The ’80s Sci-Fi Comedy Too Controversial For Today Gets An Eye-Popping Upgrade

Though much of the content of the film is not quite up to par in terms of general moral standards of today, when you watch the movie for what it is, it’s easy to see how it became such a John Hughes classic. To put it bluntly, it’s wrong but entertaining. 

For the unfamiliar movie watcher, Weird Science is a classic 80s flick starring Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles), Ilan Mitchell-Smith (The Wild Life), Bill Paxton (Twister), and a young Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man). 

The story of Weird Science centers around two 15-year-old high school boys (who go to Shermer High School, which is the same high school featured in The Breakfast Club), Gary Wallace and Wyatt Donnelly, who aim to become men and gain popularity among their classmates. They want to gain enough clout to appeal to two cheerleaders they find particularly attractive. 

After being embarrassed at school and having been pantsed in front of everyone, Gary and Wyatt decide they need to do something to shift their fate, a little Weird Science.  While watching Frankenstein movies, they come up with an idea to create a virtual girl who is perfect in their eyes and lives to serve them. 

They hook electrodes to a doll, hack into a government computer system (for more power), and create a power surge which results in the creation of Lisa, their new beautiful and intelligent woman played by Kelly LeBrock, who has shapeshifting powers (among other things). 

Here is where things go a little wonky for Weird Science in the morality department. This grown woman is created to serve these two 15-year-old boys, and that does mean “serve”. It’s rather inappropriate and also against the law, but John Hughes got away with it as a main theme in the 80s when times were a bit different. 

Weird Science gets a little weirder during a scene where Lisa takes the two boys to a local blues bar in Chicago to help show them how to be “real” men. First, she procures fake IDs for the boys (which is also illegal). Then, the men at the bar intimidate the boys into drinking dark liquor until Anthony Michael Hall’s character is so drunk he starts performing a fairly racist impression of the men around him. 

In yet another inappropriate Weird Science scene, Lisa pulls a .44 magnum on Gary’s parents and then erases their memories of the incident. The problem is that Gary’s dad Al forgets that he ever had a son in the first place. The ‘gun’ was later revealed to be a water pistol, but it’s pretty convincing when she’s holding up Gary’s parents. 

While there are some things wrong with Weird Science there are a lot of things that were right with the film. The nostalgia it stirs up, the performances of the lead characters (Bill Paxton was an excellent villain), and the wild and carefree spirit of the young dudes on a mission will make you laugh and keep you entertained the whole way through. 

If you want to know more about Weird Science, check out the podcast GenreVision.

Source: Arrow Video