A great opportunity to pick up this classic SNL film if you don't already own it, complete with a new collectible steelbook!
“Wayne’s World celebrates 30 years with this limited edition (shwing!) steelbook. The party-on movie of the ‘90s never gets old with its rockin’ tunes, radical babes and your excellent hosts, Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey), making their big-screen debut in this hysterical send-up of pop culture. Directed by Penelope Spheeris (Suburbia) and featuring Rob Lowe, Tia Carrere and (we’re not worthy!) Alice Cooper.”
Considered one of the most successful SNL based films of all time, Wayne’s World expands upon a simple premise of a sketch: a couple of loser metal-heads with a cable-access television show they put on out of the parent’s basement. That sketch, which normally commentated on pop culture at the time in all sorts of ways, including numbered ‘top lists’, was the source of the majority of the comedy on the show. To have that expanded in such a way as to create a film was indeed impressive, a credit to Mike Myers and the other writers, for creating a film that has stood the test of time.
The cast of the early ‘90s of SNL is probably one of my favorites, as I discovered the show probably around that time and watched many reruns on Comedy Central. So many hilarious and memorable sketches were created during those seasons, with one of my favorite cast members, Dana Carvey, at the helm of a lot of them. With Wayne’s World, the collaboration between Dana Carvey and Mike Myers was often brilliant, though I know that my personal preference was to Garth over Wayne, as his idiocy had such an innocence to it, that whenever he wasn’t mumbling or following Wayne’s lead, the character was genuinely very funny and relatable.
The film tells a simple, yet entertaining story, of a questionable producer who wants to use Wayne and Garth and their show in order to ‘sell out’ and have sponsorships, interviews with investors, you know, the ‘evil’ types of things that producers do to ensure shows make money. Seeing the film after so many years the antagonist in the film, Rob Lowe’s character Ben Oliver, doesn’t really seem like that bad of a guy honestly. He gets them both paid, opens their show to a gigantic market, and even offers to help his girlfriend shoot a music video. He might have had hopes of driving them apart, but never really actively does anything that bad to try. Despite this, what that generation loathed more than anything was a sell-out, and that’s what Ben forced Wayne and Garth to do, and we should all hate him for it. Other than a potentially realistic world-view opinion on the antagonist as a now older viewer, there are some really great sequences that still hold up. The music, the breaking of the fourth wall to talk directly to the camera, as well as all the cameos that show up; these are what keep Wayne’s World relevant, to the generation at the time anyway.
Wayne’s World may have very well defined a generation, but that generation has grown up. While going back and watching the film, there were pop culture references that were extremely dated, that I imagined if a teen had been watching this today, would have not understood 90% of the film. Wayne and crew stopping at a traffic light, rolling down the window asking if the old white guy has any Grey Poupon is funny if you lived in the ‘80s, but kids today would just think they’re psychotic. It’s small things like this that leaves me to think that Wayne’s World will be a hit while our generation is alive and kicking, but may be forgotten to the annals of comedy history once we’re gone. That being said, we’re not gone yet, so party on and celebrate 30 years with Wayne and Garth!
Video
Wayne’s World is presented in 1080p High-Definition Widescreen 1.78:1. There isn’t much to say about this transfer, as it’s the same as the previous Blu-ray release. It’s an improvement over any DVD transfer, but still lacks a lot of the clarity and fine detail that a new scan of the master would have yielded. It’s a shame that there is so special treatment for the anniversary edition.
Audio
The audio is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and again, the same as the previous release. The mix is good, with a nice balance between the surrounds and center channel. All of the music in particular has a deep and powerful sound to it.
Special Features
The only new thing for this edition is the collectible steelbook for the 30th anniversary, which is about identical to the original release except for the movie quotes adoring the cover. That, and it’s a steelbook, which is all that matters for some collectors out there.
- Commentary by Director Penelope Spheeris
- Wayne’s World Extreme Close-Up: Exclusive Cast & Crew Interviews
The 30th anniversary of Wayne’s World deserved more than a simple re-release, but here we are. For those that don’t already own the film, it’s a perfect opportunity to add it to your collection with a cool steelbook cover, and for those collectors out there, it’s a great starting price point for an otherwise pricey collectible! Out today!
