Howard... une nouvelle race de héros

There are certain movies you cannot die happy without having seen them at least once. "Casablanca", "The Wizard of OZ", the "Star Wars" Trilogy...

And, if you are a connoisseur of bad movies as I am, you must add to the above list the one, the only, "Howard the Duck".

Now this is, hands down, one of the stupidest ducking (groan) movies ever made. On the other hand, if you have a soft spot for bad movies, it doesn't get much better than this. It is absolutely insane. And it isn't nearly as bad as "Theodore Rex"!

Considered one of the most notorious box-office flops in history (next to the 'Road to Morocco'-ripoff 'Ishtar' with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty the following year), 'Howard the Duck' became the laughing stock of critics and movie-goers alike when it was released in theaters in 1986. If its executive producer, George Lucas, had his way, he would have canned that movie for good. But thanks to the home video boom in the 1980s, 'Howard' would follow suit and find his way into video stores across America.

Nearly twenty years later, 'Howard' is slowly being pulled from video store shelves. But it is now that a film of such poor quality can be truly appreciated.

Here's how it all goes down: You are dropped onto a planet from a far-away universe, where ducks are human-like and are running the world, only to be pulled out again moments later. An everyday working-duck by the name of Howard gets sucked out of his living room on his recliner after returning to his apartment after a long, hard day.

After the opening title is shown in the thundering tradition of cinematic heavyweights like '2001: A Space Odyssey', we see Howard's decent toward the planet Earth. Once he has reluctantly gotten his feet on the ground, he clashes with the dregs of society and saves the lead singer of an all-female punk band named Beverly, (played by 'Back to the Future's Lea Thompson). She tries to give him a hand, and help him get an explanation as to how he got sucked out of his living room and landed in Cleveland, Ohio.

That explanation never actually makes any sense, but that doesn't matter, because better plot developments hinge upon it. With the help of a goofy lab janitor Phil (played by the immortal Tim Robbins in an early comedic role) and a big time nuclear scientist Dr. Jennings (none other than Jeffery Jones), Howard finds out that a giant laser Jennings was using went haywire, and pulled Howard down instead. But going back isn't going to be so easy, because one of Dark Overlords of Evil hitched a ride on that laser, and has plans of planet domination and destruction. And who better than to save the day than the 3'1" (3'2", that is) wise-"quacking" title character, Howard T. Duck!

Although George Lucas got ripped apart for having his hands in this one, I have yet to see a movie that is so awful, so terribly bad that I have been brought to tears crying at simply recalling scenes from this flick. The opening sequences on the duck planet contain countless parodies of American pop culture, and Howard's implausible hurtle through space is enough to make even the most serious chuckle.

Audiences back in 1986 didn't seem to, however. But something about watching this flop nearly two decades later makes all of these scenes so much funnier. The way I see it, our teen generation now has a funny fascination with the decade in which they were born, the 80s, and anything from it has a distinctive look and sound. American pop culture was throwing away Three's Company for MTV, LPs for tapes, and the Bee Gees for the Brat Pack. The youth took yet another step in distancing themselves from their parents, and although they furthered that schism, they too felt a strong connection the past few decades. What was happening when I was in utero? Taking my first steps? Saying my first words?

Today's generation has 'Howard the Duck' as one of the most endangered time capsules of the 80s. You've got a one-of-a-kind performance by now Acadmey Award Winner Tim Robbins, whose his explanation of duck's evolutionary scale is priceless. George Lucas's own Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) special effects studio must be embarassed to have itself credited with the horrendous effects (the Dark Overlord, for one). You've got a helplessly catchy theme song, revelling in all of its cheesy 80s pop-synth glory.

The jokes are terrible, the dialogue sub-par, the plot laughable. But you know what, you'll laugh you a$$ off.

Join me in saving Howard from being pulled from video store shelves. Today's generation will love the waddling fowl more than the angry movie-goers who saw this dud in the theaters. Keep him alive!

At a time when most of Marvel Comics' characters were stuck in low budget TV and straight-to-video productions, Steve Gerber's relatively obscure Howard the Duck got the big budget treatment with none other than George Lucas as producer. The film was written by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, who co-wrote "American Graffiti" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", and directed by Huyck, with special effects by ILM. What could go wrong?

A lot, apparently. "Howard" was a critical and financial failure that deep-sixed the careers of Huyck and Katz and led to the cancellation of the duck's magazine. If the film had a moderately priced budget, it might have been forgotten as just another lightweight, trashy 1980s comedy and even turned a profit. Instead, the budget somehow ballooned to a then staggering $37,000,000 (almost as much as the entire "Star Wars" trilogy cost to make). Although other films lost more money and got worse reviews, the name "Howard the Duck" is still synonymous with "expensive turkey".

That said, the movie itself isn't as bad as it's reputation suggests. The plot revolves around the title character (voice by Chip Zien, played by various midgets in animatronic duck suits), a sarcastic talking duck from a planet a lot like Earth, except ducks evolved into the dominant life form. Howard is brought to Cleveland, Ohio when an experimental laser beam opens an interdimensional portal. There he befriends an aspiring rock singer (Leah Thompson) and a kooky lab assistant (Tim Robbins), and comes into conflict with various lowlifes, the police, and an evil demon that has possessed the body of a helpful scientist (Jeffrey Jones), all the while trying to get back home.

