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I haven't seen this film in ages, but I'm absolutely positive that there was a plot thread where a mischievous group of students place a miniature bone-conduction walkie-talkie inside of an enemy's (probably Kent's) dental fillings (after drugging him, of course.) They then used it to convince him that God was talking to him, causing him to go insane.
And I definitely recall a scene where he was at the professor's house, standing in front of the huge thing of popcorn waiting for a sign from above on "God's" orders (maybe he even put it there, I don't remember), when the laser came through the window (accompanied by an angelic "aaaah" in the soundtrack) and set off the popcorn.
Maybe I'm mixing this up with another film, but I'm pretty sure this was it. 208.54.14.1 14:00, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
My own criticism of the article is that it omits the dozens of wonderful quotations. Here are examples: (Prof. Hathaway) "Mitch, there's something you need to know. Compared to you, most people have the IQ of a carrot."; (Prof. Hathaway) "I want to see more of you around the lab." (Chris) "Fine. I'll gain weight."; (Chris) "Kent puts his name on his license plate." (Mitch) "My mom does the same thing to my underwear." (Chris) "Your mom puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?"; (Mitch) "Did you know there's a guy living in our closet?" (Chris) "You've seen him too?" (Mitch) "Who is he?" (Chris) "Hollyfeld." (Mitch) "Why does he keep going into our closet?" (Chris) "Why do you keep going into our closet?" (Mitch) "To get my clothes - but that's not why he goes in there." (Chris) "Of course not, he's twice your size - your clothes would never fit him." (Mitch) "Yeah..." (Chris) "Think before you ask these questions, Mitch. Twenty points higher than me? Thinks a big guy like that can wear his clothes?" (see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089886/quotes) David Spector (talk) 14:08, 27 December 2011 (UTC)
Is the section on Jordan "technically" committing statutory rape on Mich really necessary? I think someone was trying to make some kind of point about the double standards between women and men who commit statutory rape, which violates neutrality. Not that I'm trying to condone statutory rape, or pederastia of any sort, I'm just saying that it has no real bearing on the discussion of the movie. I'm going to remove it, but I'll retain it here if someone objects.--Reverend Distopia 19:03, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
The source for the claim that Kilmer wishes to make a sequel is a deadlink. Can someone replace with an existing source, or should the (now unsubstantiated) reference be removed? 12.22.250.4 17:41, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
Removing this here, pending some sort of verification.
The problem with this link is that it's either horribly inaccurate (and therefore should not be linked here) or is a parody or joke (ditto). The "article" linked is purportedly the transcript of an interview conducted by "Harry Gross" on the NPR programme Fresh Air with somebody called "Chuck of Arabia". There are obvious problems with this, not the least of which is that the host of Fresh Air is TERRY Gross, not "Harry", and Terry is a woman. Her only predecessor as host of the program was also a woman, whose name was also not "Harry". The fact that Terry Gross is nationally acclaimed and reknown suggests that the "author" is making it up without benefit of research or is presenting unverified heresay. The "dialog" attributed to Gross isn't up to her usual literate standards, also suggesting heresay or invention. If someone can verify that TERRY Gross actually conducted such an interview (and that source should probably be NPR itself, not the homemade site of a massage group that runs a coffee shop and makes appearances at Burning Man), then feel free to return this link to the article. 12.22.250.4 23:19, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
If it helps, I can vouch for the content of the external link above. The "LegendOfLazlo" page pretty accurately describes some events that took place at Caltech during the 71-72 period. I can vouch for these events because "Chuck" was my roommate. We had been assigned a room which had previously been a single room, and neither one of us liked sharing a space so small. This was given as one of his reasons for moving into the tunnels. His other reason was saving money by cancelling his room contract, but keeping his board contract so he could still eat meals with Dabney, and still be considered part of Dabney house. Chuck actually is his real first name, but he's not from Arabia, he was from someplace in Illinois. As has been pointed out, the Lazlo character is a composite of several "legends" or "relics" of Caltech lore. When I first saw the movie, my reaction was, "Hey, I was the guy with the roommate living in the tunnels under campus!" I thought it was pretty funny.
