It all started good with an alien craft crash, military "cover up" and the typical American high schools clichés. The jock needs to find a science project really quick to graduate, there are 2 nerds and the crazy science professor.But then it fell apart.The president requests his military scientists to destroy a crashed alien craft. WTF?"I need a science project. Oh wait, I am going to break into to a military junkyard and find something." What a clever and sound idea!For your reading pleasure, here's a non comprehensive list of "hows" and "whys":Why the hell are the characters plugging the alien device to a battery for where nothing obvious gives them any clue to do so? Why choose to detonate an electric pylon (and black out the city) after stealing dynamite when you can simply cut the power at the fuse box? Why is the nerd able to fight like Chuck Norris? How are these kids used to M16 and their grenade launcher. Why is the main character using the grenade launcher against the dinosaur in last resort (perhaps he was not used to it after all :-))? How can they defeat a gladiator with their bare hands? How can they steal a police car so easily (with a shotgun inside). Why are the M16 fitted with unlimited ammos? Why are the viet congs armed with M16s?How can the GTO be faster than the speed of light? It overtakes the electric surge on the wires so that they can tape the dynamite on the pylon and then set it off. When a car is at maximum revs in top gear, activating boost will only destroy the drive train and/or the engine. It won't go any faster. Why is the car breaking down because of the alien device when they are on the road and why can it be fixed in the garage when the alien device is right next to it?The list of "hows" and "whys" goes on and on... I don't even want to address the little prick played by Fisher Stevens. Sighs...A waste of time unless you want to laugh at all nonsensical stuff that's packed in 1 hour 30 minutes or unless you want to see the "hows" and "whys" for yourself.

High school student Michael Harlan (John Stockwell) is a kid with a fairly narrow focus: he's a car junkie. His girl dumps him because she thinks he spends more time tinkering with cars than with her. To get his science teacher Bob Roberts (Dennis Hopper) off his back, Mike scours a local military junkyard for any piece of junk that he can pass off as a science project. Well, the item that he steals is no ordinary junk: it was discovered back in the 1950s and is apparently an alien device that can create time-space warps. When Mike, his buddy Vince (Fisher Stevens), and Bob start messing around with the thing, an immense amount of havoc ensues as the high school is inundated with characters and animals from the past and a possible future.Debuting director Jonathan R. Betuel, who'd written "The Last Starfighter", does alright with this first feature. It doesn't display *that* much imagination (we get cavemen, mutants, and a dinosaur, but not that much more), but it does have some good energy. Nicely shot in 2.35:1, it gets off to a solid start, and the characters are amusing to watch. Stockwell is likable in his first top billed role (after playing the best friend to car junkie Keith Gordon in "Christine"), and Danielle von Zerneck is appealing as his leading lady. Stevens, and Raphael Sbarge as the nerdy Sherman, are very much playing stereotypes, but they do give the roles 100%. The adult actors are largely wasted - Barry Corbin as Mikes' dad, Ann Wedgeworth as the dads' new wife, Richard Masur (who gets to be broader than usual) as a detective. The true standout performance in "My Science Project" comes from Hopper, who's perfectly cast as the former hippie who's all too happy to relive his protest filled youth. Robert DoQui, Michael Berryman, Pamela Springsteen, and an uncredited Al Leong all have small roles.The music by Peter Bernstein is appropriate, the visual effects are well done overall (especially that dinosaur, the work of Doug Beswicks' team), and there are some funny lines here and there. All in all, the movie is juvenile, silly, and ridiculous, but it does do a respectable job of entertaining its audience. Stevens's line (used as my summary), when asked why he's wearing shades indoors, is truly a howler.Seven out of 10.

Michael and Ellie break into a military junkyard to find a science project for Michael's class, and discover a strange glowing orb which absorbs electricity. When the orb begins to blend past, present, and future, its up to Michael and Ellie to stop the orb and save mankind......Fisher Stevens is a fun screen presence, John Stockwell isn't, that's why I would have rather have had Stevens in the central role, rather than Cletus the slack jawed yokel.And its easy to see why this film vanished without a trace, unlike similar films like BTTF, because that film was consistent fun, whereas this film doesn't get going until the final twenty minutes, when it's admittedly fun.But you have to get through a whole hour of mundane narrative, and predictable stereotypes to get there. We know the girl with the glasses will end up with Stockwell, we know Stevens will be the best thing in the film, and yes, the makers decided to keep Hopper out of the film for the majority of it, and bring him back in his Easy Rider garb.Its a shame, because it is a wonderful concept, but it should have been more family orientated, because it's too immature for its target demographic.

Sadly, My Science Project was a very big risk that seems to transcend it's teen film genre. While people will cite better time-travel themed movies like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Back o the Future, this one will certainly stand on its own due to the Twilight Zone quality of it. Great visuals, great idea, and the story didn't try to insult it's audience by making the story painfully obvious. I especially liked Mike's character, a kind of good guy that was a diamond stuck in the pond scum. Unfortunately, his entire performance was stepped on by Fisher Steven's over the top performance. Dennis Hopper made a perfect cameo performance that really fit his bi-polar acting style.While this film won't be considered one of the elite teen films of the 1980s like The Breakfast Club, Bill and Ted, River's Edge, Say Anything, Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but it will fit comfortably with the silver medalists of that area, much like Can't Buy Me love, The Wraith and Three O'Clock High. A great film for teen movie aficionados.