Howard the Duck

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Howard the Duck

PG

1986

1h 51m

Sci-Fi

Action

Adventure

Fantasy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

13%

Tomatometer

86 Reviews

38%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

In this film based on the comic book character, Howard the Duck is suddenly beamed from Duckworld, a planet of intelligent ducks with arms and legs, to Earth, where he lands in Cleveland. There he saves rocker Beverly (Lea Thompson) from thugs and forms a friendship with her. She introduces him to Phil (Tim Robbins), who works at a lab with scientist Dr. Jenning (Jeffrey Jones). When the doctor attempts to return Howard to his world, Jenning instead transfers an evil spirit into his own body.

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Critics Consensus

While it has its moments, Howard the Duck suffers from an uneven tone and mediocre performances.

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David Stratton

Sydney Morning Herald

There are a few good jokes along the way, but the final effect is that we've been here rather too many times before.

Dec 15, 2020

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Michael Shmith

The Age (Australia)

This creature with a mobile bill, scrawny body, and with a voice like Humphrey Bogart proves irritating beyond belief. Also, Howard has the glassy eyes of a doll and an artificiality that even his brusque, wise-quacking manner cannot quite conceal.

Dec 15, 2020

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David Robinson

Times (UK)

There must have been a terrible moment, many millions of collars into the production of Howard, when everyone realised it was not going to work either as comedy or thriller, as kid's stuff or sophisticated fore.

Dec 15, 2020

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James Berardinelli

ReelViews

This was a bad movie when it was released. It is a bad movie today. And it will continue to be a bad movie long after this planet ceases to exist.

Rated: 1/4

May 6, 2024

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Avaryl Halley

Movie Bitches

I like this better than the Prequels. The choices are strong and wrong…I mean they storyboarded duck tits!!

Rated: 6/10

Apr 24, 2024

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Andrew Galdi

Movie Bitches

I honestly think if you rescored this movie you could improve it by 50%

Rated: 4.5/10

Apr 24, 2024

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Audience Member

peak fiction. absolute cinema. one of the movies ever made. tope quotes: "no sex right now, i'm working" "i have no drivers license. i am not jack."

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/23/25

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Stephen S

While it's not the worst film out there, It's still not a great movie.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/25

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Audience Member

This movie is awesome I washed this back in the 80s It's great fun movie And that doesn't take itself seriously

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/05/25

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Alexander K

Honestly, this is a movie that shouldn’t be taken seriously, but weirdly has a lot of heart. It’s so bad it’s good but Gets better with each time I watch it what started as a guilty pleasure started to become more of a genuine love for this film. Chip gets the voice down for the titular hero, and Lea Thompson gives a decent performance.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/09/24

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Tyler S

Ummmmmmmm, what can I say. Had a good amount of comedy, but even some of the jokes didn't feel right. I thought the plot idea was fine, but the fact that we have a duck as the protagonist made this feel odd. Many parts were just so uncomfortable. Definitely did not feel like a Marvel movie, but just a corny 80s flick. The ending was just weird. I guess the word I could use to describe this movie is "peculiar." This might be a spoiler, but seeing a duck and a human talk about sex might have been the weirdest thing I've seen in a movie.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

09/29/24

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Michael Patrick M

Watched it in my late teens and enjoyed it then. No wonder I was still a virgin! Watching it for free on streaming nowadays seems like a price too high to pay. This color by the numbers film unfortunately seems to be the order of today's films from none other than the director of Schindler's List.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/23/24

Full Review

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Willard Huyck

Director

Lea Thompson

Beverly Switzler

Jeffrey Jones

Dr. Walter Jenning

Tim Robbins

Phil Blumburtt

Paul Guilfoyle

Lieutenant Welker

Liz Sagal

Ronette

Howard the Duck: Official Clip - The Dark Overlord

3:02

Howard the Duck: Official Clip - Taking Flight

1:37

Howard the Duck: Official Clip - Howard's Wallet

2:30

Howard the Duck: Official Clip - Intense Animal Magnetism

2:32

Howard the Duck: Official Clip - A Brewski at Beverly's

2:15

Howard the Duck: Official Clip - No More Mr. Nice Duck

2:21

Howard the Duck: Official Clip - I'm a Freak

1:48

Howard the Duck: Official Clip - Me Phil, You Howard

1:45

Howard the Duck: Official Clip - Smog Inspection

1:35

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Synopsis

In this film based on the comic book character, Howard the Duck is suddenly beamed from Duckworld, a planet of intelligent ducks with arms and legs, to Earth, where he lands in Cleveland. There he saves rocker Beverly (Lea Thompson) from thugs and forms a friendship with her. She introduces him to Phil (Tim Robbins), who works at a lab with scientist Dr. Jenning (Jeffrey Jones). When the doctor attempts to return Howard to his world, Jenning instead transfers an evil spirit into his own body.

Director: Willard Huyck
Producer: Gloria Katz, Robert Latham Brown
Screenwriter: Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz
Production Co: Universal Pictures, Lucasfilm Ltd.
Rating: PG
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $15.0M
Runtime: 1h 51m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

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