Asphinctersayswhat (Wayne's World (DVD))

Member Name: utero

Product:	Wayne's World (DVD)
Date:	21/07/03 (502 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Re-watchable, Funny, Good Transfer

Disadvantages: Meager extras

In the US there is a Saturday Night TV tradition known as Saturday Night Live. It's a topical comedy sketch show with guest hosts and guest stars. Over the years it has launched the careers of many stars such as Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, John Belushi.... the list goes on. Characters from the show have gone on to have movie adaptations. Some of them modest successes but most of them complete failures. Wayne's World and it's sequel are exceptions as they're funny and don't appeal outside of their in-built audience.

Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) are two slackers with a late night public access TV show on the local cable network. Their show is seen by a hot TV exec (Rob Lowe) and soon he's offering the duo big bucks to do the show for a big TV network. Wayne and Garth can't believe their 'excellent' luck but soon find the road to fame is long and filled with pitfalls that will test their friendship. Will Wayne win the affections of rock goddess Cassandra (Tia Carrere) and will Garth finally speak to the dream girl in the doughnut shop. This is Wayne's World, it's party time-excellent!

This movie is funny primarily due to the comedy timing of Myers and Carvey. Together their characters are amusing and play off each very well. Not only that but the film has many moments of comic genius as well as moments that are very memorable. No one will ever forget the head banging scene that accompanies Queens 'Bohemian Rhapsody' or the moment when they meet Alice Cooper backstage and he educates them on Native American history. The film is played out incredibly tongue in cheek and there are loads of parodies on other movies and TV shows. Its one of those movies where you can dip into certain moments but it's also one of those movies that you'll happily watch every time it appears on TV.

Waynes World was a huge hit on VHS video so naturally it
's DVD release would attract a lot of buyers looking to upgrade their copy. Sadly the film is produced by Paramount Pictures who sadly aren't the best mainstream studio when it comes to DVD product. While other studios realize that back catalogue can be a good money spinner when titles are given a good treatment, Paramount instead attempt the bare minimum.

The film is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The transfer is up to Paramount's good standard in video transfer. The film was never the most stunning looking movie out there but it's a good sharp picture with very little in the way of print dirt etc. Some of it is a bit soft but this is probably due to the look of the film more than anything. The films also been given a Dolby Digital 5.1 re-mix but it follows the general rule of comedy film soundtracks. There's very little in rear effects and generally it's used for the music. The soundtrack gives off a good experience although this is the kind of film that I'd probably not even crank up the home cinema system for. The experience is still the same without it.

Special mention must go to the menus, they come in the form of the menu screens for the Aurora cable TV series so you get various channels with some amusing names, It's a bit slow at times but the idea is nice and a decent alternative to the overblown animated menus you see on a lot of discs.

Extras wise we first come to an audio commentary with the films director Penelope Spheeris. This is an entertaining track as Spheeris is an engaging commentator. She doesn't go into the technical side of things but instead she recounts the on-set stories and experiences. It's an entertaining listen from someone who seems to have had a good time making the movie.

Next is 'Extreme Close-Up', a 23-minute featurette that has interviews with all the major players such as Myers, Carvey, Rob Lowe. It?s not a bad little feature as we get
the story about how the film came about and how the characters came to be in the first place. There's no behind the scenes footage of note but then this isn't a 'made for TV' special either.

Finally you get the theatrical trailer.

But this disc is still a wasted opportunity. I would have loved a Myers commentary with Carvey as well. Myers has no problem with doing commentaries on the Austin Powers discs so I'm sure he wouldn't have had a problem doing on for the movie that really launched him. There's also zero footage of the Wayne's World segments that appeared on Saturday Night Live. This would have been a nice idea and a great addition. But still there's always the chance of a money grabbing re-release!

This aside Wayne's World on DVD is a good purchase for fans of the film. It can be picked up online for under a tenner at most online retailers, for this price it makes an 'excellent' buy.

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