Weird Science (film)
Encyclopedia
Weird Science is a 1985 American teen
comedy film
written and directed by John Hughes and starring Anthony Michael Hall
, Ilan Mitchell-Smith
, and Kelly LeBrock
. The film's producer, Joel Silver
, acquired film rights to the pre-Comics Code Authority
1950s EC Comics
magazine of the same name
, from which the plot is developed as an expansion and modernization of the basic premise in Al Feldstein
's story "Made of the Future" in the fifth issue. The title song
was written and performed by American New Wave
band Oingo Boingo
.
) and Wyatt Donnelly (Ilan Mitchell-Smith
) are in their high school gym watching a group of girls practicing their gymnastics routines. The two boys are lamenting their lot in life and fantasizing about being popular and being able to attract girls. The scene ends when the two geeks are pantsed by school bullies, Ian (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Max (Robert Rusler
).
The action then cuts to Wyatt's house, where the boys have the house to themselves because Wyatt's parents are out of town for the weekend. Inspired by the film Frankenstein
, the boys decide to create a "virtual" and "perfect" woman on their home computer. They design their "perfect" woman by filling their computer with various forms of data and images. When their computer reaches capacity, they decide to hack into a government mainframe for more processing power and data storage capacity. As a finishing touch they connect a Barbie doll to Wyatt's computer through a series of wires and electrodes. At the exact moment they hit "enter" to execute their program, a lightning bolt strikes their house leading to a series of supernatural occurrences. The scene ends with a violent explosion and when the smoke clears a beautiful woman (Kelly LeBrock
) emerges from Wyatt's bathroom. Her first words to the boys are "so what would you little maniacs like to do first?"
In addition to being totally devoted to them, this woman has a number of superhuman abilities, such as memory manipulation, molecular manipulation, and reality warping
. Despite her willingness to be everything Wyatt and Gary wanted, the boys are too intimidated to take advantage of the opportunities presented by her appearance, as when they keep their pants on while showering with her. Realizing that the boys need to lower some of their inhibitions, she transmogrifies their poorly-styled outfits into more flattering clothes before taking them out for a night on the town in a sports car that she conjures out of thin air. After the boys name her Lisa, she conjures fake identification for the boys, and takes them to a blues club. Although initially uncomfortable in these new surroundings, the trio eventually end up ingratiating themselves to the staff and some regulars, in part with the help of alcohol, staying until late at night.
As the trio head home, Lisa asks Wyatt what he will do about his older brother, Chet (Bill Paxton
), a brash military school student who physically and emotionally abuses him, and extorts blackmail money as well, as he does when he brings the inebriated Gary home past his curfew. After putting Gary to bed, Wyatt shares a kiss with Lisa. When Wyatt begs Lisa to stay out of sight so that Chet does not see her, she tells him that he cannot hide in fear from his own brother, but does as Wyatt asks. When Chet appears, he further harasses and extorts more money from Wyatt when he sees Wyatt wearing Lisa's purple panties. At a shopping mall, Gary and Wyatt, feeling secure after their time with Lisa, are humiliated again by Ian and Max, who dump an Icees onto them in front of the whole mall, upsetting their own girlfriends, Deb (Suzanne Snyder) and Hilly (Judie Aronson
). Ian and Max offer an insincere apology to their girlfriends, who relent because Ian and Max have high social standing at school, and do not wish to give up that privilege themselves. Ian and Max then spot Lisa on the escalator and abandon the girls to run after her. When they catch up with her, she invites them to a party at Wyatt's. Gary then pulls up in a Porsche 928
and the three leave together, in order to further lower Ian and Max's self-esteem.
