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Click above to purchase "Airheads" at amazon.com
Airheads
review by Zach B.
Rated PG-13
Running Time: 92 minutes
Starring Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, Adam Sandler,
Chris Farley, Michael McKean, Judd Nelson, with Michael
Richards and Joe Mantegna
Written by Rich Wilkes
Directed by Michael Lehmann
Studio: Fox
Retail Price: $19.98
Features: Airheads Special Report featurette,
Motorhead, Ice-T and Whitfield Crane "Born To Raise Hell"
Music Video, White Zombie "Feed The Gods" Music Video, TV
Spot, International TV Spot, Theatrical Trailer, Fox Flix
Trailers
Specs: 1.855:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Surround 4.0, English Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround,
English Closed Captions, English Subtitles, Spanish
Subtitles, Scene Selection
Released: October 2nd, 2001
Chazz, Rex and Pip are three struggling musicians part of
the band "The Lone Rangers." It seems no one at all wants to
give them a small chance. As they yearn to make the big time
while leading rather directionless lives, they decide to
take matters in their own hands to hopefully break it into
the industry. Their plan? They break into a radio station
and have their demo tape put on the air. Armed with fake
guns, the trio take the radio station hostage. This, of
course, all leads to wackiness, funny and entertaining
results.
Upon its original release "Airheads" was not a giant
success and critics weren't so nice to it either. However, I
think this a pretty good comedy. Like all good comedies, it
gets the job done. It's funny, it's entertaining and has
quite an array of funny as well as interesting characters. I
suppose the movie sort of mocks those garage bands who
always hope to score big and do time and time get knocked
down. So, it puts an interesting twist on it all. These are
some generally funny lines and dialogue, not to mention some
pretty decent slapstick moments. The writing is pretty
original and can be rather sharp, even if there are some
plot points that are predictable in Rich Wilkes' script.
Michael Lehmann, a comedy director who's had his hits and
misses, does a fine job here setting the movie at a good
pace. Still, I think what really makes it all work are the
winning performances. The band members, Brendan Fraser,
Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler all have great chemistry and
great goofy but lovable charm. Even though these stars had
their audiences at the time, they've really grown from 1994
to 2001. They really make the movie click. Smaller
performances from the always reliable Joe Mantegna, Michael
McKean, Ernie Hudson and a somewhat unrecognizable Michael
Richards are also great, making "Airheads" a fun and really
tolerable comedy. It's worth a rent for sure, and a movie
you can just pop in anytime for pure entertainment.
"Airheads" features a rather spiffy 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen transfer that I was really impressed with. While
I felt the image was a bit on the soft side, only that and a
few other minor flaws fault this otherwise great transfer.
The transfer is pretty much spotless, I didn't notice many
blemishes, pieces of dirt or scratches. They really are a
rare case. Colors are well saturated and are pretty bold,
while detail and black levels are good. I noticed some
shimmering here and there, but it doesn't ruin the transfer.
Overall, impressive.
While "Airheads" doesn't have a 5.1 Dolby Digital remix,
the new 4.0 Surround track does the film justice. I felt
another surround channel and a .1 LFE could have boosted
this higher, but this gets the job done nicely. This film
features a good deal of music, as well as some crowd scenes
that are well mixed. The dialogue is crisp and clear, and
nothing overlaps it so you hear everything perfectly. It's
quite a crisp track that fits it nicely. Even if it could
have been better, this is well done. Also included are Dolby
Surround tracks in English and French, plus English and
Spanish subtitles as well as English closed captions.
Everything promotional here. But I guess the main
supplement here is the featurette mockumentary entitled
Airheads Special Report. It's cheesy and corny, with
film clips and in-character interviews from the actors.
Despite this, it's a load of fun and worth a watch.
There are two Music Videos of songs featured in
the film. Motorhead, Ice-T and Whitfield Crane's "Born To
Raise Hell" and White Zombie's "Feed The Gods." The songs
are pretty good and the videos for them are really
interesting.
The Theatrical Trailer is presented in English
Dolby Surround and anamorphic widescreen, while there is a
TV Spot and an International TV Spot. There
are also trailers under the "Fox Flixs" (why an s there?)
banner for other Fraser movies: the
Bedazzled
remake, The
Scout and
Monkeybone.
"Airheads" isn't a groundbreaking comedy by any means,
but it sure is an entertaining ride that still holds up. The
presentation is surprisingly good, and while I wished for
more substantial extras, this is a price you can't beat.
Recommended.
 (3.5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (4/5)
(4/5)
 (2/5)
(4/5,
NOT an average)
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