15 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Weird Science

What have you managed to do in the last two days? We've eaten two pizzas, messed up our efforts for a January detox and just about managed to write this article about things you (probably) didn't know about Weird Science. 

Director of the movie, John Hughes, was a little more productive. He wrote the film in two days flat. Kind of makes you think you should knuckle down with some work, huh? Hey, but not before you've read this...

(Images: Rex/YouTube)

1.

Vernon Wells, who plays the Lord General (left) reprises nearly the same character he played in 1981's Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (right). You may also know Wells for his role as Bennett in Commando or Ransik in Power Rangers.

2.

Kelly LeBrock's character name was inspired by Apple Computer's first GUI (graphical user interface) computer, the Apple Lisa. In 1982, after Steve Jobs was forced out of the Lisa project, he joined the Macintosh project where he basically went on to change the face of computing. 

3.

Wyatt's computer, with which they hack into the Pentagon mainframe, is a Memotech MTX512 with an FDX add-on. Memotech actually went into receivership in 1985 because the MTX series sold so badly.

4.

On the last day of filming, Robert Rusler auditioned for the role of Ron Grady in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge. Weird Science co-star Robert Downey Jr. drove him to the audition. Rusler had previously missed out on a role in the first instalment of Elm Street. 

5.

The jacket worn by Kelly LeBrock in the film was sold to Dina Collection, a pawn shop in Beverly Hills, for $25,000. It's currently for sale on eBay for $35,000. 

6.

A TV show based on the film ran from 1994 to 1998 over 88 episodes. In the pilot episode, Gary claims that creating Lisa is possible because he "saw it in a John Hughes movie", referring to the original Weird Science movie. Seth Green was one of the finalists for the part of Gary which eventually went to John Mallory Asher.

7.

Shermer High School also appears in The Breakfast Club (pictured), Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and National Lampoon's Vacation. Shermer is actually the name of a street that runs through several of the communities that John Hughes used as backdrops in his films. 

In the Jay and Silent Bob movies, they constantly make references to John Hughes movies, including Weird Science and the shower scene. In 'Dogma' they even refer to making a trip to Shermer, Illinois, only to find it doesn't exist.

8.

The film is named after the anthology comic book series, published in the 1950s by 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.

9.

Kelly LeBrock initially turned down the role of Lisa because she was "having too much fun riding horses on the beach", in France. A slightly more disciplined Anthony Michael Hall declined a reprisal of his role as Rusty Griswold in European Vacation to be in this film. He had played Rust in National Lampoon's Vacation, in 1983.

10.

In an interview at Comic-Con, Kelly LeBrock said 14-year-old Ilan Mitchell-Smith got carried away during their kiss scene and stuck his tongue down her throat. "If you ever do that again," she told him afterwards, "I'm going to kick your ass."

11.

Kym Malin, who plays the piano girl who is sucked into the fireplace in this scene, did her own stunts. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its May 1982 issue.

12.

Demi Moore and Robin Wright Penn both auditioned for the part of Lisa. Also, Kelly Emberg, Rod Stewart's girlfriend at the time (pictured), was originally cast as Lisa and shot scenes before being replaced by Kelly.

12.

Ilan Mitchell-Smith is now a Professor of Medieval Literature in the English department at California State University, Long Beach. He only has 570 Twitter followers, which is nowhere near enough. 

14.

Michael Berryman of The Hills Have Eyes (pictured) and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest fame plays the mutant biker that crashes the party. He asks Wyatt and Gary not to tell anyone about the incident as he may lose his job. This is likely to be a reference to his part as a school principal in the video for Mötley Crüe track "Smoking In The Boys Room", which was released the same year as Weird Science.

15.

Kelly LeBrock wasn't naked for the shower scene, which as we type this we realise is probably quite obvious, but heartbreaking nonetheless.