Ky W
Beyond amazing campy cheesy family fun. Great music.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
08/07/22
Full Review
DanTheMan 2
You can learn a lot from a bad film, one made with complete earnestness but fails so spectacularly that you can't help but enjoy it. Xanadu is very much one of those films, simultaneously existing as one of the dumbest yet most joyful films of the 80s, managing to trumpet the worst excesses of both the fading 70s disco craze and the burgeoning 80s New Wave scene. It's engagingly surrealistic in a pop-glitter way sort of way. The film is obviously meant to be a throwback to old-style Hollywood musicals, but unfortunately merely replaces style and substance with flash and glitz; not even the spandex and over-the-top musical numbers can save Xanadu from the questionable acting, confused direction and photography, hilarious low brow special effects and story completely unencumbered by logic. Granted, there are a few saving graces sprinkled throughout, the Don Bluth animated sequence is incredible, Gene Kelly is giving it his all in a role that doesn't demand a lot but one he still commits 100% to and, honestly, I dug the music a lot. Xanadu strives mightily to achieve magic, but for all its sunbeams, mirages and tricky dissolves, it remains mostly humourless and a choreographer's worst nightmare. Total confection and 100% ridiculous in all its mindboggling awfulness.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/05/25
Full Review
CodyZamboni Z
Colorful, feel good, campy movie with terrific songs, Courtesy mostly to Jeff Lynne of ELO , Eye catching Kenny Ortega roller skating, choregography, And nice seeing Gene Kelly in his final musical, going out with class, The entire movie's success belongs to Olivia Newton-John, So beautiful, so charming , so charismatic, so radiant, She literally lights up the screen. It's too bad her miscast costar Michael Beck comes across as a wooden bore.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
12/29/24
Full Review
John J
What most people miss is that this is a musical with an outstanding score. Musicals are not known for the dramatics. The dance numbers and the musical arrangement in this movie are outstanding.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
08/07/24
Full Review
Mike P
Strange and terrible disco movie is only good for a few laughs... An album cover designer, Sonny, (Michael Beck); meets his muse Kira, (Olivia Newton John); who inspires him to resurrect an old nightclub as a roller disco. (Once you drag "roller disco" into the plot description all credibility goes right out the window)..And the plot is just all over place, wildly incorporating different story elements, like roller skating, with Greek Mythology, with disco, with ancient Chinese mythology, with the LA nightlife scene, with disco, with poems from Samuel Taylor Coleridge; with jazz-punk fusion, with disco, with WW2 war stories; with fantasy stories about spirits in the material world, with disco...and so on... everything but the kitchen sink, in other words. It even has an animated scene where the leads turn into fishes for Godsakes! And start singing!! And sometimes a big crazy kitchen sink story like this can be a lot of fun; but this movie doesn't have the panache and style to pull that kind of thing off; so it just comes off as weird...As if the producers were really stoned when they wrote this...The only commendable thing here is the music...By ELO...That's actually pretty good most of the time. (The album was actually a smash and one of its singles, "Magic", hit the number one spot on the Billboard charts for several weeks... Even if the movie itself bombed). And that's not enough to recommend it. 👎
P.S. There's an excellent Broadway spoof of this which is much better than the original; and is definitely worth checking out if you get a chance.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
03/26/24
Full Review
Nizar N
This movie is not everyone's cup of tea, which is why it gets the mixed reception that it does. The reason is that it's not made for someone looking for a good plot. It's made for people who love music and dancing; and what better way of catering to their taste than collecting Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly, and Electric Light Orchestra? Xanadu features great music and great numbers, that no matter your opinion about it, you will sure end up leaving while still singing the song of the same name.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/09/24
Full Review
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