Xanadu is really not THAT bad
Muse of Dance inspires struggling artist to open dance club and forbidden love evolves
Suddenly, nine mysterious sisters emerge out of a mural that Sunny Malone (Michael Beck) had painted. In the meantime, the freelance artist is forced to return to his boring job painting record covers for window displays. He is close to giving up his dream of becoming a successful artist when he meets the Muse of Dance (Olivia Newton-John). Inspired by Kira, Sunny and his new friend Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly) decide to open a night club. Danny himself was once kissed by a muse and is eager to be back in show business. Kira and Sunny soon fall in love, which upsets father Zeus but the god is gracious and grands the couple one more night…
Admittedly, within the first seconds of Xanadu the production value becomes obvious. Rumors go, they started shooting without a finished script and the plot may seem a bit thin but the filming of the dance scenes improves along the way and the performances of Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly are really entertaining. You know Gene Kelly, he makes tap dancing look cool.
40s glamour meets 80s rock and Gene hands the scepter over to another generation. It is like eye candy in pink, purple and lots of Neon. The costumes are great, the hair is fluffy and they dance on ROLLER SKATES. Last but not least, Sonny adds the charm of a High School rebel. (Oh, the montage when they get ready for the opening night…)
Why I love it
Not only is this a super cheesy 80’s musical on roller skates, Art Deco meets Disco here and neon dance scenes compete with varying acting performances. Marvellous.
Recommended for
New Year’s Eve Parties, people who believe in Fairies, fans of 80s dance movies and roller disco, people that don’t mind a paper-thin plot.
Musical, Mystery, Romance
Responsible
Staring Olivia Newton-John (Kira / Terpsichore)
Gene Kelly (Danny McGuire)
Michael Beck (Sonny Malone)
1980, Universal
Directed by Robert Greenwald
Produced by Lawrence Gordon
Written by Richard Christian Danus and Marc Reid Rubel
Music by Barry De Vorzon
Xanadu and Can’t Stop the Music, a musical biography about the Village People, inspired copywriter and publicist John J. B. Wilson to hold a ceremony to award Americas worst in film, known as the Golden Raspberry Award. On Sunday The Oscars will be held in Los Angeles, California for the 87th time. The 35th Razzie Show the night before is probably the fun one.
What’s your favorite bad movie?
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I think I saw it when it came out. Olivia Newton-John was very pretty. And a good dancer. You’re right, it was Art-Déco meets Disco. I was in the US during the Disco craze, and enjoyed the dancing a lot. (I draw the line at ABBA though)
Best (worst) picture: “The creature from the black lagoon”. (Love B-Movies)
You sure have been around 😉 The US in Saturday night fever must’ve been something else! – Oh that is a great movie. What an iconic opening scene!
It was something else. I did have a white suit… 😉 (My only suit then actually)
My favorite pet bad movie is “Never Too Young to Die”. Hard to find but totally worth it to see John Stamos as an action hero take down Gene Simmons in drag. It will be making an appearance on my site very soon as it’s irresistible. “The Thing with Two Heads” with Rosey Greer and Ray Milland runs a close second. You really can’t go wrong with either of those.
Love your Weekend Movies!
Thanks for those! I’ve never even heard of the first one and Gene Simmons in drag. Wow. I have the feeling I’m gonna learn lots of stuff from you…
great movie 🙂