X
- 1980
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 36 m
- 1980
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 36 m
Summary The 40s meet the 80s in XANADU, a very special love story and the first lavish, old-fashioned musical to utilize today's music. Stars Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly.
Directed By: Robert Greenwald
Written By: Richard Christian Danus, Marc Reid Rubel
- 1980
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 36 m
- 1980
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 36 m
Xanadu
31
6.2
Where to Watch
Summary The 40s meet the 80s in XANADU, a very special love story and the first lavish, old-fashioned musical to utilize today's music. Stars Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly.
Directed By: Robert Greenwald
Written By: Richard Christian Danus, Marc Reid Rubel
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
31
23% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
31% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
46% Negative
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
31
23% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
31% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
46% Negative
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
How does Xanadu qualify as the greatest movie musical? Simple: it offers nothing but pure wall-to-wall fun and nonsense to keep a smile on one’s face from the opening credits (which cleverly spoof the logo of Universal Pictures) through the end of the picture. [11 Aug 2005]
While the soundtrack is evenly split between Newton-John ballads and power-pop from ELO, neither of which sounded particularly revolutionary at the turn of the decade, Xanadu's collage of musical styles and fads inadvertently suggests the utopia of post-disco no wave, hip-hop's emerging legacy of sampling and the DIY spirit of mash-ups. (I mean, if you want to be kind.)
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 User Ratings
6.2
44% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
50% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
6% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 User Ratings
6.2
44% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
50% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
6% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
To the critic who gave a bad review re: the choreography of the bandstand ensemble, it was a "terrible mess" having no style: you must be an old coot who has no appreciation for anything but stiff, monotone numbers that , for the rest of us, would be extremely boring. I dont know what people like this expect, but I certainly got more than I could have asked for, ie. a whole lotta fun and entertainment! Those of us who enjoyed this number happen to be under 50, enjoy our jobs, play with our kids, own pets, lean toward comedy films and feel good movies. We're not serious movie critics, but we have a good eye for dance, and this scene was fabulous fun!
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Honestly this was a movie that was made around an awesome soundtrack. The music, in and of itself, is awesome.
The story itself is a time capsule about roller disco's of the 1980's, yea they were a thing.
Olivia Newton John, aka Olivia Neutron Bomb, was phenomenal. She is both beautiful and superbly talented in this movie. Gene Kelly is, well, Gene Kelly. He was an incredibly talented actor and dancer in his day and has great screen presence.
The story line was silly but what can one expect from a modern story whose main character is a muse (one of nine Goddesses from Greek mythology). The animation wasn't all that good but that was not unusual for the late 1970's. Given the size of the case, I feel sorry for those people who had to create and maintain all of those creative and unusual costumes.
Was this an award winning movie? Absolutely not! It's a silly yet fun musical where guy meets Goddess, guy loses Goddess, and guy gets Goddess.
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Like The Wiz...Xanadu is desperately stylish without having any real style.
Xanadu cannot possibly be described as a good movie, but it can be recommended to those who can tolerate large amounts of intravenous marzipan. The music is highly enjoyable -- though perhaps more so once one gets the record album home and isn't bothered with the story -- and the film so unerringly airy that it has a beneficent, tranquilizing, bemusing effect.
Trying to appeal to both old and young audiences, the movie ends up shooting itself in the foot.
Michael Beck (of "The Warriors") shows no discernible talent for musical romanticism Olivia ("Totally Hot") Newton-John sings prettily but is totally tepid, and the ever graceful Gene Kelly deserves a medal for keeping a straight face. Robert Greenwald, the director, should look into another line of work. Perhaps opening a disco? [18 Aug 1980, p.85]
Olivia Newton John headlines this **** musical classic about a muse that falls in love with her target. A fabulous record album artist who decides with a stranger to open up a roller skating rink with magical results. Or at least I think that is what it's about. The whole movie is like being high on shrooms. It's super colorful and wonderfully ****. But besides a visual feast and a great soundtrack nothing's really going on. It tries desperately to connect the muicals of yesterday and modern day at the time but never finds the right vibe. The charachters are pretty but lack personality and depth and so does the story. On that aspect it was really hard for me to be completely engaged. That being said my fiancee and best friend love this movie and will probably murder me after reading it, so I'll end on a positive note. It's pretty and fun.
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Awards
Razzie Awards
• 1 Win & 7 Nominations
Young Artist Awards
• 2 Nominations
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
• 1 Nomination
