I've never seen XANADU (the movie)

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 5:04pm

I've never seen the original movie...am I missing out on anything??

I have only heard the title song and that's it. The Broadway production looks fun though...

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 5:14pm

It's fun. I mean, it's bad, but you'll have a good time watching it.

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 5:17pm

I love the campy stuff. Will I be dissapointed?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 5:20pm

If you like silly campy fun with some great songs, rent it. Olivia never looked better.

Posted: 6/7/07 at 6:26pm

i saw it for the first time last week, i felt like my brain was stopping.

& now i cant stop saying "glitz!" like olivia newton john.

the thing is, they couldve done *ANYTHING* with the stage production; someone walking across the stage would be more character development & storyline than this film.

i mean, it is shocking that this thing somehow found itself in front of actual cameras, let alone distributed into real live move theaters.
nothing happens; there is no character devolpment, no conflict...

"my rich friend wants to open a disco"
"i know a vacant disco!"
"ok lets go there now!"
"ok!"

thats the whole movie.

it sure couldve *USED* some evil sisters to spice things up a bit.

i felt awful, because i found myself resenting olivia netwon john, rather than adoring her as i assumed i would. & its not her fault that her role basically doesnt exist. she smiles & skates a lot.

& so when she did actually get to show a split second of personality & say the word "glitz!", i clutched at it.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 6:28pm

If you liked Can't Stop The Music, you would like Xanadu

Gene Kelly & John are the only saving graces.If this succeeds, will we get a musical CSTM?

Posted: 6/7/07 at 8:03pm

BUT having said that, let me also say that if i'd seen the movie as an impressionable child, it very well mightve been burned into my memory as the greatest thing ever!

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 8:05pm

As a 12 year old when the movie came out... I loved it. Haven't seen it in years... would be interesting to see how I felt about it, but don't want to ruin the memory of it. I am, however, looking forward to seeing the show.

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 11:29pm

I haven't seen Can't Stop The Music either...I'll go out and rent both of them.

Thanks!

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 12:28am

I've never really "gotten" the movie either, but many people my own age
reeeaaaallly love it.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 5:24am

Eh, the best part is easily the last 8 minutes of roller disco in the cool 1980's mirrored room.

I mean, Gene Kelly, on roller skates? How can you lose?

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 6:54am

It's pretty sad that this was Gene Kelly's final screen appearance: the mimed clarinet thing is just heartbreakingly pathetic. But aside from that, what a mosh: the Don Bluth animation comes straight out of nowhere and adds nothing. The best scene in the film? When the punk rock band and the 40s jazz orchestra merge. Everything else is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 11:05am

"there is no character devolpment, no conflict..."

There most certainly was conflict! Zeus was not going to allow her to stay on Earth with the bad actor! I mean ARTIST! He was trapped in an animated web column thing and she sang Supsended in Time and...well...I'm not going to spoil the ending for anyone, but it was nothing less than fabulous.

"The best scene in the film? When the punk rock band and the 40s jazz orchestra merge."

Well, it's a tie between that and I'm Alive. I have to say, in 1980, when the muses popped out of the wall, with that wonderful music, it was actually quite amazing to watch. The rest of the film is debateable, of course, but in all honesty, that one scene truly was stellar.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 1:12pm

Honey, just do yourself a favor. Get a group of friends together, (preferably gay men, if not grab some high spirited ladies, OR mix-n-match) and watch the DVD. You will have a blast!

Trivia: Anyone know who the "punk band" was in the 40's/punk merging musical number?

Updated On: 6/8/07 at 01:12 PM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 1:20pm

And--as I have stated before and will again ad nauseum until the context of this film is understood--XANADU was a vision, a hope if you will, of what people thought the eighties were going to be like: Big, splashy, neon-colored, cheerful, and sooo totally cool! Not like those drab seventies at all! Little did they know.

CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC and the jaw-droppingly outrageous THE APPLE were also in this vein, but XANADU is by far the most entertaining of the three. They could only have been made in 1980...not 1979, not 1981...1980 baby, when anything was possible. You'll see what I mean.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 2:50pm

Borstal - Was it The Tubes?

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 2:58pm

Hooray for Mister Matt! Yes, it was The Tubes...some members of which also acted in LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...THE FABULOUS STAINS.

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 3:44pm

XANADU, the movie, is about leg warmers.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 4:02pm

Windy - You are so right! A few years later, Olivia made that movie about headbands, Two of a Kind.

[bschneid76]

Posted: 6/9/07 at 8:03am

Borstal-- You mentioned The Apple... Even though it was a bad film, it was hilarious! Especially the fact that it was set in futuristic 1994!!!!!

Xanadu while interesting is mostly just about Disco. My favorite scene was the mixing of Rock and 1940s cultures. Gene Kelly spices the film up, but Olivia.....

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 6/9/07 at 11:24am

Even tho I was in my prime when this was released, I never EVER saw an ONJ movie at the cinema. They were late night TV fare pour moi.

I loved the Fabulous Stains tho. Funny how Diane Lane was my age at the time and now she's quite a few yrs younger than me? How does that work?