Wayne's World! Wayne's World! Party time! Excellent! Woo-oo-oo-ooh!
Wayne's World is a 1992 comedy film, starring Mike Myers as Wayne Campbell and Dana Carvey as Garth Algar, hosts of the Aurora, Illinois-based cable access television show Wayne's World. The film was adapted from a sketch of the same name on NBC's Saturday Night Live.The film grossed $121.6 million in its theatrical run, placing it as the eighth highest-grossing film of 1992 and the highest-grossing film ever based on a Saturday Night Live skit. It was directed by Penelope Spheeris, with Myers co-writing the script.The film also featured Rob Lowe, Tia Carrere, Lara Flynn Boyle, Brian Doyle-Murray, Robert Patrick (spoofing his role inTerminator 2: Judgment Day), Ed O'Neill, Ione Skye, Meat Loaf and Alice Cooper.The movie follows the adventures of Wayne and Garth, the co-hosts of a cable access show, in their quest for fame and fortune, battling a crooked network executive who tries to undermine both their control over their show and Wayne's attempts to woo Cassandra Wong (Tia Carrere), a rock singer and bassist who also seeks to make her fortune in show business.Wayne's World was followed by Wayne's World 2 (1993), which featured Christopher Walken as record producer Bobby Cahn. In the film, Wayne feels the need to do something with his life, but he doesn't know what until the ghost of Jim Morrison visits him in a dream and tells Wayne that his destiny is to put on an epic rock concert in Aurora. To put on the concert Wayne enlists the help of Garth as well as the world's greatest roadie, Del Preston. Meanwhile, Garth becomes involved with blonde bombshell Honey Hornee (it's pronounced "hor-NAY") while Bobby Cahn plots to break up Wayne and Cassandra so that he can take her with him to Los Angeles.Wayne's World received mostly positive reviews upon release and was commercially successful (just like every Saturday Night Live-based film up through Ladies' Man). The second film was a modest box office hit. It earned about 48 million dollars in the United States market, where it was the 28th most successful film of its year. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Wayne's World the 41st greatest comedy film of all time.
"WAYNE'S TROPES! WAYNE'S TROPES! INDEX TIME! EXCELLENT!":
Noah: You know, ever since I did your show, kids are looking at me in a whole new way.
Terry: I love you, Man.
Russell: And I love you, because I've learned that platonic love can exist between two grown men.
Benjamin: And I've learned something, too. I've learned that a flawless profile, a perfect body, the right clothes, and a great car can get you far in America - almost to the top - but it can't get you everything.
Wayne: Isn't it great that we're all better people? (beat, with Garth)FISHED IN!
Mocked again in the sequel.
Wayne: Jim, why was I supposed to put on this concert?
Jim Morrison: Because you had to learn that it doesn't matter what you do, Cassandra loves you for who you are. And that being an adult means facing responsibility yet still taking the time to have fun.
Wayne: Right, it's like coming home on Friday night and doing your homework right away so that your Saturday night is free to just party.
Jim Morrison:*clearly annoyed* No, I like the way I said it better.
Wayne: Okay.
Affably Evil: Although Benjamin doesn't have a lot of respect for Wayne and Garth, he is always polite and flattering to them. This stands in stark contrast to Bobby Cahn, who is openly dismissive of Wayne and Garth.
The Alcoholic: Phil. Although alcohol is never mentioned in relation to him, almost every time we see him he looks like he's on the verge of throwing up from too much drinking (the only time we really see him sober is when he's doing inspection on the Mirthmobile at the garage where he works).
Wayne: Phil, what are you doing here? You're partied out, man. Again.
Garth: What if he honks in the car?
Wayne: I'm giving you a no-honk guarantee.
Garth: *Pulls tiny paper cup out of his pocket* Um, if you're gonna spew, spew into this.
The Alleged Car: Garth's "mirthmobile," a sky blue AMC Pacer with flames rather inappropriately painted on the sides.
Phil: Okay, it passed inspection... barely.
Almighty Janitor: Chris Farley plays a security guard with an uncanny ability to supply exposition.
Aluminum Christmas Trees: It seems like a gag made up for the film, but some music stores actually had "NO STAIRWAY" signs before the movie came out due to the number of people who would test out their guitars with that song.
"Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple and "Sweet Child 'O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses are two other songs that are frequently forbidden to play in guitar stores because the employees get sick of hearing them played (usually poorly) all the time.
At the beginning of the first movie, Benjamin skips past a commercial for Chia Pet (sculpted animal figurines upon which the plant chia is grown to resemble fur) while channel surfing. Younger viewers may not be aware that Chia Pet is an actual product that was frequently advertised on TV in the early 1990s.
