DVD Pick of the Week - REVENGE OF THE NERDS: PANTY RAID EDITION
“NERRRRRRRRDS!!”
DVD Pick of the Week - REVENGE OF THE NERDS: PANTY RAID EDITION
You could get away with a lot in the 80’s if you were a teen comedy. Blatant sexism and a touch of racism (Yes, I love me some Long Duk Dong too, but come on – all he’s missing is buck teeth and a ponytail) to start, but other -isms abounded. Nerdism, for example; for every dweebish but deeply realistic Mitch Taylor (that’s your first Real Genius reference out of me, readers – start keeping score. ;), there were a dozen knock-kneed, braces-wearing, pocket-protectored dorks of the cartoonish variety who tended to paint the multi-faceted subculture of geekdom into a sports jacket-wearing corner. And none of the culprits painted a more Looney Tunes-worthy picture (albeit quite an ethnically diverse one) as Revenge Of the Nerds.
Yet what keeps the alpha and omega of all nerd movies pretty fresh over twenty years later is a certain balls-out dedication to relishing in everything that is inept, uncool and socially awkward as possible, right down to the theme song in which the title of the film is brayed in a downright dorky whine over a plucky synthesizer. Even the Neanderthal jock bully Ogre is cock-eyed. Still, for an updated twist on Animal House, for the most part it works; on paper and in execution, a hopeless gaggle of nerds getting Greek acceptance by pledging a black fraternity who never saw their photos is hilarious. In the end, though, what really keeps the film fresh and entertaining is its cast: chiefly Robert Carradine as Skolnick (the laugh, of course, is now legend) and Anthony Edwards as Gilbert, though the backed by the likes of Curtis Armstrong (who probably gets called “Booger” to this day), Brian Tochi, Michelle Meyrink (unrecognizable from her later role as Jordan Cochran – Real Genius reference #2!) and especially Timothy Busfield. Watch the man who was a scant few years away from TV’s thirtysomething smoke a doob and find his inner dance machine, and you’re watching comedy gold. This week’s release includes a commentary with Carradine, Busfield, Armstrong and director Jeff Kanew, plus deleted scenes, the failed Revenge of the Nerds TV pilot (!!!) and more.
Other recommended titles for March 6th: Billy Budd; Borat: Cultural Leanings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan; Fast Food Nation; Hawaii Five-O: Season 1; Madame Bovary (1949); Moonlighting: Season 5; Night of the Comet; Northern Exposure: Season 6; Peter Pan: Platinum Edition; Private School; South Park: Season 9; The Three Musketeers (1948)
—Nicole Campos
