john-p-hanssen-i3v6

First of all, I really need to ask, WHAT ON EARTH WAS SO BAD ABOUT THIS MOVIE?!?!? This was quite simply the Moulin Rouge! of the 80's. The acting may have been a little cheezy, but it wasn't all that great in Moulin Rouge! either. People need to understand that this is a MUSICAL and musicals aren't necessarily known for their great acting performances. They are noted for their brilliant choreography, songs, and stage settings, which I felt both "Moulin Rouge!" and "Xanadu" contained. Moreover, the story in "Xanadu" wasn't all that incoherent and reminded me a lot of "Field of Dreams" when Kevin Costner is inspired by a voice from an invisible muse to build a baseball field. So, while some of the criticism of this film is justified, I feel much of it is not and it took way more of a beating than it should have. One has to remember that there have been many films made which were raked over the coals by critics, yet the films became enjoyed by many later on.

Normally I laugh uproariously when a movie of this fashion comes out. I normally am not thrilled by dodgy cinematography, flubbed lines, and the like. However, this film, despite its flaws, was great!! I really don't know how I can explain it. There were a number of loose ends, with parts of the movie not making sense, yet with all of this, it still seemed to work! The little girl, Natasha Ryan, really carried the movie and another aspect I liked was the "Close Encounters" type of feel to the movie. Also, the aspect I enjoyed the most was when the family is re-united and they are upon the hill looking upon the fabulous City of Light at the end. There was such a spiritual feel to this scene. Very well done. There were flaws in this film, yet the special effects and the interesting plot seemed to give it a redeeming quality. 7/10 stars.

This is THE best out of the entire Planet of the Apes series (although the first one was not too far behind this one) and had a very powerful message about the rediculous and often tragic result of religion claiming to be peaceful and even preach "love your brother" yet give no second thought to slaughtering their fellow man, even MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN FAITH!!, on the battlefield!! (This is one of the reasons why I belong to the faith I do today, the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, because they aren't involved in warfare.) People have bemoaned this movie because of the flaws that existed. Okay, there were a few flaws, however they seemed to be nicely glossed over with a powerful theme-- a message that is even more pertenant today than it was thirty years ago when this movie came out.