The milquetoast Wyatt begs Lisa to cancel the party, but she refuses, pointing out that it will lead to the popularity that he and Gary wanted. She then picks up Gary at his house, but when Gary's parents, Al (Britt Leach
) and Lucy (Barbara Lang
), object to Gary going out with a woman Lisa's age, Lisa stands up to Gary's father, pointing a gun at him, and manipulates their memories so that Lucy forgets the incident, and Al forgets he has a son. In shock over this turn of events on the ride back to Wyatt's house, Lisa tries to lighten the moment by shooting Gary in the face with the gun, revealing it to be a water pistol. Back at the house, the boys are skeptical that anyone will show up because they have no friends, but when the doorbell rings, a crowd of teenagers is present, and the party begins. Gary and Wyatt, however, still too intimidated to be socialize, lock themselves in the bathroom. At the party are Ian, Max, Deb, and Hilly. Deb and Hilly meet Gary and Wyatt in the bathroom, shocked to discover that they, not Lisa, are the hosts of the party. Meanwhile, Max and Ian, after being belittled by the man tending bar, encounter Lisa, and try to make a pass at her. She refuses, explaining that she "belongs" to Gary and Wyatt, and does whatever they say.
Ian and Max then scheme to offer Gary and Wyatt permission to date their own girlfriends in exchange for dating Lisa, leading Gary and Wyatt to explain how they created her, and an attempt to recreate the process in Wyatt's bedroom with the computer. They forget, however, to connect the computer to a Barbie doll, instead leaving it clamped to a Time magazine on whose cover is Pershing medium-range ballistic missile
. As soon as the machine starts up, the kitchen turns blue, a painting starts dancing, the chimney proceeds to suck up all the furniture in the living room and launch it into the lake out back, and the "Weird Science" song starts playing. The missile, like Lisa, becomes real and ends up emerging in the middle of Wyatt's house from underground. When Gary and Wyatt are dejected by this, Lisa decides to provoke a confrontation in order to spur them to stand up for themselves. She conjures a group of mutant
bikers
to disrupt the party. At first the bikers intimidate and humiliate Gary and Wyatt, but after they accost Deb and Hilly, Gary and Wyatt stand up to the mutants, with Gary producing the gun that Lisa used earlier with his parents. After forcing the mutants to leave, Gary assures Wyatt that the gun is a water pistol by firing it, but when a real bullet fires out of it, everyone present, including Deb and Hilly, are impressed by the boys. They end up pairing off, Gary with Deb, and Wyatt with Hilly.
The following morning, Chet returns, and is outraged by the state of the house, in particular his bedroom (he goes in to find it snowing in his room), and further terrorizes Wyatt and his friends. Lisa, however, instructs Gary and Wyatt to take Deb and Hilly home, and then confronts Chet, informing him that he will no longer threaten, abuse or extort money from Wyatt, much to Chet's amusement. Gary and Wyatt take the girls home, each one sharing a kiss with his new girlfriend, though they are left with the question of what to do with Lisa. Back at the house, Lisa has transformed Chet into a squat, green, grotesque creature, humbling him enough to apologize to Wyatt. They then speak to Lisa, who understands that the boys now have girlfriends, which is all she ever wanted for them. After saying their goodbyes, she disappears in a cloud of smoke and the damage to the house, along with Chet's transformation, is immediately reversed, just in time for the return of Wyatt's parents.
In the epilogue
, a group of male high school gym students socialize, until they hear the new gym teacher's whistle. When their teacher turns out to be Lisa, dressed in form-hugging leotard and a cutoff T-shirt, the entire class of boys faint and Lisa looks to the camera and winks.
, 56% of critics gave Weird Science a positive review, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The film was successful at the box office with a gross of $23,834,048 in North America and $15,100,000 in other territories, totaling $38,934,048 worldwide.
based on the film debuted in 1994 and ran through 1998 for 88 episodes. Following the same basic plot as the film, the series starred Vanessa Angel
as Lisa, Michael Manasseri
as Wyatt, John Mallory Asher
as Gary, and Lee Tergesen
as Chet.
Teen film
Teen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
written and directed by John Hughes and starring Anthony Michael Hall
Anthony Michael Hall
Michael Anthony Hall , known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor, film producer and director who starred in several teen-oriented films of the 1980s. Hall began his career in commercials and on stage as a child, and made his screen debut in 1980...
