Real Genius is one of the arch 1980s films. It’s a “snobs vs. slobs” picture by way of cool pranks and a science-minded, Cold War plot. It also unleashes the charm and charisma of Val Kilmer just ahead of Top Gun. And it has a New Wave edge thanks to director Martha Coolidge, the filmmaker behind Valley Girl. As a mainstay on cable television throughout the 1990s, it became something of a cult hit with phrases like “I drank what?” becoming code for those in the know. Friendships could form across a campus coffeehouse thanks to distorted memories of the film. But for much of its home video life, the film has been a mid-tier catalogue title, going the Manufacture on Demand route for most of the Blu-ray era.
That changes today with the release of Real Genius on 4K Ultra High Definition Blu-ray. At last, the film feels honored, but is it the package fans have waited for since its initial bare-bones DVD release? Let’s take a look.
The film centers on Mitch Taylor (Gabe Jarret), a 15-year-old prodigy who is accepted to PacificTech in the “mid-winter term.” Shepherded into the school by Dr. Jerry Hathaway (William Atherton), he joins the professor’s experimental laser team and rooms with his hero, Chris Knight (Kilmer), who turns out to be as much as slacker as a physics genius can be. For his part, Chris wants Mitch to relax a little more. But as Hathaway’s plans for the laser experiment come to light, Chris may find that he relaxed a little too much.
As we said up top, the film is very much the apex of various 80s teen film trends — like snobs vs. slobs — but it appeals to a certain nerdy crowd for various reasons. Everyone in the film is smart and their intelligence is rarely the butt of jokes. Sure, pranks still happen and certain characters are identified as gullible, but it never devolves into simple “four eyes” or “nerdlinger” jokes. In fact, no one in the film dresses or looks like the typical film nerd. There is no Eddie Deezen here. Additionally, as Coolidge wanted the film to have a romantic atmosphere, PacificTech is one of the most inviting fantasies of a college environment ever committed to the screen. Studying and partying seem in balance. Although Mitch has it rough by being the new, young genius on campus, he eventually finds a social group and even finds love.
Also, and we might not be selling this hard enough, the movie is funny. The humor, for the most part, holds up thanks to Coolidge, who tones down a lot of the troubling tropes in 80s teen movies.
Then there are the performances by Kilmer and Atherton. The latter was one of the great, officious screen antagonists of the era. And though he’s come to regret playing these parts because of on-the-street harassment and shipments of popcorn to his house, he delivers an indelible character as Hathaway. Also, on this viewing, we came to appreciate the work of Robert Prescott as Hathaway’s underling, Kent. It’s a tough balancing act to offer some credible threat while still getting the metaphorical pantsing from Chris and Mitch.
And all of this just looks amazing on 4K UHD. As Coolidge mentioned in her commentary, she specifically sought out Close Encounters of the Third Kind cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond to shoot the picture precisely because he would bring a romance to the film. Thanks to the expanded fidelity and color palette of the 4K disc, his warm and inviting lighting has never looked better. Nor have the shadows — a rarity for teen comedies — been more contrasty. Additionally, the graffiti on the dorm hallways has never been more legible. Those who watched the movie on cable back in the day experienced the film with all of this information smashed down into a drabber, flatter presentation. But everything pops here as apparently intended, offering a new sense of depth to the photography. That said, the 4K video also preserves the distinct graininess of mid-to-late 80s films, which means one of the effects shots and the Tri-Star vanity card will appear a little worse for wear.
The higher-definition video is supported by both a 7.1 and 5.1 sound mix. We listened to the latter and it was good. But as our reference soundbar is 2.1, we also gave the optional stereo mix a try and noticed vocals on the music tracks were blown out. This never happened with score or dialogue, but it was a curious note that may have its origins in the mix’s source — potentially the film’s original mix — sadly, that cannot be confirmed. And as most people will just use the default mix, this isn’t the end of the world.
The extras package, meanwhile, is an interesting and curious mix. The headline feature on this release is the film’s deleted “Balloon Chair” sequence, in which Chris floats to the lab window via a lawn chair lifted by many huge balloons. While an interesting moment, it is clear why it was deleted — it just doesn’t add anything. It appears to happen after he and the rest of the gang dismantle Kent’s car and reassemble it in his dorm room, which is the better of the two pranks. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see at last. More interesting, at least to us, was the included reel of raw takes from the sequence which illustrates how difficult it is to film and edit a relatively simple 90 seconds of film.
Returning from the MoD Blu-ray release is Coolidge’s commentary. It’s a curious track as she spends a little too much time describing what’s occurring on screen without offering any additional depth. Nevertheless, the insights she does offer — like the person she would’ve cast as Chris has Kilmer passed — are worthwhile. Indeed, we’ve been peppering some of those moments throughout the review as they genuinely deepened our appreciation of the film.
And as this film is such a memory from cable, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment also included the TV version. Altered to remove most of the references to sex and sex organs, it is a strange curio from a by-gone era. For instance, Deborah Foreman‘s infamous cameo sees her saying “pinky” instead of “penis.” Similarly, dialogue is overdubbed to remove the “harsh” language for broadcast or, as we recall occurring, its run on The Disney Channel. Those changes are all the stranger as they reveal the mores of the late 80s and early 90s. One example: Hathaway’s utterance of “asshole” in one scene is replaced with a now wildly offensive term once used to describe either people of Asian origin or someone affected with Down syndrome. But at the time the TV version was prepared, it was somehow more acceptable on air (or on The Disney Channel) than “asshole.” Apparently pulled direct from the old master tape, the TV version also reveals just how much detail the 4K UHD restores and how bad the “pan-and-scan” process to reformat widescreen movies for square-shaped TV really was. We doubt we’ll watch it again anytime soon, but is interesting to have this memory of the way so many people discover Real Genius available.
Although it lacks a proper making-of retrospective, Real Genius on 4K feels like the most complete home video presentation of the film fans will ever get. And thanks to a truly wonderful 4K presentation, it will burn new memories into their heads with the strength of a five megawatt laser.
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