Synopsis of Movie

"We need more input. We gotta fill this thing up with data. We gotta make her as real as possible, Wyatt. I want her to live. I want her to breathe. I want her to aerobicize.”

Geek triumph has always been a common theme of writer/director John Hughes, but that triumph was never achieved as raucously as it was in 1985's Weird Science (a screenplay which took the high school movie guru just two days to write). Among geek boys Gary and Wyatt’s feats: vanquishing a psycho older brother, gaining popularity and acceptance at school, and best of all, getting the girls—both the computer-generated kind and the real kind.

With a little Frankenstein-type mission on the brain, Gary convinces Wyatt to sit down at his souped-up computer and go to work on an interactive onscreen lady friend. But with the lightning brewing outside, the bras atop their heads and the Barbie doll hooked up to the hardware, it’s inevitable the boys take things a little too far. Behold Lisa—named after the computer, the “Apple Lisa,” on which she was designed—beautiful, brilliant and capable of some treacherous hocus-pocus.

Lisa fast becomes the boys’ well-needed mentor of cool. She brings them to a steamy nightclub, where they’re instant hits with the regulars; she hosts a whopper of a party at Wyatt’s house, where her duties include freezing Wyatt’s absurd grandparents and dealing with the gang of killer mutants who crash the festivities.

But most importantly, she teaches Wyatt and Gary how to stand up for themselves—which in this case means facing off against the gun-toting, wedgie-bestowing older brother Chet, and, as if that’s not bad enough, a beastly biker type (played by Vernon Well, reprising his Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior role). It’s enough to say that in the end, everyone gets what they deserve.

With that geek-dream-come-true premise and a quirky, catchy theme song from Oingo Boingo, Weird Science quickly became a favorite of the timid and nerdy. The movie spawned a TV spin-off series in 1994, of which 48 episodes were made, but more importantly, it inspired legions of lonely computer club members to fire up the old Apple IIe, Commodore 64 or Atari 130XE and pray for a lightning storm.

Movie Release History

1985 - Weird Science

Movie Sub Categories

live-action
sci-fi/fantasy
comedy

Movie Studio

Universal

Cast

Gary Anthony Michael Hall
Lisa Kelly LeBrock
Wyatt  Ilan Mitchell-Smith
Chet Donnelly  Bill Paxton
Deb  Suzanne Snyder
Hilly  Judie Aronson
Ian  Robert Downey Jr.
Max  Robert Rusler
Lord General  Vernon Wells
Al  Britt Leach
Lucy  Barbara Lang
Mutant Biker  Michael Berryman
Henry  Ivor Barry
Carmen  Anne Bernadette Coyle
Gymnast  Suzy J. Kellems
Candy Bar Owner  John Kapelos
Bar Patron  Fred D. Scott
Bar Patron  Vince Monroe Townsend Jr.
Bar Patron  Chino 'Fats' Williams
Perfume Salesgirl  Jill Whitlow
Lingerie Saleswoman  Theodocia Goodrich
The Weenies Wallace Langham
The Weenies  Johnny Timko
The Weenies  Mikul Robins
The Weenies  Darren Harris
The Weenies  Renee Props
The Weenies  Michael Cramer
The Weenies  Todd Hoffman
Bartender  D'Mitch Davis
Girl in Bathroom  Mary Steelsmith
Girl in Bathroom  Robin Frohman
Girl in Upside-Down Bathroom  Alison Carole Lowe
Girl Playing Piano  Kym Malin
Biker Girl  Jennifer Balgobin
Metal Face  Jeff Jensen
Party Guest  Prince Hughes
Policeman  Rick Lefevour
Policeman  Rock A. Walker
Blob Operator  Joe Gieb
Blob Operator  Kevin Thompson
Wyatt's Father  Doug MacHugh
Wyatt's Mother  Pamela Gordon
Candy Bar Owner  Phillip Borsos
Guy at Table   Steve James

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