Revenge of the Nerds
Revenge of the Nerds | |
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Directed by | Jeff Kanew |
Screenplay by |
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Story by |
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Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | King Baggot |
Edited by | Alan Balsam |
Music by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $6–8 million[1][2][3] |
Box office | $60.4 million (including rentals)[4] |
Revenge of the Nerds is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Jeff Kanew and starring Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Ted McGinley, and Bernie Casey.[5] Its plot chronicles a group of nerds at the fictional Adams College trying to stop the ongoing harassment by jock fraternity Alpha Betas and its sister sorority, Pi Delta Pi.
Plot
Best friends and nerds Lewis Skolnick and Gilbert Lowe enroll in Adams College to study computer science. The Alpha Betas, a fraternity that includes most of the Adams football team, carelessly burn down their own house and urged by Coach Harris, take over the freshman dorms, throwing the freshmen out into the street. Dean Ulich designates temporary living space in the gymnasium and allows the freshmen to rush the fraternities. Lewis, Gilbert, and several other nerds fail to join fraternities but obtain and renovate a dilapidated house near campus.
The Alpha Betas, led by star quarterback Stan Gable, are irked by the nerds' success, and Stan sets his fellow members to harassing the nerds, which includes throwing a rock through the window that says "Nerds, get out". The nerds complain to
However, the harassment intensifies, and Stan prevents any attempts by the Greek Council to sanction Alpha Beta. The nerds realize the only way to get the Council to help is to put one of their own in as president, which they can do by winning the Greek Games during homecoming. Partnering with the Omega Mus and using their extensive scientific knowledge and creativity, the Tri-Lambs compete strongly with the Alpha Betas and Pi Delta Pis during the athletic events. At the charity fundraiser, the nerds heavily outsell the Alpha Betas by offering pies containing hidden nude pictures of Betty and other Pi Delta Pis. During this, Lewis, who has fallen in love with Betty, steals Stan's costume and tricks Betty into engaging in sexual intercourse with him. Finally, the nerds dominate the musical competition with a techno-computer-driven musical production, winning the overall games. Lewis immediately nominates Gilbert as the new Council president.
Coach Harris lambasts the Alpha Betas for losing to the nerds, and Stan leads them in vandalizing the Tri-Lamb house. The nerds become despondent, and Gilbert decides to barge into the middle of the Homecoming Pep Rally to voice his complaints. The Alpha Betas try to stop him, but Jefferson and a large group of national Tri-Lambs arrive to intimidate the Alpha Betas, offering Gilbert the opportunity to give a rousing speech about standing up to discrimination. Lewis and the other Tri-Lambs, many alumni, and Betty, who announces she is "in love with a nerd", join in cheering Gilbert, soundly shaming the Alpha Betas. An emboldened Dean Ulich instructs Coach Harris that the Tri-Lambs will now live in the Alpha Beta house, while the Alpha Betas will live in the gym until they can repair the Tri-Lamb house.
Cast
- Robert Carradine as Lewis Skolnick
- Anthony Edwards as Gilbert Lowe
- Ted McGinley as Stanley Harvey "Stan" Gable
- Julie Montgomery as Betty Childs
- Timothy Busfield as Arnold Poindexter
- Andrew Cassese as Harold Wormser
- Curtis Armstrong as Dudley "Booger" Dawson
- Larry B. Scott as Lamar Latrelle
- Brian Tochi as Toshiro Takashi
- Michelle Meyrink as Judy
- Matt Salinger as Danny Burke
- Donald Gibb as Frederick Aloysius "Ogre" Palowaski
- James Cromwell as Mr. Skolnick
- David Wohl as Dean Ulich
- John Goodman as Coach Harris
- Bernie Casey as U.N. Jefferson
- Alice Hirson as Mrs. Lowe
- Lisa Welchas Suzy
Development
The movie was inspired by a Los Angeles magazine article, titled "Revenge of the Nerds", that describes computer programmers gaining respect in Silicon Valley.[6]
Director Jeff Kanew saw Ted McGinley on the cover of a "Men of USC" calendar and decided he was perfect for the role of the head of the Alpha Beta fraternity.[6] Kanew cast Matt Salinger as another Alpha Beta brother because he loved his father J. D. Salinger's book The Catcher in the Rye so much.[6]
A scene of a Tri-Lambda convention in Las Vegas was deleted because a
Production
The
After some negotiations, the university allowed filming on campus as long as the producers tried to schedule film shooting so as to not affect campus activities, not film anything "with a questionable nature with regards to taste", and accept advice from fraternities.[8] Film shooting on campus began in January 1984.[10][11]
The nerds' original residence, from which they were ousted by the Alpha Betas, was actually
Casting for
While working as a security guard during filming, an off-duty police officer found a vial with a small amount of cocaine in a dressing room. The police decided not to pursue an investigation because it would be impossible to determine whose it was.[17]