"Was"? It still is advertised on TV, albeit in the "cheap" hours. You can buy a Chia Obama if you want.
Ambiguous Disorder: Garth's speech is stilted, his eating habits are interesting at best (if it’s red and fruity, he’ll eat it), he goes off on incredibly strange and awkward tangents, and he spends hours tinkering and creating things like robotic hands and electrified cattle prods. These characteristics may come off as sweet and quirky the first time you watch the films, but when you really think about it...
Audio Erotica: Handsome Dan's voice is so sexy that Wayne and Garth assume he's a ladies' man. He turns out to be Harry Shearer.
Garth: God, Handsome Dan is so cool. He must get a million chicks.
Wayne: I bet he's totally studly and buffed.
Garth: With a voice like that he's gotta be a babe magnet.
Badass Bookworm: Shock-rocker Alice Cooper surprises Wayne and Garth in the first film by being extremely well-spoken and educated. According to those who have met Alice Cooper in real-life, this is a case of Truth in Television.
Basement Dweller: In the first movie Wayne lives in his parents' basement. By the second film he and Garth have gotten a place of their own.
Wayne: Okay, so I still live with my parents, which I admit is both bogus and sad. But at least I have an amazing public access show! And I still know how to party!
Beat Still, My Heart/And Show It To You: When one of the patrons of the donut shop complains about being laid off, Glenn (Ed O'Neill) says that he should "...find the guy that did it, rip out his still-beating heart, and then hold it in front of his face, so he can see how black it is before he dies!" The patron decides to simply file a grievance with the union. The world is, after all, a twisted place.
Beware the Nice Ones: In the first film, Garth is insulted and then shoved to the ground by a large bully. Garth calmly goes to his car, retreives a cattle prod, returns to the club, and sends the bully flying with a powerful electric shock.
Big "WHAT?!": "It's O.K. She's marrying Bobby. (beat)WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?"
Bland Name Product: The film's fictional Stan Mikita's Donuts is a stand-in for ubiquitous Canadian restaurant Tim Horton's Donuts. Mikita and Horton are both Hockey Hall-of-Famers. Horton played for Toronto, actor-writer Mike Myers' hometown; Mikita played his entire NHL career in Chicago, an hour from Wayne's hometown of Aurora.
Book Ends: Wayne's World 2 opens and closes with live performances by Aerosmith.
Bowdlerise: The NES version of Wayne's World toned down the language from the movie. One example (even discussed by The Angry Video Game Nerd) had Wayne and Garth say that they're going to see "the Lousy Beetles," whereas they said they're seeing "the Shitty Beetles" in the film.
Brass Balls: When Wayne kicks Cassandra's father in the nuts in a kung-fu duel, a pair of two Chinese medicine balls (made of metal, of course) fall out.
Break Up Make Up Scenario: When Wayne has an argument with Garth and Cassandra. He makes up with the former, but not with her... until they change the end, that is.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Wayne and Garth do this frequently. In fact, some film classes have examined the way the Wayne's World films treat the viewer as a character in the movie.
Brick Joke: In the sequel Wayne encounters a group of men early on engaged in setting up their lampshaded Fruit Carts and moving their Sheet of Glass back and forth across the street. It gets forgotten only to pop up later during the Chase Scene.
When they enter the donut shop, Wayne greets a Mr. Whithers who owns an amusement park. This has no relevance whatsoever until the Scooby-Doo ending, where it turns out Benjamin is Mr. Whithers in disguise.
Chekhov's Gunman: Old Man Withers, who is introduced early on; this comes to fruition in the Scooby-Doo Ending.
Chroma Key: The blue screen, also known as a magical portal through time and space to such glamourous locations as New York City, Hawaii, Texas, and... Delaware. "Hi... I'm in Delaware."
Classically Trained Extra: Lampshaded in the sequel. A gas station attendant is removed for being a terrible actor... and replaced by Charlton Heston. He is so awesome that Wayne is reduced to tears.
Cloudcuckoolander: The better we get to know Del Preston in Wayne's World 2, the more evident it becomes that he is completely off his rocker. Garth calls him out on it during the meeting to discuss stage crew positioning for Waynestock.
Del Preston: Alright, ladies and gentlemen. It takes two people to run a concert: one back stage, and one out front. One man alone cannot do this. Wayne, you will run the backstage team. Milton, you are my liaison between Wayne's backstage team and Garth's front-stage team which includes myself in the booth. To the left and right of the stage are machine gun nests armed with M-60 Brownings. Now these babies tend to heat up so make sure you shoot in 3-second bursts. In the event of capture I will personally distribute these cyanide capsules to be placed under the tongue like so. Any questions?
