Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

UHF is an Orion Pictures Presentation and is rated PG-13 for campy comic violence and mild language. The running time is 97 minutes and the film premiered in theaters July 21, 1989.

INTRODUCTION
Who would’ve known how much the classic “Weird Al” Yankovic vehicle UHF has grown since its initial theatrical release, when the film turned out to be the summer of 1989’s biggest disappointment. It got the highest test scores from Orion since ROBOCOP was tested, and it opened during a summer of blockbuster movies (LETHAL WEAPON 2, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, BATMAN, and GHOSTBUSTERS 2 among the releases). It grossed a dismal $6.157 million in its brief theatrical run and was ignored by basically all the critical press.

But through a video release by Orion afterwards, this was immediately picked up by Al’s hardcore fans and made its way to cult status until the film suffered a depression when Orion declared bankruptcy and went away in 1996. But MGM DVD has picked up the definitive dopey comedy of all time and slapped in some amazing extras on its debut transfer. So now that we’re on the same frequency, let’s look back at the wonderfully stupid UHF

STORY
George Newman (Yankovic) and his best friend Bob (David Bowe) have been dwindling from job to job on the wacky imagination and lack of focus of the weird Newman. At his latest job at Burger World (which inspired Mike Judge to place his Beavis & Butt-head characters in a similar environment), he daydreams about being Indiana Jones on a quest to retrieve the lost statue of Oscar. His clumsy, brash persona only helps to get in the way. And poor Newman is starting to really disappoint his girlfriend Teri (Victoria Jackson), yet he can’t help it. He’s asking his own friend to do him in with a pipe yet his friend only shows pity because he owes $5 to him.

One day, things change. George’s Uncle Harvey (Stanley Brock) wins the deed for a UHF TV station, Channel 62, in a poker game, and his arm is twisted in letting his nephew run the programming and become boss. When George and his friends get inside, they find out just how lousy the station is. All they do is broadcast reruns of “Mr. Ed” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” while their production team watch on in misery.

At first, their shows do little to boost ratings. "Talk Town" is basically a low-down interview section with people such as the clumsy local school shop teacher (Emo Phillips). The news broadcasts are shot by a midget, who only gets kicked around and tripped by evil types.
"Uncle Nutzi’s Fun House" is as depressing a program for the kids as it is for George, after Teri finally dumps him for standing her up on her birthday. Reaching the end of his rope and thirsty, he hands the host responsibilities over to the new janitor, Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards), who was discovered by George after ruthlessly getting fired by Channel 8 chairman R.J. Fletcher (Kevin McCarthy). Immediately, the good-natured yet handicapped Stanley strikes a chord with viewers and helps the ratings increase.

The stage is set for George to improvise some wonderfully warped new programming: “Wheel Of Fish”, “Bowling For Burgers”, “Conan The Librarian”, “Gandhi 2”, “Raul’s Wild Kingdom” and “Strip Solitaire” help out Channel 62 from being bankrupt to having the highest ratings in the town. Even "Talk Town With George" becomes a tabloid talk-show where guests such as trashy teens, KKK members, hockey-masked psychos and little girls duke it out on screen (take THAT SPRINGER!)

But Fletcher is none too pleased with this turn of events and eventually squeezes grease to try and destroy Channel 62 for good, even if it means muscling Uncle Harvey to surrender UHF for $73,000 or kidnapping Stanley to destroy their hopes at a telethon. Can George save UHF from becoming a parking lot?!

OVERVIEW
In the episode of “Behind The Music” he did for VH1, Yankovic explained that this was just an excuse to get a bunch of friends and to act stupid. As much as Weird Al proven his comedic delights in song parodies and music videos, he finally gets the chance to lampoon the bigger things: TV and the movies. The programming on UHF sparkles with inspired silliness, from “Raul’s Animal Kindom” (where a Latino animal lover throws poodles out of his apartment window to make them fly) to “Gandhi 2” (NO MORE MR. PASSIVE RESISTANCE!), these are unashamedly juvenile yet riotous. The zenith is the world inhabited by Stanley Spadowski, where we drink from the fire hose, find prizes in cereal boxes, and pull bizarre objects from our noses. His character is one of the best things about the movie, and Michael Richards is a hoot in his role (his mop monologue is inspirational, idiotic and inspires much chuckles).

But the whole affair between George and Teri is a dopey plot device which never develops into anything major, and Victoria Jackson is neither funny nor sentimental in her role. There is a moment where Al falls asleep watching “The Beverly Hillbillies” and we witness a music video wherein George Newman finds himself in the Dire Straits music video for “Money For Nothing” alongside shots of the TV show and the faux-performance of Al and his band. The video and the song are an absolute riot, but feels out of place in the movie and is just a simple promotional interruption. Other than that, all the best moments come along whenever we notice a dopey commercial (“Spatula City” is the place to be), when Al daydreams a sight gag-crazed fantasy wherein he pretends he’s Rambo or Indiana Jones, or when Michael Richards gets idiotic on TV and off. To be honest, the film itself deserves a four-star rating, but the DVD is so great there’s no better rating than five.

DIRECTION
Jay Levey was the director behind several classic “Weird Al” music videos and shows the same offbeat touches in this full-length movie, pointing out visual puns and crazed comedy left and right. While not a truly magnificent director, his comic understanding makes up for it. He also wrote the script with Al Yankovic and shares some brownie points for that as well.

