Airheads

***Airheads*** is a 1994 American comedy film written by Rich Wilkes, directed by Michael Lehmann, and starring Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Michael McKean, Judd Nelson, Michael Richards, and Joe Mantegna. It tells the story of a struggling rock band who stage a hijacking of a radio station in order to get airplay for their demo recording.

The film was both a critical and commercial disappointment.

## Storyline

### Plot

Three aspiring rock musicians -- Chazz (Brendan Fraser), Pip (Adam Sandler) and Rex (Steve Buscemi) -- are determined to have their band's demo tape played on the air. Out of desperation, they sneak into a Los Angeles radio station, but when the manager, Milo (Michael McKean), meets them with hostility, they resort to threatening him with realistic-looking water pistols. Soon the situation escalates, and the none-too-bright rockers get in over their heads.

### Genres

* Comedy
* Teen
* Musical
* Crime Fiction

### Motion Picture Rating

* **13** (Argentina)
* **M** (Australia)
* **12** (Brazil)
* **K-12** (Finland)
* **K-11/9** (Finland)
* **12** (Germany)
* **L** (Iceland)
* **U** (India) (Chennai, TV rating)
* **A** (India) (original rating)
* **15** (Ireland)
* **G** (Japan)
* **R** (Mexico) (DVD rating)
* **12** (Netherlands)
* **15** (Norway) (cinema rating)
* **16** (Poland) (TV rating)
* **M/12** (Portugal)
* **PG13** (Singapore)
* **12** (South Korea)
* **18** (Spain)
* **11** (Sweden)
* **15** (UK)
* **PG-13** (USA)
* **Not Rated** (United Arab Emirates)

## Cast and Crew

### Cast

* Brendan Fraser - Chazz
* Steve Buscemi - Rex
* Adam Sandler - Pip
* Chris Farley - Wilson
* Michael McKean - Milo Jackson
* Judd Nelson - Jimmie Wing
* Ernie Hudson - O'Malley
* Amy Locane - Kayla
* Nina Siemaszko - Suzzi
* Marshall Bell - Carl Mace
* Reg E. Cathey - Marcus (as Reginald E. Cathey)
* David Arquette - Carter
* Michael Richards - Doug Beech
* Joe Mantegna - Ian
* Michelle Hurst - Yvonne
* Allen Covert - Cop
* Sarah Reinhardt - Secretary
* Lexie Bigham - Security Guard
* Lydell M. Cheshier - Security Guard #2
* Sam Whipple - Personal Manager
* Uri Horowitz - Teen (as Uri Ryder)
* Dana Jackson - Receptionist
* Ryan Holihan - Kid
* Kurt Loder - Kurt Loder
* Tiiu Leek - News Woman
* Kurek Ashley - Psycho Rocker
* Pablo Alvear - Psycho Rocker
* Alejandro Quezada - Rocker
* Harold Ramis - Chris Moore
* China Kantner - Female Rocker
* Rebecca Donner - Female Rocker
* Vinnie DeRamus - D & D Rocker
* Lemmy - School Newspaper Rocker (as Lemmy von Motorhead)
* Rich Wilkes - Corduroy Rocker
* John Melendez - Masturbating Rocker
* John Zarchen - Cop
* Rennie Pincus - Cop
* Zander Lehmann - Tyke
* Mike Judge - Beavis / Butt-Head (voice)
* Ben Huggins - Singer
* Mitchell Dane Sonnier - Singer
* Monty Colvin - Singer
* Alan Doss - Singer
* Rob Zombie - Rob Zombie - White Zombie Vocalist (as Robert Cummings)

### Producers

* Todd R. Baker (executive producer) (as Todd Baker)
* Mark Burg (producer)
* Ira Shuman (co-producer)
* Robert Simonds (producer)

## Details

### Release Dates

* August 5, 1994 (USA)
* October 21, 1994 (UK)
* October 28, 1994 (Spain)
* October 28, 1994 (Mexico) (unknown)
* November 4, 1994 (Denmark)
* November 4, 1994 (Portugal)
* November 4, 1994 (El Salvador)
* November 8, 1994 (Finland)
* November 10, 1994 (Germany)
* November 10, 1994 (Hungary)
* November 11, 1994 (Sweden)
* November 12, 1994 (Japan)
* November 18, 1994 (Ireland)
* January 19, 1995 (Australia)
* March 15, 1995 (France)
* April 6, 1995 (Argentina)
* May 12, 1995 (Brazil)
* October 2, 2001 (Philippines) (DVD premiere)
* July 2, 2003 (Netherlands) (internet)
* October 6, 2003 (South Africa) (DVD premiere)
* January 9, 2004 (Italy) (DVD premiere)
* February 3, 2004 (Canada) (DVD premiere)
* July 12, 2018 (Poland) (TV release)
* August 30, 2018 (Israel) (Blu-ray release)

## Production

### Casting

Metallica, Cannibal Corpse and Testament were approached for the bar scene but declined to appear.

