Wayne's World (film)

Wayne's World
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Penelope Spheeris
Produced by	Lorne Michaels
Screenplay by	Mike Myers Bonnie Turner Terry Turner
Based on	Wayne's World by Mike Myers
Starring	Mike Myers Dana Carvey Rob Lowe
Music by	J. Peter Robinson
Cinematography	Theo van de Sande
Edited by	Malcolm Campbell
Production company	NBC Films
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	February 14, 1992 (1992-02-14)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$183.1 million[1]

Wayne's World is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Penelope Spheeris and starring Mike Myers as Wayne Campbell and Dana Carvey as Garth Algar, hosts of the public-access television cable TV show Wayne's World. The film was adapted from a sketch of the same name on NBC's Saturday Night Live.^[2][3]

The film grossed US$121.6 million in its theatrical run, placing it as the tenth highest-grossing film of 1992 and the highest-grossing of the 11 films based on Saturday Night Live skits. It was filmed in 34 days.^[4]

Wayne's World was Myers' feature film debut. It also features Rob Lowe, Tia Carrere, Lara Flynn Boyle, Brian Doyle-Murray, Robert Patrick (spoofing his role in Terminator 2: Judgment Day), Chris Farley, Ed O'Neill, Ione Skye, Meat Loaf, and Alice Cooper. Wayne's World was released on February 14, 1992, and was a critical and commercial success. A sequel, Wayne's World 2, was released on December 10, 1993. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Wayne's World the 41st-greatest comedy film of all time.

Plot

In Aurora, Illinois, rock and roll fans Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar host a public-access television show, Wayne's World, from Wayne's parents' basement. Learning that the show is popular in the Aurora area, television producer Benjamin Kane offers to buy the rights for $10,000. Garth has doubts about the deal, but is too shy to say anything to Wayne; the pair therefore accept the offer.

Wayne and Garth attend a local night club, where they avoid Wayne's troubled ex-girlfriend Stacy. Wayne falls for Cassandra Wong, vocalist and bassist of the band Crucial Taunt, who are playing on stage. He impresses her with his Cantonese and purchases an expensive guitar he has long yearned for.

Benjamin attempts to steal Cassandra from Wayne using his wealth and good looks. He distracts Wayne and Garth with tickets to an Alice Cooper concert and offers Cassandra a role in a music video. At the concert, Wayne and Garth make the acquaintance of the bodyguard of Frankie Sharpe, producer of Sharpe Records.

During the filming of Wayne's World, Wayne and Garth find it difficult to adjust to the professional studio environment. Their contract obliges them to give a promotional interview to their sponsor Noah Vanderhoff, who owns a franchise of amusement arcades. After Wayne ridicules Vanderhoff with insulting notes written on the back of his question cards, he is fired from the show, causing a rift in his friendship with Garth. Jealous of Benjamin, Wayne attempts to prevent Cassandra from participating in the music video shoot; furious at his lack of trust, Cassandra breaks up with him.

Wayne makes up with Garth and forms a plan to win Cassandra back by having Sharpe hear Crucial Taunt play. While Garth and their friends infiltrate a satellite station with the aid of Benjamin's assistant Russell, Wayne goes to Cassandra's video shoot, where he embarrasses himself by failing to uncover Benjamin's ulterior motives. As he leaves, Cassandra changes her mind about Benjamin, Wayne apologizes to her, and they return to Aurora. They delay Benjamin's pursuit by having Garth's police officer friend perform a rectal search on him.

Broadcasting from Wayne's basement, Wayne's World successfully hacks into Sharpe's satellite television. As her performance ends, Sharpe and Benjamin converge on Wayne's basement. Sharpe decides not to offer Crucial Taunt a record contract, Cassandra breaks up with Wayne and departs with Benjamin for a tropical resort, Stacy confesses that she is carrying Wayne's child, and a fire burns down Wayne's house. Unsatisfied with this ending, Wayne and Garth reenact the scene, unmasking Benjamin as "Old Man Withers" in a "Scooby-Doo ending". They reenact it again in a "mega happy ending" in which Cassandra signs a record contract and reunites with Wayne, Russell learns that "platonic love can exist between two grown men", Garth begins a relationship with a waitress at the local diner, and Benjamin learns that money and looks do not bring happiness.

