Xanadu (1980)

There is so much wrong with this film. The worst thing about the film? The performance of Michael Beck; you can't get much worse than that! His speaking was so off-based it was downright distracting. And then there was the letdown with the finale -- "Xanadu". It just seemed so anticlimactic.On the other hand, we had the lovely Olivia Newton-John and wasn't it great seeing the energy and smile of Gene Kelly in one last "new" film; it looked like Kelly was having a ball at the age of 68!And yet, despite its problems, there's something special about this hokey movie...and it hokey. But every few years I take out the DVD (or now the Blu-Ray) and sit there and take it all in again...and suddenly realize I'm just smiling!And although the film is less than great, the soundtrack album was a smash, going platinum twice. Olivai Newton-John's vocals are tremendous and the Electric Light Orchestra was (at least in my opinion) never better.So I don't care that the movie was a flop, or that the film was hokey, or that Olivia (and are) are now pushing 70! It just makes me smile.

From my Opinion, Its one of the most uplifting and positive films of the 80's just below grease which was a few years earlier. It deals with hopes and dreams, An amazing collage of modern and older music which has been mixed so well its just amazing. If you believe that there's more to life than just making a fortune and stepping on other people , you will love this film. A Dream that has been so well choreographed it will last forever in the minds of those that have a little imagination. A Classic that will be proved how good it actually is in due time. A film with such fundamental essence that it will last for Eternity. and like a fine wine be appreciated more with age.

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!

Watching Gene Kelly is always a treat and he fares much better than Fred Astaire did in his last movie Finnian's Rainbow. Kelly is firmly entrenched in the past and memories of his "muse," the same one inspiring Beck in the present. It's fun watching how studios create sets and the quick switches from era to era. This movie is over the top produced (like the original The Wiz). How could anyone expect it to make its costs back. Suspend logic. Watch the original: Down to Earth. This is much better. But, it is easy to see why disco and its attended style was a flash in the pan. Newton is young and charming. Watch it for a glimpse of the past.