Trivia:
The same moving shot of the exterior of the high school was used for the beginning of Sixteen Candles (1984), as well as the end of this movie. The same people can be seen making the same movements in both movies.
In an interview at Comic Con, Kelly LeBrock said when she did the kissing scene with fourteen-year-old Ilan Mitchell-Smith, he got carried away and stuck his tongue down her throat. Afterwards she told him: "If you ever do that again, I'm going to kick your ass!"
According to Bill Paxton, Chet's line "How about a nice greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray?" was based on something his father John Paxton used to say to him when Bill was hungover from a night of drinking.
John Hughes wrote this film in two days.
Anthony Michael Hall makes a reference to a girlfriend from Canada. His character "Brian" from The Breakfast Club (1985) also makes a reference to an imaginary girlfriend from Canada.
In the John Hughes documentary Don't You Forget About Me (2009), Kelly LeBrock describes her character Lisa as "Mary Poppins with breasts."
Vernon Wells, who played the Lord General (lead biker), reprises nearly the same character he played in The Road Warrior (1981). He essentially wears the same make-up, mohawk, mesh tank top, and lots of studded leather.
Shermer High School is also the name of the high school in The Breakfast Club (1985).
The goodbye scene between Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, and Kelly LeBrock moved John Hughes to tears.
The film is titled after the anthology comic book series, published in the 1950s by the legendary William M. Gaines and his company EC Comics, which also published Tales from the Crypt and Mad Magazine. The plot of the film is loosely based on the story "Made of the Future" by Al Feldstein, from the fifth issue. Producer Joel Silver had acquired all EC film rights in the early 1980s.
*NOTE: When I (Shlomoh) was a teenager, my friend, Norman, and I were invited several times to the offices of EC Comics. There we met William M. Gaines, Al Feldstein, and several of the cartoon artists. The last time we were there, we were aboy 17 years old. After a few years, we lost contact with the people at EC; this was about the time MAD MAGAZINE became popular.
According to a recent interview on The Howard Stern Show, Robert Downey, Jr. cleared up the rumors that he defecated in Kelly LeBrock's trailer. He stated that he and his co-star, Robert Rusler (Max) joked about defecating in people's trailers throughout the shoot. They eventually did it in one female cast member's trailer, but it was not LeBrock's. John Hughes questioned everyone in the cast as to who did it, and when he got to Downey, he replied, "No, but I sure wish it was me who did it." He also stated there was never any tension between him and John Hughes, and he highly respected his friendship.
Robert Rusler said the scene when the rocket came up through the floor was a complicated shot to set up. Right before cameras rolled, Anthony Michael Hall farted, breaking the cast members' concentration, and ruining the take. Rusler estimates the scene cost one hundred thousand dollars to shoot. Because the take was blown, it had to be filmed in reverse, with additional tweaks in post-production.
Vernon Wells (Lord General) said his first time visiting America was when he filmed his part in this movie. After filming wrapped, he signed on as another villain in Commando (1985).
Depending on the version of the film, at the end of the film when Lisa is twirling her whistle, either the Weird Science track is played or the Rocky theme is played.
As is typical for John Hughes films, the cast members break the fourth wall and look at the camera with a stare.
One of the pictures Gary and Wyatt feed into the scanner to create Lisa is of David Lee Roth. The version of "Pretty Woman" that plays later, when Lisa is in the mall, was recorded by Van Halen when Roth was the lead singer.
The large Chet puppet was designed to be solely operated by Bill Paxton, but he became too claustrophobic in the suit, so dwarfs Kevin Thompson and Joe Gieb were crammed inside and puppeteered the creature in unison.
Demi Moore and Robin Wright auditioned for the part of Lisa. Their scene partner for their screentests was Mikul Robins, who appears in the movie as one of The Weenies.
In 1994, the film was made into a television series of the same name. In the television show, Vanessa Angel played Lisa. Michael Manasseri played Wyatt Donnelly, John Asher played Gary Wallace, and Lee Tergesen played Chet Donnelly. The series ran for five seasons.