, Ilan Mitchell-Smith
Ilan Mitchell-Smith
Ilan Mitchell-Smith is Assistant Professor of English at California State University Long Beach, but he is best known as an actor and co-star of the film Weird Science...
, and Kelly LeBrock
Kelly LeBrock
Kelly LeBrock is an American actress and model. Her acting debut was in The Woman in Red co-starring with comedian Gene Wilder. She also starred in the film Weird Science, directed by John Hughes.-Early life:...
. The film's producer, Joel Silver
Joel Silver
Joel Silver is an American Hollywood film producer, co-creator of the sport of Ultimate, co-founder of Dark Castle Entertainment and owner of Silver Pictures.-Life and career:...
, acquired film rights to the pre-Comics Code Authority
Comics Code Authority
The Comics Code Authority was a body created as part of the Comics Magazine Association of America, as a tool for the comics-publishing industry to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. Member publishers submitted comic books to the CCA, which screened them for adherence to...
1950s EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
magazine of the same name
Weird Science (comic)
Weird Science was a science fiction anthology comic book that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. Over a four-year span, the comic ran for 22 issues, ending with the November–December, 1953 issue...
, from which the plot is developed as an expansion and modernization of the basic premise in Al Feldstein
Al Feldstein
Albert B. Feldstein is an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine Mad. Since retiring from Mad, Feldstein has concentrated on American paintings of Western wildlife...
's story "Made of the Future" in the fifth issue. The title song
Weird Science (song)
"Weird Science" is a song that was written and performed by Oingo Boingo. It is the theme song to the Weird Science film and television series. It was released on the film's soundtrack, as well as Oingo Boingo's 1985 album, Dead Man's Party in a different version.The version on the soundtrack, the...
was written and performed by American New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
.
Plot
In the opening scene, two high school nerds, Gary Wallace (Anthony Michael HallAnthony Michael Hall
Michael Anthony Hall , known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor, film producer and director who starred in several teen-oriented films of the 1980s. Hall began his career in commercials and on stage as a child, and made his screen debut in 1980...
) and Wyatt Donnelly (Ilan Mitchell-Smith
Ilan Mitchell-Smith
Ilan Mitchell-Smith is Assistant Professor of English at California State University Long Beach, but he is best known as an actor and co-star of the film Weird Science...
) are in their high school gym watching a group of girls practicing their gymnastics routines. The two boys are lamenting their lot in life and fantasizing about being popular and being able to attract girls. The scene ends when the two geeks are pantsed by school bullies, Ian (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Max (Robert Rusler
Robert Rusler
Robert Rusler is an American film and television actor.Rusler was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the son of Maria Elena and Richard C. Rusler. He moved to Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, where he started surfing and skateboarding on a semi-professional level, competiting in local tournaments...
).
The action then cuts to Wyatt's house, where the boys have the house to themselves because Wyatt's parents are out of town for the weekend. Inspired by the film Frankenstein
Frankenstein (1931 film)
Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
, the boys decide to create a "virtual" and "perfect" woman on their home computer. They design their "perfect" woman by filling their computer with various forms of data and images. When their computer reaches capacity, they decide to hack into a government mainframe for more processing power and data storage capacity. As a finishing touch they connect a Barbie doll to Wyatt's computer through a series of wires and electrodes. At the exact moment they hit "enter" to execute their program, a lightning bolt strikes their house leading to a series of supernatural occurrences. The scene ends with a violent explosion and when the smoke clears a beautiful woman (Kelly LeBrock
Kelly LeBrock
Kelly LeBrock is an American actress and model. Her acting debut was in The Woman in Red co-starring with comedian Gene Wilder. She also starred in the film Weird Science, directed by John Hughes.-Early life:...
) emerges from Wyatt's bathroom. Her first words to the boys are "so what would you little maniacs like to do first?"
