Bill and Ted introduced the concept of dudes to an unwitting audience in 1989, but it was this spin-off from the TV show Saturday Night Live that brought in the megabucks and took “teen speak” to a new level.
Mike Myers and Dana Carvey play Wayne and Garth, Heavy Metal fans whose low-budget public access cable show – broadcast from their basement in suburban Aurora, Illinois – is transformed into a national TV phenomenon by sleazy producer Benjamin Oliver (Rob Lowe).
Along the way, Wayne falls in love with oriental rock chick and “megababe” Cassandra (Tia Carrere) and, along with Garth, gets to meet their idol, Alice Cooper.
Aiming for the unashamedly moronic, director Penelope Spheeris nevertheless manages to sneak in some sly satirical jibes and it benefits from inspired casting: Myers and Carvey are excellent, Lowe and Lara Flynn Boyle, as Myers’s mad ex-girlfriend, Stacy, are both nicely cast against type, and there is a neat cameo from Terminator 2villain Robert Patrick.
The music’s mainly metal, but the wonderful Queen tribute means you will never – if you ever did – be able to take Bohemian Rhapsody seriously again.
Wayne Campbell
Mike Myers Garth Algar
Dana Carvey Benjamin Oliver
Rob Lowe Cassandra
Tia Carrere Noah Vanderhoff
Brian Doyle-Murray Stacy
Lara Flynn Boyle Alan
Michael DeLuise Neil
Dan Bell Terry
Lee Tergesen Russell
Kurt Fuller Phil
Sean Gregory Sullivan Mrs Vanderhoff
Colleen Camp Dream woman
Donna Dixon
Director
Penelope Spheeris
Video
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