The bald biker (Michael Berryman) who refers to his teaching career as he is leaving was played by Michael Berryman also plays the principal in the Mötley Crüe music video "Smoking in the Boys Room".
There are many parallels between this film and The Breakfast Club (1985), which takes place on March 24, 1985, Kelly LeBrock's birthday.
John Kapelos (Dino) played Carl the janitor at Shermer High School in The Breakfast Club (1985) with Anthony Michael Hall.
Goofs:
When Gary and Wyatt are talking to Deb and Hilly in the bathroom, the red light changes to bright, dim and hardly seen at all.
Although the movie takes place in the fictional town of Shermer, Illinois, the police car that chases Gary and Deb is clearly an LAPD interceptor. However, the rear facing yellow lights should flash on a LAPD car. The ones shown burn solid.
When Lisa, Gary and Wyatt are driving home from the Kandy Bar, they pass a sign for Lankershim Boulevard, which is a street in Los Angeles.
The fake drivers license Lisa gives Wyatt to get into the bar would be rejected by any bar bouncer in Illinois. Besides being cut crooked, the drivers license number doesn't match the name, sex, and birth date information shown on the license. Bouncers know that Illinois drivers license numbers can be decoded to yield that data. The number shown on the license should belong to a female born in 1951 whose last name begins with P.
Gary and Wyatt are watching Frankenstein when they decide to create Lisa. However, the clip of Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) saying, "She's alive!" comes from its sequel Bride of Frankenstein.
When Chet finds Gary and Deb in Wyatt's room, he hits them in the head with the barrel of the shotgun, and as it's not actually made of metal it clearly bends. Chet's hands also change position between shots.
During the police chase scene at the end, when the car turns one of the corners, it is very clear that the driver is not Anthony Michael Hall, but a stunt driver with a blond wig.
Ilan Mitchell-Smith (Wyatt) clearly looks like he's about to start laughing almost every time Bill Paxton (Chet) looks directly at him.
When everything is being "sucked" out of the house. The girl playing the piano is obviously being pulled by a cable.
Towards the end of the movie when Gary is driving the girl home, his sunglasses disappear and reappear between shots.
When Gary and Deb are being chased by the cop, and cross the railroad tracks, the train changes direction between shots.
Just before the "gun showdown" scene, Deb is wearing bright red lipstick. When the gunman lets Deb go, the lipstick is gone.
Right before Ian and Max drop the Icee on Wyatt and Gary, the cup is filled well over the top. Seconds later when they pour it, the level of the liquid in the cup has dropped considerably. The amount of Icee that hits Gary and Wyatt is much more than even the full cup could hold, yet after pouring it the cup is thrown down on their heads and appears to still have quite a bit in it.
In Wyatt's bedroom, his Talking Heads poster is torn in the scene where Lisa is created. Later in the movie, the poster is intact, but then later it is torn again.
Lisa gets a beer for Gary and puts it down in front of him at the beginning of the scene when she meets his parents. A minute later, the glass of beer is gone.
The cigar that Chet is smoking is very short when he first blows the smoke in Gary's face, but is longer when he walks away and kicks his door open.
Quotes:
Lisa: If you ever get the chance, shower with them. I did. Mmm, it's a mindscrambler. Hurts so good.
Lisa: You okay?
Gary Wallace: Well, my nuts are halfway up my ass, but other than that, I'm perfect!
Lisa: You know, there's going to be sex, drugs, rock-n-roll... chips, dips, chains, whips... You know, your basic high school orgy type of thing. I mean, uh, I'm not talking candlewax on the nipples, or witchcraft or anything like that, no, no, no. Just a couple of hundred kids running around in their underwear, acting like complete animals.
Lisa: Have you ever wondered how sad it is, that your son's only sexual outlet is tossing off to magazines in the bathroom?
Lucy Wallace: Oh Garry! Oh my God!
Gary Wallace: Ma, I never tossed off to anything!
Lucy Wallace: You told me you were combing your hair!
Gary Wallace: I was! I was!
