Wayne’s World appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a competent but unexceptional presentation.
Sharpness varied. While much of the movie showed reasonable to good delineation, more than a few minor soft spots came up along the way.
I saw no issues with jagged edges or shimmering, but edge haloes appeared, at least in a mild manner. Print flaws seemed modest, as I saw a few small specks and nicks and nothing more.
Grain also came across as erratic. While some scenes showed fairly natural grain, others felt “smoothed out” from digital noise reduction, a choice that could make the image a little on the flat side.
Colors went with a natural palette that highlighted purples/pinks at clubs. Though the hues sometimes felt semi-vivid, they also could come across as somewhat bland.
Blacks felt acceptably dark, while shadows mostly seemed fairly smooth. This became a perfectly watchable image but not one that impressed.
Frankly, I didn’t expect much from the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack of Wayne’s World, as comedies usually offer pretty center-oriented and bland mixes. However, the soundfield of World often opened up nicely, mainly due to the frequent use of music.
Effects offered positive atmosphere throughout the movie, but they usually remained fairly subdued and general. A couple of scenes became livelier, especially when Wayne and Garth watched the planes land, as those sequences lit up all five channels in a satisfying manner.
However, music remained the most active element, and the movie used different tunes in a compelling manner. The emphasis remained in the forward spectrum, as the songs displayed fine stereo separation and were placed appropriately within the soundstage.
The surrounds also kicked in good reinforcement of the songs, and the live venues sounded especially good, as the rear channels created a convincing club environment.
Audio quality also seemed to be solid. Dialogue sounded natural and warm, with no signs of edginess or problems related to intelligibility.
Effects were generally detailed and accurate, with positive fidelity and clarity. Though the plane landings appeared slightly distorted, but they didn’t display any significant concerns.
Again, music worked best, as the songs seemed bright, dynamic and rich. Overall, I enjoyed the soundtrack to Wayne’s World.
One additional sound-related concern revolved around the scene in which Wayne plays the Fender at the music shop. Apparently during the movie’s US theatrical run, he played the intro to “Stairway to Heaven”.
However, rights issues forced them to change this to a vaguely-similar riff that doesn’t duplicate the Led Zeppelin classic. As I’ve perused various message boards, some folks have been curious about this, so I thought I should mention it.
How did the 2022 “30th Anniversary” Blu-ray compare to the prior release from 2009? Both remained identical – literally, as the 2022 issue simply replicated the earlier disc.
When we go to extras, we begin with a running audio commentary from director Penelope Spheeris. Although the track feels a little spotty at times, for the most part Spheeris provides a fairly interesting discussion of the film.
Actually, she also talks about her career as a whole and goes into her feelings about a variety of movie-related issues. Spheeris proves to be fairly frank about her experiences on the movie.
While she doesn’t dish any serious dirt, she alludes to competitiveness between its stars and gets into her general concerns. Overall, this delivers a pretty compelling and fun little track.
In addition to the film’s theatrical trailer, the disc includes Extreme Close-Up, a collection of interviews with Wayne’s World participants. During this 23-minute, 14-second program, we hear from actors Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe and Tia Carrere plus producer Lorne Michaels and director Penelope Spheeris.
While “Extreme Close-Up” isn’t a fascinating program, it becomes a step up from the usual interview shows. Often those are drab conglomerations of praise, but while “Extreme” certainly has some of those moments, it features a decent total of interesting details about the film.
Some of these are redundant, as we hear statements already included in Spheeris’ commentary, but we find a positive amount of new information to be learned. The participants mainly stick with general anecdotes and memories, and the program doesn’t have a solid organization, but the factoids are fairly fun and interesting, so “Extreme Close-Up” merits a look.
New to the 2022 release, the Blu-ray comes in a Steelbook Case. That’s it – that’s the only change from the earlier issue.
After 30 years, Wayne’s World remains an inconsistent but generally entertaining little piece. While not something I would care to watch too many times, I can understand its charms and it still works pretty well. The Blu-ray offers decent picture and sound plus it features a few supplements. This becomes an adequate but unexceptional release.