I was 16 years old when HOWARD THE DUCK made it to the screen in 1986, and I actually paid money to see it at my local theatre. (Judging from its famously-meager box office take, I was one of only a few dozen who did the same.) In the 20 years since, HOWARD has gone down in Hollywood history as one of the most expensive movie bombs EVER and it is generally looked down upon by "serious" film fans. I have to ask them: WHY? Howard the Duck KICKED ASS in 1986 and it still kicks ass today! It had everything: a talking duck for a hero, gigantic Dark Overlords from outer space, crashes, explosions, endless duck puns, remarkably decent special effects (most of which still hold up today), bad '80s synth-rock songs, and Lea Thompson at her most gorgeous in the role of Beverly Switzer, punk rocker and Duck-o-philiac. If it were not for this film I would not have developed my lifelong crush on Miss Thompson (which still persists to this day... if you watch her infamous tender love scene with Howard in which she's wearing only her underwear and you DON'T fall immediately in love with her, there's something seriously wrong with you!), nor would I say "Hey, there's Phil Blumburtt!" every time I see Tim Robbins in another movie. I'm sure the majority of the cast and crew involved with HOWARD would like to forget that the movie ever happened, but judging from the comments on this board, there are untold legions of bad-'80s-movie devotees out there like me who loved this movie then, still love it now, and are dying to own HOWARD THE DUCK on DVD. It absolutely astounds me, that with the amount of CRAP out there filling video store shelves, HOWARD has never achieved a DVD release. It's been 20 years, where's our 2-Disc 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, Mister Lucas? I'm still getting by with my taped copy of HOWARD that I recorded off of HBO back in the '80s, and it's about due for a replacement! Seriously folks, don't believe the hype. HOWARD THE DUCK is worth seeing, and it's nowhere near as bad as you've heard. Trust me. MetalGeek has never lied to you before.
Review of Howard the Duck
