I had some house cleaning to do and wanted to watch a movie while I did it, I can see our TV from our family room to the the kitchen so it is a perfect set up for any time I am cooking or cleaning the kitchen I am still able to watch TV. My husband is a movie freak so we have an extremely large collection of movies, if he can find a deal on a movie he will get it, sometimes he doesn't even like the movies he buys, but he wants to have a wide variety for us and for our guests, and for people to borrow. Our friends don't need to go to a video store, they can usually just come over our house and borrow a DVD. Anyways, I was searching through the movies and saw Howard the Duck. I remembered watching this movie way back sometime in the 80's and I thought it would be fun to watch again.

Howard the Duck

Howard the Duck is actually classified as a comedy, Sci Fi, Fantasy movie. The movie came out in 1986 and from the clothing, and some of the special affects, and background in the movie you will know right away that you are watching a movie that could only have been made in the 80’s. Now I loved the 80’s but I think we all know that we were really accepting of movies in that decade. The movie was actually based off of a comic book.

Howard the Duck was living happily on his planet where ducks were the most intelligent species, his planet seemed to be very much like earth, and the ducks were very much like people except they look like ducks. Not the kind you see floating in your local ponds, but more like Donald Duck, standing on two legs, walking, and talking, and about 3 feet tall.

Howard was minding his own business in his apartment and was about to settle down with a Duckie girlie magazine when his apartment starts to shake. The next he knows he is being hurled through space and lands on planet earth. Of course he is not well received and goes through a whirlwind of bad experiences from humans. But when things settle down a bit he notices a young woman being harassed by a couple of thugs. He can't handle this so he intercedes and defeats the thugs and saves the woman.

The woman Beverly Switzler (Lea Thompson) is of course grateful to Howard for saving her. She is of course confused by the fact that he is a walking and talking duck, who speaks perfect English. She realizes he has no place to go so she brings him home with her.

Howard and Beverly become close friends (and even more if you can imagine that., don’t worry you don’t see anything). Howard tries to Beverly with her with her band by making sure the girls get paid money that is owed to them, and by getting rid of their useless criminal of a manager. In turn, Beverly, along with a bumbling lab assistant Phil Blumburtt (Tim Robbins) will try to help Howard get back home.

With Blumburtt’s and a Scientist. named Walter Jennings help, Beveryly and Howard find out that Howard was accidently brought down by an atomic ray, that happened to miss its target. That same atomic ray is the only thing that can get Howard back to his planet. But wait! Dr. Jening’s body becomes possessed by a dark overlord, who wants to use the atomic ray to bring down more dark overlords to take over the earth. Soon Howard and Beverly find themselves not only trying to get Howard home but trying to save the world from impending evil.

Howard the Duck was Directed by Willard Huyck Based on the comic books by Steve Gerber. Screenplay was done by Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz.

My Thoughts

Was this a good or a bad movie? It really depends on who you ask. This movie was actually voted one of the worst movies of the 1980’s. But like any movie that is considered to be terrible by critics there are others who will honor that movie as a cult classic. Me I will just say that it is a mildly entertaining movie that is reminiscent of the 80’s. It’s plot is completely silly, but that is probably also what makes it such an attraction. The acting is, well its bad, except for maybe Howard himself who was physically and vocally played by a whole list of people. Believe it or not Howard was the most natural acting character of all of them. Tim Robbins who is normally an outstanding actor was probably just getting his feet wet in this film, he seemed very young and in-experienced in this role, or perhaps he was playing down to match the rest of the movie. Leah Thompson who I have enjoyed in many movies used this really air headed voice the whole time, that was really quite annoying. Even Jeffery Jennings came across as ridicules as he was coming in and out of being a dark overlord, with perhaps the most pathetic evil voice I have ever heard. Yes, the acting was bad, but so bad in fact that is actually really funny. I couldn’t help but giggle at the absurdity of the whole thing. It’s the kind of movie you laugh at yourself for watching, while you ask yourself, why you are watching it. Yet for some reason you just can’t get up and turn it off. Because although you are questioning your own taste at the moment, you might be enjoying it just a little bit. There are a few clever parts of the movie, as the duck world is cleverly compared to our world, but over all I can’t really put my finger on what actually kept me watching, and why I don’t remember thinking this film was all that terrible when I watched it about 20 years ago. Maybe it is just the whole 80’s thing.

Don't even get me started on the special effects. I will just use Epinions own description, "At least you can't see the strings."

Even though Howard is a cuddly looking guy this movie is not really intended for kids. Howard was a big fluffy duck character that was used in a film meant for adults. Kids can watch it, but beware there are some very adult references made in the movie. There is also some violence, and bad language, there is also a scene that may scare young children.

Final Thoughts

Don’t ask me why, but I am going to go ahead and recommend Howard the Duck. However, if you hate movies that seem very 80’s like you may want to stay clear because, this one reeks of that decade, but that is what myself and several other people find charming about it. It is not a good movie, but it is not a terrible movie either. There is something endearing about it although I just can’t put my finger on it. I did find it kind of funny, both because of some of the jokes, and because some of the jokes were so bad they were funny, and because the acting is so bad that is also funny. So if you are one of those people who love movies that are so stupid they make you laugh you may really like this one. Why am I recommending a movie that is not really good and has bad acting? Because for some reason that I myself don’t even understand I kind of enjoyed it.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12