My girlfriend and I saw "UHF" in 1984 in a theater in Chattanooga TN. I know this to be true because we were still dating then and were looking for something to do on a Sunday afternoon. I suppose this must've been an early version of the film. I know I'm not crazy! Did anyone else see the movie before 1989?!
shareThis is what happens when you buy left over calendars from the dollar store
shareThere are a few vehicles newer than 1984 seen in the movie, such as a Ford Probe, which was introduced in 1988. It's seen parked in front of the restaurant when Big Edna throws them out, 7 minutes and 44 seconds into the movie on my copy.
With that said, I was surprised to find out this came out in 1989. I seem to remember always seeing it on the shelf at the video store (though I never rented it back then; I just watched it for the first time tonight); I don't remember it suddenly appearing as a new release. I started renting movies on a regular basis at some point in sixth grade (1986 to 1987), because that's when I started hanging out with my old friend Tom, and his grandparents had a VCR. By '89 we had a VCR at home (which Mom got us for Christmas of '88) and I rented a ton of movies that year. Since this movie was released theatrically in mid '89, it wouldn't have been released on VHS until some point in 1990, and that doesn't align with my memory at all.