Xanadu (Magical Edition)
by Robert Greenwald
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DVD details
Actor: Gene Kelly, Michael Beck, Olivia Newton-John, Sandahl Bergman, The TubesDirector: Robert Greenwald
Brand: Universal Studios
Producer: Lawrence Gordon
Writer: John Farrar
Writer: Electric Light Orchestra
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-02-03
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of Xanadu (Magical Edition)
DVD Review: Olivia's next movie.
Summary: 4 Stars
In August 1979, Olivia Newton-John announced that she had finally found her follow up movie to 'Grease'. It had taken her 2 years but she said she wanted to be totally sure that her next project was right for her.
The movie was 'Xanadu'.
Nearly 30 years later, it's easy to snigger and poo-poo Olivia's choices (the other film she was considering was the Village People's 'Can't Stop The Music'!) but I can see why 'Xanadu' would appeal to her. An old fashioned musical with songs written for her by her ace long-time producer and songwriter, John Farrar, and the added input of further tracks written by supergroup ELO would be tempting. Plus, the movie was a big budget affair and the onus was definitely on her this time...
What went wrong? Well, with all ONJ's careful planning, you'd have thought she'd have seen a script before she signed, but apparently she went with a plot 'outline'.
The shoot was fraught with difficulties and had serious casting problems with the male lead. Poor O, she must have spent the first half of 1980 dreading the film opening!
Let's be honest, although there was anticipation as to what Olivia's next movie would be like, few would expect her and Meryl Streep to be fighting over the same scripts. 'Grease' was an ensemble piece that played to Olivia's strengths, sticking in a song where the dialogue would have been tricky. For instance, can you imagine Olivia convincingly being able to explain her transformation into 'Sandy 2' without the aid of 'You're The One That I Want'?
As I said before, 'Xanadu' focused almost entirely on O and exposed all her weaknesses. Her near enough total lack of personality, her inability to deliver a line of dialogue and her nervous gurning and grinning throughout the many dance numbers. She didn't suffer alone. Michael Beck, romantic lead 'Sonny', was a dreadful piece of casting. Apparently Beck got the role due to his turn in the previous year's 'The Warriors', but he's awful here. He doesn't sing or dance or even act any better than Olivia. Plus, to be frank, he's no dreamboat! He's not ugly, by any means, but he's plain at best and there's no spark between him and Olivia. Maybe O didn't want the competition of an established male star to take the emphasis off her. If that's the case, she paid a price for it...
Olivia certainly looked like a film star, but she needed a male lead (like Travolta) to bounce off of when she didn't have the force of personality and lacked the basic talent to carry a scene alone.
Gene Kelly comes off about the best. You get the impression he discovered early on that the movie would be appalling and just decided to try and rise above it. His dance sequence with Olivia is one of the best moments in the film. If only she didn't spoil it by pulling stupid faces and trying not to trip up! The 'All Over The World' scene is good too, with O and Beck taking Kelly to a boutique to give him a style revamp (Thank God Koala Blue wasn't open then!) only to turn him into Quentin Crisp on acid!
The plot is this; Down at heart artist Sonny (Beck) is uninspired. He wants to create 'art' yet has a boring job painting enlargements of LP sleeves that he hates. Boo hoo. Now, 'Xanadu' is one of those movies that hits you over the head with things so it wants you to know that Sonny is GREAT. Everywhere he goes people tell him how wonderful an artist he is, girls throw themselves at him (in a PG way, of course) and fathers show him pictures of their unattatched daughters because Sonny is such a great catch. Sadly, Sonny rejects all this adulation with a bluntness that borders on outright rudeness , all until a strange girl (guess who) skates into him (Olivia's talent for skating in similar to her one for dancing), kisses him and disappears.
Sonny is also being stalked by creepy millionaire Danny Maquire (Kelly). He made his money in the 'construction business' apparently and keeps turning up at odd moments flattering Sonny by telling him he has a 'good eye'. You know the type! However, just when you think Kelly's final movie is about to take him to a darker place, it turns out he just wants Sonny to help him find a place for his new nightclub. Cop out!
It turns out Olivia is Kira, a muse, sent to earth to inspire humans and to try and bring about a leggings revival. Sonny is smitten (as much as you can tell from Beck's performance) but it also transpires Kira had a fling with Danny back in the
40's. Anyway, I'm boring myself now. Everything gets resolved and Olivia sings 'Xanadu' 15 times before the film ends. It's an odd ending, too. It just sort of stops as if everyone couldn't wait to be rid of it.
Olivia, as Kira, should be a mysterious, alluring goddess but she must have got confused because she portrays her as an highly-slappable, giggling, simpering Barbie doll with possible mental health issues. Beck as Sonny, affects him with a blank indifference which kills any potential romantic overtones. All I can say is that perhaps Tom Hanks got his inspiration for 'Forrest Gump' from watching Beck in action.
The music is the highlight of the film, though, typically, the film's best song and biggest hit, Olivia's solo 'Magic', is thrown away as background music as O (is it always her, though?!) skates round an abandoned building shouting gibberish at Beck. The dance numbers are good though Olivia ain't no Ginger Rogers. She does her best not to hobble anyone but she's too stiff and self-conscious to truly let herself go.
Despite my harsh words, 'Xanadu' isn't unenjoyable. It helps if you like Olivia, of course but it's bright and cheerful with great songs. It's just a pity they don't manage to drown out enough of the hideous dialogue!
After 'Xanadu', Olivia, then 32 and with her youthful good looks beginning to fade, wisely gave movies a miss for a while and concentrated on her still-successful singing career. In 1983, the pain of 'Xanadu's memory had begun to fade a little, and O took the only cinematic option still available to her, a reteaming with John Travolta. The ensuing movie, the unspeakable 'Two Of A Kind' officially ended her big screen career making 'Xanadu' look like 'The Dark Knight'. TOAK did untold damgage to Olivia and it wasn't too long after that that her music suffered and she slipped out of the limelight.
This remastered DVD has slightly better picture and sound quality than the original release but suffers from print damage with the added negative of that the majority of Olivia's close-ups were shot in obvious soft-focus, making it look poorer and grainier than ever. The extras are nothing great but some early copies of this DVD included the soundtrack album as a bonus.
Description of Xanadu (Magical Edition)
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