UHF

Rating:
Summary: Utterly Humorless Farce
Review: "Weird Al" is a good-hearted, inoffensive human being. He has one marketable skill (playing the accordion doesn't count) - writing moderately clever song parodies. That's about it.

Unfortunately, his work doesn't come remotely close to the over-the-top genius of Stan Freberg (the greatest pop-culture satirist of the 20th century), the tastelessness of Tom Lehrer, the musical wit of Paul Weston and Jo Stafford, or the imagination of John Forster. Compared to these, "Weird Al" is decidedly third-rate.

"UHF" is supposed to be a satirical stab at television. WA's abilities in this area are as weak as his song-parody skills. With one exception ("Gandhi II - He's back, and this time it's personal!") nothing rises above the obvious or descends to the tasteless.

"Weird Al" is afraid to go for the jugular - to find something worth attacking, then ripping it to shreds. Paul Verhoeven isn't. The jabs in "RoboCop" are much nastier - and funnier.

The cult status of this film reveals only that its admirers have never seen really good satire - and probably wouldn't recognize if they did.

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE ABSOLUTE FUNNIEST COMEDIES OF ALL TIME!
Review: This is definitely on my top five comedies list. It's so ...funny the whole way through! Just lampoon after lampoon, idiocy after idiocy, and pun after pun. If you liked "Dumb and Dumber", "Monty Python & the Holy Grail", and all those Naked Gun and Airplane vehicles, then you'll LOVE this! The picture and sound quality are both perfect! And the special features are very pleasing (even the menus are funny!).

Ten Stars! More! Buy It! Now! Or miss your chance at winning who knows what on....WHEEL...OF...FISH!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Spatula City Insanity
Review: I had not seen UHF in quite a long time. Remembering that this movie made me laugh hysterically when i was younger, I jumped at the chance to pick up this DVD when i saw it. Though I had a few doubts that this movie would have lost its magic for me, I felt confident non the less and fearlessly made the purchase. I like a lot of Weird Al's stuff, I think he is much more talented than people give him credit for, and even though this movie got trashed at the box office, it became somewhat of a cult classic, and rightfully so. UHF is a unique combination of spoofs and a zany plot that I really enjoyed.

The cast and characters were quite unique to say the least. Weird Al held his own, but Michael Richards steals the show. You know him as the wonderful Kraimer from Seinfeld and he really is amazing in his role playing Stanley Spadowski. The supporting cast keeps the movie light and entertaining and the antics, spoofs and one-liners keep you at least mildly amuzed for most of the picture. There are a few scenes that were overly corny or dragged out too long, but all is forgiven in my mind once the Rambo scene breaks out.

Overall, UHF is good stuff. It's a better movie for older people that can appreciate the spoofs on the 80's and its definately not a movie that everyone will enjoy. But if your looking for one of those wacky movies that doesnt always make sence, but is sure to make you laugh, check this one out because "We Got it all...on UHF!".

Rating:
Summary: A Surprisingly Hilarious Movie
Review: Weird Al takes the part of a just fired hamburger joint employee and is given the job of being a TV Station Manager by his uncle. The plot of the whole movie revolves around trying to save the local station, UHF. The television station's success changes when George Newman (Weird Al) puts the janitor Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards) on live as the host of a childrens show. The show has instant success and puts the station back on track. But the television giants at Channel 8 do not like the local channels success and try to shut them down.

The base of the humor in this movie is done through parodys of other movies. It is very much like any of Leslie Nielson's movies and it was a very easy transition to move from one to the other. If you are looking for some laughs, pick this movie up.

Rating:
Summary: Music video trailblazer goes for the big screen
Review: Sure, Wierd Al has had mega success in Grammy Award-winning parody albums, and MTV Award-winning parody videos, but what about a full-length film?Well, here are a few comments: this is a film venture not just for Al, whose slapstick vignettes and commercial/TV parodies really hit well, but also for Michael Richards, Seinfeldian-to-be. Richards is spectacular as a downtrodden janitor who saves the cable channel as a wacky kid-show host; bit parter Emo Phillips needed a bigger role to accentuate his bizarre persona, and the flimsy plot takes away from what should have been an episodic film, not unlike Animal House and Fast Times. Like the latter, this film would've done better without a plot at all.This DVD release only gets a 3 not just because of the weak plot, but also because the one I bought had pan-n-scan on one side of the DVD, and allegedly widescreen on the other. There is no widescreen on my copy, and I'm disappointed. Buy, rent, watch, borrow this fim, however, for the great music, great slapstick (remember the clip of Richards aiming a potent fire hose at a young tyke's opened mouth, and the child flying across the set?), and Al's own performance knowing that he's funny and that he's not an actor. He seemed to move through this film as though saying, in subtitles with an implied smirk, "Hey -- I know I'm not really an actor, but I'm funny. And I'm rich enough to do this." Well done, Al; what's next for you in film?

