It’s party time! It’s excellent! The 1992 comedic gem WAYNE’S WORLD is the gift that keeps on giving. I already wrote about WAYNE’S WORLD last year and this is still a 100% comfort movie through and through. I was there when the movie originally opened in 1992 (on Valentine’s Day, no less) and it was a wonderful theatrical experience as a pre-teen. At that point my only experience with Wayne’s World was a few Saturday Night Live skits and a terrific MTV Movie Awards appearance that hooked me as a fan. Still to this day no SNL movie has surpassed this one with a terrific concept taken to theatrical heights, and it still holds up so well decades later, finding new fans along the way.
About the 4k disc:
WOW, where to begin? Paramount re-released WAYNE’S WORLD on Blu Ray earlier this year in a very nice Steelbook case, but sadly it only included the older, original Blu Ray which had a pretty disappointing 16×9 “full frame” transfer of the movie yet still including the “legacy” bonus features from the DVD. I was hoping that this movie would get another updated release, and here we are with a wonderful transfer that will please anyone who is a fan of this movie.
This 4k, HDR10, Dolby Vision transfer is one of the very best examples of a full on restoration. In its proper 1.85 aspect ratio, the 35mm photography really shines here with strong colours, film grain and just that overall 35mm look and feel. This also shows quite a few of the softness and focus in some darker shots, but is inherent of the original photography and not a fault of the transfer. This blows the 16×9 “full frame” Blu Ray out of the water in terms of sharpness and color detail. Having seen the movie on laserdisc, DVD and now the older Blu Ray, I have seen this movie’s look change so much over the years, and it’s wonderful to have it back as close as possible to how I saw it theatrically. Great job here, Paramount.
The Dolby Atmos track also impresses with, from what I can tell, a fully cleaned up soundtrack. There are also a few instances where re-mixed audio from the original theatrical release was restored back to its original form, including an infamous remixing of the Stairway to Heaven riff, which is now back in its original form. The sound is so clear that I even picked up a few new nuggets of dialogue in the Alice Cooper backstage that I never picked up on before (one bit I liked is when I overheard someone claim they “Must be locals” even though Wayne & Garth are from Chicago).
The extras are the same here on the 4k disc, and they’re very good ones, including a fun Penelope Spherris commentary track and some older documentaries. There’s also an Apple TV copy that is now 4k/HDR (and if you already had it in your library, it should automatically upgrade). If I only had one quibble is that this great 4k release should also come in an available Steelbook edition to look even better on the shelf, and the artwork is a bit different from the much preferred original poster artwork. All this aside, I’m thrilled to see the movie restored and available for more fans to discover.
WAYNE’S WORLD is now available on 4k Blu Ray and congratulations to Paramount for such an excellent release. Thanks to Paramount PR for sending along a copy for review.