Wayne’s World - Blu-ray Review

"It's Wayne's World, Wayne's World, party time, excellent!"

It’s party time on Blu-ray as Wayne and Garth broadcast from the basement, but this time in high definition – excellent! The iconic Saturday Night Live sketch proved so popular that it turned into a feature length film. A sphincter says what?

Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) are slackers who host the late-night cable access show called Wayne’s World (party time, excellent!) in Wayne’s parents basement. Television producer Benjamin Kane (Rob Lowe) finds out how many people watch the show and decides to buy it. He shows up in Wayne’s basement and offers the knuckleheads $10,000 to buy the show and they accept – though Garth thinks Wayne is selling out but it too shy to tell him about it. Meanwhile, Wayne has spotted Cassandra (Tia Carrere), a singer with the band Critical Taunt, and this threatens Wayne and Garth’s friendship. What’s also threatened is their show since Kane sets about to reinvent the show as well as steal away Cassandra. Wayne’s World is based on the Saturday Night Live skit that Myers and Carvey headlined. It would prove so popular that bringing it to the big screen seemed a no brainer. The film would become one of the biggest box office hits of 1992 and would spawn a tepid sequel (more on that in another review).

I guess it’s the goofball every-dude quality of the bumbling pals that appeals as well as the comedy. It would also make Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody top the charts again – Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, FOR ME! [Insert guitar riff here]. The jokes, and they are legion, can be hit or miss, but when they hit they hit big. It’s certainly a film that Hollywood has built upon the film’s innovations and comedy. In doing so the current crop of kids might see it as somewhat stale or tame since they’re more familiar with the films spawned by Wayne’s World, but this is the picture that inspired those other films. I guess what’s distressing is that more current special features were not produced for this high definition debut. I heard that Myers and Carvey did a Wayne’s World skit at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards and it’s a shame that it’s not included in this release. Oh well. Wayne’s World is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1). Special features include a commentary by director Penelope Spheeris. The 23 minute “Extreme Close-up” (standard definition) features cast and crew interviews. The 2 minute theatrical trailer (high definition) is also included. That’s all; it just seems like very little for one of the top box office earners of 1992. Wayne’s World is certainly a classic of its time and will bring back fond memories for those of us that lived through the 90s. Sadly, though it looks good on Blu-ray it wasn’t given much in the special features department as what’s featured was on the DVD release. A look back with Myers and Carvey would’ve been excellent. Schwing!