I can also vouch for the similarity of the wall paintings in the movie to actual wall paintings that used to adorn the halls of Dabney House at Caltech. Whether or not the producers actually copied some, or merely made something similar, it is accurate to say the wall paintings or graffiti in the movie are quite similar to those in Dabney House at Caltech in the 1970's. Some of the various college pranks depicted in the movie were also drawn from fact, again, in composite. Someone did actually ride a baby carriage down a flight of stairs, but in real life, the stairs were much higher and scarier. Mediasponge ( talk) 01:03, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
Director Martha Coolidge, in a January, 2011 interview, states, "I insisted on researching the subject and we brought in top-level consultants from the military, weapons development experts and universities. We researched Caltech and MIT and based most of the stories, and the visual depiction of the school on Caltech, particularly on Dabney Hall. There is a page on the Caltech website that enumerates the specific Caltech inspired elements of the script, at least those that they have identified." This is a reliable source, even though a blog, since it is based on an interview. David Spector ( talk) 18:51, 30 December 2013 (UTC)
What method should be used? Alpha? order of precedence as shown in the movie credits?-- Marhawkman ( talk) 07:18, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
Either it's a gaffe in the movie ("Is that liquid Nitrogen?" as Chris cuts a solid) or the question is about what's keeping the dry ice cool in the thermos, like imdb seems to think [1]. Nitrogen ice is never mentioned. — Laura Scudder ☎ 23:24, 19 September 2008 (UTC)
BUT Is it possible to pop popcorn with a lazer? Enough so that it could actually blow up a house. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.9.45.237 ( talk) 12:39, 12 May 2009 (UTC)
Please tell me, Marhawkman, how the debris of the busted-up house -- broken glass (windows were shown breaking), wood splinters (wood beams were shown splitting), and nails (presumption from the house coming apart semi-explosively) would not be mixed in with the popcorn?
Mythbusters showed that a house really couldn't be destroyed that way, and that's fine, but given that that's what the movie depicted, please explain how mentioning that debris dangerous to kids would be mixed in with the popcorn is "POV pushing", as you put it? It seems to me the opposite, that you're the one pushing a POV contrary to what would be fact if what was depicted had actually occurred. -- Davidkevin ( talk) 02:45, 30 September 2009 (UTC)
In the film's opening credits, it says "also starring" after the first four actors (Kilmer, Jarret, Meyrink, and Atherton). Does that really mean the rest of the cast are stars of the film? I would delete Prescott, Gries, and Lauter from the infobox. — Codrdan ( talk) 19:37, 14 December 2009 (UTC)
In the Trivia section, what's the other point on the line to the house's coordinates? There has to be one more point (the plane's location) to make the inclusion of the naval station notable. Do we know where the plane was when it fired on the house? — Codrdan ( talk) 23:52, 31 December 2009 (UTC)
This is unsourced and so I've moved it here until it can be properly cited.-- J.D. ( talk) 18:22, 19 May 2010 (UTC)
The fictitious university Pacific Tech ("Pacific Institute of Technology") has itself become a theme. The name has been used several times in films and television shows when directors, writers, or producers wanted to depict a science-oriented university without using a real institution's name. The name Pacific Tech was used in The War of the Worlds and Galactica 1980.
Deleted film content here & restored to #Plot. — Codrdan ( talk)]
In Mythbusters episode 125, first cablecast on 17 June 2009, Kari Byron asked if Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara were "familiar with a little film called Real Genius?", to which Imahara replied "I've patterned my life after it."
In that episode, they tried to determine whether the final scene in the film, the destruction of Dr. Hathaway's house with laser-popped popcorn, is actually possible. First they used a ten-watt laser to pop a single kernel wrapped in aluminum foil, showing that popping corn is possible with a laser, then they tested a scaled-down model of a house. The popcorn was popped through induction heating because a sufficiently large laser was not available. he result was that the popcorn was unable to expand sufficiently to break glass, much less break open a door or move the house off its foundation. Instead, it ceased to expand and then simply charred.
It was also specifically stated in the program that a five-megawatt laser still did not exist, even in military applications, and that the largest military laser they knew of was 100 kilowatts.
All of these putative trivia are invalid as trivia. This movie has plenty of really good trivia, though, and wonderful quotations. David Spector ( talk) 18:01, 30 December 2013 (UTC)
References
In what way was "the dorm in the film...based on Dabney House at Caltech"? I've never been there (though I've heard all the "DEI" stories), but I can tell you the dormitory scenes were all filmed at two of the dorms at my alma mater, Pomona College in Claremont, CA: Mudd-Blaisdell and Harwood Court. I lived in Harwood Court my junior and senior years and loved seeing all the familiar hallways. 12.248.13.138 ( talk) 19:46, 29 April 2013 (UTC) Oops, wasn't logged in! Middlenamefrank ( talk) 19:47, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
The Wikipedia article on the War of the Worlds movie, 1953, mentions the academic affiliation of Gene Barry's character as Pacific Tech, which would make the use in Real Genius a reference to that work. /info/en/?search=The_War_of_the_Worlds_%281953_film%29. War of the Worlds and Real Genius are mentioned as cultural references for Caltech (as Pacific Tech) here: /info/en/?search=California_Institute_of_Technology#In_media_and_popular_culture Tomligon ( talk) 16:00, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
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I haven't seen this film in ages, but I'm absolutely positive that there was a plot thread where a mischievous group of students place a miniature bone-conduction walkie-talkie inside of an enemy's (probably Kent's) dental fillings (after drugging him, of course.) They then used it to convince him that God was talking to him, causing him to go insane.