### Location

The KPPX radio station was located at Fox Plaza in Los Angeles, which served as Nakatomi Plaza in the 1988 film *Die Hard*.

### Music

The film features an original song by White Zombie and went on to chart on the Billboard 200 and peak at Number 157. In addition, there are re-recordings of songs from Motorhead and Primus. Jay Yuenger and Sean Yseult also accompanied with Brendan Fraser's vocal rendition of "Degenerated", a song by hardcore punk band Reagan Youth. The song was produced by Yuenger and Bryan Carlstrom.

A number of songs can be heard in the film but not included on the soundtrack album. These are: "Baby Huey (Do You Wanna Dance)" by Dim Stars; "Shamrocks and Shenanigans (Boom Shalock Lock Boom) [Butch Vig Mix]" by House of Pain; "Unsatisfied" by The Replacements; "Rocks" by Primal Scream; "Janie's Got a Gun" by Aerosmith; "Wheezing" by David Byrne; "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful" by "Sons of Thunder" (Galactic Cowboys).

## Reception

### Box office

The film debuted in tenth place, grossing US$1.9 million in its opening weekend, and grossed only half its budget.

### Critical response

This film has a 6.2 rating on IMDb and a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

## Company Credits

### Production Companies

* 20th Century Fox
* Island World
* Robert Simonds Productions

### Distributors

* 20th Century Fox (1994) (USA) (theatrical)
* Manuel Salvador (1994) (Spain) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (1994) (UK) (theatrical)
* Kommunenes Filmcentral (KF) (1994) (Norway) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (1994) (Japan) (theatrical)
* Fox Video (1994) (Germany) (VHS)
* 20th Century Fox Argentina (1994) (Argentina) (theatrical)
* Hoyts Fox Columbia TriStar Films (1995) (Australia) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox (1995) (France) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1995) (Japan) (VHS)
* Fox Video (1995) (USA) (laserdisc, video)
* Gativideo (1995) (Argentina) (VHS)
* 20th Century Fox India (1997) (India) (theatrical)
* 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
* 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
* Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (rental, DVD)
* Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (retail, DVD)
* 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
* Anchor Bay Entertainment (2013) (USA) (Blu-ray, video)
* Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (Netherlands) (VHS)

### Special Effects

* Pacific Data Images (PDI) (visual effects)

## Technical Specs

### Aspect Ratio

* 1.85:1
* 1.33:1 (4:3 full-screen prints, along with the film itself in open matte)
* 1.14:1 (35mm open matte film scan prints)

## Trivia

* The final film to use the 1981 Twentieth Century Fox logo.
* First film with Adam Sandler and Steve Buscemi.
* Adam Sandler's only film with Brendan Fraser.

## Connections

### References

* *The Andy Griffith Show* (TV Series 1960–1968) - Barney Fife mentioned
* *The Partridge Family* (TV Series 1970–1974) - Ian says, "Of course! You're 'The Partridge Family'!"
* *Conan the Barbarian* (1982) - Ian refers to Chazz as Conan, with the context suggesting a barbarian.
* *This Is Spinal Tap* (1984) - A poster for Michael McKean's earlier film is on the studio wall.
* *Revenge of the Nerds* (1984)
* *The Golden Girls* (TV Series 1985–1992) - Mentioned in dialogue
* *MacGyver* (TV Series 1985–1992) - When they are trying to break into the station they pull a 'MacGyver'.
* *Hard Copy* (TV Series 1987) - Referenced by Pip
* *Die Hard* (1988) - Described as "Die Hard in a radio station".
* *The Simpsons* (TV Series 1989) - Chazz tells Yvonne that she'll be home in time to watch The Simpsons
* *Aerial Assault* (Video Game 1990) - The woman plays this game on Game Gear.
* *Beavis and Butt-Head* (TV Series 1993–2011) - Beavis and Butt-Head (voiced by Mike Judge) call in to the radio station
* *Wayne's World 2* (1993) - Pallatine Records appears in both movies.

### Referenced in

* *Billy Madison* (1995) - Chris Farley says "Good, great, wonderful, fantastic..." in both films.
* *I Was a Teenage Faust* (TV Movie 2002)
* *Zeke and Luther: Airheads* (TV Episode 2010) - Title reference.
* *Brad Tries...: Brad Tries Four Loko* (TV Episode 2010) - Brad Jones says he likes Airheads the candy, but not the movie.
* *Celebrated: Adam Sandler* (TV Episode 2015) - Film mentioned.

### Spoofs

* *Dog Day Afternoon* (1975) - Taking over the radio station is a parody of the bank takeover.
* *The Blues Brothers* (1980)