''Wayne's World'' is a 1992 American
comedy film
The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
directed by
Penelope Spheeris
Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945) is an American film director, film producer, producer, and screenwriter. She has directed both documentary film, documentary and scripted films. Her best-known works include the trilogy titled ''The Decl ...
. It was produced by
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...
and written by
Mike Myers
Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...
and
Bonnie and Terry Turner. Based on the
''SNL'' sketch by Myers, it stars Myers in his feature film debut as Wayne Campbell and
Dana Carvey
Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster, screenwriter and producer.
Carvey is best known for his seven seasons on ''Saturday Night Live'', from 1986 to 1993, which earned him five consecutive Pri ...
as Garth Algar, a pair of
rock and
heavy metal fans who broadcast a
public-access television show. It also features
Tia Carrere,
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and entertainment host. Following numerous television roles in the early 1980s, he came to prominence as a teen idol and member of the Brat Pack with starring roles in ...
,
Lara Flynn Boyle
Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is known for playing Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After appearing in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World (film), Wayne's World'' (1 ...
and
Brian Doyle-Murray in supporting roles, with cameos by
Chris Farley
Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. He was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' for fiv ...
,
Ed O'Neill,
Ione Skye
Ione Skye Lee (born September 4, 1970) is a British-American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller '' River's Edge'' (1986) before gaining mainstream exposure by starring in Cameron Crowe's '' Say Anything...'' (1989). She continued ...
,
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...
,
Robert Patrick and
Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
.
''Wayne's World'' was released in the United States on February 14, 1992, by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
. A critical and commercial success, it was the
tenth-highest-grossing film of 1992 and remains the highest-grossing
film based on a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch. A sequel, ''
Wayne's World 2
''Wayne's World 2'' is a 1993 American comedy film directed by Stephen Surjik and starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as hosts of a public-access television cable television show in Aurora, Illinois. The film is the sequel to ''Wayne's World'' ...
'', was released the following year.
Plot
In
Aurora, Illinois
Aurora is a city in northeastern Illinois, United States. It is located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River west of Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, second-most populous city in Illinois, with a popul ...
, rock music fans Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar host a
public-access television
Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...
show, ''Wayne's World'', from Wayne's parents' basement. A broadcast of ''Wayne's World'' catches the attention of television producer Benjamin Kane. While cruising with friends in Garth's car, the Mirthmobile, Wayne stops to admire a 1964
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...
in a shop window. They later go to a nightclub, where they avoid Wayne's troubled ex-girlfriend Stacy while Wayne falls for Cassandra Wong, vocalist and bassist of the band Crucial Taunt. Wayne learns
Cantonese
Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
to impress Cassandra at a later encounter.
Benjamin meets with Wayne and Garth to purchase the rights to the show for $5,000 each, which Wayne uses to buy the Stratocaster. Benjamin attempts to court Cassandra using his wealth and good looks, distracting Wayne and Garth with all-access tickets to an
Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
concert in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
while offering to produce a
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for Crucial Taunt. At the show, Wayne and Garth make the acquaintance of a bodyguard to music producer Frankie Sharp, head of Sharp Records.
While filming the revamped ''Wayne's World'' under Benjamin's oversight, Wayne and Garth find adjusting to the professional studio environment challenging. Their contract obliges them to give a promotional interview to their
sponsor, Noah Vanderhoff, who owns a franchise of
amusement arcade
An amusement arcade, also known as a video arcade, amusements, arcade, or penny arcade (an older term), is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, mercha ...
s. After Wayne ridicules Vanderhoff on the show, he is fired, leaving Garth to host the show himself. This infuriates Garth and jeopardizes their friendship. Jealous of the attention Benjamin is giving Cassandra, Wayne attempts to prevent her from participating in the Crucial Taunt music video shoot, and she breaks up with him for his distrust.
Wayne and Garth reconcile and hatch a scheme to win Cassandra back by getting her a record deal. They plan to ensure that Frankie Sharp hears Crucial Taunt play. While Garth and their friends infiltrate a satellite station with the aid of Benjamin's assistant, Wayne goes to Cassandra's video shoot. Still, he embarrasses himself to expose Benjamin's ulterior motive. Cassandra initially tells him to go home, but realizing Benjamin is up to no good, she changes her mind and leaves for Aurora with Wayne while he apologizes.
The ''Wayne's World'' crew hacks into Sharp's satellite television and broadcasts the Crucial Taunt performance from Wayne's basement, where Sharp and Benjamin converge. Unfortunately, Sharp declines to offer Crucial Taunt a record contract. As a result, Cassandra breaks up with Wayne permanently. She and Benjamin depart to a tropical resort. Stacy reveals that she is pregnant with Wayne's child; and finally, an electrical fire destroys Wayne's house and kills Garth.
