Hollywood has made plenty of movies which would really appeal to a college going student. College movies have an undeniable appeal, regardless of whether or not you’ve ever been to college or don’t intend to go.
Here is the full list of the best college movies to get yourself pumped about starting the best years of your life. It would be easy to rattle off a list of movies that happen to take place on a college campus.
These college movies show off some of the most amusing, inspiring, and downright accurate elements of college life. See what college movies have the best memory in film history as some of the greatest movies of all-time.
Table of Contents
Real Genius
Real Genius is a 1985 science fiction comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge. The film’s screenplay was written by Neal Israel, Pat Proft, and Peter Torokvei. The film received positive reviews from critics. Real Genius was released on August 9, 1985, in 990 theaters grossing $2.5 million in its first weekend. It grossed $12,952,019 at the United States and Canadian box office.
The film is set on the campus of Pacific Tech, a science and engineering university similar to Caltech. Chris Knight (Kilmer) is a genius in his senior year working on a chemical laser. Mitch Taylor (Jarret) is a new student on campus who is paired up with Knight to work on the laser.
Release Date: August 7, 1985
Director: Martha Coolidge
Music By: Thomas Newman
Language: English
Country: United States
Running Time: 108 minutes (1h 48m)
Back to School
Back to School is a 1986 American comedy film. It was directed by Alan Metter. The film’s screenplay was written by Steven Kampmann, Will Porter, Peter Torokvei, and Harold Ramis. The film received mainly positive reviews from critics, and is the 6th highest-grossing film of 1986, as well as the second highest grossing comedy film of the year, behind “Crocodile” Dundee.
The plot centers on a wealthy but uneducated father (Dangerfield) who goes to college to show solidarity with his discouraged son (Jason) and learns that he cannot buy an education or happiness. The University of Wisconsin–Madison was used as a backdrop for the movie, although it was called “Grand Lakes University.”
Release Date: 13 June 1986
Director: Alan Metter
Music By: Danny Elfman
Language: English
Country: United States
Running Time: 96 minutes (1h 36m)
College
College is a 2008 comedy starring Drake Bell, Andrew Caldwell, and Kevin Covais and directed by the first-time director Deb Hagan. The film’s screenplay was written by Dan Callahan and Adam Ellison. The film was released on Labor Day weekend August 29, 2008, in 2,123 theaters. It made US$2.6 million over the Labor Day weekend.
This is a comedy film about three high school students who have a wild weekend trip in the college as prospective fresh students. Many of the scenes of the actors at the university are filmed on the campus of Tulane University in New Orleans and Grace King High School in Metairie on January 2007.
Release Date: August 29, 2008
Director: Deb Hagan
Music By: Transcenders
Language: English
Country: United States
Running Time: 94 minutes (1h 34m)
Higher Learning
Higher Learning is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by John Singleton and starring an ensemble cast. “Higher Learning,” John Singleton’s caustic film about the racial and sexual prejudices that color life on a microcosmic college campus, turns out to be an inadvertent example of the same small-mindedness it deplores. This drama examines the personal, political, and racial dilemmas facing a group of college freshmen as they begin their first semester at Columbus University.
The film follows the changing lives of three incoming freshmen at the fictional Columbus University: Malik Williams (Omar Epps) – a black track star who struggles with academics, Kristen Connor (Kristy Swanson) – a shy and naive girl, and Remy (Michael Rapaport) – a lonely and confused man seemingly out of place in his new environment. The exterior shots and outdoor scenes were shot on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) while the interiors were shot at Sony Pictures Studios.
Release Date: January 11, 1995
Director: John Singleton
Music By: Stanley Clarke
Language: English
Country: United States
Running Time: 127 minutes (2h 8m)
The Perfect Score
The Perfect Score is a 2004 American teen comedy-heist film directed by Brian Robbins. The film’s screenplay was written by Marc Hyman, Jon Zack, and Mark Schwahn. The film opened in 2,208 theaters and grossed $4.8 million, making for a $2,207 per-theater average.
The film focuses on a group of six high school students whose futures will be jeopardized if they fail the upcoming SAT exam. They conspire to break into the ETS building and steal the answers to the exam, so they can all get perfect scores. The film deals with the themes of one’s future, morality, individuality, and feelings.
