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So, uh, yeah. Spoilers for:
It seems like suddenly, over the past year, we have seen a large number of “classic 80’s films” get the special edition treatment. So, it’s not a surprise that this film got one. It’s one of the grandparents of outrageous gross out comedies.
Revenge of the Nerds is a film that works in spite of it’s weaknesses. Part of it is the friendship of Lewis (Robert Carradine) and Gilbert (Anthony Edwards). Lewis is full of hope and oblivious to the fact that he is a nerd, while Gilbert is more understanding of his social status. It is a charming and funny friendship. Early on in the film this is firmly established as Lewis and Gilbert walk across campus, as they pass a very active frat house, Ogre (Donald Gibb) stands atop the roof and starts screaming “NERDS!”…after looking around for a moment, Lewis asks, “Where?” It’s Gilbert who realizes he and Lewis are the targets.
The story goes like this: The hard partying Alpha Betas accidentally burn down their house during a party. They (and their coach, played by John Goodman) bully the school Dean (David Wohl) into letting them have the freshman men dorm. This forces all the freshman into the gym, where they are told they will be allowed to pledge fraternities so they can get a place to live on campus.
Lewis and Gilbert are walking along and see the lovely cheerleader Betty Childs (Julie Montgomery) the main Pi Delta Pi and some of her friends. The ever hopeful Lewis goes up to ask her out. Instead of laughing in his face, she shows a mean streak. She tells Lewis that he and Gilbert are clearly Alpha Beta men and that she will let Stan Gable (Ted McGinley) know she is sending them.
After an embarrassing initiation, we see they did not make it in (shock, huh?). There is now just a small group of guys left, all geek or nerd rejects. There is Booger (Curtis Armstrong), Poindexter (Timothy Busfield), Lamar (Larry B. Scott), Wormser (Andrew Cassese) and Toshiro (Brian Tochi). Lewis and Gilbert talk them all into finding a place together, and they find a run down home to buy. In an “80’s Montage” to some new wave song, they fix the house up.
Gilbert also finds a girlfriend, meeting Judy (Michelle Meyrink) in computer lab. It is interesting to contrast Gilbert and Lewis on this aspect. It keeps totally within their respective characters. Gilbert accepts himself for who he is, and dates accordingly. Lewis aims for the girl totally out of his league.
The bigger problem is, they find they could be in trouble, for not being an officially sanctioned fraternity. So the Nerds start applying. The only one to not reject them outright is the Tri Lams (apparently the only one they did not send a group picture to). Of course, one you see the office of U.N. Jefferson (Bernie Casey), you see a potential problem for the Nerds. It is clear from the photos on his wall that this is an African American Fraternity. And U.N. is ready to turn them down, until Poindexter notes that the by-laws require a 60 day trial period. U.N. relents and they invite him to a party to show they will be model Tri Lams.
The Pi’s surprise the Nerds, standing on the Nerd’s lawn, in matching dresses and holding candles. They sing (yes, sing) that they would like to be their dates for the party. Yes, it’s clearly a hoax, but the Nerds are optimists. Of course, they never show at the party, and that’s when Judy suggests she call her sorority sisters, the Omega Mu’s(yeah…Pi and Mu…subtle, huh?). When asked if they would be available at such short notice, Judy says, “Oh, they’re very spontaneous.” But even after they arrive? The party doesn’t kick in. In a joke (that I am unsure if it’s actually racist or just uncomfortable) Lewis puts on a record in honor of U.N.-an old recording of the spiritual Swing ow Sweet Chariot. Lamar quickly removes the record and puts on Thriller. But the part still is not working. Everyone is uptight. So Booger breaks out the pot. And that loosens everone up. Seriously, some of Poindexter’s best scenes are in this party. His odd, disjointed dance…or when he is just sitting on the couch after smoking a joint and says, “Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. ACK!” and starts to laugh uncontrollably. Of course, the party is interupted by a bunch of pigs that are loosed upon the Nerds and the Mu’s by the Alphas and the Pi’s.
The Nerds are embarrassed in front of U.N. and decide they need to get revenge (see? There is the title).
Their first move is probably the films most infamous sequence. They sneak into the Pi sorority house and perform a panty raid. The large amount of female nudity in the sequence probably contributes to the fond memories for many junior high school boys. But really, the panty raid is cover. Lamar and Wormser are installing cameras in the girls’ house. The crew run back to their place and hook up the video to their TV and spend the night watching the Pi’s get ready for bed.
The next day they sneak into the locker room (all the Alpha’s are on the football team) and soak the Alpha’s jock straps in liquid heat. This leads to a humorous moment as John Goodman is trying to psych up his team. The guys all start squirming, trying to ignore the pain. Finally, when Goodman’s speech is over they all scream (Goodman thinking it is a victory “GO TEAM” thing) and run off the field. Goodman watches them disappear and mutters, “Shit…we forgot to practice.”