Dissatisfied with this ending, Wayne and Garth turn to the film's audience and halt proceedings; they restart the scene in which Benjamin is unmasked as "Old Man Withers" in a ''
Scooby-Doo
''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...
'' parody ending. Still unsatisfied with this ending, they restart again with a "mega happy ending", in which Cassandra successfully signs a record contract and begins a relationship with Wayne. Garth begins a relationship with a waitress, while a reformed Benjamin learns that money and good looks do not necessarily bring happiness.
Cast
*
Mike Myers
Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...
as Wayne Campbell, host of ''Wayne's World.'' Wayne lives with his parents in Aurora, Illinois, and spends his free time "partying" with his friends in and around the popular rock/metal scene of the early 1990s. His best friend is Garth Algar, with whom he hosts their late-night cable-access show broadcasting from the basement of Wayne's parents' house.
*
Dana Carvey
Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster, screenwriter and producer.
Carvey is best known for his seven seasons on ''Saturday Night Live'', from 1986 to 1993, which earned him five consecutive Pri ...
as Garth Algar, Wayne's best friend and co-host. Garth is socially awkward and more stereotypically "nerdy" and introverted than his more outgoing friends. He has a crush on the girl who works at the donut shop that their group frequents, Stan Mikita's Donuts, but is unable to work up the nerve to talk to her.
*
Tia Carrere as Cassandra Wong, lead vocalist and bassist of the local rock band, Crucial Taunt. She and her band perform gigs around town, notably at a heavy metal bar frequented by Wayne and his friends called The Gasworks. Cassandra is a Cantonese immigrant who claims to have learned English at college and from the ''
Police Academy'' films.
*
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and entertainment host. Following numerous television roles in the early 1980s, he came to prominence as a teen idol and member of the Brat Pack with starring roles in ...
as Benjamin Kane, a sleazy, Chicago-based television producer. His official title is Regional Programming Director for Oliver Communications. Benjamin is good-looking, well-educated, and highly successful, but cynical, manipulative, and ruthless in his approach to business.
*
Lara Flynn Boyle
Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is known for playing Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After appearing in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World (film), Wayne's World'' (1 ...
as Stacy, Wayne's troubled ex-girlfriend. Lacking self-esteem, she does not understand or accept that Wayne has broken up with her and still treats him like they are a couple.
*
Brian Doyle-Murray as Noah Vanderhoff, a video arcade magnate, and a prospective client of Benjamin's who is seeking to place him as the primary corporate sponsor of a television show aimed at teens and younger adults.
*
Colleen Camp as Mimi Vanderhoff, Noah's wife.
*
Kurt Fuller as Russell Finley, producer/director of many of the television shows executive produced by Benjamin. Russell has a reputation as a hit-maker, having won awards and acclaim for many of the programs he has produced. He is fiercely loyal to Benjamin, believing Benjamin to be his friend.
*
Chris Farley
Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. He was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' for fiv ...
has a cameo as the well-informed security guard at an
Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
concert taking place in Milwaukee.
*
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...
as Tiny, a doorman/bouncer at the Gasworks with whom Wayne and Garth are "in." He allows them to skip the line at the door, and informs them about the bands playing and if they are good or not.
*
Frank DiLeo as rock promoter Frankie 'Mr. Big' Sharp. The CEO of Sharp Records, Frank takes a very hands-on approach to his business, driving back and forth across the country to find new acts to sign to his label. He is afraid of flying, and thus takes his stretch limousine everywhere.
*
Ed O'Neill as Glen, the darkly disturbed manager at
Stan Mikita
Stanley Mikita (born Stanislav Guoth; May 20, 1940 – August 7, 2018) was a Slovaks, Slovak-born Canadian ice hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League, generally regarded as the best Centre (ic ...
's Donuts. According to Wayne, he works at the donut shop "24 hours a day". He makes frequent references to death, dying, and killing, and implies that he once murdered someone in the heat of passion.
*
Michael DeLuise as Alan, one of Wayne and Garth's crew.
*
Lee Tergesen
Lee Allen Tergesen (; born July 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayals of Chett Donnelly on USA Network's '' Weird Science'' (1994–1998), Tobias Beecher on HBO's '' Oz'' (1997–2003), Peter McMillan on the second seas ...
as Terry, Wayne and Garth's head cameraman who has a penchant for openly expressing platonic love for his friends through hugging and repeatedly telling them, "I love you, man."
* Dan Bell as Neil, Wayne and Garth's second cameraman.
* Sean Gregory Sullivan as Phil, Wayne and Garth's friend who works at an auto repair shop. Wayne describes him as being frequently "partied out," a state of heavy intoxication which renders Phil near-catatonic and unable to recall events of the previous evening.
*
Mike Hagerty as Davey, a controller at the Cable 10 television station who Benjamin and Russell ask for help.