Lisa: You had to be big shots didn't you. You had to show off. When are you gonna learn that people will like you for who you are, not for what you can give them. Well, in your race for power and glory, you forgot one small detail.
Wyatt: We forgot to hook up the doll.
Lisa: You forgot to hook up the doll.
Lisa: You guys created me, I didn't come from anywhere. Before you started messing around with your computer, I didn't even exist. By the way, you did an excellent job. Thank you.
Chet: How 'bout a nice greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray?
Wyatt: A missile! A MISSILE! A MISSILE IN MY HOUSE, GARY!
Max: [Banging on it] Yup, this puppy's for real all right.
Gary Wallace: It was an accident. You know it happens.
Wyatt: ACCIDENT MY ASS, GARY! MY PARENTS ARE COMING HOME. CHET'S COMING HOME. THEY'RE GONNA FREAK OUT!
Gary Wallace: They're gonna sh*t egg rolls.
Mutant Biker: Can we keep this... between us? I'd hate to lose my teaching job...
Lisa: If you want be a party animal, you have to learn to live in the jungle.
Wyatt: Do you think Lisa's having a good time?
Gary Wallace: Lisa could have a good time at an insurance seminar, Wyatt.
Gary Wallace: How's your stomach?
Wyatt: It's a little better.
Gary Wallace: [starts pacing] If you're going to float an air biscuit, let me know, okay?
Wyatt: [confused] Float a what?
Gary Wallace: [slightly annoyed] If you're gonna fart, if you're gonna squeeze cheese, let me know, okay? I'll hit the fan!
Chet: You two donkey-dicks couldn't get laid in a morgue.
Dino: Tell me something. What's a beautiful broad like you doing with a malaka like this? Huh?
Lisa: It's purely sexual.
Dino: No sh*t.
Gary Wallace: She's into malakas, Dino!
Dino: "She's into malakas"! Do you believe that?
Chet: [opens a pantry door, his grandparents are in there, frozen] Hi Nanny, hi Grampy.
Chet: [closes door and turns to everyone else] I'm not a moron, you know. I...
Chet: [suddenly realizes] Was that my grandparents?
Chet: [Lisa nods, Chet opens the door again] Are they dead?
Lisa: Oh, no, they're just resting.
Chet: What are they doing in here?
Lisa: I put them in there. I didn't want to Garry and Wyatt to get into trouble. Quite frankly, they weren't having a very good time at the party.
Chet: Not having a good time? Do you think they're having a good time being catatonic in a closet?
Lisa: This is a nuclear missile!
Chet: I didn't think it was a whale's dick, honey!
Gary Wallace: That's not a bad idea.
Wyatt: What?
Gary Wallace: Making a girl. Actually making a girl. Like Frankenstein... except cuter.
Wyatt: Gary Wallace, that's-that's gross! That's sick! I am not digging up dead girls!
[Gary puts his hand over Wyatt's mouth and sits him down on the bed]
Gary Wallace: No, I'm not talking about digging up dead girls, Wyatt. I'm talking about your system, idiot, your computer!
Lisa: Just for that I ought to give you a set of elephant balls!
[Lisa kisses Wyatt]
Lisa: Are you sure you're only fifteen?
Wyatt: [smiles] I'll be sixteen in June.
Gary Wallace: Wyatt, are you ready to die?
Wyatt: Gary, I can't wait to die.
Gary Wallace: Why don't you shut up, bitch?
[to Lord General]
Gary Wallace: And as for your ugly a$$, you don't come into my friend's house, with your fa*ggot friends and your bikes, crashing through windows, making a mess, breaking his furniture, stinking up the place and believe me you do stink.
[One of the mutant bikers sniffs his armpit]
Gary Wallace: And here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna get on your bikes, and pedal your ugly asses outta here.
[All the killer mutants laugh]
Gary Wallace: We're gentlemen so we're going to give you a choice.
[Gary pulls out a gun and points it at Lord General's head]
Wyatt: Yeah, you can go in peace.
Gary Wallace: Or you can stay and die. The choice is yours.