Rating:
Summary: Roger Ebert and others should go drink from the fire hose!
Review: I remember the first time i saw scenes from UHF. I was three at the time and i saw pay-per-view ads for the movie, with the only scene i could remember from it being when Stanley pulls the straw wrapper out of his nose. I got the DVD recently, thinking it would be a cruddy movie, based on what my Dad said about it. Actually, I got a cool comedy treat that everyone should have seen!

The movie centers on George Newman (Weird Al), a daydreamer with a wild imagination which causes him to lose his jobs. His latest fantasy and insult of the boss winds up costing him and his friend and roomate Bob (David Bowe) their jobs at Big Edna's Burger World. While at a going-away party for for his Aunt Esther and Uncle Harvey (Stanley Brock), Harvey winds up winning the deed to a UHF station in a poker game, and George is hired as manager. Along with Bob he meets his co-workers, including receptionist Pam (Fran Drescher), techinican Philo (Anthony Geary), and former Channel 8 worker Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards). When his girlfriend Teri (Vicki Jackson) leaves him after he forgets one too many dates, he is too depressed to continue doing a children's show, and puts Stanley on as a joke. The ratings begin to soar, and George comes up with more ideas like "Wheel of Fish" (where the winner gets his or her weight in fish), "Raul's Wild Kingdom" (where poodles are taught to fly from third story windows), and "Secrets of the Universe" (where we learn to make plutonium from household items). The sudden ratings soar angers Channel 8 boss R.J. Fletcher (Kevin McCarthy), who will stop at nothing to shut down Channel 62. Can George find a way to keep the station on-air? What do you think?

The movie was a critical and commerical bomb when released, but it's better than the [stuff] that Ebert thinks is good. Luckily, the movie found a home on Video and Cable TV. The DVD was supposed to be bare bones, until fans stepped in and MGM put a bevy of features on (Too bad they didn't do that for Bill and Ted). Features include deleted scenes with a walktrough by Al, A behind the scenes featurette on the Wheel of Fish scene, commentary by Al with Jay Levey and surprise guests (i want to keep them as surpises), which is hilarious by Al commenting on the MGM logo and singing along with the Orion theme, "Orion, Orion, is bankrupt now!", a music video of the song "UHF", The teaser and theatrical trailers, easter eggs, production still gallery, Posters and stuff gallery, and menus with Al playing around in each. Overall, this DVD will go to anyone who has a sense of humor, but still pick up the VHS because it is a collector's item. As Stanley would say, "Roger Ebert, you get to drink from THE FIRE HOSE!"

Rating:
Summary: WARNING: ... for Weird Al fans only!
Review: I am a big fan of Weird Al's music. I have nine of his CDs. But I have to say that UHF is a movie geared more towards children than adults. The only reason I give UHF two stars is because of Weird Al Yankovic and because the movie started out pretty funny but then it got childish. Unless you are a die-hard Weird Al fan who must see UHF, I would suggest listening to the soundtrack opposed to actually watching this film. By the way, I am not saying that Al Yankovic did a bad job acting. I found him quite funny. It was all the other stuff in UHF that made it a not-so-humorous motion picture in my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: Don't you know the Dewey Decimal System?
Review: Still enjoyable after all these years. Whoever wrote the Amazon Editorial review must not have turned on the commentary from the special features section of the DVD, because they fell into that old "David Bowie" trap... As I learned from the DVD commentary and credits, it's David Bowe.

Rating:
Summary: A Twinky Wiener Sandwich
Review: This a really good movie. I never can seem to get enough of it. I have watched it countless time and still enjoy it. I would recomend this movie if you needed a comedy. Wierd Al is great in this. I just wish he would make more movies.

Rating:
Summary: I LIKE IT
Review: I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A FAN OF WEIRD ALS. WELL THIS IS HIS BETTER ACHIEVEMENT. I THINK HE SHOULD DO ANOTHER MOVIE.