Garth: Yes, I have a question: When did you turn into a nutbar?
Coolest Club Ever: The Gasworks in the first film, and Komrades in the sequel.
Crying Indian: Parodied during the closing credits of Wayne's World 2, when the Weird Naked Indian sheds a tear upon seeing all the trash on the ground following Waynestock. Although he does cheer up a little when he sees Wayne and Garth cleaning up the mess.
Defeat Means Friendship: After being defeated by Wayne in hand-to-hand combat, Jeff Wong (Cassandra's dad) takes a liking to Wayne and becomes supportive of Wayne dating his daughter.
Did You Just Have Sex?: Garth emerges all grown up and content after losing his virginity.
Disposable Love Interest: Garth's dream woman from the first movie does not appear in the sequel. Nor is she even mentioned.
The Dog Was the Mastermind: Parodied in the "Scooby-Doo Ending" of Waynes World, where it's revealed that Ben is really Old Man Withers, the amusement park owner who Wayne spoke to for five seconds near the beginning of the film. Probably an Affectionate Parody of how, in older Scooby-Doo episodes, the perpetrator was often introduced the exact same way.
Downer Ending: One of three endings to the first film. In the downer ending, Cassandra is denied a record contract, Wayne's house burns down, it's revealed that Stacy is pregnant, and Benjamin and Cassandra become lovers and travel to a beautiful tropical island together.
The sequel has two downer endings. In the first downer ending, none of the bands show up to Waynestock, then Wayne and Garth get lost in the desert to die of dehydration. The second downer ending is the Thelma And Louise ending where Wayne and Garth commit suicide by driving the Mirthmobile off a cliff. Thankfully, Wayne and Garth decide not to end the film with either of the downer endings and go with a happy ending where Waynestock is a rousing success.
Dream Sequence: In the first film, Garth has a fantasy sequence in which he woos the woman of his dreams to the song "Foxy Lady" by Jimi Hendrix. In the sequel, Wayne's dreams are where he communicates with his Spirit Advisor, Jim Morrison.
Europeans Are Kinky: Bjergen Kjergen (Drew Barrymore), the Swedish receptionist at WPIG Radio, who tells Wayne that she wishes to make love to him in the near future because he once stayed up all night working on a homework assignment about Sweden.
Enforced Method Acting: Dana Carvey had never heard "Bohemian Rhapsody" before, so he's just pretending to know the words. Also, the actors headbanged so hard they injured their necks.
Garth (the character) is also pretending to know the words. His attempted lip-syncing fails.
Dana Carvey ad libbed the question about Bugs Bunny; Myers' reaction is real.
Face Heel Turn: Wayne goes through a minor one in the first film, driving away both Cassandra and Garth by being a Jerk Ass. Thankfully he realizes fairly quickly how much of a jerk he's been and proceeds to right the wrongs he's created.
Frothy Mugs of Water: Despite the fact that Wayne and Garth are apparently a pair of hard-partying metalheads, the Wayne's World films contain no depictions of drug use and very little alcohol consumption. Just about the only vices Wayne and Garth seem to have is their love of coffee and donuts from Stan Mikita's (although their friend Phil perpetually seems to be on the verge of throwing up from excessive drinking).
Garth: "Okay, we've had some word that there is some bad red rope licorice circulating in the crowd. Please stay away from the red rope licorice."
Then again, in the first film Wayne mentions Stan Makita's Donuts as a great "munchies" place (munchies being stoner slang for increased appetite while high). This may be an example of Getting Crap Past the Radar.
Funny Background Event: In the second movie, after Wayne & Garth crowd-surf to the front of an Aerosmith concert, they are shortly followed by a pizza-delivery boy, a refrigerator, and a goat.
Fur Bikini: When Cassandra was trying to film a video.
Gay Bar Reveal: Happens in Wayne's World 2 when Wayne and his friends (who coincidentally are wearing disguises that make them look just like the Village People) hide in a bar called "The Tool Box" while fleeing from the Big Bad.
Genre Savvy: Wayne and Garth, revealed in their discussions with the camera. Garth in particular has reservations about signing a contract due to a Twilight Zone episode, though the episode in question doesn't actually exist.