Cast

• Mike Myers as Wayne Campbell, host of Wayne's World
• Dana Carvey as Garth Algar, Wayne's co-host
• Tia Carrere as Cassandra Wong, singer and bassist of Crucial Taunt and Wayne's love interest
• Rob Lowe as Benjamin Oliver, a sleazy television producer
• Lara Flynn Boyle as Stacy, Wayne's troubled ex-girlfriend
• Michael DeLuise as Alan, one of Wayne and Garth's crew
• Lee Tergesen as Terry, Wayne and Garth's head cameraman
• Dan Bell as Neil, Wayne's and Garth's other crewman
• Sean Gregory Sullivan as Phil, Wayne and Garth's perpetually intoxicated friend who works at an auto repair shop
• Brian Doyle-Murray as Noah Vanderhoff, a video arcade magnate
• Colleen Camp as Mrs. Vanderhoff
• Kurt Fuller as Russell Finley, Benjamin's assistant
• Chris Farley as the well-informed security guard at the back of Alice Cooper concert
• Meat Loaf as Tiny, a doorman at the Gasworks
• Frank DiLeo as rock promoter Frankie 'Mr. Big' Sharp
• Ed O'Neill as Glen, the manager at Stan Mikita's Donuts
• Mike Hagerty as Davey, a controller at the Cable 10 television station whom Benjamin and Russell ask for help
• Frederick Coffin as Officer Koharski
• Donna Dixon as Garth's dream woman
• Ione Skye as Elyse, Benjamin's girlfriend, who introduces him to Wayne's World
• Robin Ruzan as a waitress at Stan Mikita's
• Charles Noland as Ron Paxton, who tries to market his invention, the "Suck-Kut", to Garth
• Carmen Filpi as Old Man Withers
• Robert Patrick as Bad Cop, a parody of his T-1000 character in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• Alice Cooper with Pete Friesen, Derek Sherinian, Stef Burns,^[5] and Jimmy DeGrasso as themselves.

Production

Myers and Spheeris argued over the final cut of the film. Myers then blocked Spheeris from directing the 1993 sequel.^[6][7] He evidently got over this in later years, as the two have been together on recent panels such as one at the Oscars where Mike has praised her work on the film.

Reception

Wayne's World received mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 85% "Certified Fresh" rating based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10, with the critical consensus stating, "An oddball comedy that revels in its silliness and memorable catchphrases, Wayne's World is also fondly regarded because of its endearing characters".^[8] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 53 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[9]

Awards

American Film Institute recognition:

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs - Nominated^[10]
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • "Schwing!" - Nominated^[11]
  • "We're not worthy. We're not worthy." - Nominated^[11]
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs:
  • Bohemian Rhapsody - Nominated ^[12]

Box office

The movie was a box office success debuting at No.1.^[13][14] The film's final domestic gross was $121,697,323.^[15]

Effect on pop culture

Wayne's World AMC Pacer clone at Planet Hollywood in New York City

Filled with pop culture references, the sketches and film started catchphrases such as "Schwing!" and "Schyea", as well as popularizing "That's what she said", "Party on!" and the use of "Not!" after apparently affirmative sentences in order to state the contrary.^[16] The "not" joke's popularity saw a resurgence after its use in the 2006 mockumentary film Borat, and in 2010 Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of Near East East Affairs used a "not" joke in a classified email chain about Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar that was later released by Wikileaks.^[17]

The film frequently breaks the fourth wall, with Wayne, Garth, and others on occasion speaking directly to the audience and even the cameraman. Parts of the story are carried by Wayne's narration to the camera, in which he offers his thoughts on what's happening in the film. Wayne, Garth, Cassandra, Glen, and Ben all at times address the viewer, with some assumed dramatic irony as no one is aware that they are in a film.

Video games

In 1993, Wayne's World video games were released for the NES, Super NES, the Sega Genesis, and the Game Boy. The plot of the games differs from the film. In the Super NES and Mega Drive versions, the player controls Wayne as he goes on a mission throughout Aurora – visiting The Gas Works, Stan Mikita's, and Cassell's Music, the music store from the "No Stairway" scene, among other locations – to rescue Garth from inside the "Zantar the Gelatinous Cube" arcade game mentioned in the film.

An adventure game version of Wayne's World was released around the same time for DOS. The plot involves Wayne and Garth trying to raise money to save their show by holding a "pizza-thon".

In the beginning of the film, the Noah's Arcade commercial features Marble Zone and Starlight Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog playing behind Noah Vanderhoff, the owner of the Noah's Arcade franchise.

In addition, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned and Grand Theft Auto V feature a car based on the AMC Pacer named "Rhapsody" in reference to the famed scene from the film. In The Lost and Damned, if the player zooms in on the dashboard with the sniper rifle, they can see a pixelated photograph resembling Wayne and Garth.

Music

• The use of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the film propelled the song to #2 in Billboard singles charts 17 years after its first release. The soundtrack album reached number one on the Billboard album chart. The studio originally wanted to use a Guns N' Roses song for the scene, but Myers demanded "Bohemian Rhapsody", even threatening to quit the production unless it was used.^[18][19] Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, had died of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS a few months before the film's release.
• Gary Wright re-recorded "Dream Weaver" for the film; it is heard whenever Wayne looks at Cassandra.
• Tia Carrere sang all her own vocals on songs she performed in the film, and her cover songs, such as Sweet's "The Ballroom Blitz", were included on the film's soundtrack album.
• Myers originally wanted Alice Cooper's "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out" in the film, but Cooper's manager Shep Gordon convinced him to use "Feed My Frankenstein" instead. It was Myers' first meeting with Gordon and it made such a positive impression on him that they formed a friendship. Myers directed a 2014 documentary about Gordon, titled Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon.^[18]

See also

• Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches
• List of Saturday Night Live feature films

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Wayne's World

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wayne's World.

• Wayne's World at the Internet Movie Database
• Wayne's World at AllMovie
• Wayne's World at Rotten Tomatoes