Revenge of the Nerds | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

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71%

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41 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Geeky college students Gilbert (Anthony Edwards) and Lewis (Robert Carradine) are evicted from their dormitory when the Alpha Betas -- who recently burned down their own fraternity house by accident -- confiscate the building. When the college forces the freshmen to live in the gym, Gilbert, Lewis and their fellow dorks relocate to a run-down house. When the Alpha Betas, led by jock Stan (Ted McGinley), repeatedly humiliate them, the nerds plot revenge.

Revenge of the Nerds

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Undeniably lowbrow but surprisingly sly, Revenge of the Nerds has enough big laughs to qualify as a minor classic in the slobs-vs.-snobs subgenre.

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Revenge of the Nerds | Rotten Tomatoes (1)

Duane Byrge

Hollywood Reporter

While much is in the Animal House vein and quite funny, several tasteless episodes mar the film.

Jul 20, 2017

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Revenge of the Nerds | Rotten Tomatoes (2)

Rita Kempley

Washington Post

If you've seen Porky's, Animal House, D.C. Cab, or Police Academy, you've seen Nerds. And if you liked the prototypes, you'll like the latest of the genre, low humor and all -- belching, mooning, panty raids, peeping at girls and booger jokes.

Oct 2, 2015

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Revenge of the Nerds | Rotten Tomatoes (3)

Variety Staff

Variety

Simple-minded romp about a group of freshmen outcasts doesn't qualify for the dean's list, but Revenge of the Nerds shows more than enough smarts to deserve passing grades.

Mar 26, 2009

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Revenge of the Nerds | Rotten Tomatoes (4)

David Sterritt

Christian Science Monitor

The underlying intelligence of director Jeff Kanew glimmers through at times, and is reflected in a couple of nice performances.

Oct 2, 2015

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Revenge of the Nerds | Rotten Tomatoes (5)

John Ferguson

Radio Times

There is a theory that every Hollywood star has a turkey or two in their closet, so today, step forward Anthony Edwards, star of the hit TV series ER.

Rated: 1/5

Oct 2, 2015

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Revenge of the Nerds | Rotten Tomatoes (6)

Film4 Staff

Film4

It's one of the great unfathomable mysteries of Hollywood that this unspeakably awful comedy was successful enough to spawn no less than three (count 'em) sequels.

Oct 2, 2015

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Audience Reviews

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J.J. E Best movie of 1984. Period. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/16/24 Full Review Horror fan 4 This is a classic 80's Movie with terrific characters and hilarious moments. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/08/24 Full Review Erik B Perfect 80's movie depicting The Jocks vs. The Nerds - all stereotypes included. An early example of Nerd Power, this movie has a lot of super-iffy scenes and concepts, but remains a fun watch if you keep it in the context of the time. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/06/23 Full Review Trenaway E When you could joke about everything without the snowflakes crying about it! Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/08/23 Full Review Bob P Very funny Animal House style sophomoric humor. I liked the over the top acting and ridiculous stereotypes. If you like mindless adolescent humor you will love this flick. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/13/23 Full Review Devon B This was an entertaining, funny humorous film. It's both good at making you feel sympathy anger and laugh at the same time. Honestly it feels like a sort of slave story in a way where in this case the Nerds are the slaves while the jocks are the owners but mixed with funny humor that would probably make anyone laugh.With that being said great film definitely a memorable 80s film. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 09/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Jeff Kanew Director Robert Carradine Lewis Skolnick Anthony Edwards Gilbert Lowell Ted McGinley Stan Gable Timothy Busfield Arnold Poindexter Andrew Cassese Harold Wormser

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Revenge of the Nerds

Revenge of the Nerds (1984)

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Synopsis Geeky college students Gilbert (Anthony Edwards) and Lewis (Robert Carradine) are evicted from their dormitory when the Alpha Betas -- who recently burned down their own fraternity house by accident -- confiscate the building. When the college forces the freshmen to live in the gym, Gilbert, Lewis and their fellow dorks relocate to a run-down house. When the Alpha Betas, led by jock Stan (Ted McGinley), repeatedly humiliate them, the nerds plot revenge.

Director: Jeff Kanew
Producer: Ted Field, Peter Samuelson, David Obst, Peter Bart
Screenwriter: Jeff Buhai, Steve Zacharias, David Obst, Miguel Tejada-Flores, Tim Metcalfe
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox, Interscope Communications
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 20, 1984, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 2, 2019
Runtime: 1h 30m

Revenge of the Nerds | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

References

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/revenge_of_the_nerds