Give Geeks a Chance: In Wayne's World 2 the sexy blonde bombshell Honey Hornée falls for the shy, nerdy Garth and seduces him. But later in the film we find out that she wants him to kill her husband, causing Garth to flee in terror
Heel Face Turn: Russell, before the end, and Benjamin in the "Mega Happy Ending."
Hell-Bent for Leather: The outfit that Cassandra wears to the Aerosmith concert in Wayne's World 2.
Hidden Depths: Alice Cooper and his knowledge of American history. There's a little Reality Subtext here as Alice Cooper is a big history buff in real life.
I Am the Band: According to Bobby Cahn in Wayne's World 2, Cassandra is the only member of Crucial Taunt who is talented, and the rest of the band is "terrible." He successfully convinces her to get a new band.
Suspiciously Similar Song: The producers were only able to secure the rights to "Stairway To Heaven" for the original theatrical run. This is why the version you hear Wayne playing on DVD or video sounds absolutely nothing like "Stairway".
Jerkass Has a Point: Although Wayne chafes at the idea of putting Noah Vanderhoff on his show, he did sign a contract agreeing to do so, and Benjamin is not being unreasonable at all in pointing it out.
Lampshade Hanging: There's a lot of meta-humor, such as when Wayne remarks that the security guard seemed conveniently helpful.
Lead Bassist: Cassandra is a type B and a type C. She is Crucial Taunt's bass player in addition to being the lead vocalist and face of the band.
Lampshaded, as they manage to find his house immediately with that address.
Magical Native American: In Wayne's World 2, Wayne is escorted through the desert to Jim Morrison's ghost by a "weird naked indian."
A Man Is Not a Virgin: After Garth loses his virginity, he acts noticably more self-confident and macho.
Garth:*Speaking in an uncharacteristically manly, confident voice* Good morning, darling! I trust you slept well? I hope I wasn't too much of an animal for you.
Honey: Come, hold me.
Garth: You know I will! *Blows bubbles from a toy pipe* Party on!
Cassandra, especially by the sequel, where she's evidently only interested in marrying an American man.
Somewhat of a justified trope. Cassandra mentions in the movie that she's in danger of being deported back to Hong Kong if her career doesn't take off. She was probably willing to marry Bobby as a way of gaining full American citizenship rather than doing it out of love.
Ms. Fanservice: Honey Horneé, who is played by the gorgeous Kim Basinger and always dresses sexy.
Also, Cassandra, of course.
Multiple Endings: A Downer Ending, a Scooby-Doo Ending (it was Old Man Withers, the guy who runs the haunted amusement park) and a Mega-Happy Ending. The sequel replaces the Scooby-Doo ending with a Thelma & Louise ending. The scene cuts to the happy ending as Wayne and Garth drive off a cliff into the Grand Canyon.
The Munchausen: Del Preston, the greatest roadie who has ever lived. He's worked with every great rock band, he's been all over the world, and he's got no shortage of stories from his career.
Del Preston: There I am in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, at three o'clock in the morning looking for one thousand brown M&M's to fill brandy glass or Ozzy wouldn't go on stage that night. So Jeff Beck pops his head around the door and mentions there's a little sweet shop on the edge of town. So we go, and it's closed. So there's me and Keith Moon and David Crosby breaking into this little sweet shop, right? So instead of a guard dog they've got this great big bloody Bengal tiger. Well, I managed to take care of the tiger with a can of mace, but the shop owner and his son... that's a different story altogether: I had to beat them to death with their own shoes. Nasty business, really. But sure enough I got the M&M's and Ozzy went on stage and did a great job..
No Fourth Wall: A hallmark of the films. Wayne and Garth speak directly to the camera and comment on the progress of the film throughout. Wayne claims than only he and Garth are allowed to talk to the camera, but many other characters end up doing so throughout the film. Some university/college courses actually examine the film's use of the audience as a separate character.
Fridge Brilliance if you think about it. The format of the original sketch is Wayne and Garth speaking directly to the audience. The movie really is an extended version of the sketch (rather than taking the characters and building a completely new story around them as occurred with most SNL adapatations).
Noble Top Enforcer: Russell, who despite being Benjamin's top lackey is actually not a bad guy. In the end he decides to help Wayne and Garth.
Noodle Incident: Glenn's crime of passion: "I'd never done a crazy thing in my life before that night. Why is it, if a man kills another man in the heat of battle, it's called heroic? Yet if he kills a man in the heat of passion, it's called murder?"
Also, in the first film, when Wayne and Garth are talking to Benjamin about being between lawyers and Garth mentioned grabbing their last lawyer by his "big fat head and said, 'Listen man, I'm not going to jail for you or anybody!'"
