Friday Flix: February 1992 : The Retro Network

How many movies came out in February 1992? One, the answer is one. It was the best Valentine’s Day present anyone could ask for! February 1992 wasn’t a great month for movies, but the movie released on Valentine’s Day was all anyone needed.

Wayne’s World was (and is) a fantastic movie. I took a date to it on Valentine’s Day, she said it was OK. Is she mental?

There were other movies but none worth the time or money. Unfortunately the only way to find out is to see them.

Let’s look at the movies from February 1992.

Movies from February 1992

Final Analysis

You had me at Kim Basinger! A Bond girl, 9 1/2 Weeks, Vicky Vale, LA Confidential, well that one would come later, but you get the idea. Also starring Uma Thurman and Richard Gere.

This is a sex charged psychological thriller with a nice Hitchcock vibe. There are twists and turns and double crosses. Things you’d expect from Hitchcock.

Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, you’re wrong.

Final Analysis had a decent showing at the box office. Reviews were mixed. I thought it was pretty good. I haven’t seen it since the theater though. Never rented it or seen it on TV.

Kim Basinger was nominated for the MTV Movie Award Most Desirable Female, she lost to Linda Hamilton. What?!? No Way.

She was also nominated for a Worst Actress Razzie and lost to Melanie Griffith.

You can watch Final Analysis on Max GO.

Medicine Man

Starring Sean Connery and Lorraine Bracco and directed by John McTiernan. McTiernan directed some of the best movies ever. Predator, The Hunt for Red October, Last Action Hero and the Christmas classic Die Hard.

Medicine Man was a step back from all those action films. Although the press would put it in the action category.

I remember seeing the movie but don’t recall all the details. Connery is a doctor in the Rain Forest searching for a cure for cancer. He thinks he found it in a flower and then a logging company starts cutting down trees to build a road.

It’s all kind of a blur. I also remember liking the movie at the time. I saw it only once in the theater and never again. Maybe I’ll watch it and see if I still like it.

Medicine Man was blasted by critics. McTiernan defended the movie saying “It was a little art movie with Sean Connery that cost only $27 million. If the press hadn’t defined it as an action movie, it probably wouldn’t have been considered a disappointment.”

Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot

Stallone in a comedy? Yep.

The story of how Stallone decided to make this movie is funnier than the actual movie. Stallone’s rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger was fierce in the 80s. When Stallone heard Schwarzenegger was interested in the movie he jumped on it so Schwarzenegger couldn’t make it.

It was all a prank by Schwarzenegger, he never wanted the movie, he just wanted Stallone to think he did.

You can listen to Schwarzenegger tell the story. Or listen to Stallone tell it.

We all benefited from their rivalry in the 80s. It was a glorious time for action movies!

The only drawback to their rivalry is this movie. It’s not good. And yet it still made over $70 million. The majority of the money came from international box office sales.

The movie won three Razzie awards, Worst Actor (Stallone), Worst Supporting Actress (Estelle Getty) and Worst Screenplay.

You can watch Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot on Starz. But don’t.

Memoirs of an Invisible Man

It’s hard to fathom this is a John Carpenter film. At the time Carpenter was in a legal dispute with the production company of They Live. He hadn’t made a movie in three years and decided to director this one.

It’s not a good movie, which is disappointing for a John Carpenter fan. It’s a wholly forgettable movie.

Chevy Chase plays a stock broker who ends up in a building when a computer malfunctions and renders the building and everything in it invisible. Chase is the only person remaining in the building.

Daryl Hannah plays a TV producer and eventual love interest. After Chase is invisible he confides in Hannah and they set out to find the answers from the CIA.

The concept is fantastic, the execution and writing isn’t.

The script was rewritten, several times. The original script was, according to Chase “Clark Griswold becoming invisible.” He wanted something more serious and less comedic.

Richard Donner was attached to the project, after he left John Carpenter was suggested and Chase agreed.

Carpenter said Chase and Hannah were “the stuff of nightmares” and “impossible to direct.” He said Chase would remove the special effects makeup early and ruin a day of shooting. I’ve heard Chase is a pain to work with on set, this is the first I heard of Hannah also being difficult.

With a bad script, difficult stars and expensive special effects the movie was doomed from the start.

Chase and Hannah were still big stars in 1992. I went to see this in the theater and wasn’t impressed. I’ve never rented it or seen it since 1992. There are much better movies from Chase, Hannah and Carpenter.

Just like the Invisible Man, this film should vanish.

Wayne’s World

Wayne’s World! Wayne’s World!

Party on! Excellent!

All the other movies released in February 1992 don’t hold a candle to Wayne’s World. It was and is a fantastic movie!

Adapted from a Saturday Night Live (SNL) skit of the same name Wayne’s World is the most successful movie based on a SNL skit. It passed The Blues Brothers, making more than double the money of The Blues Brothers. Even taking inflation into account Wayne’s World is still the winner.

SNL was in it’s heyday in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I’ll argue with anyone the best cast of SNL is from 1986-1993. There was never a better cast, not before or after. The cast of those years included Dana Carvey, Dennis Miller, Chris Farley, Julia Sweeny, Jan Hooks, Ellen Cleghorne, Adam Sandler, Phil Hartman, the list goes on and on.

The skits were well written, funny and memorable. You tuned in every week to see The Church Lady, Hans & Franz, Deep Thoughts, Toonces, the Driving Cat and get your Daily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley.

Dennis Miller is one of the best Weekend Updates anchors the show has known and who can forget the epic Chippendales dance-off between Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley!!

During those years Mike Myers and Dana Carvey starred in Wayne’s World, a skit about two rockers with their own cable access TV show. Wayne and Garth were everyday kids looking for a future that didn’t involve the same grind their parents endured. It came at a time when all of us Gen-X slackers were looking for a purpose.

The writing is top-notch, the jokes are funny and the soundtrack is the best of the year. It’s full of pop culture references that are natural, not forced. Ready Player One should have taken notes.

The movie introduced a new generation to Queen, revitalizing their career, not long after the death of front man Freddy Mercury. In probably the best known scene from the movie, Wayne, Garth and their friends rock out to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Besides Queen, the soundtrack features Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, BulletBoys, Cinderella, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eric Clapton and more! It’s easily the best soundtrack of the year. It even hit #1 on the Billboard Top 200.

The movie is entirely 1992 and doesn’t apologize for it. It’s a snapshot in time about two perceived losers trying to make it big. They have a dream and no one is going to stop them. Not even evil Rob Lowe.

This movie has everything you could want a fantastic soundtrack, extremely quotable and most importantly it’s funny and re-watchable after all these years. To all The Office fans out there running around saying “That’s what she said,” I’d like to point out, Wayne’s World originated the phrase.

Siskel and Ebert both praised this movie. Siskel placed it #8 in his top 10 movies of 1992. Ebert gave it 3 out of 4 stars. While I don’t hold much stock in movie critics, if they both liked a SNL skit turned movie it must be good.

I’ve seen this more times than I can count. It is an all time favorite.

As for my date who thought the movie was OK, we had many years of happiness…Not! There wasn’t a second date.

Party on Wayne. Party on Garth.

You can, and should, watch Wayne’s World on Paramount+.

Other movies released in February 1992

There were a few more movies released in February 1992. I didn’t see them, I was too busy watching Wayne’s World for the umpteenth time. If you saw them let me know if any are worth my time.