The ’90s Sci-Fi Comedy Is A Must-See Disaster On Streaming

Bio-Dome wastes no time establishing its protagonists’ backstories, and we’re quickly introduced to Bud “Squirrel” Macintosh (Pauly Shore), and Doyle “Stubs” Johnson (Stephen Baldwin). Bud and Doyle are your typical Gen-X stoner burnouts with disproportionately attractive environmentalist girlfriends.

Having both been dumped by their girlfriends, Jen and Monique, for blowing off yet another environmental awareness event, the duo sets off on a road trip, but has to take a necessary pit-stop to relieve their bladders.

This pit-stop sets the rest of plot in motion because Bud and Doyle mistake a soon-to-be-active Bio-Dome experiment for a mall bathroom and get locked inside.

Led by Dr. Noah Faulkner (William Atherton), the proposed experiment is supposed to be a self-contained ecosystem designed to maintain homeostasis in a controlled environment for an entire year.

Since this is a Pauly Shore movie, the experiment goes terribly wrong because of Bud and Doyle’s poor judgment and lack of situational awareness, which is par for the course.

Though Faulkner doesn’t want to re-open the Bio-Dome doors to let Bud and Doyle back out into the real world, and insists that doing so will compromise the entire project, he quickly has a change of heart after they wreck most of the experiments with their careless antics anyway.

After trying to hook up with the female scientists and eating through most of the food supply that was only meant to feed the researchers inside, Pauly Shore’s character finds a secret room full of junk food and canisters of laughing gas.

After getting recklessly intoxicated on the crew’s medical supplies and destroying the room, Bud and Doyle are banished to the desert region of the Bio-Dome, where they stay for three days.

On the third day, Bud and Doyle discover a hidden key that allows them to break out, and they find out that their ex-girlfriends are attending a university party full of environmentalists.

Since we’re operating with Pauly Shore logic, Bud and Doyle decide to throw a party inside the Bio-Dome in a misguided attempt to win the affection of Jen and Monique.

The party goes off without a hitch, but destroys any semblance of sustainability, ruining the meticulously constructed ecosystem that took years to create.

The third act of Bio-Dome is rife with conflict when Faulkner snaps and goes into hiding after his experiment is ruined.

Meanwhile, Bud and Doyle round up the remaining crew of scientists, determined to right the wrongs they committed.

Since Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin are portraying stoned slackers, they of course propose growing large swaths of “purple sticky punch,” because of its rapid rate of “photosynenthesis.”

Believe it or not, Bio-Dome earned $13.4 million at the box office against its reported budget of $8.5 million.

But on the critical front, this Pauly Shore movie was annihilated by critics, receiving an abysmal four percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s worth noting, however, that audience scores are a little more favorable, and currently sit at 51 percent.

In other words, Bio-Dome has a very specific audience in mind, and has since become a cult film that’s adored by fans of irreverent stoner comedies.

But perhaps the best part about Bio-Dome is that it marks the first on-screen appearance of Jack Black and Kyle Gas in the form of Tenacious D belting out a passionate and blistering jam about the importance of saving trees.

Though this cameo is short and sweet, the proof of concept was established, and it would only take a few years for Tenacious D to become the successful mainstream musical comedy duo that’s still active to this day. If you think about it, Pauly Shore is indirectly responsible for helping launch the band’s career.

Despite its poor critical reception, Bio-Dome is a highly quotable film whether you like it or not. From Pauly Shore coming to the disappointing realization that Black Sabbath didn’t write the Spider-Man theme, to

Stephen Baldwin’s iconic story about the great chipmunk fire of 1979, you’ll find yourself in admiration of the audacity that Bio-Dome fearlessly delivers to its audience.