UHF Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

UHF Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 11, 2014

For younger folks who may not realize this, “uhf” is not the sound you make when you’re punched in the stomach. Well, maybe it is, but in the case of UHF, it's of course an acronym which refers to “ultra high frequency”, the bandwidth between 300 MHz and 3 GHz which was initially used for radio broadcasts and then matriculated over to televisions, providing additional channels which were typically in the double digits and (in the “olden days” at least) sometimes required a second dial on the television to access them. UHF channels were kind of the niche “cable” outlets of their day, sometimes Mom and Pop shops that featured a bizarre assortment of public domain material like old movies along with in studio live offerings that more often than not rather brilliantly displayed why any given on screen “talent” hadn’t quite yet grasped the veritable brass ring. This brainchild of “Weird Al” Yankovic wasn’t especially well received when it debuted in 1989, just on the cusp of the modern cable era when UHF channels were beginning to be in decline. Ironically, it was the rise of cable, along with the surviving low rent broadcast frequencies, that managed to resurrect UHF through repeated showings. The film provides a fun springboard for Yankovic’s often febrile imagination, as well as offering colorful supporting turns for a wacky cast including Michael Richards of Seinfeld, Fran Drescher of The Nanny, Victoria Jackson of Saturday Night Live and (just for good measure) Kevin McCarthy of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

“Weird Al” is of course best known for his parodies, and Yankovic obviously wanted his feature film starring debut to play to his strengths, and there are therefore several fantasy or daydreaming sequences in UHF that allow him to port over his musical satirizations to the world of film. UHF in fact begins with a silly but giggle worthy send up of the iconic opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark, with Al doing his best Harrison Ford impersonation. The gags are largely juvenile, but they at least start the film out in a way that lets the audience know that nothing—including hapless “Weird Al” himself—will be treated as sacrosanct.

That parody turns out to be only a daydream wafting short order cook George Newman (“Weird Al” Yankovic) away from his frying duties, if only for a moment. He and his buddy Bob (David Bowe) are soon shown the exit door of the establishment when George’s big mouth gets them in trouble with their harridan boss, Big Edna. The two don’t seem to have much in the way of a future in front of them, but soon enough fate intervenes when George’s gambling addicted Uncle Harvey (Stanley Brock) manages to win a local UHF channel, way up at number 62 on the dial, in a poker game. (That’s another longtime tv veteran, Sue Ane Langdon, as Aunt Esther.) Suddenly George (and by default, Bob) has a new place to work, and it seems like a match made in heaven, since George has been regaling everyone who will listen with what an “imagination guy” he is, and how his “talents” have been wasted in menial jobs like flipping burgers.

At the station George meets harried receptionist Pamela Finklestein (Fran Drescher), who is aghast that there’s yet another new owner traipsing into the joint, the latest in a seemingly unending series of bigwigs whose revolving door status have kept her from becoming a news reporter, her preferred position. There’s also an eccentric engineer named Philo (Anthony Geary), a guy who resembles a mad scientist more than a studio fix it guy. Rounding out the odd crew is a little person named Noodles Macintosh (Billy Barty) who works as a cameraman. Despite this less than promising personnel list, George remains undeterred, a hopeless (and perhaps helpless) optimist.

George, ever the helpful good samaritan, decides to deliver a misdirected package to local rival Channel 8, where he meets that (VHF) station’s nefarious manager, R.J. Fletcher (Kevin McCarthy), a guy who seems to walk around in a perpetual state of apoplexy. A chance meeting brings George into contact with Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards), a janitor whom Fletcher has just fired and who is just as quickly offered a new job by George, a hiring choice which will turn to be especially fortuitous when Stanley takes over Channel 62’s kiddie show and unexpectedly makes it into a huge hit.

UHF doesn’t really aim for the comedy bleachers, content instead to amble along affably enough, with a number of weird, almost carnival like, sidebars where Yankovic’s fertile imagination is allowed to roam free. This results in odd little vignettes like a take off that combines Dire Straits’ famous “Money for Nothing” music video with an homage dedicated to The Beverly Hillbillies, of all things. Like a lot of Yankovic’s material, there are hits and misses, but Yankovic is such an unassuming performer (despite his tendency to mug relentlessly), that it all goes down pretty smoothly.

In a cartoon setting like this, it’s hard to get too worked up over any supposedly real emotions, but Yankovic acquits himself surprisingly well in the little scenes with Victoria Jackson (playing George’s put upon girlfriend Teri). The through line in UHF is merely a connective thread allowing Yankovic plenty of opportunity to skewer popular culture, something which he’s innately well qualified to do.

UHF Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

UHF is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.89:1. Given an understanding of the generally lo-fi ambience of this film, this high definition presentation is surprisingly good looking. There's still quite a bit of damage to be spotted, including minus density, fleck and specks and various instances of dirt and dust. But colors are really richly saturated for the most part and pop extremely well (the opening "Indiana Jones" sequence is basically one long optical due to the credits, and has a kind of sickly green tint to it that gives way once the film proper begins). Grain is abundant and organic looking. Some of the interstitial elements, like the "Money for Nothing" animation, look fairly soft, but the "live" elements pop with excellent clarity and fine detail in close-ups, as revealed in several of the screenshots accompanying this review. There are no signs of overly aggressive digital intrusion or tweaking of the image.

UHF Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

UHF's LPCM 2.0 audio nicely supports the many musical elements as well as the film's dialogue. The musical segments have a surprising amount of punch in the lower registers, and everything is well prioritized and problem free. Fidelity remains excellent throughout the film, and dynamic range is fairly wide for this kind of low rent comedy.

UHF Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Wonderful World of "Weird Al" Yankovic Panel (1080p; 51:08) is from 2014's San Diego Comic-Con, right when "Weird Al" hit Number One on the album charts. Host Jonah Ray is obviously a big fan.


• Behind the Scenes (480p; 3:39) is a fake "documentary" on Wheel of Fish.


• Deleted Scenes (480i; 19:12)


• Music Video (480i; 4:30) is for "UHF".


• Commentary by Al Yankovic and Director Jay Levey.


• Production Stills (1080p)


• Promotional Materials include:

  Teaser Trailer (480p; 00:39)

  Theatrical Trailer (480p; 1:25)

  Posters and Stuff (1080p)

UHF Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's an undeniable sweetness to Yankovic, despite his kind of slightly snarky demeanor, and that comes through very winningly throughout UHF. Some of the comedy bits land here very well, while some skew fairly wide of their intended targets, but the film is filled with goofily enjoyable performances and a number of neat little sendups of everything from popular films to popular songs. This Blu-ray release sports generally excellent technical merits, and comes replete with some nice supplements as well. Recommended.