UHF in UHD: Weird Al’s cult classic movie will get its first 4K release
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Weird Al’s Rambo parody was a drop in the bucket amidst all the other jokes in the film, but it’s among the most memorable.
Shout Factory
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This is the promotional image for the collector’s edition with all its physical knickknacks.
Shout Factory
Believe it or not, it’s been 35 years since Weird Al’s quotable cult classic UHF first came out. Right on time for that anniversary, Shout Factory will release an UltraHD Blu-ray of the movie. This will be the first time it has ever been available in 4K.
Releasing July 2 but pre-ordering now, the disc will include a new 4K scan of the original 35mm negative, along with audio commentary from Weird Al and Jay Levy, the film’s director.
It will also come bundled with a standard HD Blu-ray that includes the film in that older format along with a bunch of special features, including video of a 2014 Comic-Con panel on the movie, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes videos, and some other assets. Some of those return from the movie’s last physical edition, which was a 25th anniversary HD Blu-ray, but not 4K.
There will be deluxe editions that include some physical collectibles, including an 18×24-inch poster of the “original theatrical artwork,” as well as a new, same-sized poster of new poster art made for this edition. You’ll also find 10 scratch-and-sniff stickers alongside a guide with time prompts for using them, plus some stickers “designed to replicate vintage vending machine prism stickers from the late ’80s and early ’90s” and a Spatula City fridge magnet. Add to that a 6-inch “UHF Remote Control Stress Relief Collectible.” All that stuff is limited to 1,000 units.
For an even smaller number of units of the collector’s edition (500), there will be five UHF-themed hard enamel pins.
The set is available in four tiers priced at $40, $53, $76, and $130, which is a mess, but if you’re not interested in collecting all the physical doohickies, it’s that first price for just the movie that you need to know.
UHF was released in 1989, and it was parody musician Weird Al’s first movie starring role and writing credit. Conceived as a series of bits that would allow him to satirize films in the same way he was known for satirizing songs, it, unfortunately, was a box office flop. It gained a small and passionate cult following on VHS throughout the ’90s.
Another movie written in part by Weird Al, Weird: The Al Yankovich Story, was released on Roku’s streaming channel in 2022. It was a very different kind of movie. Instead of rapid-fire spoofing numerous films like UHF did, it spoofed the musical biopic genre, with Daniel Radcliffe playing Weird Al in a heavily fictionalized account of his life.
The limited-run nature of this UHF release suggests that while the film still has its cult following, it remains outside the mainstream. Its fans probably like it that way, though.
Listing image by Shout Factory
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