UHF finally came home in a great new blu ray package this week. We review the film as well as the technical aspects of this new packaging.
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| "It's not as bad as it looks, kid." |
“Weird Al” Yankovic is one of the great musical
comedians of our time. His spot on
parodies of popular music videos and hit songs are as hilarious as they are
timeless. In 1989, the idea came about
to turn his penchant for satirizing popular musicians and MTV culture into a
feature length film, with Al Yankovic as the star. In what would become UHF, Yankovic plays a dreamer wandering from job to job before
finding success in managing a low end UHF television station. Here, Yankovic had a large arena to parody
major movies, television shows, and of course, music videos. Enlisting music video collaborator Jay Levey
as the film’s co-writer and director, and featuring a star studded cast of
comedians, UHF was both Al Yankovic’s
big break into movies and after a positive test screening, was touted by Orion
Pictures executives as the film destined to save the studio from
bankruptcy. Unfortunately, the film
tanked with critics and audiences and died a quiet death in theaters before
becoming a cult classic on tape and laserdisc. This week, marking the film’s 25th
Anniversary, Shout Factory has put together a lavish special edition
Blu-Ray. The question for fans like
myself who already own and have spun to death the DVD MGM released in 2002 is
whether or not it’s worth the upgrade.
Let’s find out!
The
Film
In retrospect, UHF
is what most critics often refer to as a ‘guilty pleasure’. Seriously, this is one completely
unrestrained Gonzo comedy, filming whatever came to mind before editors would
sift through hours of sight gags to find which ones they could stick in a 2
hour movie. Al Yankovic said of his own
free admission of the hours of terrible deleted scenes (and they are terrible)
“look at the junk that actually wound up in the movie, well this stuff is even
worse than that!” Al Yankovic himself
isn’t much of an actor, but being a fan of his videos already it’s something to
gloss over. That’s not to say UHF doesn’t have numerous moments of
comic brilliance. Michael Richards’
Stanley Spadowski may in fact be Richards’ finest hour, going for belly laughs
in every scene. Emo Phillips’ cameo as a
slow table saw operator remains a gory sight gag Monty Python would be proud of.
The late Trinidad Silva’s skit Raul’s
Wild Kingdom is one of the funniest scenes ever put in a movie, of any
kind. Still, as a 2 hour cult movie, it
manages to be a cut above most of the Ernest
P. Worrell movies of the late 80s.
Still a great thing to put on at beer filled parties though.
The
Video
UHF
gets
a new high-definition transfer courtesy of Shout Factory and the results are
pretty impressive. The print appears to
be the same one used to make the 2002 MGM DVD, just scanned at a higher
level. Colors and sharpness are vibrant
and strong with better grain levels than the DVD. Reds don’t bleed in the way they did on the
DVD edition. There are a few scenes that
do show the limitations inherent in the original source, notably the scenes
with Trinidad Silva. Not a huge
improvement over the DVD but there’s less pixilation and a noticeably cleaner
image. The ‘televised’ scenes still
intentionally look like crap when they need to.
Shout Factory has yet to disappoint.
The
Audio
Those expecting a new DTS-HD 5.1 surround track will
be in for something of a disappointment, as Shout Factory instead opted to
utilize the same 2.0 surround mix on the laserdisc and DVD. Unlike the DVD however, the audio was
transferred in linear PCM, identical to the laserdisc. Audio is crisp and sharp with no dropouts or
loss of clarity. Your surround system
will still give a pleasing sonic presentation and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles composer John Du Prez’ score sounds
better than ever here. While a new
surround mix would have been welcome given the format and usual bumps Shout
Factory provide to audio, UHF sounds
fine.
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| "This human growth hormone is really making my face kinda droopy." |
The
Extras
As expected, the extras on the excellent DVD edition
have been duplicated here, including an audio commentary with Yankovic and
crew, some really terrible deleted scenes with some snarky self-deprecation
provided by Yankovic, behind-the-scenes footage, an official music video and
some trailers. What’s new here is a 1
hour Comic-Con interview with Yankovic conducted in 2014 shortly after his
latest album Mandatory Fun topped the
Billboard charts. Shot in
high-definition exclusively for this release, it’s a candid and fun
listen. I will say I miss the menus on
the MGM DVD, which included newly shot video footage of Yankovic trying to
assist navigating the menus, where Shout Factory’s menu is simply a montage of
scenes from the movie. Too bad they
couldn’t find a way to transpose the work done on MGM’s DVD, but it’s a minor
quibble. As with all of Shout Factory’s releases, the disc sleeve features
reversible cover art.
Overall
Fans of UHF should
be elated either way, but at the same time if you already have the DVD, you’re
really buying the same thing twice.
Beyond a marginal video upgrade and the new 2014 interview, you get the
same audio and extras as before sans those hilarious menus featuring Yankovic. Those who already own the DVD might be
encouraged to stick with what they have.
But if you don’t own UHF and
are thinking of getting it, the Shout Factory disc is the way to go.
-Andrew Kotwicki