L.I.S.A. - Der helle Wahnsinn

Weird science is a movie that takes you back to a time where more could be shown. It is a movie that really shows how the 80s was in its prime. The characters are litteraly high schoolers and it's perfect. It's about 2 nerdy teens that create a woman aka Lisa (Kelly Lebrock). And that is the plot and all you need to know. It's funny, Ruanchy, sexist, and it's perfect that way.

During most of the 1980s, I was working in or running movie theatres. I showed this movie and previewed it before it even opened. The one thing which struck me upon first viewing it was that it is essentially a teen-age version of Dr. Seuss's "The Cat in the Hat", right down to the house being magically cleaned up and the last piece of furniture sliding into place just as the parents return home to find everything as they left it. I always wondered if Hughes borrowed the plot on purpose or if he wrote Weird Science without realizing it's commonalities with one of the best loved children's story of all times. Anyone have opinions on that?

Does a movie need definitive plot points or events that move the characters forward? No! Weird Science proves that a movie need be nothing more than a series of jokes and visual gags. But Weird Science is also a movie with a message. That message – horny boys and science is a wicked combination. Once you see John Hughes' masterpiece about Frankensex, you will be asking yourself why you ever quoted The Breakfast Club. I sense you doubting that Weird Science effectively taps into the troubled teen psyche with sincerity and insight. Well consider the following. A bodacious babe is front and center with Einstein's intellect and essence of David Lee Roth. A teenage girl is stripped naked by a vacuum cleaner chimney – which is okay cuz it's in the name of science. Bill Paxton is reduced to a Jim Hensonesque troll! A giant phallic missile penetrates a suburban house. Still not convinced? Well, just watch the last half hour. A gang of road ragers crashes the obligatory 80s teen party, do donuts all over the floors and smack random guys in the crotch. Bennet from Commando asks the heroes if they have tossed off to any good books lately and Anthony Michael Hall get's all Dirty Harry on their uninvited post- apocalypse asses. This is a work of unparalleled brilliance and sophistication. It's got Robert Downey Jr. in it too!

80s! I'm living in the 80s! If you love 80s teen movies, then Weird Science ought to be in your catalogue. It is one of director John Hughes most memorable, and one of the 80s most original.

Written in two days, this is a teen science fiction film, the story of two teenage loners, Wyatt (the always grimacing Ilan-Mitchell Smith) and Gary (Anthony Michael Hall before he went deadpan) and their weird way of discovering girls. A variation on Frankenstein, the teenagers create a beautiful woman (the super cool Kelly LeBrock) using their computer and some clever hacking skills (of course, it's exaggerated). Their creation is Lisa, the chic English accent woman who brings a little life to the subtle Illinois suburb. As the antithesis of both Wyatt and Gary's personalities, she's going to show these boys a little adventure, get them to loosen up, and for crying out loud, gain some self-esteem.

Because Lisa is a lady with some supernatural power like freezing grandparents in time, erasing the memory of a bad first impression with Gary's parents, turning Wyatt's obnoxious military school brother Chet (Bill Paxton in his funniest, most arrogant role yet) into a giant pus maggot, or even having a gang of mutant bikers storming a house party. And Lisa's greatest gift to the boys: showing them true love by helping them along to meet the two girls they've been after all along, their high school classmates, Deb and Hilly, who are unfortunately hung up on the dweeb bullies, Max (Robert Russler) and Ian (Robert Downey, Jr.). So essentially, it deals with many aspects of teen angst (but more like just teen self-esteem or self-consciousness issues) within one story. Parents, class status (done subtly here as opposed to Some Kind of Wonderful or Pretty in Pink), relationships, etc. It works well, and is done quite humorously.

One of my favorite scenes is when the trio (Lisa, Gary, and Wyatt) go to the night club looking pretty out of place (they're not only the only white people there, but probably the only ones under thirty). Once Anthony Michael Hall's character, Gary, gets drunk and starts with his slang, it's hilarious. Reminds me a little of Adventures in Babysitting when the gang drops in on the club and they're not allowed to leave until they sing. So eventually, they loosen up and have a little fun.

It's a wonderful movie with a classic John Hughes comic touch (says the mutant biker to Gary and Wyatt after they threaten to kill them if they don't leave, "Please don't tell anyone about this. I'd hate to lose my teaching job.). Plus, it's got a great soundtrack, featuring Killing Joke, Lords of the New Church, and Oingo Boingo doing the title song. The music video for it was fantastic, and not only features clips from the movie, but Kelly LeBrock herself in Oingo Boingo's own rendition of creating the woman via technology.

Although not one of John Hughes' best (I think Sixteen Candles is still his greatest), it is certainly one of his most memorable and one that I will love no matter how old I get. So have yourself a lazy Saturday, pop in the movie, and enjoy.

God bless the 80's, and may they live on way after their time! This film captures the 80's geeks, preps, and class rivalry. It was a hard time to fit in, but a fun time, like most teenagers, I had these fantasies that this movie reflects on. I can not believe they got Wes from the Road Warrior to do a part. The scene where the computer animated women talks to Michael Halls parent is hilarious, but sick. The stuff going out of the chimney, the MX missile, and the kitchen turning blue is funny. Bill Paxion or chet is a classic wait and see what happens to him. Anyways rent it live it and be it! 8/10