Coming in 1986, at a time when Gerber's dispute with Marvel had exploded into a full-blown legal battle (and the comic publisher had practically destroyed Howard with numerous changes in appearance and origin), the Howard the Duck movie was heavly hyped and awarded a huge budget-largely due to the involvement of one George Lucas. What emerged was the worst movie of 1986, and one of the 1980s many candidates for "worst movie ever". For those ignorant of the original comic book, the reputation is well-earned, with an unlikeable lead and an incredibly stupid plot. For those of us familiar with Steve Gerber's work, this film is nothing short of an abomination. However, years of repeated (and downright excessive) reruns on cable have created a number of apologists for this drivel. Do yourself a favor and avoid this wreck (and pray that George Lucas is able to keep it from appearing on DVD), while tracking down the Howard the Duck comics written by Steve Gerber, which are superior to this travesty in every way.

Cult Classic (Rating: 5.00)
Review : Lea Thompson, Tim Robbins, and the always entertaining Jeffrey Jones star in this tale of a duck from an alternate universe
who finds himself transported to Earth and is now trying to get home. Lea Thompson plays the young woman who looks after him,
Tim Robbins plays the janitor who pretends to be a scientist,
and Jeffrey Jones plays a scientist who goes a little crazy.

The funny thing about movies that are ambitious and
flop, Is nobody copies that formula. Sure Die Hard has been copied over and over. Under Siege etc. But Movies that don't make the big money are often forgotten. And that is what makes them better now then when they were released. Buackaroo Banzai is another example of a box office flop that has gained alot of
success through video and dvd.

And I know alot of people will think I am crazy. But this is my
favorite George Lucas film. There is something about Howard the
Duck that I gravitated towards as a kid. Maybe it was him being small in a strange foreign world he is yet to understand. Isn't that what childhood is about. The best movies are the ones where
the movie never changes but as you watch it at a different age
and a different point in your life you notice so much more.
I can't explain much further my fondness for Howard the Duck.
But I really love this movie.

I know there are alot of people who can't stand this movie,
But for those who get it, There is nothing quite like it
and probally never will be again.

Not As Bad As They Say... (Rating: 4.00)
Review : Howard The Duck is a notorious box office dud. If you ask anyone to name a bad movie from the 1980's, without a shadow of a doubt, most will mention this movie.

I really don't understand why this is so. I've always liked this movie. I saw it when it was first released in theaters and I'm proud to say that I currently own it on video. It's one of my favorite science fiction films... even moreso than some of the latest so-caled sci fi "greats"!

What's not to like? The movie is a film adaptation of the 1970's comic book of the same name and it follows the comic's storyline, more or less. Howard, a duck from a planet populated by ducks instead of humans, crash lands in Cleveland. He befriends a rock singer (played by Lea Thompson) and her bumbling scientist buddy (played by Tim Robbins in one of his BEST comedic roles!). Along the way, the trio wind up battling the Dark Overlord of the Universe (who is superbly played by Jeffrey Jones of Beetlejuice).

There are special effects galore in this movie but it's the witty banter that made it for me. The interplay between Howard and the human characters is often hilarious in a dry kind of way. Of course, there are also a few over the top comedic scenes in this film (like the scenes with Thompson, Jones, and Howard in the Denny's-like restaurant)... and they, too, are quite hilarious.

Granted, this movie isn't Star Wars... but it doesn't TRY to be Star Wars. It's The Little Sci Fi Movie That Could... and it never fails to entertain me... even after almost one hundred viewings! Great stuff indeed!

Howard deserves another look! (Rating: 4.00)
Review : First of all, you have to remember that this is a sci-fi comedy based on a comic book! It was never meant to stand up against George Lucas' other sci-fi giant "Star Wars".

Sure, the story line is preposterous. A science experiment gone awry, transports to Earth a lone "person" from a semi parallel universe where the predominant species are ducks. Is that harder to believe than a high-school kid who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and starts to grow silk glands, spin webs and climb straight up vertical walls? No, and yet "Spiderman" was one of the biggest hits of the year, and was slated for a sequel before it even hit the theaters.

Yes, "Howard" is filled with "predictable, cheap one-liners." ("Howard, duck!" "And proud of it!") Look at any Mel Brooks or old Bob Hope film. What are they full of? Predictable, cheap one-liners, yet they are some of the funniest movies ever made.

And what about the acting? Well, I feel that the then pretty much unknown Tim Robbins' portrayal of the nerdy lab assistant was suburb. He actually made the geek that much more believable. Jeffery Jones as the scientist whose body is taken over by the monster alien is absolutely perfect in the restaurant scene. ("She took my eggs!") And what can I say about the lovely Lea Thompson, except she is wonderfully fresh, and even does a fantastic job with her own singing.

