Real Genius | First Time Watching | Movie Reaction

When a group of crazy college geniuses put their heads together, almost anything can happen. Hold on for a freewheeling, uproarious look at just how much mischief a bunch of high-IQers can concoct. Chris (Val Kilmer) is the top brain who just wants to party, Mitch (Gabe Jarret) is the 16-year-old whiz kid, and Lazlo (Jonathan Gries), America's number one brain, literally lives in a world of his own ... Chris' closet. Supposedly hard at work on a lab project, they still find time to turn the dorm into an ice-skating rink, dismantle a nerd's car and reassemble it in his room, and throw a beach party in the auditorium complete with a lagoon and bikini-clad beauties. When the geniuses discover that their unscrupulous mentor Professor Hathaway (William Atherton) has had them working on a secret weapon for the military, they plot an elaborate revenge. Their plan culminates in an incredible scheme that outsmarts the military and convinces the professor that it doesn't pay to fool with a REALGENIUS!
Actors: Val Kilmer, Gabe Jarrett, William Atherton, Patti D'Arbanville
Director: Martha Coolidge
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Family, Science fiction
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#reaction #firsttimewatching

[@AwesomeUSMovies]

Thank you all for the support. We now have a website: awesomeusmovies.com Make sure you check out my 2nd channel: www.youtube.com/@awesomeshows Full Reactions to all my movies on Patreon: www.patreon.com/awesomeusmovies

[@msmrsro]

The dark haired girl, Michelle Meyrink, as well as the Professors girlfriend, Deborah Foreman, are both in the early 80s classic, Nic Cage’s first starring role, Valley Girl!!! Definitely worth a watch.😊

[@SoloArt8250]

Meyrink was also in The Outsiders

[@mattpobursky850]

Fer sure, fer sure...

[@carlosspeicywiener7018]

She also played the gerky girl in Revenge of the nerds.

[@PsychTsunamiMkII]

Judy, I presume (Gilbert's better half)? Meyrink also has her own acting school in Vancouver, BC. Foreman also appeared in My Chauffeur / April Fool's Day / Waxwork / Destroyer / Lunatics - A Love Story!

[@shadowfrost__]

This movie is a sarcastic persons dream. Nearly every other line is another quip and incredibly quotable. "Look Kent puts his name on his license plate" "My mom does that with my underwear" "Your mom puts license plates in your underwear.....how do you sit"

[@philmakris8507]

James, Lazlo Hollyfield is Uncle Rico from NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

[@eyediealone1258]

"Have you ever had a dream where your standing atop a sun drenched pyramid with a thousand naked woman screaming and throwing little pickles at you? "No" "Why am I the only one that ever has that dream?"

[@LordVolkov]

Watched Real Genius many times growing up and still quote random lines now and then like "Oh, so it talks?" "Now if we can just keep it from exploding!" "I drank what?" and "It's a moral imperative!" Val Kilmer is so charming as Chris, William Atherton is a jerk as always (he excels at these characters), and Jon Gries (Lazlo) is such a weird side character that I've always enjoyed seeing him pop up ever since.

[@russellward4624]

Mine is "can you hammer a 9" Spike with your penis?" Had me rolling in the theater.

[@celiashen5490]

Jon Gries? 'Uncle Rico' Jon Gries?!? OmGowran, the hair!

[@LordVolkov]

@@celiashen5490 One and the same! My other childhood fave with Jon is Monster Squad.

[@celiashen5490]

@@LordVolkov {dangit} I saw that one too. Just once though. Who was he in that one?

[@LordVolkov]

@@celiashen5490 He's the Wolfman 🐺 The scene where he thanks Rudy is really powerful.

[@learobinson4450]

“Shut the door. There’s obviously some type of thing that activates when he shuts the door” James you’re a real genius! 😉

[@LordVolkov]

"His whole head becomes the speaker?!" They're doing this now with bone conduction audio technology. Real Genius was way ahead of its time with this idea but it's not far fetched to have transmitter wired to Kent's braces that conducts the audio through his teeth and skull, where it reaches the inner ear.

[@LordLOC]

Absolutely one of most criminally underrated (ugh I hate using that word, but yeah, I guess it is) comedies ever made. One of my favorite comedies and the absolutely incredible script still holds up nearly 40 years later. The performances, the soundtrack, the overall vibe of the movie are just timeless (another word I hate using, but whatever at this point lol) and that ending with Tears for Fears blasting is just amazing.

[@donjackson5522]

"A girl's gotta have her standards." Love Deborah Foreman. You should check her out in My Chauffeur.