In addition to being totally devoted to them, this woman has a number of superhuman abilities, such as memory manipulation, molecular manipulation, and reality warping
Reality warping
Reality warping is a superpower in superhero fiction. It is the ability to reshape matter and energy, create or alter life forms, turn a person's thoughts or desires into reality, simulate any and all other powers and abilities, bend time and space, and possibly even rewrite the laws of physics.All...
. Despite her willingness to be everything Wyatt and Gary wanted, the boys are too intimidated to take advantage of the opportunities presented by her appearance, as when they keep their pants on while showering with her. Realizing that the boys need to lower some of their inhibitions, she transmogrifies their poorly-styled outfits into more flattering clothes before taking them out for a night on the town in a sports car that she conjures out of thin air. After the boys name her Lisa, she conjures fake identification for the boys, and takes them to a blues club. Although initially uncomfortable in these new surroundings, the trio eventually end up ingratiating themselves to the staff and some regulars, in part with the help of alcohol, staying until late at night.
As the trio head home, Lisa asks Wyatt what he will do about his older brother, Chet (Bill Paxton
Bill Paxton
William "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained popularity after starring roles in the films Apollo 13, Twister, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic...
), a brash military school student who physically and emotionally abuses him, and extorts blackmail money as well, as he does when he brings the inebriated Gary home past his curfew. After putting Gary to bed, Wyatt shares a kiss with Lisa. When Wyatt begs Lisa to stay out of sight so that Chet does not see her, she tells him that he cannot hide in fear from his own brother, but does as Wyatt asks. When Chet appears, he further harasses and extorts more money from Wyatt when he sees Wyatt wearing Lisa's purple panties. At a shopping mall, Gary and Wyatt, feeling secure after their time with Lisa, are humiliated again by Ian and Max, who dump an Icees onto them in front of the whole mall, upsetting their own girlfriends, Deb (Suzanne Snyder) and Hilly (Judie Aronson
Judie Aronson
Judith M. Aronson is an American actress who has starred in many films and a television show. The television series in which she starred was the short-lived Pursuit of Happiness as Sara Duncan from 1987-1988....
). Ian and Max offer an insincere apology to their girlfriends, who relent because Ian and Max have high social standing at school, and do not wish to give up that privilege themselves. Ian and Max then spot Lisa on the escalator and abandon the girls to run after her. When they catch up with her, she invites them to a party at Wyatt's. Gary then pulls up in a Porsche 928
Porsche 928
The Porsche 928 was a sports-GT car sold by Porsche AG of Germany from 1978 to 1995. Originally intended to replace the company's iconic 911, the 928 attempted to combine the power, poise, and handling of a sports car with the refinement, comfort, and equipment of a luxury sedan to create what some...
and the three leave together, in order to further lower Ian and Max's self-esteem.
The milquetoast Wyatt begs Lisa to cancel the party, but she refuses, pointing out that it will lead to the popularity that he and Gary wanted. She then picks up Gary at his house, but when Gary's parents, Al (Britt Leach
Britt Leach
Britt Leach is an American character actor. He is best known for his role in the films Goin' South, Fuzz, The Last Starfighter, Weird Science, The Great Outdoors, Baby Boom, and Silent Night, Deadly Night...
) and Lucy (Barbara Lang
Barbara Lang
Barbara Lang was an American actress and singer. During the 1950s she was one of the many "B"-level blondes to be promoted as a Marilyn Monroe type.-Early life:...
), object to Gary going out with a woman Lisa's age, Lisa stands up to Gary's father, pointing a gun at him, and manipulates their memories so that Lucy forgets the incident, and Al forgets he has a son. In shock over this turn of events on the ride back to Wyatt's house, Lisa tries to lighten the moment by shooting Gary in the face with the gun, revealing it to be a water pistol. Back at the house, the boys are skeptical that anyone will show up because they have no friends, but when the doorbell rings, a crowd of teenagers is present, and the party begins. Gary and Wyatt, however, still too intimidated to be socialize, lock themselves in the bathroom. At the party are Ian, Max, Deb, and Hilly. Deb and Hilly meet Gary and Wyatt in the bathroom, shocked to discover that they, not Lisa, are the hosts of the party. Meanwhile, Max and Ian, after being belittled by the man tending bar, encounter Lisa, and try to make a pass at her. She refuses, explaining that she "belongs" to Gary and Wyatt, and does whatever they say.
