Wayne's World: The Complete Epic

-Paramount

Summary:

Do you really watch Wayne's World for the plot? Okay, if you're curious in the first film Wayne gets girl, Wayne loses girl, then Wayne gets girl back. In the second film, Wayne is already with girl, Wayne loses girl, then Wayne gets girl back.

My Thoughts:

It's a shame that Wayne's World appears to be falling into the dust bin of forgotten movies. There’s no question that they're becoming dated, but there are still plenty of laughs left in these two discs. Yes, I am biased. I loved both films when I was in high school. I know that the material is juvenile, but poor Wayne doesn't deserve to die such a lingering death.

Wayne's World is based upon a Saturday Night Live skit staring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey. The two are rocker kids that host a cable access show in Wayne's Mom's basement. The skits were rather funny and pretty popular when I was middle-school to high-school age, and when these films came out they were a pretty big hit. A lot of humor is pretty dumb in both films, often going for the almost "why did the chicken cross the road?" sort of  jokes. However these really lame bits of humor are buffered by a lot of jokes that work.

Out of the two films Wayne's World 2 is a little more refined than the first outing of Wayne and Garth. On the other hand, the first film retains almost the same quality, but stays a lot stronger through the end. Wayne’s World 2 sort of peters out as it moves along, although the cameo by Charlton Heston is one of the best cameos I've seen.

Out of the many horrible elements of the first film I'd have to highlight Tia Carrere singing. She's not an overly bad singer, but they give her the worst songs that are supposed to be the next best thing to the Beatles. I wish filmmakers would get the hint that if the song isn't catchy in real life, it sure as hell won't work in the movie. What’s funny is that in Wayne's World 2 her part has been trimmed down to nearly absent. Most of the film is all Wayne and Garth goofing around. When we do get to see the big time rock star, there are no scenes where she is actually singing. I'm guessing that the film makers learned their lesson the first time.

And last but not least, Christopher Walken is Wayne's World 2… Christopher Walken! Any movie that is graced by Mr. Walken is a must see, unfortunately in Wayne's World 2 he's underutilized. I think the movie would have been a lot funnier if they had given him some better lines.

Extras:

Both DVDs are in widescreen, and are actually recorded in Dolby 5.1. Now, they're practically full-screen, and there isn't very much incentive to watch a comedy like Wayne's in surround sound, but it's nice to have.

Both titles include trailers and it’s pretty funny to see how the movies were marketed at the time. 

The best extra content is the Extreme Close-Up featurettes. Each relates to its respective title and they are both humorous and well worth watching.

The motion menus are really great. I won't say why because I don't want to ruin their uniqueness, but a lot more thought has been put into them than I had expected.

The director's commentary for first film is interesting, but nothing spectacular. You get to hear a lot about the history of Saturday Night Live, because Penelope Spheeris is an old friend of Lorne Michaels. Other than that its pretty standard fare.

The commentary for Wayne's World 2 by Stephen Surjik was completely boring.

It's a big regret that they couldn't get Dana Carvey and Mike Myers to do either one of the commentaries. It sure as hell would be a lot more entertaining to watch.

SCORE:

Films:

Wayne's World: 8

Wayne's World 2: 8

Extras: 7.5

Edition: 8

-Paul