Not Listening to Me, Are You?: When the boys give an interview to a local radio DJ, they discover he's more interested in loading tapes than actually listening...so they start calling him names, and he's completely oblivious to their joking around.
One-Hour Work Week: Wayne admits to having held a variety of dead-end jobs, which he never seems to work. The trope is justified in the first film by the fact that Wayne's World is quickly picked up in the first act, allowing Wayne and Garth to develop it professionally.
Or Was It a Dream?: In Wayne's World 2 Wayne has a dream in which has a conversation with the ghost of Jim Morrison in the middle of the desert. When he wakes up, his feet are covered in sand.
Oscar Bait: Played with in a scene where Wayne gives a "tearful" speech (after splashing water on his eyes so it looks like he was crying) apologizing to Cassandra, culminating in a wail of, "I NEVER LEARNED TO READ!" The words "Oscar Clip" flash at the bottom of the screen.
The Other Darrin: invoked The Trope Namer is discussed, which is when Wayne realized that both actors were named "Dick", and their last names combined equal "Sergeant York," an honored military officer and among the most decorated American soldiers in World War I.
Protagonist-Centered Morality: In the second film, Del Preston recounts beating a father and son to death with their own shoes, which is apparently justified to some of the other metalheads because, "Ozzy went on stage and did a great job."
Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Stacy the "Psycho-Hose-Beast". The Psycho theme even plays when Wayne sees her at a party.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Officer Koharski, who reacts with good-natured humor when Wayne and Garth jokingly call him a pig. At the end of the film he helps Wayne and Garth with their plan to get Cassandra a record contract.
She's Got Legs: Stacy is described as having "Very nice legs, but no self-esteem."
Shout Out: The series is littered with them, especially in the sequel: Jim Morrison and the "weird naked indian" are references to The Doors. Wayne driving the Alfa Romeo Spider to Simon and Garfunkel music and breaking up a wedding are references to The Graduate. Ralph Brown plays basically the same character as he did in Withnail And I. The character refer to a number of works by name, such as Scooby-Doo and Thelma & Louise.
Paired with The Mountains of Illinois, (literally) as The Graduate Parody uses the same church, which is on the outskirts of Los Angeles, and mountains and palm trees can be scene clearly when they catch the bus.
Also, the sequel has shout-outs not only to the Woodstock festival itself, but especially to the Martin Scorsese film. The warning about the "bad red rope licorice" is a spoof of the reports about "brown acid" at the actual Woodstock event.
Smug Snake: Benjamin Kane in the first movie, and Bobby Cahn in the sequel.
Spaghetti Kiss: Garth, in the sequel, except with red rope licorice.
Spin-Off: The movie is an example of a segment spinoff. Wayne's World was originally a reoccurring sketch on Saturday Night Live
Stalking Is Love: Averted. In Wayne's World 2 Wayne suspects that Cassandra is cheating on him with Bobby, so he decides to obtain the truth by spying on her. When Cassandra finds out about it, she is pissed, giving him a solid punch to the face and leaving him.
The Stinger: Exchange of words between Wayne and Garth during the end credits.
Take That: "Led Zeppelin didn't write tunes that everybody liked, they left that to the Bee Gees."
Technology Marches On: If Wayne's World were made today, Wayne and Garth would probably be putting the episodes of their show on YouTube rather than broadcasting on a public access television channel.
Their sponsor would probably not be Noah's Arcade, due to the fact that the video arcade industry is Deader than Disco in North America, having been made obsolete by home gaming consoles (video arcades are still popular in Japan, however). The only types of arcade games that are still successful are ones such as Golden Tee and Big Buck Hunter As well as Pinball that can not be easily replicated by home consoles, and those games are usually found in bars or movie theater lobbies rather than dedicated video arcades.
There Is a God: In Wayne's World 2 Wayne says this when he mistakenly believes that Heather Locklear is waving to him.
What, Exactly, Is His Job?: In Wayne's World 2, Wayne and Garth are back to broadcasting their show on public access television. They also are no longer with their parents and are renting an abandoned doll factory as an apartment, and they've got a lot of free time to prepare for WayneStock. It is never mentioned how either of them are supporting themselves.
What the Hell, Hero?: As Wayne begins to slide into Jerkass territory, he delivers an angry tirade at the camera, prompting it to turn away and abandon him. Wayne instantly realizes his mistake and resumes his heroic role. He even apologies to the audience for it.
Wicked Cultured: Benjamin, who impresses Cassandra with his knowledge of fine wines and his ability to speak Cantonese.
0 reviews 