Real Genius was released in 1985 when scientific comedies were really on the rise and were highly prized by the public. Like a few others it had a lot to do with the younger generation vs. the older and really highlighted the differences between the two. The wise-cracking, prank-pulling lead was the obvious star of the film no matter who else was there. Kilmer kind of stole the show as he’s done before but in this manner it was actually quite enjoyable as he made the movie something that could stand out from all the other films.
But how much do you remember about this movie?
10. The final scene used 140 tons of popcorn.
They were popping popcorn 24 hours a day and occasionally burning out machines in the process. Eventually those in charge had to hire a professional popcorn company to deliver about 100 tons of popcorn to the set, fully popped.
9. It is possible to pop corn with a laser but not that much in that kind of space.
Recently the Mythbusters decided to see if it was really possible to pop that much popcorn with a laser. They found out that the act is possible, but a laser would be inadequate to pop this much. Anything more powerful would probably fry the popcorn and anything around it.
8. This was Val Kilmer’s second film.
He was also in the film True Spies but this film was what really saw his career take off. That and Top Secret.
7. Kilmer had a way of disappearing from the set.
If he didn’t want to be found he tended to slip away so that he could be by himself. Kilmer was a rather reclusive person when he wasn’t needed.
6. Kilmer’s role almost went to John Cusack.
The two men were both considered for the role but eventually Kilmer would get it while Cusack would go on to star in Better Off Dead.
5. It was released around the same time as Weird Science.
This kind of hurt the film’s expected popularity at the box office since Weird Science and a couple other movies were such big contenders.
4. It was the first movie to be promoted by the internet.
In 1985 the internet wasn’t even close to being what it is today, but an endorsement of this magnitude is something special.
3. The role of Mitch initially went to a 14-old genius.
The only problem with this was that the 14-year old couldn’t act. The casting crew had to go through another 4,000 individuals before they found the actor they wanted.
2. Val Kilmer was very hard to work with.
This seems to be a trend that was picked up early since Kilmer hasn’t been easy to work with for a while. One would think that time and age would mellow that attitude out but despite seeming like a nice guy on screen a lot of costars have said he’s really demanding and kind of a jerk.
1. Pacific Tech is a fictional school.
Pacific Tech was based largely on Caltech, and the reason why the students’ experiences seemed so real was that the writers took note of how real students react and put that into the movie. Maybe it’s time to start doing that again.
Hard to believe all this time has passed, but at least people still remember the movie.
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