Cult Movie - Revenge Of The Nerds - Revenge Of The Nerds review

A group of pathetic nobodies led by Robert Carradine organizes its own fraternity, Lamba Lamba Lamba. As "Booger," Curtis Armstrong rattles off some of the best lines in the flick, such as: "What the fuck are robster craws?" In the much less successful sequel, Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, the boys head down to Ft. Lauderdale for Spring Break and Booger meets his mentor, "Snotty."

"It's a new film called Revenge of the Nerds. It's about a group of nerd college students who are being picked on all the time by the jocks. So they decide to take revenge . . . I consider myself a nerd. And this movie has uplifted me. There's this one scene, where a nerd grabs the microphone during a pep rally and announces that he is a nerd and that he is proud of it and stands up for the rights of other nerds . . . Then he asks all the kids at the pep rally who think they are nerds to come forward, so nearly everybody in the place does. That's the way the movie ends."

—Toby Radloff, American Splendor, 2003

In my favorite scene from Revenge of the Nerds, Booger utters one of the greatest lines in film history in response to the question, "What are you looking at nerd, huh?", posed by Stan Gable, leader of the Alpa Betas: "I thought I was looking at my mother's old douchebag, but that's in Ohio." Ironically, Stan and Betty have already rode off and none of his fellow Tri-Lam nerds are within earshot, so Booger essentially wasted this awesome insult . . .

Everybody remembers the opening scene of Revenge of the Nerds: Mr. Skolnick is driving Louis and Gilbert to their first year at Adams College. Gilbert is apprehensive about leaving home. Louis tries to reassure Gilbert by telling him that they are going to score with a lot of hot coeds. Mr. Skolnick blurts out, "You college guys are all alike, all you care about is getting laid. I wish I was going with you." Then all three of these dorks break out into a fit of nerd laughter. So I’m sitting in bed channel surfing well after midnight the other night when I catch the beginning of the Revenge of the Nerds, exactly as I’ve described above. Well, not exactly, this thing was severely edited, so what I actually heard was this: "You college guys are all alike . . . I wish I was going with you." Since I’ve seen this flick about 20 times, I knew exactly which part of the line was censored; however, anyone watching it for the first time would have to scratch their head and wonder why these assholes were guffawing over Mr. Skolnick’s bland, unfunny comments. So I turned the shit off and went to bed. Chalk one up for the fascist censors, who are afraid someone might actually hear the word "laid" after midnight on a Saturday night and get permanently scarred! Speaking of Revenge of the Nerds, I actually paid attention to the lyrics of the theme song (by The Rubinoos!) that drones on in the background during the opening scene. Yes, it’s got to be one of the dumbest tunes I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s so bad that it’s actually funny as hell! You be the judge: "Okay, guys, let's go. Mom packs us our lunch and we're off to school. They call us nerds 'cause we're so uncool. They laugh at our clothes. They laugh at our hair. The girls walk by with their nose in the air. So go ahead, put us down. One of these days we could turn it around. Won't be long, mark my words. Time has come for revenge of the nerds. Revenge of the nerds. Revenge of the nerds. We wear horn-rimmed glasses with a heavy duty lens, Button down shirts and a pocket full of pens. We're straight A students. Teacher's pets. They call us nerds, but we've no regrets. So go ahead, put us down. One of these days we'll turn it around. Won't be long, mark my words. Time has come for revenge of the nerds. Revenge of the nerds. Revenge of the nerds. Revenge of the nerds. While the jocks work out with the football team, We're tryin' to score with the girl of our dreams. You know, we ain't good lookin', but here's a surprise, Nerds are great lovers in disguise. So go ahead, put us down. One of these days we'll turn it around. Won't be long, mark my words. Time has come for revenge of the nerds. Revenge of the nerds. Revenge of the nerds. Revenge of the nerds. Revenge of the nerds. So if they call you a dork, a spaz, or a geek, Stand up and be proud. Don't be meek. Hey, beautiful people, haven't you heard? The jokes on you, it's revenge of the nerds. So go ahead, put us down. One of these days we'll turn it around. Won't be long, mark my words. Time has come for revenge of the nerds."

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