[@timcook6566]

She likes big brains, and she cannot lie, When that cerebral cortex goes walking by

[@hinesmaster99]

Ya Laz is also the werewolf from MONSTER SQUAD

[@stevensauer8539]

This is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I'm so glad to see someone finally react to it. I was a nerd in the '80s when this came out, so a lot of it resonated with me. To give some idea, in 1983 when I was in 9th grade, I took a computer science class. Back then that meant learning BASIC. We had one ancient TRS-80 model I, two TRS-80 model IIIs, and two Atari 400s (with the membrane keyboard). At the end of the year we were all supposed to write a program to show what we learned. Everyone else was writing pretty simple programs, and getting mostly As and Bs for them. I wrote a version of the Berzerk video game for the TRS-80 model III. At the end of the year I saw the maze pattern from my game burned into my teacher's computer screen. Wonder what he'd been doing while we were all doing classwork...? I was also into comic books, science fiction, and Dungeons and Dragons, so I was an uber-nerd. Still am, but now I get paid for it. :) Anyway, I love this movie. It's endlessly rewatchable and endlessly quotable. Plus it had nerd goddess Michelle Meyrink in it (she was the hyperkinetic girl, and also played the accordion-playing girlfriend in Revenge of the Nerds), who most of us had a crush on. Along with Top Secret! this was a great early Val Kilmer movie. So much fun. The guy who played Kent was somewhat typecast back then. He played a similarly annoying character in the early Tom Hanks comedy Bachelor Party (another one I'd love to see some daring soul react to). And of course William Atherton was so good as usual as the smarmy villain. The other movie you might recognize him from? Ghostbusters.

[@gregkirby9059]

Remo Williams The Adventure Begins.... is a must

[@codytoppel1084]

oooohhhh yesss!!!!

[@celiashen5490]

Stacy Peralta was the shuttle pilot in that industrial commercial for the laser at the start. I point him out because it's highly unlikely that anyone else would know about him. He was a skater kid back in the 70s and then went on to make documentaries. 'The Lords of Dogtown', a docu-drama, was based on a group of skaters that included Peralta.

[@DrJohnnyFever.]

Favorite movie growing up. Watched that VHS every day. Thanks for this!

[@MotoNomad350]

One of my absolute favorites, along with Better Off Dead. So quotable.

[@lizetteolsen3218]

What I really liked about this movie is it really celebrated smart kids. There were so many 'dead teen slasher' movies or dumb kid movies. The celebration of engineering and science was refreshing. Loved the ending--popcorn!

[@codytoppel1084]

Lazlo Hollyfeld was Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite. His name is Jon Gries of "Taken 1,2,3" as well as a classic 80's Goonies-ish horror adventure called "Monster Squad" - Monster Squad is a must watch!

[@dalewilson1725]

Don’t forget Terror Vision!

[@sergiodavila5269]

Jesus: “KENT….stop playing with yourself” Kent: “it is Jesus…” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@LordVolkov]

"Have you been touching yourself?" "Yes... I mean no!" "Very good" 🤣🤣🤣

[@sergiodavila5269]

@@LordVolkov😂😂😂😂😂

[@candicelitrenta8890]

The guy from Die Hard was also the one in Ghostbusters as well. If you have not seen that I will not spoil it for you

[@RoGueNavy]

Don't forget "Bio-Dome"!

[@angelagraves865]

I love this movie! I've seen it so many times I literally know it word for word, it never gets old. And I agree with you 100% that our education system needs serious revamping.

[@kenfreeman8888]

Fun reaction to one of my favorite movies. I worked out Chris' description of his breakthrough with a science dictionary word by word, and it makes sense. Love your talk at the end about improving our school system.

[@OUsniper1]

Yay! Glad you watched this.. I have suggested it a few times to different reaction channels.

[@celiashen5490]

OMG! Computer punch cards! What an eternal source of confetti! edit: This movie was recommended to me quite a while ago, I've always resisted. Now I see that I was wrong. Welp, I got a new flick for movie night. edit#2: I would TOTALLY partake in whatever shenanigans the smart kids can think up.

[@MrBigPicture835]

The entire output of a popcorn factory was pumped into a real house for the scene at the end of the movie. The kids running in to play in and take popcorn, were just the local neighborhood kids...

[@minty_Joe]

I think the movie crew custom built a giant popcorn making machine just for the movie. It took about 3 months of around the clock cooking to get all the popcorn made. The machine actually caught fire at the rented warehouse. I think Lapidus Popcorn company supplied all the uncooked popcorn; they're one of the largest suppliers of popcorn to movie theaters and such. The first (interior house) scenes had the popcorn edible, but the exterior scenes, it was coated with chemicals that made the cooked popcorn flame retardant.

