Terrible movie. And what's with Stan claiming he graduated Adams college in '80 and Lewis claiming he graduated in '81? It just made an already bad movie that much more confusing. The original was released in 1984 and the sequel in 1987. Neither movie made reference to having taken place in the past. As a matter of fact, the technical gizmos the nerds played with were 1980s stuff. Even the clothing and decor were 1980s. I thought the first two movies were pretty good. I can even remember going to see the sequel when it came out in the summer of '87. It was on my 18th birthday. I couldn't even make it all the way through this one. I'm not even going to waste my time on part 4.

With the likable characters from the first two films all grown up, they are given far smaller supporting roles here, as we are introduced to a new range of characters, most of which are sadly are underdeveloped and lack the charm of the original nerds. In spite of this, the usual silliness, predictability, and fades to black that carry on far too long, the film is still moderately entertaining, and there are quite a few songs that are amusing to listen to. It is not a very well made film, but it is engaging enough to keep one watching for the running time, even if it is far off the level of the first two entries in the series.

I don't know what compelling reason there was to make this movie in the first place. If it was trying to cash in on the success of the 1984 original (and the 1987 sequel, to a lesser extent), Fox would have put it in theatres. Then again, maybe that was the original idea. This wouldn't be the first film to simply go direct to TV and video when they studio decided not to waste time with a theatrical release.The movie itself just isn't very funny. It's a rehash of the events in the first movie, but doesn't have the raunchy edge of that film, nor does it have the peculiar but undeniable heart that actually gave the original some emotional punch. Comparing the scene at the pep rally there and the finale here in court is kind of comparing a small diamond to a big piece of broken glass.The new nerds also aren't very interesting, and Gregg Binkley tries hard but doesn't have the weird watchable quality that Robert Carradine does. If you'll look closely the credits list "Chi" in the cast; that's Chi McBride, playing Malcolm Pennington III, and giving almost no indication that he'd emerge as a terrific actor (and certainly none that he'd be the breakthrough star on BOSTON PUBLIC, playing Steven Harper).One thing that sort of caught my attention was the way the nerds here kept making implicit references to other minority groups. When Lewis refuses to help his cousin and other persecuted nerds, he's labeled "a self-hating nerd." Another character says they need "as many nerds in power as they can get." And when a character admits at the film's end that he's a secret nerd, he says "It feels great to come out of the closet!" The point seems to be that being a nerd is like being black, gay, Jewish, female, from another country, what have you. It's a strange point.The film has another actor play Gilbert near the end, as Anthony Edwards followed up on his very brief role in the 2nd movie by not appearing here at all. He didn't appear in part 4 either, and III came out a few years before he broke through on ER. Didn't like seeing someone else play his role, but it fit this misshapen, boring film.There is one great line here. When Lewis and wife Betty ask the local college DJ to broadcast in the name of nerd freedom, the DJ stands up and says, "There's no greater friend to the nerd, than the American DJ. If we weren't all nerds ourselves, we'd all be on television." It's such a good line that it overlooks that most college radio stations have so little listening range that the DJ might be the only person who gets the message.

i shouldn't even be wasting my time offering my opinion on this movie. i watched it for the first time this week on cable, and it was pure crap. it's hard to believe someone got paid to write this movie. all they did was discuss scenes from the first installment, which i happen to think is one of the funniest movies of all time. don't bother with this one.