Ian and Max then scheme to offer Gary and Wyatt permission to date their own girlfriends in exchange for dating Lisa, leading Gary and Wyatt to explain how they created her, and an attempt to recreate the process in Wyatt's bedroom with the computer. They forget, however, to connect the computer to a Barbie doll, instead leaving it clamped to a Time magazine on whose cover is Pershing medium-range ballistic missile
Medium-range ballistic missile
A medium-range ballistic missile , is a type of ballistic missile with medium range, this last classification depending on the standards of certain organizations. Within the U.S. Department of Defense, a medium range missile is defined by having a maximum range of between 1,000 and 3,000 km1...
. As soon as the machine starts up, the kitchen turns blue, a painting starts dancing, the chimney proceeds to suck up all the furniture in the living room and launch it into the lake out back, and the "Weird Science" song starts playing. The missile, like Lisa, becomes real and ends up emerging in the middle of Wyatt's house from underground. When Gary and Wyatt are dejected by this, Lisa decides to provoke a confrontation in order to spur them to stand up for themselves. She conjures a group of mutant
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
bikers
Outlaw motorcycle club
An outlaw motorcycle club is a type of motorcycle club that is part of a subculture with roots in the post-World War II USA, centered on cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals celebrating freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to the...
to disrupt the party. At first the bikers intimidate and humiliate Gary and Wyatt, but after they accost Deb and Hilly, Gary and Wyatt stand up to the mutants, with Gary producing the gun that Lisa used earlier with his parents. After forcing the mutants to leave, Gary assures Wyatt that the gun is a water pistol by firing it, but when a real bullet fires out of it, everyone present, including Deb and Hilly, are impressed by the boys. They end up pairing off, Gary with Deb, and Wyatt with Hilly.
The following morning, Chet returns, and is outraged by the state of the house, in particular his bedroom (he goes in to find it snowing in his room), and further terrorizes Wyatt and his friends. Lisa, however, instructs Gary and Wyatt to take Deb and Hilly home, and then confronts Chet, informing him that he will no longer threaten, abuse or extort money from Wyatt, much to Chet's amusement. Gary and Wyatt take the girls home, each one sharing a kiss with his new girlfriend, though they are left with the question of what to do with Lisa. Back at the house, Lisa has transformed Chet into a squat, green, grotesque creature, humbling him enough to apologize to Wyatt. They then speak to Lisa, who understands that the boys now have girlfriends, which is all she ever wanted for them. After saying their goodbyes, she disappears in a cloud of smoke and the damage to the house, along with Chet's transformation, is immediately reversed, just in time for the return of Wyatt's parents.
In the epilogue
Epilogue
An epilogue, epilog or afterword is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work...
, a group of male high school gym students socialize, until they hear the new gym teacher's whistle. When their teacher turns out to be Lisa, dressed in form-hugging leotard and a cutoff T-shirt, the entire class of boys faint and Lisa looks to the camera and winks.
Cast
- Anthony Michael HallAnthony Michael HallMichael Anthony Hall , known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor, film producer and director who starred in several teen-oriented films of the 1980s. Hall began his career in commercials and on stage as a child, and made his screen debut in 1980...
as Gary Wallace - Ilan Mitchell-SmithIlan Mitchell-SmithIlan Mitchell-Smith is Assistant Professor of English at California State University Long Beach, but he is best known as an actor and co-star of the film Weird Science...
as Wyatt Donnelly - Kelly LeBrockKelly LeBrockKelly LeBrock is an American actress and model. Her acting debut was in The Woman in Red co-starring with comedian Gene Wilder. She also starred in the film Weird Science, directed by John Hughes.-Early life:...
as Lisa - Bill PaxtonBill PaxtonWilliam "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained popularity after starring roles in the films Apollo 13, Twister, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic...