And I definitely recall a scene where he was at the professor's house, standing in front of the huge thing of popcorn waiting for a sign from above on "God's" orders (maybe he even put it there, I don't remember), when the laser came through the window (accompanied by an angelic "aaaah" in the soundtrack) and set off the popcorn.
Maybe I'm mixing this up with another film, but I'm pretty sure this was it. 208.54.14.1 14:00, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
My own criticism of the article is that it omits the dozens of wonderful quotations. Here are examples: (Prof. Hathaway) "Mitch, there's something you need to know. Compared to you, most people have the IQ of a carrot."; (Prof. Hathaway) "I want to see more of you around the lab." (Chris) "Fine. I'll gain weight."; (Chris) "Kent puts his name on his license plate." (Mitch) "My mom does the same thing to my underwear." (Chris) "Your mom puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?"; (Mitch) "Did you know there's a guy living in our closet?" (Chris) "You've seen him too?" (Mitch) "Who is he?" (Chris) "Hollyfeld." (Mitch) "Why does he keep going into our closet?" (Chris) "Why do you keep going into our closet?" (Mitch) "To get my clothes - but that's not why he goes in there." (Chris) "Of course not, he's twice your size - your clothes would never fit him." (Mitch) "Yeah..." (Chris) "Think before you ask these questions, Mitch. Twenty points higher than me? Thinks a big guy like that can wear his clothes?" (see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089886/quotes) David Spector (talk) 14:08, 27 December 2011 (UTC)
Is the section on Jordan "technically" committing statutory rape on Mich really necessary? I think someone was trying to make some kind of point about the double standards between women and men who commit statutory rape, which violates neutrality. Not that I'm trying to condone statutory rape, or pederastia of any sort, I'm just saying that it has no real bearing on the discussion of the movie. I'm going to remove it, but I'll retain it here if someone objects.--Reverend Distopia 19:03, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
The source for the claim that Kilmer wishes to make a sequel is a deadlink. Can someone replace with an existing source, or should the (now unsubstantiated) reference be removed? 12.22.250.4 17:41, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
Removing this here, pending some sort of verification.
The problem with this link is that it's either horribly inaccurate (and therefore should not be linked here) or is a parody or joke (ditto). The "article" linked is purportedly the transcript of an interview conducted by "Harry Gross" on the NPR programme Fresh Air with somebody called "Chuck of Arabia". There are obvious problems with this, not the least of which is that the host of Fresh Air is TERRY Gross, not "Harry", and Terry is a woman. Her only predecessor as host of the program was also a woman, whose name was also not "Harry". The fact that Terry Gross is nationally acclaimed and reknown suggests that the "author" is making it up without benefit of research or is presenting unverified heresay. The "dialog" attributed to Gross isn't up to her usual literate standards, also suggesting heresay or invention. If someone can verify that TERRY Gross actually conducted such an interview (and that source should probably be NPR itself, not the homemade site of a massage group that runs a coffee shop and makes appearances at Burning Man), then feel free to return this link to the article. 12.22.250.4 23:19, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
If it helps, I can vouch for the content of the external link above. The "LegendOfLazlo" page pretty accurately describes some events that took place at Caltech during the 71-72 period. I can vouch for these events because "Chuck" was my roommate. We had been assigned a room which had previously been a single room, and neither one of us liked sharing a space so small. This was given as one of his reasons for moving into the tunnels. His other reason was saving money by cancelling his room contract, but keeping his board contract so he could still eat meals with Dabney, and still be considered part of Dabney house. Chuck actually is his real first name, but he's not from Arabia, he was from someplace in Illinois. As has been pointed out, the Lazlo character is a composite of several "legends" or "relics" of Caltech lore. When I first saw the movie, my reaction was, "Hey, I was the guy with the roommate living in the tunnels under campus!" I thought it was pretty funny.
