SCI FI PI

Released on DVD
Starring Lea Thompson, Tim Robbins, Jeffrey Jones, Chip Zien (voice)
Director William Huyck
Rated PG

George Lucas has had his fair share of ups and downs. Looking no further than Star Wars will tell you that. However, locked deep in the 80's is a very special movie, the kind of flop that people only whisper about and only very very few people have ever seen.

Howard the Duck.

We've all seen the cover at the DVD store, walked past it with a small shudder of 'worst movie ever'. But is this 1986 made flop getting rough deal? Or is it as bad as they say? Now with the re-release of the DVD, you can decide for yourself. Or you can read our review and find out!

Based on the comic book by Steve Gerber, the film was directed by William Huyck, and produced by George Lucas. William Huyck was the writer of American Graffiti (for which he was nominated for an Oscar), as well as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He moved into direction, but his directing career ended with Howard the Duck. It's listed as one of the definitive bombs.

So what's it all about? First off, Howard comes from another planet. He's from a duck planet, complete with two moons, where everyone is exactly the same as us, you know, but a duck. For some unfortunate reason, Howard, after a hard day's work, gets sucked through a vortex from the face of his planet, across the glaxy, and spat onto the face of Earth - Cleveland to be exact, where he bumps in rock and roller Lea Thompson, Beverly Switzler.

Luckily, Bev knows a scientist, Phil Blumburtt (Tim Robbins). It's here that we find out the true nature of the film - bizarro. There's a level of weirdness to Tim Robbin's performance as to defy description. Obviously very young, there's his badness in this role that is truly awesome. Coming just after a small role in Top Gun, Howard the Duck gave Robbins a two year career 'break' until Bull Durham dragged him out of obscurity in 1988.





This film's characterisations and dialogue are just disturbing. Comic book doesn't quite cover it, despite the film's heritage. Possibly it's an attempt to make the film 'kid friendly'. When Howard's wise-cracking cigar chomping soon gets a job at a whore-house, taking this film into a different, rather disturbing place, the film's journey to the dark side is complete.

It's here that the key to the stinkiness is revealed. The film's tone is 'uneven' - to be kind. It's a world of people pointing to a duck saying 'it's a duck!". And then there's very adult concepts thrown off the cuff. It's as though a whoremongering coke-snorting low-life teamed up with a treacly kid's movie maker to produce bad, bad music.

There's a harshness to 80's Cleveland, and a lameness to its rock'n'roll, as personified by the completely vanilla Lea Thompson that also ads to the 'whaa?' factor. Her hair, however, is spectacular. Whenever the music in the film gets too painful, the outfits and makeup can distract you long enough before regurgitation sets in. But then the music comes back. But that's not the darkest part of the film.

There's nothing quite so disturbing as something meant to be 'cute' has a sex drive:
"Do you think I might find happiness in the animal kingdom, ducky?"
Eww.
"It's just that you're so incredibly soft and cuddly!"
Bleargh.
"Be gentle".
Wrong. Just wrong.

It's this kind of tremendous, ground-breaking wrongness that draws the post-modern audience to this car-crash of a film. It's not to be enjoyed as a story, but goggled at like a five-car pile up as you drive slowly by.

"I've never been sentimental"
"Yeah, I bet you always were a hard-boiled egg".

"How the hell am I going to explain a manhunt for a duck?"
"It's a duck hunt!"

Couple this kind of dialogue with the creepiness of little people in a duck suit with the use of puppeteering and you have an unignorable package for the video-masochist.





With the story ramping up from duck-meets-earth to "duck fights alien monster to save earth" as Jeffery Jones transforms into a Dark Overlord of the Universe (as you do) the story goes from just plain weird and a little bit lame to pure thigh-slapping hilarity. Special effects of the mid-80's variety are icing on the cake.

Is Howard the Duck a bad movie? Yes. It's truly terrible. But that doesn't mean it isn't fun to watch. However, it is the special kind of person (perhaps at a special level of inebriation) that can truly enjoy the movie from beginning to end. It's not in the so bad it's good category, but it is in the 'holy heck I can't believe they actually made this' category.

"No one laughs at a master of quack-foo!" No, no they don't.

Caveat visor.