as Chet Donnelly - Robert Downey, Jr. as Ian
- Robert RuslerRobert RuslerRobert Rusler is an American film and television actor.Rusler was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the son of Maria Elena and Richard C. Rusler. He moved to Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, where he started surfing and skateboarding on a semi-professional level, competiting in local tournaments...
as Max - Suzanne Snyder as Deb
- Judie AronsonJudie AronsonJudith M. Aronson is an American actress who has starred in many films and a television show. The television series in which she starred was the short-lived Pursuit of Happiness as Sara Duncan from 1987-1988....
as Hilly - Vernon WellsVernon Wells (actor)Vernon George Wells is an Australian film and television actor who has built his career around action-type films, most often cast as a villain...
as Lord General - Britt LeachBritt LeachBritt Leach is an American character actor. He is best known for his role in the films Goin' South, Fuzz, The Last Starfighter, Weird Science, The Great Outdoors, Baby Boom, and Silent Night, Deadly Night...
and Barbara Lang as Al and Lucy Wallace, Gary's parents - Ivor BarryIvor BarryIvor Barry was a British film and television actor.Born in South Wales, Barry served with the British Royal Artillery during World War II and completed his university studies prior to beginning his acting career...
and Ann Coyle as Henry and Carmen Donnelly, Wyatt and Chet's grandparents - Doug McHugh and Pamela Gordon as Mr. and Mrs. Donnelly, Wyatt and Chet's parents
- Michael BerrymanMichael BerrymanMichael John Berryman is an American actor. He has appeared in several horror movies and other B movies. Berryman is famous for having a distinctive physical appearance as a result of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic condition which prevents him from developing hair, sweat glands...
as Mutant Biker - Jennifer Balgobin as Biker Girl
- Jeff Jensen as Metal Face
- John KapelosJohn KapelosJohn Kapelos is a Canadian actor from London, Ontario. He is best known for his portrayals of janitor Carl Reed in The Breakfast Club and Detective Donald Schanke in Forever Knight....
as Dino - D'Mitch Davis as Bartender
- Jill WhitlowJill WhitlowJill Whitlow is an American motion picture and television actress who achieved her greatest recognition during the 1980s. She is best remembered by American audiences for her role in the 1986 cult horror film Night of the Creeps. She also had small roles in Porky's , Mask , and Weird Science . She...
as Susan, the perfume salesgirl - Wally WardWallace LanghamJames Wallace Langham II is an American actor. He currently plays the role of David Hodges in the American crime drama television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.-Film career:...
as Art - Renee PropsRenee PropsRenee Props is an American actress and radio DJ who starred in many soap operas like Days of our Lives and As the World Turns. She is also known by Seinfeld fans as Lois in the episode The Race from the 6th season. She was married to Bryan Ziegler.-External links:...
as a member of The Weenies
Reception
Based on 25 reviews collected by the film review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 56% of critics gave Weird Science a positive review, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The film was successful at the box office with a gross of $23,834,048 in North America and $15,100,000 in other territories, totaling $38,934,048 worldwide.
TV series
A television showWeird Science (TV series)
Weird Science is a mid-1990s American comedy series made for television, based on the 1985 film of the same name.-Plot:The series follows the adventures of Gary Wallace and Wyatt Donnelly , two socially inept high school students in an unspecified town in California...
based on the film debuted in 1994 and ran through 1998 for 88 episodes. Following the same basic plot as the film, the series starred Vanessa Angel
Vanessa Angel
- External links :...
as Lisa, Michael Manasseri
Michael Manasseri
Michael Manasseri is an American actor and film director.-Biography:He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Wyatt Donnelly in the TV series Weird Science . Manasseri also had a recurring role in the second season of the NBC sitcom Wings as young pilot Kenny McElvey...
as Wyatt, John Mallory Asher
John Mallory Asher
John Mallory Asher is an American actor, director, writer and cinematographer.He is perhaps best known for his performance as Gary, on the USA Networks' series spinoff of the movie Weird Science.-Biography:...
as Gary, and Lee Tergesen
Lee Tergesen
Lee Allen Tergesen is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tobias Beecher in HBO’s prison drama Oz and as Evan Wright in Generation Kill.-Early life:...
as Chet.
