Revenge of the Nerds
They've been laughed at, picked on and put down. But now it's time for the odd to get even!
Country
Genre
Budget
$8 000 000
Revenue
$40 874 452
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Ted Field, Peter Samuelson, Peter Bart, David Obst
Operator
Composer
Artist
James L. Schoppe
Audition
Susan Arnold
Editing
Alan Balsam
All team (63)
All team (63)
Short description
Revenge of the Nerds is a 1984 comedy set at Adams College, where the Alpha Beta fraternity dominates campus life. Lewis Skolnick and Gilbert Lowell arrive as incoming freshmen and quickly become targets for the football players who run the Greek system. Turned away by every house, they and other outcasts decide to form their own fraternity, the Tri-Lambs, and the conflict with Alpha Beta escalates into an open contest for standing on campus.
Jeff Kanew directed the film, his second feature after Eddie Macon's Run, followed later by Gotcha! and Troop Beverly Hills. Robert Carradine plays Lewis and Anthony Edwards plays Gilbert, with Timothy Busfield, Curtis Armstrong, Larry B. Scott and Andrew Cassese among the supporting cast. The screenplay is by Steve Zacharias and Jeff Buhai, and the production involved 20th Century Fox, Interscope Communications and Zacharias-Buhai Productions.
Made for about 6 million dollars, the film took roughly 41 million worldwide, a strong return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 6.6/10 from around 62,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.4/10 from 839 votes. A critics' rating of 6/10 from 40 reviews places it close to the audience scores, suggesting a broadly similar, middling response from both groups.
What's left behind the scenes
- At the time of filming, Andrew Cassese was still a child, so the other actors and director Jeff Kenyon looked after him. As a result, Cassese did not witness the filming of many scenes (and certainly did not participate in them) that contributed to the film's 'R' rating. Regardless, Cassese happened to see the movie before he turned 17 and was very surprised by how much he had missed during production.
- James Cromwell shared that after he came up with the 'idiot laugh' and other actors began to imitate it, he suddenly remembered that this was exactly how his ex-wife used to laugh.
- When the producers (Ted Field, Peter Samuelson, Steve Zacharias, Peter Bart, Peter McGregor-Scott, David Obst) spoke with director Jeff Cain before bringing him onto the project, they asked what kind of movie he hoped to make. His response was: "A movie where I'll be ashamed to see my name in the credits." After that answer, he was hired as director immediately.
- Donald Gibb shaved his head for the shoot. The casting director felt that this made him look too old to be a student.
- According to Robert Carradine, he and Anthony Edwards improvised almost all of their lines in the homecoming scene.
- Curtis Armstrong, Michelle Mayne, and Timothy Busfield can play musical instruments. The latter cannot be called an experienced violinist. During filming, he hoped his mistakes would be covered up by a recording of a professional player. However, this did not happen. Busfield was very upset when he heard the violin sounds he had produced himself coming from the screen.
- Professional wrestler Sting (real name Steve Borden) auditioned for one of the roles, but the casting directors decided that this particular character should not look like Sting, and Donald Gibb was cast in the role instead.
- Once, Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards, wearing their characters' costumes and makeup, attended a student fraternity recruitment event. Upon first glance, the leader of the first fraternity declared, "You're not a fit for us. Get out of here."
- One of the scenes was filmed in an old building infested with hordes of rats. Only one hall in the entire building was made relatively presentable for filming.
- Lamarr, the character played by Larry B. Scott, appeared at the party accompanied by Lance Lombardo. The homeowner was played by a certain "cool guy," as he is listed in the credits, while Lamarr referred to him as "Mr. Wilson." In reality, his name is William B. Wilson.
- Throughout the entire movie, no one ever mentions the name of the character played by John Goodman. His name is revealed only by the plaque on the door (Coach Harris) and in the final credits.
- The scene featuring the strange interaction between Curtis Armstrong's character and the recluse homeowner through the mail slot in the door was improvised.
- The script was not written in great detail, and the actors were allowed to improvise. For example, Timothy Busfield later recalled that he came up with his character's scream on the spot while watching video recordings of the girls in the dormitory. Robert Carradine shared that his character was supposed to say: 'Guys only think about sports. In reality, when a guy turns 10, he starts thinking exclusively about sex.' Something about this line didn't sit right with him, so he omitted the mention of age. Curtis Armstrong and Brian Tochi improvised the card game.
- Despite what is claimed in a well-known joke, the belching sound during the mating process was not made by two camels. It was the sound of a belching human, which was layered with a camel's sound to extend its duration. The person was a laborer named Bill Livengood.
- The scene of the phone call with Bernie Casey's character, in which he greets the idiots on behalf of the Tri-Lambda fraternity, was created to link various plot lines, as it was decided not to film the plot line involving the idiots' trip to Las Vegas.
- When Coach Harris, played by John Goodman, addresses the team after a loss, a blue wall is visible behind him, along with the inscription "Only the Strong Survive" and a door with a "Coach Harris" sign. This takes place in the locker room. However, when the members of the Alpha Beta fraternity leave the locker room, the blue wall has become white and the inscription has disappeared.
- Donald Gibb's character grabs someone else's piece of pie and gets a stain on himself in the process. In the very next shot, the cream stain on his suit disappears.
- According to Robert Carradine, when he first read the script and the description of his character's laugh (he played Lewis), he began thinking about exactly how to produce that sound. As it happened, the first scene filmed was the one where the father drives him and Anthony Edwards' character to college. In the car, he heard James Cromwell's laugh and simply imitated it.
- Many of the actors in the film (including Robert Carradine, Curtis Armstrong, and Timothy Busfield) were initially reluctant to appear in this comedy; however, they agreed to participate either because of the promised fee or because they were beginning actors. The atmosphere during filming was very welcoming, and the actors often spent time with students from the University of Arizona, many of whom appeared on screen in cameo roles.
- Larry B. Scott arrived at the auditions for the role of Lamar with his hair coated in sparkling hairspray. According to him, the casting directors couldn't stop laughing when they saw him.
- Poindexter's glasses lenses were so thick that the actor playing the role, Timothy Busfield, couldn't see anything through them.
- To get into the character of Lewis, Robert Carradine moved to the University of Arizona campus two weeks before filming began. He brought nothing with him but the jerk's costume he was to wear in the film. For three days, Carradine couldn't bring himself to go outside in that outfit.
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