Teenage me fondly remembers the scene of Lea Thompson in her underwear. Apparently there was also a movie around it. Something to do with a duck?
I had read Howard the Duck comics, I was reading everything Marvel produced back then, I saw his first appearance in the Man Thing comic (Adventure into Fear), so naturally I thought the movie was an abomination at the time. In retrospect I can see that some people liked it if they weren’t a fan of the comic and realize or didn’t care that it was a very different character and story.
Every time the subject comes up it also makes me long for a return to whatever world I came from.
I never read the comics, in fact at the time the movie came out, I had never even heard of Howard the Duck. I still think the movie was crap. (except of Ms Thompson of course) I went to see a George Lucas comedy action film and got whatever the hell that movie was.
It didn’t. The other comments are correct - it isn’t an all-time bad movie by any means. It’s more boring than awful. The script is paint-by-numbers, degenerating into a typical ‘80s chase scene at the end. The effects, though obviously expensive, aren’t engaging at all. It has its entertaining moments, especially at the beginning when they’re establishing Howard and Bev as characters. Jeffery Jones’ macabre command “Release the small waterfowl!” is probably the highlight, playing the possession angle against the central concept of a talking duck. Sadly, these moments, though occasionally pure gold, are too few to save a film that seems to give up on itself. It’s kind of like Douglas Adams or some other witty writer came to the set one day, punched up the script in places, then had to go, leaving some intern to finish up. The moments are almost worth watching the movie, but it’s not a good use of 111 minutes.
I’m pretty sure that would have been my opinion also. I just can’t see it from a detached point of view. I imagine Lea Thompson is the most memorable part of the movie to many people.
You know, its funny, 2 years later Lucas pulled off the comedy action film with a better script and better director. ***Willow ***was a really good and fun movie.
I watched that again recently and it really is…up until the climactic scene when Jean Marsh’s scenery chewing and the not-up-to-the-task special effects let the film down a bit. But the rest of it makes up for the few rough spots.
Entertaining and insightful 12 minute review from one of my favourite youtube channels
Includes such lines as :
“So a scientist, a rock star, and a 3 foot tall duck walk into a bar”
“I can’t believe I have to censor duck tits”
From 7 min 50 secs it’s background info and trivia about the making of the film. 4 minutes of your time well spent if you’ve got this far in the thread, but I’d recommend watching the whole 12 mins, the reviewer is smart, informed, insightful, and named Cecil.
Final quote : "While a lot of people still consider this one of the worst movies of all time that’s unfair. It’s an easy target. This movie is a goofy, occasional black comedy adventure with a great cast, impressive visuals and overall it’s just one of those movies where you sit back and enjoy the absurdity. This does NOT deserve to be seen as one of the worst movies of all time. Sit down and watch “I Accidentally Domed Your Son”. After that you’ll be nominating this for an Oscar.
Disclaimer - I have never watched “I accidentally Domed Your Son”
I was 18 in '86, I stopped reading comics at 12 and was only ever I to the major heros…bat/super/spider Man, Hulk, stuff like that.
I also LOVE bad and low budget movies.
Howard the duck was so bad on so many levels:smack:
First of all, I can’t believe this was a major release. Sometimes acting from one or more actor isn’t what the movie needs, or the story is bland or wonky.
A gimmick can backfire, or a concept can fall flat.
But in Howard, it’s all there, and each “miss” was fairly huge and on top of that, I’m left with the weird emotional aura of detoxing junkie fever dreams.
The only movie I could compare Howard to is Killer Clowns from Outer space. Weird fever dream feeling and no recollection of any plot points, bad acting, stories, costumes etc.
:eek:
KKFOS is one of the greatest B movies of all time! The Chiodo Brothers are gods among men! NOW SIT DOWN AND WATCH IT AGAIN UNTIL YOU REMEMBER IT RIGHT!
I think Howard the Duck is perfectly fine. People get way too hyperbolic about it- It’s not even in the top 20 worst mainstream movies of all time–but I’ve seen put it near the top.
It’s a movie that feels like it is slightly too late. Like if it had been made in 1981 instead of 86, I think it would have been more fondly remembered. But this was a post Ghostbusters and Back to the Future world–sci-fi/fantastic premise comedies had changed. Howard was from a previous era–it was grungier, rougher.