chief rabble-rouser, is played by Kilmer, in good early form as a cocky genius who hasn't lost touch with his goofy side. The director is Martha Coolidge, whose Valley Girl was one of the brightest (and most unexpected) of '80s comedies; she keeps the movie perking along and never worries about dumbing down a film that just happens to be about smart people. --Robert Horton
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| Customer Reviews: Read 160 more reviews...
 Underrated; a goofball comedy with "smarts" May 27, 2009
Randy E. Halford (Boise, ID)
It's been years since I watched this endearingly goofy little 80's comedy about a group of misfit whiz-kids whose Professor dupes them into creating a deadly military weapon for his profit. Like "Top Secret", this is a sorely underrated film--and coincidentally, a young Val Kilmer stars in both. He plays one of the main characters, Chris Knight, a brilliant student who never takes his work too seriously & has a crazy fashion sense (including wearing fuzzy slippers & novelty antennae). Kilmer clearly has a field day here, playing a "loose cannon" who seems strongly connected with the brilliant but undisciplined/quip-filled Hawkeye Pierce of "Mash". Gabe Jarrett (who somehow dropped off the radar after this film) is equally good (and more of a straight man to Kilmer's character) as Mitch, the new whiz-kid assigned on the project. It is then Kilmer's job to introduce a little fun to the straight-laced 15-year old...before he "melts down" like former resident Lazlo (who pops mysteriously in/out of a closet).
There's a wide assortment of eccentric characters (naturally): Nerdy whiner Kent (who's sort of a comic rival here in the "Frank Burns" mold); the already mentioned former genius/recluse Lazlo; Mitch's object of affection, a girl who never sleeps & who jumps around & speed-talks like a waitress at Starbucks. Of course, lest we forget William Atherton, the "all-purpose villain of the 80's" at his snivelling best here.
Director Martha Coolidge showed real finesse with handling her story. She had enough common sense not to take things too seriously & keep it loose, while at the same time, didn't allow the story to bog down into a "big-bad-military-using-weapons-of-mass-destruction" morality play. There is a genuine sense of fun here.
This is an enjoyable comedy, and surprisingly, it hasn't really dated at all.
 The rise of Kilmer May 20, 2009
Ron in Western Maryland (Hagerstown, Maryland USA)
I've always liked this film. The script was good. Lotsa comedy. Really good performances from Val Kilmer, William Atherton, Jon Gries and others. Of course the soundtrack . . . who could forget Everybody Wants To Rule The World? I guess it seems tame by today's yardstick, but there was a certain chemistry that came across in the film that makes me want to go back every now and again to see how everyone is doing . . . I guess reliving the movie and enjoying the comedy again as if for the first time. I know the film isn't considered a great film, but you can't beat plain old fun . . .
Great smart comedy January 29, 2009
80's fan (Illinois)
This is a must for any Val Kilmer fan! I purchased this on VHS in the mid-80's then finally gave in to the inevitable and got the DVD.
This is a smart little comedy that shows how a kid genius can grow into a cynical but still extremely smart student that learns how to work the system in a prestigious technical institute to the chagrin of his fellow classmates and disappointment of his snobby professor. William Atherton nails his role as the professor with a God complex as does the actor who plays ultra-preppy suck-up student Kent.
Although the technical references in this movie may be a bit dated now for those hi-tech geeks out there, the movie holds up very well for what it was intended to be and the message it makes. It is also fun to see how "smart people" act when they have some free time in between classes and studying as well as what happens to one particular former burned out student (Lazlo) who became a little insane with his obsessive knowledge and lives below the school in the steam tunnels plotting his revenge on society.
Kilmer's deadpan comedy and antics alone are worth watching.
 Really Genius November 19, 2008
Ruth A. Peel (Gainesville, FL)
Real Genius was the 1st time I saw Val Kilmer. He is very funny. At a school for genius young people, you see how some of them cope with their skills. Val was once a very serious student & almost went brain dead. Now he copes by being a funny goof-off. I enjoyed the antics & behaviors that are brought out of these real genius's.
movie November 18, 2008
Jamie Fonder
it took awhile to ge in the mail but once it got it i was very happy!
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