My Science Project (1985) Reviews

• Great, strange, quirky film

  Agent102002-08-13

  Sadly, My Science Project was a very big risk that seems to transcend it's teen film genre. While people will cite better time-travel themed movies like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Back o the Future, this one will certainly stand on its own due to the Twilight Zone quality of it. Great visuals, great idea, and the story didn't try to insult it's audience by making the story painfully obvious. I especially liked Mike's character, a kind of good guy that was a diamond stuck in the pond scum. Unfortunately, his entire performance was stepped on by Fisher Steven's over the top performance. Dennis Hopper made a perfect cameo performance that really fit his bi-polar acting style. While this film won't be considered one of the elite teen films of the 1980s like The Breakfast Club, Bill and Ted, River's Edge, Say Anything, Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but it will fit comfortably with the silver medalists of that area, much like Can't Buy Me love, The Wraith and Three O'Clock High. A great film for teen movie aficionados.

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• Classic 80's Sci-Fi

  chvylvr802003-09-25

  Man I've been watching My Science Project since way back when I was a kid. It was better then but the only thing that has really dated it is the special effects. The story is still good, Fisher Stevens is still funny, and Dennis Hopper is still far out man! I'm not saying that this movie is better than Star Wars or anything but it's a pretty good example of cheesy 80's Sci-Fi. The trick to watching My Science Project or indeed, any movie from the 80's, is to not take it seriously. Turn off the white hot critic's eye and just enjoy this movie for what it is. It's a great movie. Bottom Line: I can't think of many 80's movies in this genre that are this film's equal, except for maybe The Last Starfighter. If you can let me know.

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• Great little sci-fi film for a good time.

  GordonFly2002-04-05

  I love 'My Science Project'. I first saw it on HBO one day back in 87 and loved it right away, it's a great sci-fi thriller, with many moments of comedy as well. SPOILER ALERT!!! It concerns a car nut high school student played by John Stockwell (you'd think that after the hell he went through with Christine, he'd stay the heck away from cars), who needs a science project to pass his science class, problem is, he doesn't have one. So one night he, and his new girlfreind are rumaging around in an old military junk yard outside of town hoping to find something suitable to impress his teacher, and find a very odd little machine. It's high tech looking, with a glass globe mounted in the middle that when powered up, emits electricity that resembles one of those plasma globes you'd find at Spencers Gifts in the mall. As he's cleaning it, he decides to hook it up to a power supply, this turns out to be a huge mistake as 'the gizmo', as it's called in the film, turns out to be an engine from a spacecraft and can locally warp time and space, bringing objects and people from other times into our own. It soon goes wildly out of control and eventually the whole school is caught in a warp, and it's up to Stockwell, and his wise cracking freind, played wonderfully by Fisher Stevens, to shut down the gizmo for good. A very underrated film, with impressive visuals that still hold up well (except for the dinosaur), great acting from it's cast, inspired writing, and when watched on a good surround set up, a great audio mix to boot. It means no harm, and is fun.

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• Part of the science comedy movie craze.

  Aaron13752004-02-17

  Movies come in phases now and then where a bunch of movies with similar themes come out at about the same time. There was the underwater craze of 89 ("The Abyss", "Leviathan", and "Deepstar Six") and there was the body switch craze ("Big", "Vice Versa", and one with Dudley Moore). This movie came out during the comedy with a science twist. The other two movies that came out during this phase are "Real Genius" and "Weird Science". I liked this phase as I enjoyed all three movies quite a bit. This one was no exception as it combined humor and science fiction very well. This one has a couple of kids finding this strange device that I think ended up being some type of engine. Anyway when this thing gets hooked up with power and turns on all sorts of strange stuff starts happening. The thing seems to be able to move time or open portals. The end is great as the thing really goes berserk and it turns the school (I think it was the school) into a battle zone complete with different times. There is a dinosaur and mutants. All in all I am probably in the minority in liking this one, but I thought it was really good.

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• My Science Project: Underwhelming comedy sci-fi

  Platypuschow2018-06-23

  Starring the late great Dennis Hopper and underrated talent Fisher Stevens this is an odd little 80's sci-fi comedy that I'd never heard of. I can only assume this is because it didn't do all too well. It tells the story of a car nut who finds a mysterious device while searching for something to use for his science project. The device distorts time and space building to an epic climax featuring dinosaurs, laser firing space men and everything in between. On paper this should have been outstanding but for whatever reason it fell flat. The sci-fi side looks pretty terrible and does not even remotely meet its potential while the comedy element is so lacking it's hard to believe they even call it that. In fact the only comedy comes from Fisher Stevens who is one of the movies saving graces. Those into 80's cheese might appreciate this but don't go expecting Weird Science (1985) because it isn't even close. The Good: Solid script Fisher Stevens The Bad: Doesn't flow very well Isn't funny Things I Learnt From This Movie: You can wear sunglasses during mug shots

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