Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Real Genius Blu-ray Movie Review

Real (Teens of) Genius

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 8, 2018

Real Genius is Animal House with characters who are brains, not drains on the college system. They have their fun, usually at one another's expense and to varying degrees of smart-guy pranks (a smudge on the optics! Popcorn overflowing the house!), but when the chips are down they're capable of accomplishing extraordinary science-y things. Even as the characters are all some degree of Einstein, they're agreeable and personable, and the film manages to balance their brainpower with an everyday quality. Almost to a character they begin at an extreme -- too focused, too fun-loving -- but move their way toward a middle ground where frivolity and intelligence meet in a happy medium that allows them to evolve, the story to progress, and the audience to access their world. But even with all the moving pieces and firing neurons, the movie settles into a highly watchable and enjoyable escape that works on everyone's level.

Young genius Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret ) is accepted to a prestigious university at age 15. Most people have the I.Q. of a “carrot” compared to him, according to the school’s celebrity professor, Hathaway (William Atherton). Mitch will be working with the brilliant and eccentric Chris (Val Kilmer) whose sense of humor is more immediately obvious than his intelligence and his aversion to authority is the one thing that might keep him off the fast-track to science stardom. Mitch is the polar opposite. He’s clean-cut, eager to please, and dedicated to making the by-the-book most of his college experience. But as he attempts to integrate himself, fends off attacks from Hathaway’s brown-noser Kent (Robert Prescott), falls for another eccentric student named Jordan (Michelle Meyrink), and works with Chris on a secret laser for their professor, they come to learn that there’s more at stake than a cool project and a diploma, both inside the classroom and outside of it.

The film bears the fruits of several paralleling and interconnecting narrative arcs. These including Mitch learning to loosen up in the frat house atmosphere (even brains just want to have fun!), Chris finding renewed purpose in the face of Hathaway’s threats, and the main story centered around the boys’ sabotage of Hatahway’s military laser project, once they perfect it and figure out its intended purpose, anyway (a bit quaint by today's standards what with drone technology so much more efficient). It’s all nicely joined together in a jovial and agreeable little romp through festive college life married to, rather than students with “0.0” grade-point averages, individuals who make science fun by coating the floor in a solid-to-gas sheet of ice for skating in the dorm or who use a pool party as an excuse to test out new scuba gear. And, really, classic though several of the “dunce and dense” college student movies may be, Real Genius is just refreshing in its portrayal of the fun-loving habits of college students who are a cut above, and the movie holds up even today, well removed from its era and still fairly novel for its approach to the college life genre.

Val Kilmer’s Chris, the genius he may be, is the audience’s conduit into the movie, to use a science word. He loves to party and even when he must, he cannot take himself, or the situation, entirely serious. He wears funny slippers to a critical exam, wears goofy headgear on a big job interview…the character is almost comic relief and is certainly a foil to Mitch, who, if he were any stiffer, could be used as a surf board at that pool party. Kilmer is magnificent in the part. It’s one of the best performances of his career. He nails the silliness, lives the aloofness, and he’s sharp, articulate, and finds the character’s center as both a young man of some serious intellectual capacity but also the capacity to have a lot of fun at the same time. Gabriel Jarret, who never went on to do much in terms of movie stardom after Real Genius, buddies up with Chris (this is really a Buddy movie at heart) and is a match for Kilmer’s performance throughout. He understands the character’s arc, plays up the determination and deer-in-the-headlights response to life in a raucous dormitory, and evolves into an agreeable middle ground, influenced, but not changed, by Chris’ party-hard, let-loose sort of approach to school and life.

Real Genius Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Real Genius arrives on Blu-ray with a fairly smart 1080p image quality. It's pleasantly filmic, with a fine, organic grain structure that accentuates a fairly clean, nicely detailed presentation. Textural delivery is efficient with a number of high-yield details, including faces and clothes and dorm room and laboratory imagery. Some soft focus edges are apparent throughout, but the main image is crisp and well defined. Colors are nicely saturated. They lack the absolute density and nuance one might expect from a top-tier image, but the palette never wants for much more in terms of essential vibrancy. Black level hold fairly stable and flesh tones appear natural. No significant print wear or encode issues are apparent. Even through all the hoopla surrounding Sony's "Choice Collection" line, this one should satisfy fans.

Real Genius Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Real Genius features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack, though I have repeatedly experienced the disc somehow forcing my equipment into a matrixed 5.1 configuration; only by forcing either of my Denon receivers into stereo mode can I achieve the 2.0 presentation, even as it's otherwise set to "direct." That's an issue I have not experienced before, to my recollection, with any other 2.0 tracks of either the Dolby, DTS, or LPCM varieties. The two-channel track delivers a largely satisfying, if not direct and sonically inconsequential, listen. Opening title music and dialogue generally settle to an imaged front-center location. Score throughout the movie finds a little more range, with sufficient clarity at work. A bustling science fair offers chunky, well spaced din, though the lack of a surround component certainly limits, if not altogether eliminates, any and all sense of transportation into the place, so much so the sheer lack of surround activity nearly distracts from the scene. The "speak to Jesus" scene later in the film offers a fairly substantial and enjoyable reverberation, while an avalanche of popping popcorn offers about as prominent a low end effect as one will find without a subwoofer channel at work. Dialogue is well prioritized, center positioned, and naturally detailed.

Real Genius Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Part of Sony's controversial BD-R "Choice Collection," the fan-favorite Real Genius ships in a thicker Blu-ray case and does not arrive shrink wrapped, instead sealed only by a small bit of adhesive. Fortunately, it leaves no residue upon removal. The disc does contain one extra, a newly recorded commentary by Director Martha Coolidge. She covers a broad range of topics that hit on most of the typical commentary insights, including the opening title sequence, characters and performances, sets, shot construction, visuals, anecdotes, and plenty more. Note that it's also possible to read Coolidge's comments via subtitle while still hearing the 2.0 lossless film track, or in conjunction with the commentary track itself. The commentary is accessible only in-film via the pop-up menu. No top menu is included.

Real Genius Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Real Genius might not be a classic in the broader sense, but it's a little 80s gem with infinite replay value. It blends humor and humanity very well, even as its characters are off-the-chart geniuses. It's accessible despite intensive academics and science that really play second fiddle to the enjoyable characters and cadence. It's also one of Val Kilmer's best movies and one of this reviewer's personal favorites. Sony's manufactured on demand Blu-ray delivers good video, adequate two-channel audio, and a commentary track. Recommended.