---
title: 'Real Genius (1985)'
type: 'film'
director: 'Martha Coolidge'
released: '1985-01-01'
runtime_minutes: 104
genres:
  - 'Science Fiction'
  - 'Romance'
countries:
  - 'United States'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/real-genius-1985'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089886/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# Real Genius (1985)

1985 · 104 min · Science Fiction, Romance · United States


## Synopsis

Real Genius is a 1985 American science fiction comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge, written by Neal Israel, Pat Proft, and PJ Torokvei, and starring Val Kilmer and Gabriel Jarret. The film, set on the campus of Pacific Tech, a science and engineering university similar to Caltech, follows Chris Knight (Kilmer), a genius in his senior year, who is paired with a new student on campus, Mitch Taylor (Jarret), to work on a chemical laser, only to learn it will be used for dangerous purposes. The film received positive reviews from critics, and grossed $13 million at the North American box office.

## Credits

- **Director:** [Martha Coolidge](https://cinepixo.com/people/martha-coolidge)
- **Screenplay:** [Pat Proft](https://cinepixo.com/people/pat-proft), [Neal Israel](https://cinepixo.com/people/neal-israel)
- **Original Music Composer:** [Thomas Newman](https://cinepixo.com/people/thomas-newman)
- **Producer:** [Brian Grazer](https://cinepixo.com/people/brian-grazer)
- **Director of Photography:** [Vilmos Zsigmond](https://cinepixo.com/people/vilmos-zsigmond)
- **Editor:** [Richard Chew](https://cinepixo.com/people/richard-chew)

## Cast

- [Patti D'Arbanville](https://cinepixo.com/people/patti-d-arbanville)
- [Yuji Okumoto](https://cinepixo.com/people/yuji-okumoto)
- [Gabriel Jarret](https://cinepixo.com/people/gabriel-jarret)
- [Robert Prescott](https://cinepixo.com/people/robert-prescott)
- [William Atherton](https://cinepixo.com/people/william-atherton)
- [Stacy Peralta](https://cinepixo.com/people/stacy-peralta)
- [Val Kilmer](https://cinepixo.com/people/val-kilmer)
- [Severn Darden](https://cinepixo.com/people/severn-darden)
- [Sean Frye](https://cinepixo.com/people/sean-frye)
- [Monte Landis](https://cinepixo.com/people/monte-landis)
- [Deborah Foreman](https://cinepixo.com/people/deborah-foreman)
- [Sandy Martin](https://cinepixo.com/people/sandy-martin)
- [Ed Lauter](https://cinepixo.com/people/ed-lauter)
- [Jon Gries](https://cinepixo.com/people/jon-gries)
- [Joe Dorsey](https://cinepixo.com/people/joe-dorsey)

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/real-genius-1985
Film facts: Wikidata (Q1730419); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.