Xanadu (1980)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Ok, this film is BAD. It is no surprise this film was a flop on release. However, it has gone on to become a cult classic and even spawned a Broadway show. What little plot the film contains is totally and utterly predictable. You can pretty much tell how Xanadu will end from the very opening scenes. On to the acting, Olivia Newton John does the best with what little she's been given to play with, Gene Kelly plays it brilliantly, essentially playing himself. Michael Beck however, is just a nothing in this. I'm not sure if this was the way his character had been written, or how he interpreted it, but other than standing about looking slightly bemused his character Sonny doesn't stick out in any way. No classic lines, no heroic actions.. Poorly executed characterisation aside, what Xanadu delivers in spades is music and visual spectacle. It is no surprise the soundtrack did far better than the film. ELO created something amazing. Add to that The Tubes, ONJ herself, and Cliff Richard (not so brilliant, but hey!), and you get a great sounding film.Visually the whole 40s/80s mashup does work, and the scenery throughout is bright and vibrant. Particular standouts are the Xanadu club itself, as well as the All Over The World section. As a lover of "bad" films this is a particular favourite. It was never going to win any Oscars but it is colourful, fun, with a great soundtrack. It doesn't drag or outstay its welcome clocking in at just over 90 minutes.

Xanadu is a film I would not recommend under any circumstances. Its an early eighties relic that should have stayed in the disco inferno it crawled out of. Starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly, Xanadu is meant to be a tongue-and-cheek homage to those MGM musicals we all see snippets of while googling Gene Kelly. What turns up on the screen is more of a glittery MGM homicide. A bland story starring bland characters who dance blandly to bland music. The only thing not bland about this movie is the set-design which resembles a cocaine addict's wet dream. Seriously an irresponsible amount of money was spent on these lavish sets all of which was wasted on talent-less hacks who didn't know how to choreograph musical numbers or stick the camera in a good place.The only other standout is the incredibly hokey special effects which include badly executed cross-fades, obnoxious whizzing orbs of light and streams of cheap looking fluorescent colors. It feels like they just cracked the technology and haven't quite worked out the bugs. This all would have been fun to watch in a guilty pleasure/Uwe Boll kind of way if it hadn't been so freakin' slow! I've had dentist appointments that felt shorter than Xanadu. Xanadu is also composed of a grating soundtrack provided by The Electric Light Orchestra and a mural of dancing muses springing to life only after someone litters. Its clear whoever suggested I watch this piece of neon glinted garbage wanted to punish me for something.

So I've known about this movie for a few years now and I just recently watched it for the first time. I had no idea what to expect but I was expecting the soundtrack to be great, cause I really like ELO, and I wasn't disappointed. Jeff Lynne sure knows how to make a great and catchy soundtrack. But to be totally honest, the soundtrack was the only saving grace for this movie to me. I had no idea what to expect when I watched the movie, cause from what I've heard from a lot of critics and people, it's not that great (It has a 5/10 on IMDb). But I wanted to give it a chance cause there are so many reviews that said things like "Xanadu isn't that bad" and "Give Xanadu a chance!" So I did. Was it good? No. But was it the worst movie I've ever seen? No. I've seen much worse. If you've seen Xanadu, you'd know that it's extremely cheesy. The acting and the effects. I usually don't have a problem with cheesiness (I actually liked Teen Beach Movie cause of the cheesiness). But this was cheesy to the point where it was kinda hard to watch. And the storyline actually sounded like a good idea. A man makes a painting come to life and she keeps appearing everywhere. That was kind of a bad description, but you get the idea. But the whole movie just felt like filler and I didn't feel like I got to know the characters very well. I must have missed a really important detail in the movie cause it was really hard to follow and didn't really seem like it was going anywhere. Once the movie ended, I remember thinking "Wow, nothing really happened." And that's not what I'd want my first thought to be right after a movie ends. With ALL of that being said, I do love the soundtrack and that's why this has a 4/10. If I was rating the movie alone, it'd probably be a 3 or 3.5.

This movie was just bad. I remember watching it when I was 7 years old and going to school and bragging about seeing it. Thank God I transferred to a different school a year later. The movie is embarrassing to watch. The dances and acting are so overblown and over-the-top it makes your toes curl as you watch. The only thing I can think is Hollywood was DESPERATE for musicals to make a serious comeback into the mainstream. All the dancers just danced too hard and their smiles were too big! It was just embarrassing to watch. You could say its a great "camp movie" but that's not so either. Camp movies were never meant to be blockbusters, this was. If you want to see a good camp movie from the 80's see Earth Girls Are Easy or Trancers!