Popeye

I didn't see Popeye the movie for the first time until it came out on video. But I remember how my dad told me he saw it in the movie theater. He told me afterwards "Popeye hads its moments, sos I, halfway throughs the movie, I wents out to me car to gets me cigarettes, hads me a puffs or two, then wents back inside to wartch the rest of me movie, geh geh geh geh geh." A couple of years later, we rented Popeye on video and I saw it, and I'd seen it several times since. Its not too bad. Robin Williams is fairly convincing as Pop-eye. Paul Smith as Bluto, looking large and menacing like his cartoon version. Paul Dooley isn't too bad as Wimpy. And Ray Waltson as Poopdeck pappy. And Shelly Devaul as Olive fits her role pretty good. She does sort of seem like Olive Ole come to life, with the looks and mannerisms. However, the late Zasu Pitts who starred in several different 1930s films such as "Meet the baron" and "Dames" would've been an even better Olive with her looks and the very Olive Ole like way she went "oh my" in her films. I read somewhere that they took some of Zasu's mannerisms and appearance when creating Olive's character when the Popeye cartoon was first made. I always watched Popeye as a kid growing up even before seeing this movie. I liked the neat special effects, too such as steam really coming from Bluto's ears when he got mad, just like the cartoon. They also had Popeye's (Robin's) forearms really bulging out and him doing the squint with his eye just the right way, and his pipe. They made the seaport town Sweethaven look quite convincing. It always had an English seaside town feel. Anyways, this movie overall had some good, funny, and interesting moments. A few other moments were a little less below par. And I personally don't think the songs in the film were that good, or necessary. Popeye the cartoon was not a musical. Overall though, this is always a pretty good film for a mom or dad to watch with their kids.

Note; I wrote this review about a year and a half ago, and no one has clicked on either 'useful' or 'not useful' yet. Can someone reading this please click on one? I won't be offended either way on which you click on, I'm just curious on what others may think of this review. Thanks

It is very nice to see a revival of interest in this quirky little film. The art direction of this film is simply amazing, and deserved to win an Oscar for being able to completely capture the homely innocence of the story's setting, in rich detail.

Many have derided the story as unfocused, but there is an epic sweep to the storyline, which requires an episodic approach. This film requires paying attention on multiple levels, and rewards viewers who do so, as few other epic films have.

There are some detractors who can't handle the fact that the film is part Musical, but this is definitely in keeping with original cartoons, which frequently featured music in their storylines. In any event, the half-dozen or so songs come at appropriate intervals, and in some cases are Broadway quality set-piece showstoppers, like the scene in the Rough House Diner, and Pappy's diskgruntlement about Kids!

I will leave it to others to comment on the all-round fine ensemble acting, but I would like to finish by saying, that this is truly a film where the whole is greater than its parts. From the rich tapestry of Elzie Segar's original imaginings, to the lush production values brought to this vision by Robert Altman and company, this is a film that fails on some levels but succeeds on many more.

I remember my Dad taking me to watch this film as a Christmas treet. This film was made here in Malta and we are very proud of it, the set still stands today as a tourist attraction in Anchor bay. i remember loving this film. Robbin Williams was only known for the series of "Mork and Mindy', he still had a very long way to go but you can see that he was more than a promising star in the entertainment business. I learnt that at the time he was having serious troubles with cocaine and a cheating wife. This film was really cool and should they re-attempt it(not that Popeye is so much in vogue this days....although he should be) I can't imagine anyone but Robin Williams himself for the part.

Why in the world hasn't this film been released on LaserDisc in letterbox format? There's as much or more taking place in the background nooks and crannies of Altman's "Popeye" than there is up front. And all of it is a clever, inventive, respectful homage, to a comic strip/cartoon character that has never received his much deserved place of honor alongside Mickey, Bugs and Daffy. I want to see ALL of Robert Altman's "Popeye," and pan-and-scan just doesn't cut it. Oh, the music is wonderful, by the way. It's what grabbed my attention one day when I still mistakenly believed the critics who panned this film. I was channel surfing and I heard Olive Oyl singing "He Needs Me" and I was hooked. This film is a jewel. ("What squinky eye?")

This project was reviled by critics and disowned by Altman and Williams. It corresponded to DuVal's breakdown, and was all but the end of the heavy drinker Nilsson's adventures in film.

But I think its great. You have to remember that it predates every comic/cartoon to film project except 'Superman,' which really was a version of the TeeVee show. And you have to appreciate that 'Popeye' the cartoon is one of the very few that featured humans and therefore was more abstract than most.

Watch it now, and see that it was well ahead of its time and now stacks up as extremely introspective: along the lines of 'Alphaville.'

It had Robin Williams and Ray Walston, both famous TeeVee aliens, or so they were known at the time. It was penned by the notoriously ironic, cartoonist Feiffer, someone who specialized in personal social angst. The songs - a major element here - were by the self-destructive genius Nilsson, and directed by Altman when he was interested in social commentary.

All, plus Duvall, were at the height of their powers. Even the quirky Van Dyke Parks appears.

What makes this project so interesting and appealing is that everyone is completely simpatico with Feiffer's Jarryesque vision, which is disconnected from reality and had no cinematic model.

How so many talents could be so adventuresome and coordinated at the same time is a real puzzle.

The bit about how 'large' Bluto is - and how Shelly mentions it - makes me smile every time I recall it. The social text is a bit heavy, but so what?

This is what made Tim Burton possible.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.