[@MrBigPicture835]

@@minty_Joe It said in the special features of the film that they purchased the entire output of a popcorn popping company for a day, and used special blowing equipment to move it into the house, which was a real house that was built for the movie.

[@minty_Joe]

@@MrBigPicture835 Yep, sounds about right.

[@Hortonfantastic4]

Oh my you’re watching Real Genius?!?!?! Never happens. I am impressed it’s the best!!

[@secretstacker5097]

Thanks Steph, good choice.

[@markmorningstar5374]

This movie came out while I was at University, midway through my Physics degree. There are a few Physics "Easter Eggs" which are gkaringly wrong...but funny. Like the frozen "Liquid" nitrogen. Ha! It would pour if it were a liquid. During one weekend experiment (unsupervised) I bounced a laser beam down the hallways of the Physics/Chemistry lab. It worked great! And your assumption about all types of people joining you for a watch-along was correct. I had a professional IQ test administered through the Psychology dept. on campus. When I opened the math portion of the exam, it said I had to answer 4 correctly, in succession, and the final 4 correct answers would determine the level. I looked through the problems and asked the examiner "Do I have to begin with number 1, or can I just answer the last 4 (out of 60 or 80 questions?)" She said "Nobody had ever asked that question!" She asked the dean of Psychology, came back and said "If you think you can! OK." I knocked-out the last 4 questions and continued with the rest of the test. And, yes, all 4 were answered correctly! I also witnessed several meltdowns in the Physics lounge of students who gave up...screaming! Great reaction, James!

[@redmaynard]

Literally have the same mug! Helps in cold Chicago winter.

[@kathyastrom1315]

The motorcade at the end is a duplicate of Kennedy’s in Dallas.

[@michellebarry1555]

Oh you need to watch Tombstone, Val Kilmer’s best role, in my opinion! He plays Doc Holliday.

[@IggyStardust1967]

Hi James! Gotta send out a "Thank you!" to Steph for this one! I love this movie, and have ever since the first time I saw it. While this movie came out when I was still in High School, I have to admit that I replicated SOME of these shenanigans when I did get to college. Back when you could "get away with shit" and cameras weren't everywhere. I've no doubt you're gonna enjoy this movie! 2:50 - Ummmm... James..... "graphics" is the wrong word here.... these were all practical effects, as this was long before CGI became a thing. 18:20 - While we never disassembled someone's car, we DID line one with thick plastic, fill it with water, and put some fish in it. The look on his face when he found it like that..... absolutely PRICELESS. The only reason that joke worked was because his car had a sun-roof for easy access. Otherwise, we'd have had to drill a hole and we weren't trying to actually damage the car. Just make him figure out how to empty the water out without flooding his car. (Yes, we were assholes as young adults in the 90s) Oh, and while I forgot to mention it when that scene happened.... I pulled that yogurt prank a few times. Shame it only works on college campuses and medical facilities (don't ask.... that one almost got me arrested). 22:53 - James, I'm not trying to brag here.... but I'm not far off of these character's IQ level (I'm in the "lower genius" level). The thing is, while I did absorb information like a sponge growing up, I was often bored in school because I wasn't "challenged" with what was being taught. Of course, by the time this was realized, it was too late to move me into "advanced" classes where I would be challenged. In college, I lost direction because the main classes I desired to be in were cancelled due to lack of enrollment in them. I compensated by "drifting" between majors, and never really finding what interested me. I failed to see the forest for the trees, though. I excelled in English when given writing assignments, yet didn't see that I had a natural talent for it. It would be years later (after I'd dropped out) when I realized I had this talent. It was also too late to take advantage of that talent and find a paying job doing it. Plus, by that time, I was used to physical labor that I truly enjoyed. I did do some "side projects" with writing, but nothing that actually "got me paid". I would write weekly articles for a website that concentrated on the Baltimore Ravens, and our (then) Arena League football team. That came crashing down in 2011, but the crumbling had started a year or so earlier when the Arena League went bankrupt. Then the NFL strike happened... and that was it for me. I did write and publish a comedy book, but that got sidelined when a few days after it was published, my first wife was deemed terminally ill from cancer. I put everything else aside to care for her during her last few months of life. In the late 2010s, I did have a couple of short stories published in an Anthology book series, the proceeds from those books benefit local cancer patients (you can guess why that was close to my heart). Aside from writing jokes/memes that I release for free on social media, I've not been able to keep any momentum going with my writings. So, I just do it for enjoyment now. It just seems that every time I would get something going, life smacks me right in the nuts with a baseball bat to put an end to it. 31:05 - Easy: What better way to eliminate an enemy head of state than when they are in route somewhere? If the laser lasts long enough (5-8 seconds) it could take out every vehicle in that procession. That way, it wouldn't matter if they had a body double decoy or not. Also, another movie you may enjoy is a Clint Eastwood movie that came out around the same time as Real Genius called "Firefox". It's not a comedy, but story wise has some similarities. It is yet another 80s movie that I dearly love, and think you would enjoy.

