Les Tronches

Revenge Of The Nerds came out during the 1980-86 R-rated teen flick bonanza that was coming out of Hollywood. While this one is much milder than some of the others, it does have it's moments of raunchiness.

The story is simple: two young men are attending Adams University; but find out quickly that their type (the gawky, glasses wearing, intellectuals) are treated like nobodies. In fact, any male who isn't a jock or a WASP isn't even allowed to live in the dorms. A group of "misfits" including the two main characters Lewis and Gilbert are forced to live in the gym. They do find accommodations but they continue to suffer humiliation and embarrassment from the Alpha Betas. And so, like in the title of the movie, they get REVENGE.

This is a movie that certainly can't be made today. Affirmative Action certainly would be in place to disallow discrimination on college campuses. The "villains" make fun of anyone who isn't like them. Still, when it's all said and done the film sends out a message that you should be proud of yourself and how you look and not let anybody tell you otherwise.

Yes, as an 80's film you'll see every requisite of the decade, but you'll also see something that's a portent of the future. The Nerds raid the women's dorm so they can cause a distraction so others can install cameras in the bedrooms and showers so they can be spied on. That has become very popular on the 'Net.

As for the cast: Oh my! You'll never see this intriguing mix too often. Like in Freaky Friday, you'll see a lot of actors who made it big on T.V.

Ted McGinley - The leader of the Alpha Betas. He's been on a zillion T.V. shows. I always thought he was more of a nerd than jock.

John Goodman - Head coach of the football team. He looked so lean. Along with Roseanne; he's a superb supporting actor in major motion pictures but a weak lead actor.

Anthony Edwards - Gilbert Lowell. Dr. Mark Greene on ER. Considered a heartthrob during those years.

Robert Carradine - Lewis Skolnick. Member of the Carradine acting family.

Timothy Busfield - Poindexter. Elliot Weston on "thitysomething".

Matt Salinger - Danny Burke. The son of "The Catcher In The Rye" writer J.D. Salinger.

Curtis Armstrong - Booger. Remember him from Moonlighting?

Even James Cromwell makes a brief appearance as Lewis' father.

As for the comments of Julie Montgomery's beauty; sure she's beautiful. Especially if you like the Kate Moss, Calista Flockhart, J. Cynthia Brooks, Paris Hilton, Samia Ghattas, etc. skin and bones body. I don't, myself.

All in all, this is still a good film that does its job. Just avoid the sequels. None of them are good and lack the bite of the first film.

I recall watching this film in a drive-in as part of the double-bill. We had just finished watching the phenomenal Ghostbusters and having this follow it was a pleasant surprise indeed.

It's pretty much a 'Rocky'-type plot. The underdogs fighting back to win it BUT it's how these types go about it that makes this movie so charming!

Being an 80's film, political correctness was not considered...at all!

Thank-god!

I hunted this movie down after trying several video stores to no avail and finally after popping it in and showing it to family and friends (some of whom were too young to have seen it or not born at all during this film's release!) enjoyed it thoroughly! It's nearly timeless!!! Watching Bernie Casey listening to 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' had us all on the floor!!! We're black and we weren't offended in the least! Why should we? It's a harmless comedy with good ol' dirty humour for all.

Porky's and Animal House are the only ones of this era that could be considered part of the holy Teen-age comedy trilogy! All the rest, and there were a few, just don't measure up.

My folks and I enjoyed this film almost 20 years ago in that old drive-in (which has long-been shut-down now), while leaving my dad cited that it was a rare event to watch two great comedies back-to-back like that...two great nostalgic classics...very rare indeed!

This film begins with two high school students by the names of "Lewis Skolnick" and "Gilbert Lowe" on their way to become freshmen at Adams College. However, when a nearby fraternity comprised of football athletes known as the Alpha Betas carelessly burn down their own house their head coach demands the same building where Skolnick and Lowe are currently residing. And because the dean is easily intimidated, he does exactly what the coach says and orders everyone currently living there to be temporarily housed in the local gym until they can find a fraternity of their own. Some are taken in but all of those identified as nerds are left on their own. Unfortunately, it doesn't end there because once Skolnick, Lowe and the rest find a dilapidated house and fix it up, the Alpha Betas continue to harass them and continue to make life as difficult as possible. So, realizing that they are defenseless without a fraternity of their own, they petition every national one available-but they are subsequently turned down because they are nerds. Then one day they finally come across one that cannot refuse them-a national black fraternity known as Lambda Lambda Lambda-and things become quite interesting after that. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I enjoyed this film when it first came out and--even though it isn't quite as funny as I remembered--it still has some good laughs here and there and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

Typical 1980s teen comedy that is near the top of its unspectacular genre. The title says it all as college freshmen led by Anthony Edwards and Robert Carradine learn that university life is even worse than high school life as they are bullied by a fraternity of football players led by Ted McGinley. Revenge does take place as a civil war of students ensues and is fueled by gross-out jokes, sexual situations, and all sorts of other crazed perversions. When all is said and done the film is a curious over-achiever in the end. The main reason is the cast is so likeable. Donald Gibbs steals the show as one of the crazed football players and established actors like James Cromwell, John Goodman, and David Wohl also leave lasting impressions. Former NFL star Bernie Casey is also great as the nerds' fraternal sponsor. Far from excellent, but still an enjoyable little film. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

With the resurgence of the raunchy teen comedy, now seems like as good a time as ever to go back and study its roots. What kinds of films influenced American Pie and Road Trip? It is easy to point out films like Porky's, Animal House and Fasttimes, but somewhere forgotten in all this is Jeff Kanew's hilarious flick REVENGE OF THE NERDS. This is not only entertaining and funny, but it contains what has to be considered a blue print for success in campus comedy. Take lots of people getting drunk, jocks ostracizing nerds from there way of life, the weak rising up to take back what is just as much a right as it is to others, and of course lots of nudity featuring an abundance of gorgeous women. What you have here is a great recipe for success.

What made Revenge work is that it didn't try to pretend to be something that it wasn't. This was an exploitive sex-fest and it worked well. What it also had was a funny script and one that we could all relate to. I mean, who hasn't felt left out or relegated to the side lines while someone else gets all the glory? Besides being extremely funny, this film touched on something that we all can relate to.

Revenge of the Nerds is another of the teen films that was hilarious and it ended up spawning a slew of sequels. Avoid them and see this one again. It's worth it, especially if you were a teen when it came out. And if you are a teen now, this is a treat to watch. This is one of the films that writers study when they are thinking what they can put into their film to make it crude, rude and raunchy. This should be a must see!

9 out of 10