I loved this movie as a kid. Over the years, I've asked many people if they've seen Real Genius. Exactly 0% have had any idea what I was talking about. Thank you, sir! I did not expect this!
Thank you. I loved this movie. My late husband was a physicist, and he was good natured enough to wear deely boppers and recite the familiar quote about them at a Halloween party many years ago. He even wore the “I love toxic waste” t-shirt. It is a wonderful memory and the movie deserves another view or three.
Count me as one of the fans of Real Genius. My Science Project (1985), but it's a bit farther out there. You're spot on discussing the important of good teachers. I struggled in HS because most of the teachers were terrible even though I had a strong aptitude as a natural problem solver. Only my Wood Shop and Civics teachers stood out as able to keep their students engaged and thinking about the material. I struggled with basic algebra in HS but was able to perform vector trig for electrical applications in my head when I pursued my degree. I delved into classical electrodynamics as well as quantum electrodynamics both as a student and a writer. Good writers aren't afraid to create a bit if nonsense, and it's perfectly acceptable as long as the real science is depicted accurately and the fiction is close enough to elicit a sense that it _might_ be possible.
This is one of my favorite 80's movies. I loved Kilmer and the crew. I loved how Mitch slowly emerged from the shell his parents had put around him, especially as he became more involved with Jordan. Definitely need to this one again.
One thing I learned from my schooling is that the vocabulary is an obstacle to learning and the lack of study skills is an obstacle to learning. So I started teaching my daughter and then my grandchildren about trigonometry and calculus when they were six at a level that was appropriate for them each year. We also went over cursive writing which is a lost skill and then how to take notes in class as well as how to study effectively. My happiest day was when the younger grandson spontaneously realized the connection between the Pythagorean theorem and the distance formula and sine ² plus cosine ² = 1. At the age of 12. What I mean about vocabulary being a limit is that teachers and professors introduce the vocabulary and before you have any chance to internalize it they begin building on it. By introducing my child and grandchildren to the terminology years before, they had a significant advantage when those terms were introduced in class because they already had a deep knowledge of what the terms meant.
You and I are about the same age, and it struck me even as a kid watching this that "the ability to vaporize a human target from space" is significantly less evil than most of the junk the world's governments have attempted to do (heck, are actually doing). But I guess it made for a good MacGuffin. That said, I loved this movie when I was a kid (it was one of those 80s movies that got played on heavy rotation on HBO and as a kid I rewatched several such movies hundreds of times).
Michael, let me reiterate first that I love these movie analyses, keep them coming! Also, William Atherton was great here (he was also the a-hole in Ghostbusters). LOL. 80s cinema produced some of the best douchey villains ever put to celluloid 🤣
Not that anyone asked, but my favorite line is when Hathaway is talking to Mitch’s parents, who come across as a bit dim, and asks if Mitch is adopted. The father says: “Nope. He’s all ours.” And Hathaway simply replies in amazement: “Extraordinary.”
I can tell that you’re someone who always… no… _never_ forgets to check your references. Nicely done! Informative, entertaining, and about what endures as one of my favorite movies. Physics gets wilder than any college party could ever hope to. Launch, or design problem? Considering that it’s Chris Knight, I’d guess it might be less either of those, and likely much more of an operator problem. 😄 When it comes to the popcorn, there is the possibility that Prof. Hathaway is getting ripped off, and his house is actually being poorly built. Sucks for him, but I’m sure not going to feel bad about it.
My problem with the scene where they learn they're making a weapon is that we the audience were shown this from the beginning, and it wasn't obvious that they didn't know this, so the revelation landed kind of flat.
i have run a large-ish laser cutter in my garage shop for several years. For the first (and hopefully only) time recently, I managed to burn my thumb due to a moment's indiscretion. It was really stupid. Was a 90W laser tube firing at very low voltage. Can confirm it burned, seemed to be instantaneously (to human perception anyway!). Only a grazing contact, didn't "experience" the center of the beam. Can't imagine megawatt lasers. That's terrifying! There was a slew of these "young people are super smart" movies in the '80s and they were all cheesy and great. One I haven't seen reviewed is The Manhattan Project.
