Revenge of the Nerds-1984
Director Jeff Kanew
Starring Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards
Scott’s Review #1,354
Reviewed April 8, 2023
Grade: B+
Released in 1984, Revenge of the Nerds is in a similar vein to other raunchy comedies like Police Academy (1984), Animal House (1978), or Porky’s (1981).
Goofy with slapstick elements and involving unpopular or marginalized groups rising above are the thematic commonalities these genre films share.
To say the film is dumb fun is quite apt and watching it again almost forty years past the release date the stereotypes and gags are ever so noticeable. The term ‘date rape’ was not known then but known presently leaves a slightly uncomfortable feeling during one scene.
Also dated is the classification of what a nerd is. In 1984, the last name one would like to be referred to was a nerd. Today, it’s a term of endearment or even something to aspire to be!
Anyone under the age of forty will not appreciate Revenge of the Nerds or even get it’ It was made at a very different time but will be appreciated by the older folks and provide a burst of uproarious nostalgia.
Revenge of the Nerds is one of my favorite selections when I think of the 1980s and yearn for a slice of mind-numbing entertainment.
Geeky college students Gilbert (Anthony Edwards) and Lewis (Robert Carradine) are excited to leave their repressed small town and venture off to the mind-opening University where, in their minds, they are bound to score with countless women.
Once there, they are ridiculed mercilessly by the jocks and evicted from their dormitory when the Alpha Betas, who recently burned down their own fraternity house by accident, confiscate the building.
When the college forces the freshmen to live in the gym, Gilbert, Lewis, and their fellow dorks relocate to a run-down house. When the Alpha Betas, led by jock Stan (Ted McGinley), repeatedly humiliate them, the nerds plot revenge.
Naturally, in an attempt at gender parity, there is a nerd sorority named Omega Mu featuring Judy (Michelle Meyrink) who becomes Gilbert’s girlfriend.
And as a fabulous addition, there is one equivalent to Alpha Beta consisting of cheerleader types who are bitchy and mean to the nerds led by Betty Childs (Julie Montgomery), the object of Lewis’s affections.
Revenge of the Nerds succeeds well because it’s easy to root for the Nerds to exact their revenge on the jocks. But this would not be the case without the characters of Gilbert and Lewis.
Edwards and Carradine infuse them with likability and a flavor of fairness. More than just horny nerds, they choose their brethren from all walks of life. There is a gay nerd, a black nerd, an Asian nerd, and even a nerd who picks his nose and is effectively named Booger (Curtis Armstrong).
Despite the subject matter, it’s easy to see the producers were attempting some early diversity and inclusion. They exist within boxed stereotypes but at least the representation was visible.
McGinley as Stan is the perfect foil. The actor is a blonde and a surfer dude so he is the perfect ‘big man on campus’ type. The secondary jocks are all loud and obnoxious but are happy to be second bananas to Stan.
Adorable is how the distinction bubbles up to the school dean, played by David Wohl, who is at first intimidated by but finally gets the better of loud Coach Harris (John Goodman). And Lewis’s father, Mr. Skolnick (James Cromwell) is his doppelganger.
Revenge of the Nerds is successful at bringing out the thirteen-year-old boy in all of us with its incorporation of mooning scenes, belching, and a hilarious peeping tom scene in the hated popular girls’ sorority.
It’s not film art or anything in the way of classy cinematic camerawork, or visual effects, but what Revenge of the Nerds (1984) does is provide some good-humored laughs.
It’s well-intentioned and holds up surprisingly well on its own merits while some 1980s ‘quality’ films do not.