I hadn’t watched it since I was in High School, so when Airheads came on the TV while I was cooking breakfast this morning, I caved and spent my Saturday morning doing laundry and re-discovering how stupidly hilarious (and aged) this movie is.

I was a freshman in high school when this movie first came out and by the time I finally saw it, everyone was mourning Kurt’s death, watching Singles, and taking music (and life) really seriously. But Airheads, whether it meant to or not (but I’m pretty sure it was intentional), instead acknowledged the rock and roll lifestyle while also completely mocking it.

The premise is, should you not be familiar, a band can’t get their song played on the radio so they accidentally take a local radio station hostage. They intend to just use some fake guns, force the DJ to play the song, and then leave, but the cops come, the place goes under lockdown, the demo tape gets ruined, hostages get involved, and everything goes obnoxiously wrong while the band desperately tries everything in their power to get their song heard.

It’s got Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Judd Nelson, Ernie Hudson, Michael Richards, and White Zombie even makes an appearance. And there are so many laughable rock cliche quotes…

“Let me ask you a question: Who’s side did you take in the big David Lee Roth-Van Halen split?”
“What?
“Who’s side did you take: Halen or Roth?”
“…Van Halen.”
“He’s a cop!”

And…

“Who’d win in a wrestling match, Lemmy or God?
“Lemmy… God?”
“Wrong, dickhead, trick question. Lemmy is God.”

And then, of course, Brendan Fraiser’s hilarious “Pity, I’m a wanna-be rockstar” rant:

“Do you know what it’s like to be on the bill and to play for 15 minutes and the only people there to see you are the other bands and their girlfriends? Don’t talk to me about rock ‘n’ roll! I’m out there in the clubs and on the streets and I’m living it! I am rock ‘n’ roll!”

Next time you’re stuck at home with laundry and/or mindless work, rent it. Now, a decade and a half later, it’s so much funnier than I ever remember. It’s way better than Rockstar, at least.