If you concentrate on the fact that Howard the Duck was a notorious box office dud (still brought up today) and considered one of the worst films of the '80s, it's entirely possible to enjoy this special effects piffle. Howard, played by a special effect puppet, lives on a planet where ducks evolved instead of apes, but one day he's sucked into a vortex and deposited on Earth. There he befriends Beverly Switzler (Lea Thompson), lead singer for the Cherry Bombs, becomes their manager, and, oh yeah, saves the Earth from the Dark Overlords. Jeffrey Jones is the villain and Tim Robbins (!) is there for comic relief. And who can resist the culmination of synthesizer pop, the Howard the Duck theme song, as realized by the Cherry Bombs? A midnight movie that your kids might watch more than you. --Keith Simanton
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: don't listen to the naysayers Comment: this movie has comedy, action, drama, and a touch of sci-fi monster mayhem to keep anyone with some imagination entertained. besides lea thompson is hot, and she sings pretty good too. hell if you like back to the future, teen wolf, weird science, breakfast club, and short circuit you'll like this. just sit back and laugh its really well done. Customer Rating: Summary: Come on it's Howard the Duck Comment: Everyone gets too serious about reviewing movies. It's Howard the Duck. Which in general is probably yes a bad movie, but I love it because I remember watching it as a kid and thought the duck looked so real. Seriously lighten up about the whole thing, it's a bad movie but I still love it without questioning it. It's like Big Trouble in Little China. Customer Rating: Summary: i love this especially the dvd version Comment: Howard O Super Heroi (Howard the Duck)
Howard O Super Heroi (Howard the Duck)
Howard O Super Heroi (Howard the Duck)
Howard O Super Heroi (Howard the Duck) Customer Rating: Summary: Fun from start to finish Comment: Howard The Duck is not only a film I remember fondly from my youth, but also a film I still enjoy today. It's definitely not high-brow entertainment, but it is FUN!
It's a movie you sit down, turn off the nit-picking critic in your head, press play and simply enjoy. It deserves to be released on DVD.
There is no comparison between the movie and the comic, so there's not much point in trying to compare the two. There was no attempt to match the biting satire that Steve Gerber appeared to do with such virtuosity. The only thing the two have in common is the fact that the main character was a large talking duck who makes friends with a hairless ape (Beverly).
If you want highbrow, then avoid this movie. If you want superlative acting and dialogue, then avoid this movie. But if you want something that's fun for pretty much all ages, by all means sit down and enjoy it!
Howard is fun, pure and simple. Lea Thompson makes a great Beverly. The others chew the scenery with relish. And the music, especially the finale, is great.
I'd love to own it on DVD. Customer Rating: Summary: guilty pleassure Comment: I was born in 1981. I dont recall this movie being at the theaters or the bad reviews from critics or the fact that it may have been considered a flop.what I do recall is that I frequently asked my parents to rent it from the corner video store.I never read the comic/graphic novel series.I just watched the movie and I found it to be a guilty pleasure as a kid because there are so many different things that take place in the movie(howard gets pulled through his duck world appt building lands in cleveland meets a girl, gets a job, looses the girl to an alien etc..)and also because of the adult centered humor that I understood and watched with my parents unknowing approval(talking duck and aliens, pg 13, must be a kids movie, right?). Well this is no award winning film, not just a kids movie either but it is entertaining in a way that you never really want to admit to strangers.You will either love it or hate it but you can never really forget it once you have seen it.