Interior scenes were shot at Old Tucson Studios.[18]
Different sources report the film's budget between $6 million and $8 million, low for a feature film of the time.[1][2][3]
According to producers Ted Field and Peter Samuelson, the two had to fight for the ending pep rally scene as others involved in the production wanted a more cathartic ending where the Nerds would get more violent revenge on the Alpha Betas including destroying their house.[19] Field and Samuelson further stated that the nerds' actions were inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's usage of passive resistance.[19]
Soundtrack
Revenge of the Nerds | |
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synthpop | |
Label | Scotti Brothers |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [21] |
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Manhattan" | Andrea & Hot Mink | 3:45 |
2. | "Don't Talk" | Ya Ya | 4:02 |
3. | "One Foot in Front of the Other" | Bone Symphony | 3:10 |
4. | "Breakdown" | The Rubinoos | 3:34 |
5. | "Revenge of the Nerds" | The Rubinoos | 3:19 |
6. | "They're So Incredible" | Revenge | 3:54 |
7. | "Are You Ready?" | Ya Ya | 4:02 |
8. | "Are You Ready for the Sex Girls" | Gleaming Spires | 4:10 |
9. | "Right Time for Love" | Pat Robinson and Jill Michaels | 4:00 |
10. | "All Night Party" | Gleaming Spires | 2:31 |
Ollie E. Brown, of Ollie & Jerry fame, wrote and performed the song "They're So Incredible" for the film, under the name Revenge. In the film, the song is performed by the Tri-Lambs at the final event of the Greek Games and contains different lyrics.[citation needed]
Three songs appear in the film but not on the soundtrack: "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads, "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, and "We Are the Champions" by Queen.[22]
Reception
Critical response
Revenge of the Nerds was panned by many reviewers at release.
Kevin Thomas of
Box office
Revenge of the Nerds was released in theaters on July 20, 1984,
The film grossed $40 million domestically.[3]
Home media
The film was released on
Legacy
Lasting reception
The film holds a 71% critics' approval rating film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 43 critics' reviews. Their consensus reads: "Undeniably lowbrow but surprisingly sly, Revenge of the Nerds has enough big laughs to qualify as a minor classic in the slobs-vs.-snobs subgenre".[38]
On Metacritic, it has a score of 44 out of 100, based on reviews from six critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[39]
It is #91 on
Fraternity
Due to the influence of the film, a genuine Lambda Lambda Lambda fraternity was founded at the University of Connecticut in 2006, and several chapters have launched. The "Tri-Lambs" (not an all-black fraternity as portrayed in the film, but open to all races and orientations) has six chapters in Connecticut, Maryland, New York, and Washington state.[41]
Controversy
About three decades after the film's release, commentators have looked at the film and considered some of the scenes, particularly when Lewis pretends to be Stan and has a sexual encounter with Betty, to be
In an interview with GQ in 2019, director Jeff Kanew and writer Steve Zacharias expressed their regret regarding the rape by deception scene, with Kanew saying, "In a way, it's not excusable. If it were my daughter, I probably wouldn't like it".[46][47]
Sequels
Three less successful
- Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987)
- Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation (1992)
- Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love (1994)
Planned remake
A remake of the original Revenge of the Nerds was slated for release in 2007, the first project for the newly created Fox Atomic, but was canceled in November 2006 after two weeks of filming.[48] The cast included Adam Brody, Dan Byrd, Katie Cassidy, Kristin Cavallari, Jenna Dewan, Chris Marquette, Ryan Pinkston, Efren Ramirez, and Nick Zano. The film was to be directed by Kyle Newman, executive produced by McG, and written by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah, Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, and Adam F. Goldberg.[49]
Filming took place in
Seth MacFarlane announced his intentions to reboot the series under his Fuzzy Door Productions for 20th Century Studios in December 2020 with Kenny and Keith Lucas to write and star in the film.[52]
Television
A pilot for a Revenge of the Nerds television series directed by Peter Baldwin was produced in 1991, but was never aired and was not picked up for a series.[53][54] The aborted TV pilot was later included as a bonus in the DVD release of the film.
In the mid-2000s, Armstrong and Carradine had devised an idea for a
See also
- Animal House (1978)
References
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External links
- Revenge of the Nerds at IMDb
- Revenge of the Nerds at AllMovie
- Revenge of the Nerds at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Revenge of the Nerds at Box Office Mojo
- Revenge of the Nerds on Fast Rewind