Thirty Five Years Ago - Weird Science

Again, like yesterday’s effort, not one that I watched when it came out at the cinema - it would have been a few years later when it came out on VHS or had been shown on the telly (hey, remember that? Waiting years for something to come out for rental then retail and then eventually having a much hyped TV premiere? Crap, wasn’t it? It’s much better now). As with Pee-wee, though, it’s a 1985 film so it goes on the list…

Weird Science (1985)
Dir. John Hughes / Dur. 94 mins

What’s It About? Two nerds use this apparently mystical device called a “computer” to create the ultimate woman and then this is a very much a film to which the description “hijinks ensue” could very much be used.

Why’s It Good? Ah, the 80s. A time when computers could do anything - you could be accidentally zapped into them, try to stop a world war by playing chess with them or use them to create the perfect woman, Kelly LeBrock. (Small side note here:- I probably saw this for the first time when I was about 12 so was perfectly placed to be utterly obsessed with Kelly LeBrock; I even watched the not-very-good-despite-having-Gene-Wilder-in-it film The Woman In Red solely on the basis that she was in it - ah, the late 80s/early 90s...) Weirdly, I’m not really a big fan of John Hughes - Planes, Trains and Automobiles is great but I didn't watch the Breakfast Club until the late 90s by which point it already felt somewhat dated and Home Alone can absolutely get to fuck. This film, however, despite not being an objectively good film, manages to be one that I do enjoy.

Sure, the whole thing is problematic nowadays but there’s still much to enjoy. LeBrock’s performance is actually a lot of fun (and her delivery of the line “there's going to be sex, drugs, rock-n-roll... chips, dips, chains, whips...“ always makes me chuckle) but you’ve also got an early appearance from Robert Downey, Jr as a (not particularly threatening) bully and an absolutely spectacular turn by Bill Paxton as the much more threatening bully of a brother Chet. 

Weirdly, this had a relatively successful spin-off series in the 90s which ran for four seasons(!) and I don’t think it made it over to the UK (or, if it did, it was buried somewhere in the depths of the Sky schedules). Seems strange to me that would still work in the 90s given that the “magic genie” powers of a computer-created woman would have been looking even more ludicrous by then.

Is it still worth a watch? Harder to judge through the filter of “today”. If you want a silly, crude and crass example of a textbook 80s teen comedy then this will definitely hit those notes.