A group of freshmen nerds form their own fraternity and
​fight back against the jock fraternity for their self-respect.

COMEDY

Revenge of the Nerds (1984)

Directed by Jeff Kanew

Written by Steve Zacharias and Jeff Buhai

Starring Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Curtis Armstrong, Timothy Busfield, Larry B. Scott, Brian Tochi, Andrew Cassese,
​Julia Montgomery, Ted McGinley, Donald Gibb, Michelle Meyrink, John Goodman, David Wohl, Bernie Casey, Matt Salinger

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Connor Eyzaguirre

October 11, 2020

8/10

Revenge of the Nerds is one of those quintessential gross-out, slobs vs. snobs 80's comedies that every movie buff should see at least once. It doesn't bring anything new to the table and it has a number of questionable scene that haven't aged well at all, but there's something charming and likable about a group of nerds fighting back against douche bag jocks. It's an underdog story, and we all love those. The cast is quirky, some of the lines are very quotable, and the film has become a cult favorite because it's just so ridiculous.

Lewis (Carradine) and Gilbert (Edwards) are two friends who enroll at Adams College, home of the Atoms, the douche bag football team run by the Alpha Beta frat. After the frat burns their house down, they take over the freshmen dorm, leaving all the freshmen nerds homeless. They decide to form their own frat, the Lambda Lambda Lambda, and challenge the Alpha Betas for control over the Greek Council, the student body politic of the school. What follows is a hilarious battle between nerds and jocks that culminates with the Homecoming Carnival. Honestly, the only problems with this movie are its insanely racist Asian caricature Takashi, and the extremely rapey love scene between Lewis and Betty (Montgomery), the sorority girl he likes. He has sex with her with a mask on and she thinks Lewis is her boyfriend in costume. Then she falls in love with him after realizing he's amazing in bed. That's fucked up even for 1984, but by today's standards, it's horrendous.

Apart from those issues, Revenge of the Nerds is a funny, relatable, underdog comedy and a certified 80's classic. The characters are great, the pranks are hilarious, and it's awesome to see John Goodman as an arrogant football coach. Any 80's movie fan worth their salt should give this one a looksee.