You know, the collapse of electron energy levels might have been better modeled with a balloon. The ball analogy makes it see like gravity is involved. :)
I had the same problem with high school. I was never an A student but a solid B high C. Expect for classes like English where I was lucky if I passed, but anything else was easy for me. Wasnt untill the last semester of high school and I took more advanced classes like calculus my no study approach didnt work anymore and my grades dropped. But by that time I didnt need the credits everything I was taking was just bonus. Then I took a year off and before secondary school(big mistake) and by the time I started any school habbits I did have were gone. And they never reformed and ended up droping out. :(
I can tell you are a great teacher. I see why you miss teaching. Your videos make me do my homework (the "bat-bomb", Cal-tech Sweepstakes Caper, etc.) therefore, expanding my knowledge of things. I enjoy your videos very much. I would take one of your classes any day.
I identify with what you said about study habits. I NEVER learned how to study. I breezed through all academics until I ran into subjects that required mass memorization of completely new to me material that was NOT all presented in class / lecture ... cultural anthropology and classical Greek. They both wrecked me. Now middle aged and sad to say I STILL have very limited capacity to study anything new on my own.
My experience was similar but different in time. In junior high I was pre-calculus but high school set me back to algebra / trig. I basically slept through high school and never developed study skills. College was a challenge because I couldn't cope with the advanced study skills needed. Advanced astrophysics are intuitive to my understanding but I don't have the background studies to contribute further. I see so many studies that make me say, "yeah, that's obvious" but can't explain why I know it makes sense. Dark Energy doesn't really exist but I can't show my work to explain why it's just a placeholder for the actual reality.
Yeah I love that movie, it’s great. Real Genius, War Games, The Manhattan Project… A lot of fun 80’s teen films involving potential disaster and destruction, such fun times! We use lasers to distract cats. I’ve met and known people exactly like Jordan, the eccentricities of her personality were amplified in the 80s and very normal today, at least in my limited social circles.
Luckily, my first year in Collage, my roommate had great study habits (after classes, you do the study/homework before dinner, never wait). I adopted them, then Collage became fairly easy.
Real Genius is a great movie I saw on old 1990s cable during the insomniac hours and now I stop to watch it every time I see it streaming somewhere. A great start for Val Kilmer and more proof that William Atherton's characters were the PERFECT 80s movie douchebags.
Most of the time I feel dumber and like I have wasted time when watching RU-vid channels, I feel different when I watch your videos. I am always learning something and you brought up some things worthy of real reflection. I am a PhD student in History but I think you bring up some great points about not only taking time to refresh and re-create your mind and body but also, what purpose is it serving? Pacific Tech was the institute of Dr. Clayton Forrester in War of the Worlds (1958) and I always thought it was funny that this used this as he was also a physicist. Thank you for doing such a great job. Before I go, have you read Rendezvous with Rama?
You skipped one of my favourite gags from the movie (I’m pretty sure it was in this one) Early in the movie Mitch goes into a lecture as it’s about to begin, drops off a tape recorder, and leaves. Half way through we see the same lecture hall, with half the students, and a bunch of tape recorders. Near the end, there are no students, and even the lecturer has been replaced by a tape machine playing back the lecture.
I actually did comment on that at one point, saying it was a preview to Zoom class. But the video was already 40 minutes long, so it ended up on the cutting room floor.
Thanks Mike. I love this movie. I was 21 when it came put so my perspective is a little different. But a quotable movie. And of course, when I hear “Everybody Wants to Rule The World” I think of this movie. Oh and you changed your depth of field.
Am I remembering correctly that it was scientist fiction authors Larry Niven and Jeremy Pournelle whom came up with the idea/concept of the Star Wars system, and lobbied for it to be used?
Another "genius" movie that deals with the - eccentric? - behavior is Revenge Of The Nerds, shot exteriors [as well as Night Of The Lepus] at my alma Mater: University of Arizona.
I see no issue with weapons development. If the free world didn't do it, we would not be free. Even as a young person, i didn't agree with their point. I agree with your point at the end tho. That he doesn't know he's creating a weapon.
I dunno, man. I think this is a really good movie. I think you're too quick to wave it off as not a classic. 83% on RT is a rating a lot of films can only aspire to.
I kind of agree. I filmed this a couple of weeks ago and I think I was probably a bit too harsh. The more I edited and picked scenes to show, the more I realized this is a really good movie. Not the best of 1985 but a gem. The script is fantastic.
Cfc's weren't actually destroying the atmosphere. The damage to ozone by cfc, were only ever recorded in lab experiments. The climate alarmist always ignored the reality of a dynamic environment. Particularly how ozone is created and naturally occurring phenomenon that can and does interfere with that process.