*
Frederick Coffin
Frederick D. Coffin (January 16, 1943 – July 31, 2003) was an American film actor, singer, songwriter, and musician.
Early life
Coffin was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1943 to actress Winifred Deforest Coffin and writer Dean Coffin, and was one ...
as Officer Koharski, an enthusiastic local beat cop who is kind to Wayne, Garth, and their group.
*
Donna Dixon as Garth's dream woman, who works at Stan Mikita's Donuts.
*
Ione Skye
Ione Skye Lee (born September 4, 1970) is a British-American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller '' River's Edge'' (1986) before gaining mainstream exposure by starring in Cameron Crowe's '' Say Anything...'' (1989). She continued ...
as Elyse, a seemingly casual girlfriend of Benjamin's 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," on Wayne and Garth's show.
*
Carmen Filpi as Old Man Withers. He runs a "haunted" amusement park.
*
Robert Patrick has a cameo as
T-1000 (reprising his role from ''
Terminator 2: Judgment Day''). He is a police officer who pulls Wayne over while he is speeding on his way to Cassandra.
*
Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
with
Pete Friesen,
Derek Sherinian, Stef Burns, and
Jimmy DeGrasso
Jimmy DeGrasso (born March 16, 1963) is an American heavy metal drummer.
DeGrasso played with Mama's Boys and Lita Ford before eventually working with Y&T and Megadeth and as a session and touring musician for Ozzy Osbourne (1986), White Li ...
as themselves, performing "
Feed My Frankenstein". Wayne and Garth go to see him backstage at his show, where they receive a lecture on the history of
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
.
Production
''Wayne's World'' was
green-lit
In the context of the film and television industries, to greenlight is to give permission to proceed with a project. It specifically refers to formally approving its production finance and committing to this financing, thereby allowing the projec ...
by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
in 1991. It was the second
film based on a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch, following ''
The Blues Brothers'' in 1980. Producer
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...
hired
Penelope Spheeris
Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945) is an American film director, film producer, producer, and screenwriter. She has directed both documentary film, documentary and scripted films. Her best-known works include the trilogy titled ''The Decl ...
to direct, after she had directed several music documentaries. Spheeris said, "I had been just struggling as a female director in this business for many years. I was 45 years old when I got that job. I just kept hanging in there. And ''Wayne's World'' happened, and it sort of flipped my life around."
Spheeris clashed with Myers during filming. She told ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' that Myers was "emotionally needy and got more difficult as the shoot went along", and that he complained during the "Bohemian Rhapsody" scene, refusing to believe audiences would find it funny. She said she attempted to assuage Myers by having her daughter provide him snacks, and that on one occasion he stormed off the set, upset that there was no margarine for his bagel. Myers and Spheeris argued over the
final cut, causing Myers to prevent Spheeris from directing ''
Wayne's World 2
''Wayne's World 2'' is a 1993 American comedy film directed by Stephen Surjik and starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as hosts of a public-access television cable television show in Aurora, Illinois. The film is the sequel to ''Wayne's World'' ...
''. In 2022, Spheeris said the conflict had been overstated, and that the margarine incident was the only time when she felt Myers was being unreasonable.
Soundtrack
The
soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
album reached number one on the
''Billboard'' 200. The album was certified double-Platinum by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
on July 16, 1997.
The studio and Lorne Michaels originally wanted to use a
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...
song for the
headbanging scene, but Myers demanded "
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''A Night at the Opera (Queen album), A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by Queen's lead si ...
", even threatening to quit the production unless it was used.
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...
, the lead singer of
Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
, died of
bronchial pneumonia resulting from
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
a few months before the film's release. According to
Brian May
Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...
, Mercury saw the headbanging scene before his death, found it hilarious and approved the song for the film's use. However, Spheeris disputed May's recollection in a 2022 interview, saying that "My guess is it's not true." She explained that due to the short timeframe between the completion of the film and Mercury's death, she believes it is highly unlikely that anyone would have had access to a tape of the scene to show Mercury.
In the "No Stairway To Heaven" scene, the first four notes played of "Stairway to Heaven" were replaced with a different set of guitar notes in all home media releases of the film, since home video publishers considered the $100,000 cost of licensing the song to be too high. The original notes were restored with the
4K Blu-ray release in 2022.
Gary Wright re-recorded "
Dream Weaver" for the film, which is heard whenever Wayne looks at Cassandra.
Tia Carrere sang her own vocals on the songs she performed in the film, as well as cover songs such as
Sweet
Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, ...
's "
The Ballroom Blitz", which were included on the film's soundtrack album.
Myers originally wanted Alice Cooper's "
I'm Eighteen
"I'm Eighteen", or simply "Eighteen", is a song by American rock band Alice Cooper, first released as a single in November 1970 backed with "Is It My Body". It was the band's first top-forty success—peaking at number 21—and convinced Warne ...
