A year after his death, beloved actor Val Kilmer has been making headlines recently with the revelation that the former Batman star will appear, thanks to the use of generative AI, in the upcoming film As Deep as the Grave. It’s news that has come with plenty of controversy and debate about the use of AI in entertainment as people try to determine if there really is any ethical use of the technology. But while Kilmer is in the news for that, it’s a great time to revisit some of his actual roles — including a truly fantastic sci-fi film that you probably forgot about and is leaving free streaming very soon.
While most people think of his bigger roles like Batman or Iceman in Top Gun, Kilmer had a long, impressive career that also includes the 1985 sci-fi comedy Real Genius. Starring Kilmer and Gabriel Jarret, the film follows Chris Knight (Kilmer) a genius in his senior year of college who gets paired with new student Mitch Taylor (Jarret) to work on a chemical laser only for the duo to discover that what they’re working on is actually a weapon intended for dangerous purposes. It’s a forgotten gem of Kilmer’s overall filmography and while it’s currently available to stream on Tubi, it recently showed up on the platform’s leaving soon page.
Real Genius is One of Kilmer’s Best Movies
While there were a lot of great comedies in the 1980s that people still talk about Real Genius, despite being easily one of the best of them, doesn’t really get mentioned much which is a real shame considering that it’s not only truly hilarious but also one of Kilmer’s best ever movies in any genre. It’s a little absurd in its premise — the military turning to a tech college for the brain power to figure out a superweapon is a little out there — but it’s also charming and heartfelt. In the film, Chris and Mitch end up creating chemical laser technology that their professor who also happens to be in with the CIA co-opts for military use. Chris, however, is absolutely not okay with this due to his hatred of authority so he and Mitch set out to stop the military and their plans for their creation.
It’s a lot of fun. You have two college kids going up against the government. You’ve got lots of lasers. You’ve got oddball military conspiracies. But you also have Kilmer’s performance which serves to remind audiences just how talented of an actor he really was. This is a film where Kilmer is giving his all at the top of his game and you get the sense of a very natural comedic timing that the actor possessed that some of his later films simply do not showcase. What could be a really cheesy movie ends up elevated without sacrificing any of its humor thanks to Kilmer’s skilled performance. And while Real Genius has largely been forgotten, critics at the time it was released agreed that the film was solid. It has a pretty impressive 77% Rotten Tomatoes score with plenty of praise for the actor and his performance that takes what could be caricature and makes it proper comedy.
So, why did Real Genius get so overlooked? The truth is likely in its timing. Another big sci-fi film, Back to the Future, also hit theaters the same year Real Genius did and that film took off in popularity. The film also came right before Kilmer’s turn as Iceman in Top Gun, giving the actor one of the serious roles that would help define his entire career. The movie being available on Tubi for free just now gives fans a chance to fully enjoy the film as well as Kilmer’s comedic genius — just do so soon so you don’t miss it.
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