Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

From our Film Review previously published in 2022

Recently, the film biopic genre has conjured up some interesting and original ways to tell a story based on someone's life. With Elvis, the theatrical element and dazzling production value gave way to an intense and beautiful account that followed Elvis during his good and bad times. In Blonde, the notes went sour to tell a depressing and heart-wrenching film about Marilyn Monroe that was void of any entertainment value. But who cares, really? Leave it to Weird Al Yankovic to deliver the most entertaining biopics ever in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Not only does it feature his brilliant songs but also changes the biopic flow in telling his story that might not be all so true to life.

Some years ago, the old internet TV channel Funny Or Die, released a short film that highlighted how Weird Al got famous. Back then the Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul donned the Hawaiin shirt, glasses, and mustache to sing songs like "My Bologna". It told a Weird Al tale of discovering his talents, becoming famous, and falling into one of those generic rock n roll frontman jerk types that hates everyone and everything. Needless to say, this wasn't Weird Al's life, but it was a super fun way to tell a story that stuck to those usual Hollywood biopic formulas. And it worked because, like Yankovic's silly parody songs, it's a parallel parody of his own life. That short film went viral and all seemed forgotten until Weird Al himself and filmmaker Eric Appel made their feature-length version that goes big. 

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story works perfectly in its ability to tell this bumped-up story that has small nuggets of facts littered about a whole narrative that is farcical in such a way that everyone plays their respective roles straight against a backdrop of the absurd. It's quite genius really, just like Yankovic's lyrics. Even having a rough and gruff voice narrate the film pretending to be a version of Weird Al that's been around the block just emotes what kind of hilarious ride everyone expects from one of his albums or insane concerts. As Daniel Radcliffe plays Al Yankovic who always knew he was meant to write funny songs with an accordion, finds his first inspiration while making his roommate's sandwiches and listening to the pop song My Sharona on the radio and holding a package of Bologna on his hand.

His friends say success does not happen overnight, but in this particular Yankovic story, he writes, records, has the song played on the radio, and gets a big record business meeting all within a few hours. It's from here where the absurdity finds its footing in a romance with Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood), ninja fighting the Mexican Drug Cartel, becoming a mean drunk alcoholic before the first big tour show, and even turning down to headline the reunion concert of Led Zeppelin. It's all made for laughs and with the number of big-name cameos, it's easy to tell just how loved Weird Al Yankovic is by his peers. Even Weird Al cameos in the film in a superbly funny and ironic role that almost breaks the fourth wall.

Vital Disc Stats: The Ultra HD Blu-ray
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story parodies its way to 4K + Blu-ray via Shout! with two discs that are housed inside a hard, black plastic case with a cardboard sleeve. The cover art is of Weird Al with his famous instrument from the backside looking at taking on the world. 

Images are not disc-sourced, when able we hope to circle back and update this review with 4K-sourced images and possibly video sample.

After only being available through the Roku channel exclusively for a year, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story lands on 4K UHD with a 2160p transfer with Dolby Vision. It's been said many times before, but physical media will always look better than streaming, such is the case with Weird. 

The Weird film looks even better with bolder and richer primary colors. The wackiness in Al's costumes throughout the decades brings in those purples, blues, greens, and reds wonderfully. Even the gold and silver colors are now more powerful. The warmth of the sunny mountains and valleys of California brings a nice amber glow to the movie with amazing green palm trees and blue skies above. Interiors bring s mix of browns, beige, and more dazzling shades of neon lighting when available. Black levels are inky and the skin tones are natural. The Dolby Vision gives this 4K image a good upgrade with the nuanced amber shading and the intense primary colors when Al is performing on stage. It also allows those darker sequences to bathe in those rich black levels without murky shadows. 

The detail is sharp and vivid throughout as well. Closeups reveal facial stubble, individual curly hairs, freckles, and the excellent textures in the Hawaiian shirts, tuxedos, and more glamour wardrobe choices. Background shots of instruments, the rock n' roll stages, and even the college apartment look exquisite. There are some elements of digitally added grain to keep with the film's period that always look fairly good. This is a wonderful-looking 4K image with Dolby Vision and is the best way to view the film.

This release comes with a great Dolby Atmos track. The box art says only DTS-HD 7.1, however, it is packed with Dolby Atmos life. The sound effects are robust and sonically great. The gun blasts and explosions toward the end are hilarious and pack a punch. The surrounding noises of vehicles passing by and crowds cheering sound dynamic. The low end of the bass comes with a fantastic rumble that never crosses into rocky territory. But the main ingredient here is the songs and score that just electrifies the soundscape at every turn. The dialogue is also clean, clear, and easy to follow. 

There are about 63 minutes of bonus materials, many of which include Al himself. There is a great audio commentary track, deleted scenes, and interviews with the cast and crew. 

• Audio Commentary - Al Yankovic and director Eric Appel deliver a very engaging and fun commentary track where they discuss how the film came to life, the partnership between the two, bringing on Daniel Radcliffe, the tone they wanted to pursue, and all the easter eggs in the film. This is a wonderful commentary track.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 25 Mins.) - Al and Eric introduce each clip and talk about why they were axed from the final film. More cameos and full performances are shown.
• Late Night (HD, 11 Mins.) - This is the Seth Meyers clip with Al and Daniel in full.
• Variety Studio (HD, 8 Mins.) - A mashup of the cast and director answering questions about the movie. 
• He's The Weird One (HD. 4 Mins.) - Eric and Al talk about being weird and the film.
• A Plethora of Cameos (HD, 2 Mins.) - Al, Eric, and Rainn Wilson are interviewed about the movie.
• Now You Know (HD, 6 mins.) - The lyric music video from the song in the movie.
• Making Of (HD, 4 Mins.) - A short look at how all of the creative elements came together for the movie.
• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 3 Mins.) - Trailer for the film.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is finally out on physical media in 4K. The image looks far better than it did streaming on Roku with the Dolby Vision adding some great upgrades. The Dolby Atmos track also sounds phenomenal here. The movie itself is still a rolling riot with tons of great music and comedy, along with some stellar performances. The extras provided are all worth watching as well. Highly Recommended!