[@ryanmckenna3503]

Steph! Steph! Steph!

[@bernie472]

The guy who played the professor in the movie, is named William Atherton and you’re right he was a reporter and die hard one and two, and he was also Walter Peck in the movie Ghostbusters. He had a well trimmed beard in that movie.

[@donjackson5522]

"It's true Mr Mayor. This man has no dick." "It is... Dick, isn't it?" Coincidence? Does William Atherton ever play a character that isn't?

[@BradSimsCPT]

Fun fact: the Lazlo actor (Jon Gries) went on to play Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite!

[@themartialartsapproach8786]

He's one of the top ten minds in the country. One day I hope to be two of them!

[@RoGueNavy]

I like to think of this as an unofficial prequel to "The Big Bang Theory".

[@philmakris8507]

It's based on Cal Tech Poly where they play very elaborate pranks on each either. It's called stacking.

[@ControlTouchMaster]

I was a DoD Electrical Engineer for the Navy back in the early 90’s. I quit engineering because I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do anymore. I’m now a helicopter pilot instead. I’m much happier now.

[@AwesomeUSMovies]

WTG!

[@infiad1275]

Lazlo was also Broots from the Pretender tv series.

[@gpaje]

The film's fictional Pacific Tech University is based much on Caltech, specifically Dabney House at Caltech University. Funny enough you mention Big Bang Theory, the main characters also work at Caltech.

[@jsapcakrrow]

I love this movie! Its such a fun movie. I haven't watched it in years but I used to watch it on repeat after it hit VHS.

[@laurakali6522]

A few more that people seem to have forgotten are Ordinary People, Mask, Taps and Teachers.

[@carlosspeicywiener7018]

Jordan is my manic pixie dream girl. Edit: the guy in the spaseship in the beginning is none other than Stacey Peralta, co-founder of powell Peralta skateboards.

[@adameager7114]

I wish more people would react to this one. It's one of my favorite movies from my childhood, right up there with Back to the Future, Clue, The Princess Bride, and pick a Mel Brooks film.

[@Citizenesse8]

I love this movie and I'm glad somebody's reacting to it. I also loved the score and soundtrack.

[@russellward4624]

Love this film. Its such a fun summer film.

[@beokayian5378]

Now you have to see Top Secret! with Val Kilmer.

[@TomCat777]

The Reacher books are awesome, so much better than the 2 movies or the Amazon show

[@Dinkdownn]

This movie is a masterpiece ♥️

[@lucky2213]

woohoo first like and view!!!! love this movie

[@VolutedJoker]

Childhood fav, thank you to reacting to it.

[@unity1016]

'Mitch' was in Apollo 13.

[@Jake0nBreak]

The Way Way Back is a quintessential summer movie in my opinion. 👍

[@MrBigPicture835]

He was also the EPA a*****e in "Ghostbusters"

[@peterreist2882]

My favorite Kilmer role

[@JacobDennisHarris8586]

No reason I see to apologize but I want to share, I follow your Patreon but I also follow a lot of KZbin Channels, I wait for your Reactions to be posted on KZbin, I think you're a COOL MAN based on your Reactions I've seen! I started watching Movies in about 1990 when I was a child, I used to watch almost every New Movie New and of course Older Movies from about the 1970's forward. My Favorite Decade for Movies and Music is mine The 1980'S! THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR REACTIONS!!! About to watch this ONE! Someday I'll see Y'all Reactors React to my Favorite Movie and I know it's a goofball Comedy "Taking Care of Business 1990"!

[@paulhewes7333]

One of the classic 80s movies that are 1/3 montage...

[@BrianD0313]

I love this movie. Such a great movie and it's not over the top. It also does a good job at showing students stressing out in university, especially those of high expectations. Even though Hathaway comes across as an asshole, he's actually rather fair and is a man of results. He commends Mitch for his greatness as well as scold him when he messes up. Same with Val Kilmer, even though Val Kilmer messed up, he still got rewarded when he completed the laser project. I agree with our school systems but it's hard to revamp them to suit each student's needs without making it overtly expensive. I do think High School needs restructuring and should be geared more toward teaching students actual life skills. Universities should also dropped their structured class system. If I go to university then it should only be for my profession; not these other generic courses that I will end up forgetting. Plus it probably would make university cheaper and shorter for us. You should check out "Good Will Hunting". It's fairly similar to the premise of this movie.

