Who let Wayne and Garth out? The wild party boys have arrived on DVD with gushing enthusiasm in tact. Wayne's World is a home grown basement talk show hosted by a pair of Aurora, Illinois dorks, Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar.
    The heart of the flick is the zany cable show itself and there simply is not enough of it. Skit based from Saturday Night Live, this is one time that the film focus should not have strayed too far from home. Wayne's World is liveliest in its natural basement environment or even when the show breaks out into a big time studio recreation. Expanding the world with a drizzling romance, which happily showcases a young, hot Tia Carrere, doesn't provide the same level of laughter you expect after the initial introduction to the goofy buddies. Their airplane butt-gazing excursions are worth ten minutes of any flaccid romantic comedy.

The suck-cut came before Oreck. ©Paramount

    The comedy is goofy, spoofy, loose and free. Sometimes it even feels like a mockumentary. The hit and miss style of dialogue works fine when it's frenetic. You can lose lines in a rush of hilarity. 
    Mike Myers is so far over the top he's looking at you through the bottom, but what would you expect. Myers makes an entertaining and even sometimes endearing Wayne Campbell. Dana Carvey has got to wipe that smirk off his face as Garth Algar. Garth is dork spelled differently and Carvey is milquetoast funny in the role. Rob Lowe has a lot of fun in the role of the slick, handsome, cunning television producer Ben Oliver. He really has a way with the walk. And Tia Carrere can belt out a rock number while swinging her hips quite nicely.
    Penelope Spheeris turns out to be an outstanding choice as director. Spheeris, whose experience making The Decline of Western Civilization, a heavy metal rock doc, led producer friend Lorne Michaels to believe her understanding of the music would lead her to an understanding of the world they wanted to create. Sounds like Wayne's logic to me, but it worked. Her timing and pacing is outstanding. Little stands still on the Wayne's World timetable. Spheeris' shoot on the fly documentary experience was tuned to the tight short production schedule as well.
     Transferring from pristine source material, Paramount delivers Wayne's World to DVD in an explosion of carnival colors. Intense reds, shocking blues and eye-popping shades of green maintain their individual space immaculately. Blacks have a beautiful range; they glisten at night reflecting the bright party lights of the heavy metal bar. Talk about theatrical punch, Wayne's World pops off the screen with terrific contrast range. Interior is varied lighting situations reveal background details perfectly. Image is consistently sharp with no evident artificial enhancement. You'll catch the twinkle in Garth's eye. The Dolby Digital 5:1 surround mix is very good. Excellent directionality and front stage depth adds the last dimension to bringing Wayne's World to life on DVD.
     Penelope Spheeris delivers an excellent and candid audio commentary accompanying the film. Spheeris is having fun remembering the experience. Her initial comments include information about the origins of the show and the skits. Spheeris wanted to keep Wayne's World close enough to reality. Her laughter is infectious. It's like she time warps back into Wayne's World. The retrospective look at the film provides the definitive answer to who wrote the line "I'll have the Cream of Sum Yung Goi." You guessed it folks, it was an ad lib that slid effortlessly from the tongue of Mike Myers.

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