" 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 strong, positive impression on him that they formed a friendship. Myers directed a 2014 documentary about Gordon, titled ''
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon''.
[
]
Release
The film was a box office success, debuting at number one. The film's final domestic gross was $121,697,323, making it the ninth-highest-grossing film of 1992 and the highest-grossing of the 11 films based on ''Saturday Night Live'' skits.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has an approval rating of 79% based on 96 reviews, with an average rating of 6.60/10, with the critical consensus stating, "An oddball comedy that revels in its silliness and memorable catch phrases, ''Wayne's World'' is also fondly regarded because of its endearing characters." On Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 57 out of 100 based on reviews from 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data.
Background
Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave the film three stars out of four and said in his review: "I walked into ''Wayne's World'' expecting a lot of dumb, vulgar comedy, and I got plenty, but I also found what I didn't expect: a genuinely amusing, sometimes even intelligent, undercurrent." Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert.
Siskel started writing for the '' ...
called the film a "very funny and most original comedy" with "inspired bits of whimsy," and ranked it number eight on his list of the ten best movies of 1992. Desson Howe wrote in ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' that making a movie out of such a "teeny sketch" is "better than you'd expect", but criticized the finale as "an attempt to lampoon movie endings" "and a despair-driven inability to end the movie". Filipino columnist Jullie Y. Daza of the ''Manila Standard
The ''Manila Standard'' is a broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines which, as of 2017, is owned by the Romualdez family. The Romualdezes, through incumbent speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, also own Journal Publications, Inc., the owner ...
'' stated that "I didn't know what the generation gap meant until I saw this silly, nonsensical movie called 'Wayne's World' and I saw how my son went stark raving mad over it."
In popular culture
Filled with pop culture
Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...
references, the sketches and the 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 an apparently affirmative sentence to state the contrary, and "We’re not worthy! We're not worthy!"
The scene in which Wayne, Garth, and friends lip-sync
Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements ...
to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in an AMC Pacer is one of the most well-known scenes in the film. Due to its prominent appearance in ''Wayne's World'', "Bohemian Rhapsody" reached #2 in the United States and reignited the band's popularity in the country.
The Pacer was produced by American Motors Corporation
American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the mergers and acquisitions, merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 19 ...
(AMC) from 1975 to 1980. The car was purposely a second-hand Pacer painted baby blue with flames on the sides and non-matching wheels, which Wayne and Garth dubbed "The Mirthmobile". The original car from the film was sold and appeared in a 2015 episode of '' Pawn Stars''. The car was restored
''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings.
Track listing
Standard release
Enhanced edition
Deluxe gold edition
Standard Aus ...
to running condition with the original movie props inside the car, but with a functional stereo system added. The Pacer was sold in 2016 for $37,400. Because of "The Mirthmobile" role, the Pacer is arguably one of the two most famous AMC cars featured in film or TV, the other being "Dixie", the Jeep CJ-7 driven by Daisy Duke in ''The Dukes of Hazzard
''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy television series created by Gy Waldron that aired on CBS from January 26, 1979, to February 8, 1985, with a total of seven seasons consisting of List of The Dukes of Hazzard episodes, 147 ...
''.
''Between The Lions'', a puppet-based children's television series from 2000-2010, produced a short repeating segment called "Gawain's Word," featuring two jousting knights charging at each other, each touting a speech balloon with half of a word which then became their respective names, then demonstrating the word. Though the title of the segment clearly is a parody of the SNL skit, the two knights in the segment speak more characteristically like Bill and Ted from '' Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' than Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World.
The cast, crew, and other related musical guests were part of Josh Gad's ''Reunited Apart'' web series' second season, first available in December 2020.
Accolades
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
recognition:
* AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – Nominated
* AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
** "Schwing!" – Nominated
** "We're not worthy. We're not worthy." – Nominated
* AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
** "Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''A Night at the Opera (Queen album), A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by Queen's lead si ...
" – Nominated
See also
* Recurring ''Saturday Night Live'' characters and sketches
* List of ''Saturday Night Live'' feature films
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wayne's World (film)
1992 films
1990s buddy comedy films
1990s satirical films
1992 comedy films
American buddy comedy films
American rock music films
American satirical films
Films about television
Films directed by Penelope Spheeris
Films produced by Lorne Michaels
Films scored by J. Peter Robinson
Films set in Chicago
Films set in Milwaukee
Films set in Wisconsin
Films shot in Chicago
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films with screenplays by Bonnie and Terry Turner
Films with screenplays by Mike Myers
Heavy metal films
Paramount Pictures films
Saturday Night Live films
Saturday Night Live in the 1990s
American self-reflexive films
Wayne's World
1990s American films
1990s English-language films
English-language buddy comedy films