The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes

When compared with modern movies, yes, it *does* fall short. However, it must be viewed with the genre and era it was made in. It's simply another of those "60's feel good movies" types. In a time when the country was in a turmoil and college campuses were a hotbed of controversy, this movie (and it's 2 sequels) chose to portray the college scene somewhat rosier than reality. So what? Disney did that a lot with his movies.Disney movie versions of many classic stories always were white-washed,sanitized versions of themselves. Remember the Jungle Book? It was a far cry from the original Kipling tale. This came out at, or near the time of the "Kent State" mess. Dates about it vary from placing it in 1969 or 1970. Whenever it actually played, it came at the end of a very turbulent time in America's history. I feel that audiences were looking forward to seeing a nice, quiet view of college life, however naive.

This was the first movie I saw with Kurt Russell, and have been a fan of him ever since. His acting in this film, as well other Disney films he was in, shows young Kurt firmly grasping what it takes to be a good actor, and he continues to do so to this day.

I saw this again recently, and its such a relief from some of the crap that Disney puts out now. Its a good example of good, clean family fun without the added bathroom jokes, etc., and for that reason I can see this might not appeal to kids today. But still, its a good, light-hearted comedy that'll still get a few laughs even today. Joseph McEveety provides a good story, and director Robert Butler executes it nicely. Joe Flynn and Cesar Romeo delivered some great performances, as did all the supporting cast.

I remember seeing this as a kid in the theatre, and saw it again for the first time in many years on cable recently. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it after all this time. Russell's performance is quite believable, despite the fantastic story line. Really good entertainment, and blows away much of the modern Disney entertainment provided these days, which is pretty nauseating.

Though highly successful at the time, I'm not sure the Kurt Russell trilogy starting with The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes has stood the test of time very well. It'll be hard to get kids to understand a movie that features a computer the size of an entire room. In an underfunded college, it's a huge achievement for them to get one computer donated to the campus. In a freak accident, Kurt gets electrocuted and melds his mind with the computer chip. He's a walking encyclopedia!

But, kids today won't understand how amazing his superpower is. They just whip out their cell phones and Google their questions, finding answers in seconds. They've probably never read an actual encyclopedia in their lives, relying on Wikipedia instead. If you're able to explain it to them, this might be a cute choice for family movie night. It's a classic Disney movie with no real danger anywhere, but with a pseudo-menacing bad guy (Cesar Romero) who wants money and power and chases after the good guy. There are terrible 1960s haircuts, music that will make you roll your eyes, and an extremely silly paint fight.

Before you feel sorry for big-time actors like Cesar Romero, David Niven, and Fred MacMurray who played in silly Disney movies when they grew older, keep this in mind: Many silver screen actors were disgusted by the inappropriate films after the demise of the Hays Code. Disney movies with banana peels and pies in the face reminded them of the good old days of the 1930s. They were probably very happy to make them!

Dean Higgins refuses to buy a computer and would rather suspend various students. Businessman A. J. Arno donates a computer but then withholds the yearly contribution of $20k. Student friendly Professor Quigley needs a part to repair the computer. Dexter Riley (Kurt Russell) uses the part and gets electrocuted. His brain turns into a computer and he becomes the smartest guy in the world. Unbeknownst to him, he also downloaded locations of Arno's crooked enterprises protected by the password Applejack.

This is noteworthy for introducing Dexter Riley and his light Disney adventures. I prefer the second movie "Now You See Him, Now You Don't" much more. This is not that funny. The adventure is a little flat. A human computer could be more fun. Russell was a young rising star and his theatrical presence is quite magnetic. It was probably fun for kids back in the day but it has become dated.