| Airheads | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Michael Lehmann |
| Produced by | Mark Burg Robert Simonds |
| Written by | Rich Wilkes |
| Starring | Brendan Fraser Steve Buscemi Adam Sandler Joe Mantegna Michael McKean Ernie Hudson Amy Locane Nina Siemaszko Chris Farley Judd Nelson Reg E. Cathey David Arquette Michael Richards |
| Music by | Carter Burwell |
| Cinematography | John Schwartzman |
| Editing by | Stephen Semel |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | August 5, 1994 |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $11 million |
| Box office | $5,751,882 (domestic)[1] |
Airheads is a 1994 American comedy film written by Rich Wilkes and directed by Michael Lehmann. It stars Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler as a band of loser musicians called "The Lone Rangers" who take a radio station hostage, just so that their song would get played on the radio. Joe Mantegna plays the radio station's DJ and Michael McKean plays the Station Manager.
Contents |
Chazz, Rex and Pip are a Los Angeles would-be rock band called The Lone Rangers. The guys are continuously turned down as they try to get their demo tape heard by producers. They finally decide to try to get the local rock station, KPPX 103.6 ("Rebel Radio"), to play it on the air, after they saw how Rebel Radio helped another band The Sons of Thunder get a record deal. Their first break-in attempt is using Pip's ATM card and its PIN. Then, Rex tries to short circuit the electronic lock with Pip's Big Gulp. They finally get in when a station employee Suzzi comes out and they keep the door from shutting behind her.
Once inside, DJ Ian "The Shark" puts them on the air without them knowing. Station Manager Milo overhears them and intervenes. After Milo calls Rex "Hollywood Boulevard trash", Chazz and Rex shove water pistols that look like Uzis loaded with hot pepper sauce in Milo's face and demand airplay. After setting up a reel-to-reel for the demo, the tape starts and is destroyed when the reel runs out and catches fire in an ashtray. The guys try to run, but Doug Beech, the station's accountant, calls the police and the building is surrounded.
They soon realize that they are armed hostage takers and begin negotiations with the police. During the crisis, it is learned that Milo had signed a deal to flip KPPX's format to Soft Adult Contemporary (soft rock), which includes having to fire Ian and most of the other employees. Ian and the rest of the employees take the side of Chazz and turn against Milo. Eventually, Jimmy Wing, the record executive who rejects Chazz in the beginning of the film comes to the radio station. The band signs a record contract and goes out on stage to play, only to realize that they are supposed to lip sync the song and fake playing the instruments. They refuse to lip sync while the music is playing and get a round of applause from the audience, who rush the stage.
Afterwards, Ian becomes The Lone Rangers Manager and the band is sent to prison, but serve only a 3-6 month sentence. They record an album while in prison called "Live in Prison", which goes triple platinum.
| Airheads (soundtrack) | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | 1994 |
| Recorded | 1994 |
| Genre | Rock, heavy metal, punk rock |
| Length | 49:43 |
| Label | Arista Records |
| Producer | Lonn Friend |
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [2] |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performed by | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Born to Raise Hell" | Ian Kilmister | Motörhead with Ice-T and Whitfield Crane | 4:57 |
| 2. | "I'm The One" | Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth | 4 Non Blondes | 3:58 |
| 3. | "Feed the Gods" | Lyrics: Rob Zombie; Music: White Zombie | White Zombie | 4:05 |
| 4. | "No Way Out" | Jesse Malin, Richard Bacchus, Howard Kusten | DGeneration | 4:26 |
| 5. | "Bastardizing Jellikit" | Lyrics: Les Claypool; Music: Primus | Primus | 4:11 |
| 6. | "London" | Morrissey, Johnny Marr | Anthrax | 2:54 |
| 7. | "Can't Give In" | Lyrics: Kevin Martin; Music: Peter Klett and Candlebox | Candlebox | 3:15 |
| 8. | "Curious George Blues" | Scott Hackwith | Dig | 4:03 |
| 9. | "Inheritance" | Prong | Prong | 2:11 |
| 10. | "Degenerated" | Paul Bakija, Dave Rubenstein | Lone Rangers | 3:53 |
| 11. | "I'll Talk My Way Out Of It" | John Melendez, J. Cantor | Stuttering John | 3:40 |
| 12. | "Fuel" | Stick | Stick | 4:57 |
| 13. | "We Want the Airwaves" | Jeffry Hyman, John Cummings, Douglas Colvin | Ramones | 3:21 |
The movie debuted in 11th place, grossing $1.8 million US in its opening weekend.[3] Airheads currently has a score of 23% "Rotten" on Rotten Tomatoes.[4] The film has gained a cult following.
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