Soundtrack
- "Weird ScienceWeird Science (song)"Weird Science" is a song that was written and performed by Oingo Boingo. It is the theme song to the Weird Science film and television series. It was released on the film's soundtrack, as well as Oingo Boingo's 1985 album, Dead Man's Party in a different version.The version on the soundtrack, the...
" – Oingo BoingoOingo BoingoOingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group... - "Turn It On" – Kim WildeKim WildeKim Wilde is an English pop singer, author and television presenter who burst onto the music scene in 1981 with the number 2 UK Singles Chart new wave classic "Kids in America". In 1987 she had a major hit in the United States when her version of The Supremes' classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On"...
- "Deep in the Jungle" – Wall of VoodooWall of VoodooWall of Voodoo was an American New Wave group from Los Angeles best known for the 1983 hit "Mexican Radio". The band had a sound that was a fusion of synthesizer-based New Wave music with the spaghetti western soundtrack style of Ennio Morricone.-Formation:...
- "Tubular BellsTubular BellsTubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success...
" – Mike OldfieldMike OldfieldMichael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature... - "Tesla GirlsTesla Girls"Tesla Girls" is a song by British band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released as the third single taken from their 1984 album, Junk Culture .The single performed poorer than expected mainly due to a lack of media coverage...
" – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the DarkOrchestral Manoeuvres in the DarkOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England... - "Private JoyPrivate Joy"Private Joy" is a song by American musician Prince from his 1981 album Controversy, released as the B-side of the single "Do Me, Baby". The song describes how Prince will never reveal the identity of his secret lover....
" – Cheyne - "Wanted Man" – RattRattRatt is an American heavy metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s. The band is best known for songs such as "Round and Round," "Wanted Man," "Lay It Down," "You're in Love", "Slip of the Lip", "Back For More", "Dance", "Body Talk", "I Want a Woman", and "Way Cool Jr." Ratt...
- "Don't Worry Baby" – Los LobosLos LobosLos Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
- "Forever" – Taxxi
- "Method to My Madness" – The Lords of the New ChurchThe Lords of the New ChurchThe Lords of the New Church were an English/American post-punk supergroup with a line-up consisting of four musicians from prominent 1970s punk bands...
- "Eighties" – Killing JokeKilling JokeKilling Joke are an English post-punk band formed in October 1978 in Notting Hill, London, England; other sources report the band formed in early 1979.Related news articles: Founding members Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker have been the only constant members.A key influence on industrial rock,...
- "Why Don't Pretty Girls Look at Me" – Wild Man from Wonga
- "Nervous and Shakey" – The Del FuegosThe Del Fuegos-History:Formed in 1980, the Boston-based band gained success in 1984 due to success of their songs "Don't Run Wild" and "I Still Want You" and appearing in a widely-seen television commercial for a beer company...
- "The Circle" – Max CarlMax CarlMax Carl Gronenthal is an American rock singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He is the current lead singer of the classic rock band Grand Funk Railroad...
- "TendernessTenderness (song)"Tenderness" is a song by General Public from their 1984 album All the Rage, produced by I.R.S. Records.-Content:The song's lyrics tell about a man who really needs tenderness to feel like a man. It was one of the band's first singles...
" – General PublicGeneral PublicGeneral Public were a band formed by The Beat vocalists, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, and which included former members of Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Specials and The Clash... - "Do Not Disturb (Knock Knock)" – The Broken Homes
- "Oh, Pretty WomanOh, Pretty Woman"Oh, Pretty Woman" is a song, released in August 1964, which was a worldwide success for Roy Orbison. Recorded on the Monument Records label in Nashville, Tennessee, it was written by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees. The song spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100...
" – Van HalenVan HalenVan Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...