Gerber's original comic book series and a subsequent adult-oriented magazine weren't kids' stuff. They juxtaposed a funny animal character with bizarre villains and action more typical of Marvel's super-hero books, usually parodying comics, politics, and popular culture in the process. A sexual relationship between Howard and his human girlfriend Beverly was more than just implied. The "Howard the Duck" movie could have either toned down the more adult situations to create a family-friendly action-comedy, or gone straight for ribald satire and gotten an "R" rating. Instead, the filmmakers sought an uncomfortable middle ground that pleases no one. The script is not witty enough for adults and it is too sleazy and scary for young children. The endless duck puns become tiresome. There are, however, a few truly funny moments, such as Howard's shock at being served eggs, or his observation that "If God intended ducks to fly, he wouldn't have taken away our wings."

The direction is uneven. The reaction of several characters to meeting a talking alien duck seems muted given the circumstances. The special effects are also hit and miss. The animatronic duck suit cost millions, but the actors inside it add little personality. They could have at least waddled when they walked. The demonic Dark Lords of the Universe at the end of the film are portrayed with stop motion animation that is jerky and unrealistic even for the time (perhaps this was intentional, though, to provide a B-movie feel). However, while a bad movie all around, "Howard the Duck" at least stands out for its unique premise. Amidst a sea of formulaic mediocrity, an original idea, even if it's poorly developed, counts for something.

** out ****

I was 16 years old when HOWARD THE DUCK made it to the screen in 1986, and I actually paid money to see it at my local theatre. (Judging from its famously-meager box office take, I was one of only a few dozen who did the same.) In the 20 years since, HOWARD has gone down in Hollywood history as one of the most expensive movie bombs EVER and it is generally looked down upon by "serious" film fans. I have to ask them: WHY? Howard the Duck KICKED ASS in 1986 and it still kicks ass today! It had everything: a talking duck for a hero, gigantic Dark Overlords from outer space, crashes, explosions, endless duck puns, remarkably decent special effects (most of which still hold up today), bad '80s synth-rock songs, and Lea Thompson at her most gorgeous in the role of Beverly Switzer, punk rocker and Duck-o-philiac. If it were not for this film I would not have developed my lifelong crush on Miss Thompson (which still persists to this day... if you watch her infamous tender love scene with Howard in which she's wearing only her underwear and you DON'T fall immediately in love with her, there's something seriously wrong with you!), nor would I say "Hey, there's Phil Blumburtt!" every time I see Tim Robbins in another movie. I'm sure the majority of the cast and crew involved with HOWARD would like to forget that the movie ever happened, but judging from the comments on this board, there are untold legions of bad-'80s-movie devotees out there like me who loved this movie then, still love it now, and are dying to own HOWARD THE DUCK on DVD. It absolutely astounds me, that with the amount of CRAP out there filling video store shelves, HOWARD has never achieved a DVD release. It's been 20 years, where's our 2-Disc 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, Mister Lucas? I'm still getting by with my taped copy of HOWARD that I recorded off of HBO back in the '80s, and it's about due for a replacement! Seriously folks, don't believe the hype. HOWARD THE DUCK is worth seeing, and it's nowhere near as bad as you've heard. Trust me. MetalGeek has never lied to you before.

Though I knew of its infamy, I'd never actually sat down and watched "Howard The Duck" before, so noticing that it's currently available on Sky Movies, and with a spare evening, I thought now was the opportune time.

Howard (Jordan Prentice & Chip Zien (primarily)) from a planet where the duck, rather than monkey, was the dominate species, is transported across the Galaxy, to Earth, where, despite his appearance he connects with Beverly (Lea Thompson) a struggling rock singer. Their attempts to find a way for Howard to return to his own planet are assisted by Beverly's friend Phil (Tim Robbins), who brings in Dr. Jenning (Jeffrey Jones) but their research only results is something much worse being brought to Earth.

So, no. It's not good. Not good at all. Particularly for the first half. Tonally it's all over the place, with duck playboy magazine and the visit to the brothel feeling at odds with the PG Certificate. The plot takes an age to get going and the set pieces are dull or incomprehensible. The acting is terrible, from some pretty big names too - what is Tim Robbins doing? It's also not helped that time hasn't been kind to the very 80's sensibilities, from the awful band, to the massive hair, to the outfits that everyone wears to the weird Rock club, to the generic 80's street thugs.

But is its reputation as one of the worst films of all time actually warranted? Not really, of course it was a financial failure and essentially ended up costing Lucas Pixar, but those consequences shouldn't really be considered when appraising the movie. Does "The Shawshank Redemptions" initial financial failure affect people's opinions of that film? The second half of the movie is alright, when the plot finally starts. I actually quite like the effects for the evil overlords race, I'm a bit of a sucker for stop motion animation.

Whilst never approaching a level you would describe as "good" the film is, never the less, rather unfairly grouped in during the "worst of all time" conversations and Howard himself is overdue his full MCU reboot.