Release Date: January 30, 2004
Director: Brian Robbins
Music By: John Murphy
Language: English
Country: United States
Running Time: 93 minutes (1h 33m)
Rudy
Rudy is a 1993 American biographical sports film directed by David Anspaugh. The film was released on October 15, 1993, by TriStar Pictures. The script was written by Angelo Pizzo, who created Hoosiers (1986), which was also directed by Anspaugh. The film was shot in Illinois and Indiana.
It is an Inspiring sports film about a real-life underdog. It is an account of the life of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles. It was the first film that the Notre Dame administration allowed to be shot on campus since Knute Rockne, All American in 1940.
Release Date: October 15, 1993
Director: David Anspaugh
Music Director: Jerry Goldsmith
Language: English
Country: United States
Running Time: 116 minutes (1h 56m)
PCU (Port Chester University)
PCU is a 1994 film directed by Hart Bochner and written by Adam Leff & Zak Penn. The film is about college life at the fictional Port Chester University and based on the experiences of Leff and Penn at Eclectic Society at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. With a budget of $8 million, it grossed $2,129,483 on opening weekend contributing to a final domestic total of $4,330,020.
The 1994 comedy PCU told the tale of an incoming freshman touring his future college campus and making enemies out of all of the school’s divided cliques, with the exception of the party-loving Jeremy Piven and his underlings at “The Pit.” The film was dismissed at the time as an Animal House knockoff but has become a cult classic over the years.
Release Date: 29 April 1994
Director: Hart Bochner
Music Director: John Murphy
Language: English
Country: United States
Running Time: 80 minutes (1h 20m)
Old School
Old School is a 2003 American comedy film released by DreamWorks Pictures and The Montecito Picture Company and directed by Todd Phillips. The story was written by Court Crandall, and the film was written by Phillips and Scot Armstrong. The film was filmed in and around La Crescenta, California. Filming locations included Palisades High School, UCLA, USC and Harvard University.
The film stars Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and Will Ferrell as three depressed thirty-something who seek to re-live their college days by starting a fraternity, and the tribulations they encounter in doing so. A trio of twenty something buddies tries to recapture the outrageous, irrepressible fun of their college years by starting their own off-campus frat house. Mitch, Frank, and Beanie have all reached a crossroads in their lives. They can choose to be responsible adults, with wives, families and steady jobs–or they can postpone adulthood in favor of the reckless abandon of frat house living with all the fun and none of the education.
Release Date: 13 February 2003
Director: Todd Phillips
Music Director: Theodore Shapiro
Language: English
Country: United States
Running Time: (1h 33m)
Accepted
Accepted is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Steve Pink and written by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, and Mark Perez. The story takes place in Wickliffe and a fictitious college town called Harmon in Ohio. Filming took place in Los Angeles and Orange in California at Chapman University. This film was later remade in Bollywood as F.A.L.T.U starring Jackky Bhagnani.
The plot follows a group of high school graduates who create their own fake college after being rejected from the colleges to which they applied. A high school slacker who’s rejected by every school he applies to opts to create his own institution of higher learning, the South Harmon Institute of Technology, on a rundown piece of property near his hometown.
Release Date: 18 August 2006
Director: Steve Pink
Music Director: David Schommer
Language: English
Country: United States
Running Time: 93 minutes (1h 33m)
Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting is a 1997 American drama film produced by Lawrence Bender. The film grossed over US$225 million during its theatrical run, from a $10 million budget. The film grossed over US$225 million during its theatrical run, from a $10 million budget. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture, and won two: Best Supporting Actor for Williams and Best Original Screenplay for Affleck and Damon.
Written by Affleck and Damon, the film follows 20-year-old South Boston laborer Will Hunting, an unrecognized genius who, as part of a deferred prosecution agreement after assaulting a police officer, becomes a client of a therapist and studies advanced mathematics with a renowned professor. Through his therapy sessions, Will re-evaluates his relationships with his best friend, his girlfriend, and himself, facing the significant task of confronting his past and thinking about his future.
Release Date: 2 December 1997
Director: Gus Van Sant
Music Director:
Language: English
Country: United States
Running Time: 126 minutes (2h 6m)