[@alexanderkantakusiniii8411]

I miss bein a kid in the 80s

[@msmrsro]

Yea!!!! I recommended this one!!!

[@sharpgirl72]

❤❤❤

[@dvsreed]

I had a big crush on Michelle Meyrink (Jordan) because of this movie

[@ogitherat1]

Steph has awesome taste in movies !!

[@Brian_Patrick]

Ah yes, my wife's absolute favorite movie.

[@unity1016]

Real Genius is MY favorite of the three.

[@RobFMDetroit]

One of my all-time favorites ❤

[@totomomo18]

You should watch other Val Kilmer movies like Top Secret! and The Saint.

[@donsnover2585]

Nice movie,thanks Steph I think you should watch an awesome western I suggest these choices unforgiven(1992) Tombstone (1993),The Quick and the dead(1995)

[@electronicgrandpa7974]

Hi and ty Step/Stef!

[@platinumspider7859]

This movie and _Everybody Wants to Rule the World_ are linked in my brain.

[@hollykangas7418]

Love this movie! Thank you for watching it!

[@alexblack-e1d]

You Crack me Up man.Your laugh is Funny.

[@Talban]

A fantastic and funny film. I watch it every year.

[@leeyaferguson9019]

I loved this movie❤😂. ❤Val!!!

[@mattlehigh8560]

The Reacher series is awesome. Read them all.

[@christopherking4932]

Awesome reaction/ can you please watch a movie called DON'T TELL MOM THE BABY SITTER IS DEAD.

[@AwesomeUSMovies]

Thanks, d've added all these to my list. It's appreciated

[@dylanseaman5163]

watch BIODome.....Jerry is there

[@LordVolkov]

Lol! He's hilarious in Bio-Dome!

[@willcool713]

I watch reaction channels because I'm lonely, and being around other people makes me even lonelier, not less. It has been impossible to form long-term connections all my life. My IQ is between 5 and 6 standard deviations from the norm, but that is deeply compounded by similar levels of honesty, earnestness, and effort, and the severe torturous traumas I suffered as a child and young adult. I'm like a super Boy Scout or Alter Boy, and an extreme try-hard to boot. I have seen behind the curtain of consensus reality many, many times. Nobody wants that perspective around. Many different jobs have used me as a scapegoat. If I wasn't as morally bound as I feel, I could be very rich, but it feels wrong to compete against people who are so ill matched to me. Plus, I have trouble with money and economics as a social institution, as it seems intentionally unfair to many. I don't fit the demographic dispersion of humanity. I don't fit in actuarial tables, people's imaginations, their empathy, even in their groupthink. Mostly I don't exist to others, can't really be included in their thoughts, and people can't believe my life stories, often just don't believe me at all. It's very difficult to form credibility, and when I do, and I try to explain my life, my values, and my thinking, it drives people away, just to defend their sanity. I have everything I need except other people, but that's a necessity, too, so I lose my own sanity periodically, looking for some way to find people who can really understand me. I have been through decades of therapy, but there is no way to both be sane and accept that there will never be other people for me to share my life with in any mutual way. I have never been able to accept that, as it seems so wrong and unjust -- it's like telling me that I need to live without air. Being smart has made a lot of things very easy for me, but I could never wish my life on anyone else. And though I'm grateful for my life, it's very hard not to want to escape it, most of the time. Being super smart is more torture than anything else.

[@karenlackner192]

Quirky movie but this one is good.

[@tempsitch5632]

JAMES, a channel called Rosalia Eden Crosskey is stealing your videos.

[@AwesomeUSMovies]

Thank you so much for pointing this out. I believe all my videos have been removed at this point.

[@tempsitch5632]

@@AwesomeUSMovies You’re welcome. I reported them too, but it’s a hacked account, so they’ll just move on and take over the next dormant account they find. I’m pretty sure this is about the third or fourth time I’ve reported for you, and I’m pretty sure I’ll do it again eventually.

[@gregkirby9059]

is Clue on the channel??

[@gregkral4467]

I was angry that dollege was nothing like real genius.

[@EAGLES-FAN-x4m]

Please react to grant Turismo

[@hinesmaster99]

No I was not smart in fact I dropped out, only thing I think was smart was re inroll & graduate which I did but it got me nowhere. I have friends who went to prison & friends who dropped out like me & make tons of $