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Podcast: Around the World in 80s Movies
Episode: Real Genius (1985) | Martha Coolidge
Description: Real Genius centers on several students at Pac Tech, an institution esteemed for its technological breakthroughs. They're currently working on a project to build a high-powered laser. The project is led by an egotistical professor and TV science show host named Jerry Hathaway (William Atherton), who has been employed by a clandestine group within the Pentagon for Operation Crossbow, whereby the military will use the laser to vaporize targets from space with sniper-like precision.
Enter 15-year-old genius Mitch Taylor (Gabe Jarrett), recruited by Hathaway to start college early at Pacific Tech. He rooms with the school's prior hot prodigy, a...