Ritorno alla quarta dimensione

Starring the late great Dennis Hopper and underrated talent Fisher Stevens this is an odd little 80's sci-fi comedy that I'd never heard of. I can only assume this is because it didn't do all too well.

It tells the story of a car nut who finds a mysterious device while searching for something to use for his science project. The device distorts time and space building to an epic climax featuring dinosaurs, laser firing space men and everything in between.

On paper this should have been outstanding but for whatever reason it fell flat.

The sci-fi side looks pretty terrible and does not even remotely meet its potential while the comedy element is so lacking it's hard to believe they even call it that. In fact the only comedy comes from Fisher Stevens who is one of the movies saving graces.

Those into 80's cheese might appreciate this but don't go expecting Weird Science (1985) because it isn't even close.

The Good:

Solid script

Fisher Stevens

The Bad:

Doesn't flow very well

Isn't funny

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

You can wear sunglasses during mug shots

Man I've been watching My Science Project since way back when I was a kid. It was better then but the only thing that has really dated it is the special effects. The story is still good, Fisher Stevens is still funny, and Dennis Hopper is still far out man! I'm not saying that this movie is better than Star Wars or anything but it's a pretty good example of cheesy 80's Sci-Fi. The trick to watching My Science Project or indeed, any movie from the 80's, is to not take it seriously. Turn off the white hot critic's eye and just enjoy this movie for what it is. It's a great movie. Bottom Line: I can't think of many 80's movies in this genre that are this film's equal, except for maybe The Last Starfighter. If you can let me know.

I noticed a few bad reviews. One person said it was the Citizen Kane of bad movies. Seriously? This is hardly the worst movie, but I guess that might all depend on how life was affecting that person at that time. I mean their girlfriend or boyfriend might have left them and this movie might have been playing on the television as all that went down. SO I can understand that it may have been guilt by association. If this is a bad movie then I know what a guilty pleasure is now. I thought it had a nice charm to it overall. It was a decent plot. The leads all had personality. I thought the cute romance had some chemistry. Matter of fact, although its not the Breakfast Club of teen interpretation, I knew all these kids in high school. There was a Fisher Stevens character and I knew a Harlan type as well. It has a humor that is winning to it, especially the Fisher Stevens character. Of course it always comes down to a matter of taste. But when I saw this movie went down as one of the worst movies I had to champion it. To me whoever made it seemed to have a bit of love in their heart for it. Its a personal favorite for that reason. I must have seen this movie three times in the theatre. Granted its not the Godfather, or Close Encounters, or 2001 caliber. But the movie is well made with great special effects for the time. Its on youtube free. GIve it a chance if you don't have high expectations, or even if you do. With so much respect, the person who said this was the Citizen Kane of bad movies needs to see more movies. Gotta say, loved it. This movie has a small following. I hate to see myself as a follower, but just watched it recently and it holds up great. I hated the 80s. It may be nostalgia, but this is a fond memory from that time. Sure its mindless. But it sure is fun.

I just saw this on DVD for the first time in probably about 15 years. I used to love it when I was about 7 years old. I was amazed how many lines I remembered. Though often I didn't remember them from this movie. I just remembered them as lines my 2 brothers and I worked into our vernacular growing up. Especially the timeless "Make my semesta!!!" Besides all the great one liners, there were guns, explosions, gladiators, monster's from the future and past, a TREX, dynamite, and lot's of cool electricity effects. Everything a 7 year old boy would love. So I highly recommend it for a boy child. But for everyone else, only if you are bored or really like seeing cheesy 80's flicks.

High school student Michael Harlan (John Stockwell) is a kid with a fairly narrow focus: he's a car junkie. His girl dumps him because she thinks he spends more time tinkering with cars than with her. To get his science teacher Bob Roberts (Dennis Hopper) off his back, Mike scours a local military junkyard for any piece of junk that he can pass off as a science project. Well, the item that he steals is no ordinary junk: it was discovered back in the 1950s and is apparently an alien device that can create time-space warps. When Mike, his buddy Vince (Fisher Stevens), and Bob start messing around with the thing, an immense amount of havoc ensues as the high school is inundated with characters and animals from the past and a possible future.

Debuting director Jonathan R. Betuel, who'd written "The Last Starfighter", does alright with this first feature. It doesn't display *that* much imagination (we get cavemen, mutants, and a dinosaur, but not that much more), but it does have some good energy. Nicely shot in 2.35:1, it gets off to a solid start, and the characters are amusing to watch. Stockwell is likable in his first top billed role (after playing the best friend to car junkie Keith Gordon in "Christine"), and Danielle von Zerneck is appealing as his leading lady. Stevens, and Raphael Sbarge as the nerdy Sherman, are very much playing stereotypes, but they do give the roles 100%. The adult actors are largely wasted - Barry Corbin as Mikes' dad, Ann Wedgeworth as the dads' new wife, Richard Masur (who gets to be broader than usual) as a detective. The true standout performance in "My Science Project" comes from Hopper, who's perfectly cast as the former hippie who's all too happy to relive his protest filled youth. Robert DoQui, Michael Berryman, Pamela Springsteen, and an uncredited Al Leong all have small roles.

The music by Peter Bernstein is appropriate, the visual effects are well done overall (especially that dinosaur, the work of Doug Beswicks' team), and there are some funny lines here and there. All in all, the movie is juvenile, silly, and ridiculous, but it does do a respectable job of entertaining its audience. Stevens's line (used as my summary), when asked why he's wearing shades indoors, is truly a howler.

Seven out of 10.