Parents Guide for Weird Science (1985)
The beliefs that parents want to instill in their children can vary greatly.
Use this feature to help parents make informed viewing decisions by describing the facts of relevant scenes in the title for each one of the different categories: Sex and Nudity, Violence and Gore, Profanity, Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking, and Frightening/Intense Scenes.
SEX & NUDITY
Mild and infrequent nudity:
We see Wyatt wearing women's underwear/
Chet's butt is exposed.
Lisa is obviously nude in the shower, though her private parts are not seen.
Two boys have their pants yanked down in the girls' gym, and stand paralyzed in their underwear.
In two scenes, a computer and magazines in the background show naked breasts.
A computer displays a wireframe simulation of ludicrously large breasts. But then they're shrunk to normal size.
Wind tears a girl's skirt off and her panties are exposed. Later in the scene, her breasts are exposed and she is catapulted naked from a chimney.
VIOLENCE & GORE
Some science-fiction violence. Lisa holds a (fake) gun to a boy's parents so that he (the boy) can go to a party. Gary holds a gun to a bad guy and later fires it accidentally thinking it was a fake.
PROFANITY
Mild profanity throughout; no use of the "F"-word. Use of "Wanker" once Use of the "S"-word and variations 13 times. Use of "bitch" 4 times. Use of "a-hole" 4 times. Use of "fa*ggot" twice. Two references to "tossing off". Numerous mild anatomical references: "big big titt*es", "donkey dick", etc.
ALCOHOL/DRUGS/SMOKING
Alcohol Use.
Two teenaged boys get extremely drunk and smoke cigars.
Underage drinking at a party.
Lisa is shown smoking and with a beer.
FRIGHTENING/INTENSE SCENES
Lisa threatens a boy's parents with a gun. Although it becomes comical in the next scene as we find out it was only a water pistol.
When making Lisa, everything goes crazy. Very intense.
Soundtracks:
Weird Science Performed by Oingo Boingo Produced by Danny Elfman and Steve Bartek
Turn It On Performed by Kim Wilde Produced by Jimmy Iovine
Deep in the Jungle Performed by Wall of Voodoo Produced by Richard Mazda Courtesy of I.R.S. Records
Tubular Bells Performed by Mike Oldfield Courtesy of Virgin Records, Ltd.
Tesla Girls Performed by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (as OMD) Courtesy of Virgin Records, Ltd. / A&M Records
Private Joy Performed by Cheyne Produced by Greg Phillinganes and Jimmy Iovine Vocals produced by Louil Silas Jr.
Wanted Man Performed by Ratt Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp. By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
Don't Worry Baby Performed by Los Lobos Courtesy of Slash Records / Warner Bros. Records Inc. By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
Forever Performed by Taxxi Courtesy of MCA Records, Inc.
Method to My Madness Performed by The Lords of the New Church (as Lords of the New Church) Courtesy of I.R.S. Records
Eighties Performed by Killing Joke Courtesy of E.G. Records Ltd.
Why Don't Pretty Girls (Look at Me) Performed by Wild Men of Wonga Courtesy of MCA Records, Inc.
Nervous and Shakey Performed by The Del Fuegos Courtesy of Slash Records
The Circle Performed by Max Carl Produced by Peter Hauke Courtesy of MCA Records, Inc.
Tenderness By Roger Charlery, David Wakeling & Michael Billingham Performed by General Public Courtesy of I.R.S. Records / Virgin Records, Ltd.
Do Not Disturb (Knock Knock) Performed by The Broken Homes Produced by Michael Frondelli with The Broken Homes
Oh, Pretty Woman Written by Roy Orbison, Bill Dees Performed by Van Halen (Original Theatrical & Restored DVD Versions)
The Magic Flute - Overture (uncredited) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky) Performed By Bill Conti Courtesy of MGM/UA Home Ent. Group Inc./EMI America Records
See What The Cast Of Weird Science Looks Like 30 Years Later click HERE
Read about Weird Science On the Internet Movie Data Base
