Goonies did this too but this was more overt in this movie.
But why did they have to have the annoying cliche of the school bully in this movie? It didn't really add to the plot for me.
Correct me if I'm wrong but did they really use D Cell batteries for powering the computer in the ship when they had built it? I know kids movie yes, but watching it now that kind of thing really throws me out of the movie's universe a little.
Well.. as to the bully - there were a lot of them in the 80s, and they were allowed to run rampant for the most part. It added realism and was far from cliche - it was a fact of life for the nerdy kids back then. The same people who were the bullies back then are now low wage blue collar workers for the most part, while the persecuted nerds are making good incomes.
As to the computer - I believe it was implied that the computer had its own power source and that it was a 9 volt battery (the rectangular ones, a D cell is a cylinder) powering the circuit board that powered the force field generator. Later on when it was in the Thunder Road I believe they had an array of 12 volt car batteries, either wired in series (to raise the voltage over 12 v) or in parallel (to increase amperage).
The myth about bullies turning into blue collar dirtbags while nerds reap glorious rewards from excellent jobs is mostly false. The "nerds are smart" cliche doesn't apply to real life. Most nerds wind up working in low end tech support jobs or jockeying a counter at Gamestop. Pretending they're all dot com millionaires is absurd. Most nerds aren't particularly smart, but they are mostly annoying and hard to deal with.
For the most part, the charming, popular people at your high school grew up to find good jobs because of their ability to make people like them. Meanwhile, your goofy nerd in a trenchcoat who hated all the cool kids still hates them, only now he does it when they call to get the internet hooked up at their new house.
My faucet is leaking again. When can you stop by to look at it?
shareI had an Apple //c as a kid and it had a battery pack as an optional accessory. Once on a camping trip I brought mine with us (oh why didn't I just leave it at home?) and wired it up to the car's 12V, so powering it like they did was realistic (the CRT monitor, on the other hand, would have used tons of power).
BTW, it was noticeable how this computer was a product placement in the movie, from the opening shot of it with a few floppies nicely spread out with the Apple logo glaring. I also noticed the Eveready 9V battery clearly shown, and some Quaker granola bars box in the ship later.
But why did they have to have the annoying cliche of the school bully in this movie? It didn't really add to the plot for me.
Correct me if I'm wrong but did they really use D Cell batteries for powering the computer in the ship when they had built it? I know kids movie yes, but watching it now that kind of thing really throws me out of the movie's universe a little.
Just watched this again last night. I thought the bully scene at the beginning was a great way to introduce Ben & Darren. Otherwise, how would you have 2 kids at school from different backgrounds end up as friends.
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