I can also vouch for the similarity of the wall paintings in the movie to actual wall paintings that used to adorn the halls of Dabney House at Caltech. Whether or not the producers actually copied some, or merely made something similar, it is accurate to say the wall paintings or graffiti in the movie are quite similar to those in Dabney House at Caltech in the 1970's. Some of the various college pranks depicted in the movie were also drawn from fact, again, in composite. Someone did actually ride a baby carriage down a flight of stairs, but in real life, the stairs were much higher and scarier. Mediasponge ( talk) 01:03, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
Director Martha Coolidge, in a January, 2011 interview, states, "I insisted on researching the subject and we brought in top-level consultants from the military, weapons development experts and universities. We researched Caltech and MIT and based most of the stories, and the visual depiction of the school on Caltech, particularly on Dabney Hall. There is a page on the Caltech website that enumerates the specific Caltech inspired elements of the script, at least those that they have identified." This is a reliable source, even though a blog, since it is based on an interview. David Spector ( talk) 18:51, 30 December 2013 (UTC)
What method should be used? Alpha? order of precedence as shown in the movie credits?-- Marhawkman ( talk) 07:18, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
Either it's a gaffe in the movie ("Is that liquid Nitrogen?" as Chris cuts a solid) or the question is about what's keeping the dry ice cool in the thermos, like imdb seems to think [1]. Nitrogen ice is never mentioned. — Laura Scudder ☎ 23:24, 19 September 2008 (UTC)
BUT Is it possible to pop popcorn with a lazer? Enough so that it could actually blow up a house. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.9.45.237 ( talk) 12:39, 12 May 2009 (UTC)
Please tell me, Marhawkman, how the debris of the busted-up house -- broken glass (windows were shown breaking), wood splinters (wood beams were shown splitting), and nails (presumption from the house coming apart semi-explosively) would not be mixed in with the popcorn?
Mythbusters showed that a house really couldn't be destroyed that way, and that's fine, but given that that's what the movie depicted, please explain how mentioning that debris dangerous to kids would be mixed in with the popcorn is "POV pushing", as you put it? It seems to me the opposite, that you're the one pushing a POV contrary to what would be fact if what was depicted had actually occurred. -- Davidkevin ( talk) 02:45, 30 September 2009 (UTC)
In the film's opening credits, it says "also starring" after the first four actors (Kilmer, Jarret, Meyrink, and Atherton). Does that really mean the rest of the cast are stars of the film? I would delete Prescott, Gries, and Lauter from the infobox. — Codrdan ( talk) 19:37, 14 December 2009 (UTC)
In the Trivia section, what's the other point on the line to the house's coordinates? There has to be one more point (the plane's location) to make the inclusion of the naval station notable. Do we know where the plane was when it fired on the house? — Codrdan ( talk) 23:52, 31 December 2009 (UTC)
This is unsourced and so I've moved it here until it can be properly cited.-- J.D. ( talk) 18:22, 19 May 2010 (UTC)
The fictitious university Pacific Tech ("Pacific Institute of Technology") has itself become a theme. The name has been used several times in films and television shows when directors, writers, or producers wanted to depict a science-oriented university without using a real institution's name. The name Pacific Tech was used in The War of the Worlds and Galactica 1980.
Deleted film content here & restored to #Plot. — Codrdan ( talk)]
In Mythbusters episode 125, first cablecast on 17 June 2009, Kari Byron asked if Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara were "familiar with a little film called Real Genius?", to which Imahara replied "I've patterned my life after it."
In that episode, they tried to determine whether the final scene in the film, the destruction of Dr. Hathaway's house with laser-popped popcorn, is actually possible. First they used a ten-watt laser to pop a single kernel wrapped in aluminum foil, showing that popping corn is possible with a laser, then they tested a scaled-down model of a house. The popcorn was popped through induction heating because a sufficiently large laser was not available. he result was that the popcorn was unable to expand sufficiently to break glass, much less break open a door or move the house off its foundation. Instead, it ceased to expand and then simply charred.
It was also specifically stated in the program that a five-megawatt laser still did not exist, even in military applications, and that the largest military laser they knew of was 100 kilowatts.
All of these putative trivia are invalid as trivia. This movie has plenty of really good trivia, though, and wonderful quotations. David Spector ( talk) 18:01, 30 December 2013 (UTC)
References
In what way was "the dorm in the film...based on Dabney House at Caltech"? I've never been there (though I've heard all the "DEI" stories), but I can tell you the dormitory scenes were all filmed at two of the dorms at my alma mater, Pomona College in Claremont, CA: Mudd-Blaisdell and Harwood Court. I lived in Harwood Court my junior and senior years and loved seeing all the familiar hallways. 12.248.13.138 ( talk) 19:46, 29 April 2013 (UTC) Oops, wasn't logged in! Middlenamefrank ( talk) 19:47, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
The Wikipedia article on the War of the Worlds movie, 1953, mentions the academic affiliation of Gene Barry's character as Pacific Tech, which would make the use in Real Genius a reference to that work. /info/en/?search=The_War_of_the_Worlds_%281953_film%29. War of the Worlds and Real Genius are mentioned as cultural references for Caltech (as Pacific Tech) here: /info/en/?search=California_Institute_of_Technology#In_media_and_popular_culture Tomligon ( talk) 16:00, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Real Genius. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
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source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 22:36, 11 December 2017 (UTC)