Real Genius
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Real Genius is a 1985 comedy film starring Val Kilmer. The movie is set on the campus of "Pacific Tech," a fictitious university in the United States. Chris Knight (Kilmer), is a genius in his senior year working on a chemical laser. He came to the university as a subdued, assiduous student, but over time turned into a prankster and fun character after deciding to enjoy life more. Mitch, played by Gabriel Jarret, is a new student to the campus who is paired up with Knight to work on the laser. He is much like the young Knight, and originally has trouble settling in, but Knight manages to teach him how to live on campus without "burning out".
Plot
The story revolves around a government organization contracting the prestigious Pacific Tech, a fictitious university, to construct a chemical laser capable of eliminating individual targets from space.Professor Jerry Hathaway, played by William Atherton, is in charge of the research team that will build this weapon. Under enormous pressure, he sets his eyes on an emerging prodigy.
Mitch is accepted into Pacific Tech for his work on experimental lasers. He becomes the second youngest student ever accepted into the university, although the youngest one cracked under pressure and went insane.
Upon arriving on campus, he is assigned a dorm with Knight, a genius in his senior year working directly under Hathaway. He also meets the mysterious Lazlo Hollyfeld (Jon Gries), who lives in the steam tunnels, accessible via Knight's closet.
They eventually finish building their laser. They go out and celebrate, but unbeknownst to them, Hathaway has already absconded with the device. Lazlo reveals the true purpose of the laser, and they make plans to sabotage it.
They successfully sabotage the laser, and they change its target to Hathaway's house.
Trivia
While the actual campuses used in the filming were those of Pomona College and nearby Occidental College, many references suggest that "Pacific Tech" is meant as a thinly disguised version of Caltech. Dave Marvit, a former Caltech undergraduate student, was a consultant for the film, and photographs of graffiti on the walls of Dabney House at Caltech were used for interior sets. Martha Coolidge, the Director, was a stickler for authenticity, so many Caltech undergraduate students spent many days on the set as extras during multiple scenes, including many scenes involving the dorm halls. Regrettably for the Caltech students, the "student beauticians" scene, which featured actors in swimwear during the Tanning Invitational (an actual Caltech annual event at the time), was filmed during finals week, and therefore all the extras in that scene are non-students.
While Chris and Mitch are reprogramming the weapons system (with help from Hollyfeld and Jordan) a partial set of coordinates appear on the screen. 34º 10' 15.215 N 119º 7' ... but the scene cuts before we see the complete longitude. Depending on whether the longitude is east or west, this is either southeast of Oxnard, California or northeast of Beijing, China.
External links
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