When U.N. finds out that the Nerds took a stand, he proudly approves them as Tri Lams. This allows them to participate in the schools frat/sorority competitions. And the competition is firce. In events that favor strength, the Nerds lose, but anything favoring agility or skill, they succeed. They create all sorts of work arounds (a javelin created especially for Lamar’s limp wristed throwing style, a pill to offest the effects of alcohol).
At the school carnival, the Nerds outsell the Alpha’s with a “Pi” booth. A huge line up of guys are buying pies from the Nerds. Stan grabs one and has Ogre check the pie out. It’s just whip cream in a tin, until Ogre reaches the bottom and they discover the reason it is selling so well…there is a picture of Betty topless. In the meantime, Lewis has stolen Stan’s mask and follows Betty into the fun house. Their they mess around and only after great amounts of pleasure does Betty find out it is Lewis…and while shocked, she doesn’t freak out. No, apparently it’s enough to win her over.
Ultimately, the Tri Lams (Nerds) win in the final competition, a highly entertaining musical number. This gives them the power in the Greek Counsel, which does not sit well with (now former) President Stan Gable. To top it off, Betty dumps him. The Alpha’s run off and destroy the Nerd’s home.
It’s only at this point Lewis cracks. He finally loses the ability to see a bright and shining light. He realizes he is just a nerd. And in Gilbert we also see a change. He’s tired of it. And he gets up and walks defiantly out the door. Gilbert storms off to the pep rally, where he is greeted by some jocks who throw him into a kiddie pool. But Gilbert is not stopped, he gets right up and continues towards the stage. He fights for the microphone, and the Dean suddenly gets a spine. The Dean tells them to let Gilbert speak. Still, it’s only when U.N. shows up with his Tri Lam brothers do they really get it. The jocks step back. As Gilbert speaks, the rest of the Nerds show up. It leads to a rousing speech about the opressed nerd and geek population. Candles held aloft, and people stepping up to stand with Gilbert and Lewis. The film closes with Queen’s “We Are the Champions”.
As I said, the film works mainly due to it’s relationships. Gilbert and Lewis. Gilbert and Judy. U.N. and the Nerds. Booger and his drugs. There is a lot of strong humor, and in a lot of ways, the film is far tamer than the films it spawned. Like the more modern 40 Year Old Virgin, it is not mocking it’s lead. The sympathy lies entirely with the nerds.
The problems with the film? Well, they definitely run off of stereotypes. Toshiro speaks in a stilted and heavy standard “Asian” accent(most of which lead to jokes made by Booger). Lamar is the limp wristed, effeminant stereotype of a gay man. Apparently he was very convincing to people though, as actor Larry B. Scott said he still meets people who assume he is gay. The whole Betty Childs subplot is problematic. First and formost, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Lewis deceives her. And I cannot imagine a woman blowing off the idea that she was tricked into having some form of sex and deciding “He’s the one!” There is also plenty of humor based on weight.
The new edition of the DVD has some interesting special features. There is a 35-40 minute retrospective. There they candidly interview Ted McGinley, Julie Montgomery, Robert Carradine, Curtis Armstrong, Timothy Busfield, Andrew Cassese and the director Jeff Kanew. Curtis states that he tried out for the role of Lewis, and they asked him to try out for Booger. He said he called a friend and told them, “I’ll try out, but if they offer me Booger, no f***ing way am I taking the role.”
One of the interesting things is how people keep commenting on Armstrong being nothing like his character. In the audio commentary he mentions his discomfort with some of the jokes during filming, he also apologizes to the extras in one scene (the Nerd’s part with the Omega Mu sorority), as the whole joke is him squeezing their butts while dancing. Armstrong has made a career out of low lifes and druggies, so it’s interesting to find that he seems to not really care for being overly raunchy.
The audio commentary is entertaining and informative, featuring director Kanew and actors Busfield, Carradine and Armstrong. They are clearly enjoying looking back at the movie. These are the best kinds of audio commentaries, I find. When people have had some time away from the film, it allows more thoughtful commentary. At one point, Director Kanew states he will be apologizing to the over weight woman from the kissing booth for the rest of his life. He feels so bad that Stan’s line is “Kiss this nerd.”
The strangest feature is the inclusion of a pilot for a Revenge of the Nerds sitcom. It tries to condense the film into 24 minutes. It strips the cast down to four nerds: Lewis, Gilbert, Wormser and Booger. The jocks are almost nameless (except Ogre and Stan) as are the cheerleaders. The most famous cast member is Cousin Oliver from the Brady Bunch as Booger. And one of the girlfriends from Growing Pains…the blonde one. It is as bad as you think. But it was still worth including as a curiousity and a warning about adapting film to television. For every Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there is a Revenge of the Nerds or Bustin’ Loose.
I enjoyed the special features, and in spite of it’s flaws, I find it hard to hate the movie, it’s heart was in the right place.