ACTING
“Weird Al” Yankovic is given 97 minutes to goof up the screen and he does it, just don’t expect any emotional monologues or tears from him. He is likable and well-aware of how ridiculous the script is that he helped write. The scene stealer in this movie is Michael Richards, who is able to out-goof Pee Wee Herman and endear himself as a swell guy in his role as Stanley Spadowski, the janitor who wins over a nation. Victoria Jackson doesn’t get to display a lot of her comedic charms and her role is one-dimensional…what’s going on! Kevin McCarthy hams it up and gives enough playful sleaze to his role as Fletcher, the mean main man behind Channel 62’s corporate competition. David Bowe is alright as Bob, who has to endure the humiliation of dressing up as a clown, getting smacked with a frying pan, and discovering the tasty goodness of Yappy’s Doggie Treats. What a guy! Gedde Watanabe (as Kuni, the kung-fu maestro), Fran Drescher (as newswoman Pamela Finkelstein), Billy Barty (as cameraman Noodles Macintosh), Anthony Geary (as Philo the science guy) and the late Trinidad Silva (as Raul) are all great in their supporting roles.

MUSIC
John DuPrez did the musical score, and there’s not a lot of music to hear, except for kooky jingles and commercial background stuff (loved the mock shaft feel of “GANDHI 2” as well as the ol‘ “Battle Hymn Of The Republic” during Stanley’s monologue) that suits the comedic skits. Some of Al’s most memorable songs (“Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies,” “Let Me Be Your Hog” and “UHF”) pop up along the way.

SEX/NUDITY
I didn’t know Al was that built in the whole Rambo parody scene. DAMN!

VIOLENCE/GORE
All the violence in this one is intentionally funny, but you will marvel as a boy with an overdue library book gets sliced in half, Emo Phillips shows you how to operate a table saw with a thumb in the air, Gandhi kicks some butt and gives a brutal punch through the gut, and there’s also a couple exploding bodies.

CONCLUSION
UHF is an entirely juvenile, doofy, hilarious “Weird Al” comedy which sticks as many guilty laughs and bizarre bits as can possibly be stuffed into a 97 minute film. Highly recommended for any of Al Yankovic’s most devoted fans, but anyone with a brain to dumb down will want to go no lower than UHF. And in the next paragraph, I will explain why this DVD deserves all five of its stars, even though opinions on this movie may vary.

DVD DETAILS
I have been angry at MGM’s bare-bones treatment of many great movies (SCANNERS and THE HOWLING anyone), but when it comes to cult classics, MGM sure know how to make an excellent buy. I bought my DVD copy for $9.99 and I have to admit there was never a better bargain I have seen so far.

The film is featured in two formats: on one side is the widescreen presentation (1.85:1) and the full-screen presentation is on the other. The overall picture quality is pretty sharp, with only some grain and color problems, but let’s be fair: the film was out-of-print for several years due to Orion’s bankruptcy and was shot on a rather low budget for those days, $5 million. But the look of the transfer is good, about as good as the Dolby Digital 2.0 surround sound. The surround sound also supports the French language track and the Spanish language track is in mono quality sound. Caption options are in English, Spanish and French.

OK, here we go with the extras. I must bow down to the people at MGM for allowing UHF to return to audiences in a packed DVD special edition. Here’s the listing:

- Audio commentary track by “Weird Al” Yankovic and Jay Levey. These two guys are the men behind the movie and for a 13-year-old movie, they offer gobs and gobs of production information, tidbits about the actors, filming location information, and some wonderfully warped comedy (Yankovic sings about Orion being bankrupt to the musical sting of their logo; Yankovic offers explanations of all references for all the Amish people out there). And if you listen all the way through the track, you will find guest appearances by Emo Phillips, Michael Richards, and Victoria Jackson along the way. This will be a treat for any true fan of the movie.

- Al Yankovic, armed with self-referential wit and goofiness that hasn’t died with age, guides you through a twenty-minute section of DELETED SCENES! Even Al admits it himself…THEY SUCK! A lot of them are extensions of scenes in the movie [Secrets Of The Universe, Wheel Of Fish, Macintosh’s hazing by Richard (Fletcher's son), first visit to the U-62 station, endings to Emo Phillips’ thumb amputation], extra sketches (more with Stanley, the Kipper Kids and an aborted “Those Darn Homos” skit), outtakes/alternate takes (“Pizza who?”) and bonus footage (a subplot about the Head Thug’s fear of insects and scenes with lost characters such as Elaine, the receptionist). NOTE: This section is playable only on the full-screen side of the DVD.

- A vintage 3:40 promo featurette with on-set footage and comments from Weird Al.

- The Weird Al music video for “UHF” spoofs several music videos and artists in one clip. See him poke fun at Billy Idol, Peter Gabriel, Guns N Roses, Talking Heads, Prince, Robert Palmer, ZZ Top, George Michael, INXS and The Beatles, while clips from the movie fit in between.

- There’s a gallery of production shots and still images from the set of the movie.

-A menu of promotional materials, including both the teaser (parodying “Indiana Jones”) and theatrical trailers. There’s also a gallery of poster and video art from U.S. and international markets.

- Hidden on some of the menus are the wonderful EASTER EGGS that are primarily outtake material and even “Weird Al” doing some editing of his own on the film.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older