All in all, you have to ignore the turkey critics on this one and see for yourself. If you give it the chance it deserves, Howard the Duck will make you laugh and cry at the same time, and that is a sign of true comedy genius!

Love this movie (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I am 25 years old. I loved this movie as a kid. I watched it over and over again. I just ordered it for my 7 year old son with the hopes that he will like it as much as I did. I is a funny and stupid movie, but well worth it for the kids to watch. I highly recommend this movie for anyone between the ages of 5-13 years old.

An ILM Late 80's Audition Reel!! (Rating: 2.00)
Review : Momma always said, "you learn more from your failures, than you do from your successes." I think Momma has a point. Sometimes failures can point the way to the future. The 80's were a good barometer for that, and no other movie has blazed the trail of failure quite like Willard Huyck colossal miscalculation HOWARD THE DUCK. A movie that is inept and pointless, and yet so full of innovative and yes even breathtaking special effects.

HOWARD THE DUCK tells the story of a duck named Howard (voiced by Chip Zein, and played by a bunch of little people in a duck suit) who lives on a planet much like earth, except Duck's are the top of the food chain. He's a failed rock musician who's finally given up that dream and has settled into the mundane life of an advertising copywriter. On one particular day, he's just gets home from another day of the daily grind, when he's sucked into a giant laser beam and transported to Cleveland, Ohio on our earth. Let the comic hijinks begin...well okay let the less than stellar puns begin.

Howard meets Beverly (Lean Thompson) a struggling rock musician and takes up "roost" in her apartment. After a day or so they fall in love. There's also a young Lab Assistant named Phil (Tim Robbins in a star-making performance) and Dr. Jennings (Jefferey Jones) whom want to help Howard get home, via the giant laser beam that brought him to earth in the first place.

I stop there because the second half of the movie has to do with this wild alien and I'm not quite sure I can do that part of the story any real justice. Suffice to say there's an alien threat and Howard is here to stop it. Actually he kind of runs away from it as the alien menace and the cops try to stop him.

HOWARD THE DUCK is based on a far more interesting and inventive comic book series created by Steve Gerber. This movie and that series have absolutely nothing in common but the name. In fact the movie ruined the comic book series that poor Steve Gerber sued Universal and George Lucas, and then killed off his Duck for a long time. How's that for fair.

Wait a second you say, go back just a minute, did you just say George Lucas? Yes ladies and gentlemen. George Lucas was the executive producer of this film and it shows. His fingerprint is on everything and more importantly Industrial, Lights, and Magic have designed this film as their audition reel. They throw everything into the pot, creature effects, stop motion, animation effects, makeup effects, an elaborate chase sequence (that I'm convinced was shot for shot re-created for the freeway chase in the MATRIX RELOADED, well not really but It's nice to speculate.) involving a small personal aircraft, and all of it is breath taking.

But why? Why did ILM and George Lucas waste all that time and energy? The only thing I can think is that they were doing tests for Lucas's next big project WILLOW.

You're probably now asking why doesn't the film work? The biggest problem is there is absoulty no screenplay. The first 20 minutes of the film fly by, barely allowing the viewer to breathe. The characters have time to meet, time to fight, time to get back together, all before the story begins to take shape. By the time it does it shifts radically into a completely different movie involving giant space creatures.

They started out with a promising idea; it's ET in the city. How does this duck adapt to his surroundings? That should have been the movie. But there's no room for special effects that way. So on comes Act 2, and so many effects shots you shake your head.

I was also a little disgusted by the Human/Duck love scene of course you see nothing, but the implied relationship makes even less sense then the rest of the movie and is really there just to make a silly joke anyway.

This is the key to why this film fails. It doesn't set its tone properly. Every other line is some comic zinger that falls flat because the movie doesn't know whether it's a comedy, or an action picture. There satire, and drama all thrown out there but it goes nowhere.

This effects all the acting as well. The human characters are robbed of any humanity because the script is so disjointed. They overreact to everything and poor Tim Robbins is forced to mug for laughs when the audience already knows that there are none.

The script by director Huyck and his writing partner Gloria Katz is so bad you forget that these are the people who hit just the right beats in their more successful film AMERICAN GRAFFITTI.

The films biggest flaw is that it has no audience. It a tad bit vulgar for little kids, and if you reach the age of 8 you'll be far smarter than this movie is. As for adults there is nothing of substance in the movie for people to grab onto.

But I guess in the end could HOWARD THE DUCK been a good picture? Maybe! There were definitely moments of light in the picture. Moments that seemed unforced. I especially loved the early scenes involving Howard and Beverly. An interesting story could have unfolded. But the films exciting visuals were more important to the bottom line. In fact the bulk of the film contains this huge chase scene involving airplanes, cars, 18-Wheelers and lots of destruction. Sure the scene is cool to look at but it's not worth the Journey.

Stay away from Howard the Duck.

** Out of 5