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Xanadu

Xanadu

List Price: $14.98
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Beware of the audio
Review: There is only one English language audio selection on this disc, and if one does not have a home theatre sound system, the sound will be out of whack. The French language selection is in 2-channel and the songs are not in French, so this is how one will have to view it if one only has a 2-channel system.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Who cares how bad it is, it's OLIVIA
Review: Anything with Olivia in it deserves 5 stars. This movie, on the other hand, is really awful. The only thing that saves it is Olivia's presence and her awesome voice. The one truly great moment in the film is the ending. (no, not the fact that the movie is over) But the song, Xanadu, has to be one of the greatest songs ever and her singing it at the end is spectacular.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: YOU WILL LOVE THIS OR HATE IT
Review: I SAW THIS AS A KID AND WAS EXPECTING ANOTHER "GREASE" WHAT I GOT WAS A BIG HOLLYWOOD MUSIC VIDEO (BEFORE WE EVEN HEARD OF THEM)
THIS IS FILMED LIKE A DREAM! IT DOESN'T MAKE SENCE! THAT'S FINE! JUST SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE PARTS OF THE MOVIE THAT DO WORK! I STILL LOVE THE SONG "MAGIC"

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE Review
Review: Xanadu is movie about love. It really shows us how we ought to be like in the game of love and hate. Olivia Newton-John is spectacular and Gene Kelly...what can I say? In today's heyday of lights and technology, Xanadu really shows how far we have come.
I urge you to get this movie. You won't regret it!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The face that launched a 1,000 ships...
Review: Olivia Newton-John was the blond of the 1970's. Was she...or wasn't she the most beautiful woman in the world...inherently must depend on who you asked. I doubt too many could effectively argue that she was not a world class beauty at the time. There were days when she received 20,000 to 30,000 "love letters". All equally in love with her. There always was a certain elusive quality about her. In every photograph, of that woman...throughout the years...I have ever seen...Oh, its her...and yet...its just some other woman. She has an undeniable talent for makeup and costume.
Xanadu is a fantasy tale about "LOVE" and its possibilities. Olivia Newton-John is "Kira" a love goddess that tempts two men.
She first works her magic on "Danny McGuire", Gene Kelly, unfortunately, he follows his head and not his heart, and we meet him 30 years later...sitting on a rock, a miserable old man...still hopelessly in love with "Kira".
For him it is too late...so "Kira" works her magic on "Sonny Malone", Michael Beck, next. "Sonny" makes the right choice, and follows his heart and not his head.He will love her forever.
At the end "Kira" gets dispensation from "god" and gets a divorce from "Danny" and is allowed to love "Sonny" now. ANd for their efforts they are rewarded with "Xanadu" and I guess all the profits from that sucessful venture.
Like I said this movie is some kind of "fantasy". When I watched it, Kira became Sandy, my fantasy girl. ANd like "Danny" I was still sitting on a rock, 30 years later, wondering about her. I assume I will always regret the road not traveled.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: "Anymore and you're gonna get a headache!"
Review: Olivia Newton-John's career was at an all time high when Xanadu opened in 1980. It met with dreadful reviews, everyone got some stick but Olivia definitely got more than her share.

Of course, 20 odd years later, Xanadu emphasises why Olivia was unsuited to the demands of superstardom. She was flawlessly beautiful and a wonderful singer, but had no screen presence and was basically unable to deliver a line of dialogue convincingly. Her dancing was OK but she had, presumably out of nervousness, the tendency to constantly grin and gurn at her dance partners (she was the same with Travolta in Grease) and this soon becomes distracting and wearing. Add her almost complete lack of personality and it becomes apparent why her popular career ended 5 years later.

Olivia isn't helped by her leading man in Xanadu, though. Michael Beck had created a 'buzz' a year earlier with his performance in the cult hit The Wanderers, but Xanadu pretty much ended his big screen career, too. To be frank here, he's even worse than Olivia. A plain looking young man who reads his lines like he's recently been hit over the head, hard, he and Olivia have zero chemistry together. If possible, he's even more bland than she is.

Gene Kelly is on board too for his final big screen role. It's hard to dismiss this classy and dearly likable chap, but he's given as many terrible lines in Xanadu as his co-stars.

The plot is this; Olivia plays a muse, one of the nine daughters of Zeus, all with individual talents, who comes to earth to grant the wishes of struggling artist Beck and disatisfied construction boss Kelly. Presumably, Olivia is the muse of perpetual banality as she roller skates around grinning madly, spouting ridiculous dialogue whilst trying not to mess up her hair.

The director tries to con you into thinking that Beck's artist is something of a catch.Everywhere he goes, girls flirt with him, fathers try and fix him up with their daughters and people gush about his exceptional artistic skills. Given that he only paints a hideous looking van and a questionable portrait of Olivia throughout, you'd be right to question this. Anyway, he meets Olivia, falls instantly in love with her (and she with him) but, oh no!, they can't be together forever because Olivia is creature from another world (as is her character!)

Gene Kelly's character, a frustrated musician, has a dream to open a massive camp nightclub and 40 years ago, also met with the charms of Newton-John (I know Olivia was no spring chicken here, but this is a bit cheeky!) Anyway, he and Beck team up to open said nightclub but not before he's taken shopping for a new look by Olivia and Michael. He spends the rest of the movie looking like Quentin Crisp, but it could have been worse. They could have taken him to Koala Blue!

It all ends up going swimmingly, of course. Beck and Olivia are allowed by Zeus to stay together (he probably looked into the future and saw Gaia!) and Gene goes cruising.

After this somewhat harsh review, I have to say that the saving grace of Xanadu is the brilliant soundtrack and amazing dance numbers. It really does still look fresh today which must mean it has something going for it. Most of the multi platinum soundtrack is sung prominantly though it's odd that the biggest US hit, 'Magic' is used as background music to Olivia skating around an abandoned auditorium shouting gibberish at Beck.

That said, Xanadu, album and movie, is a thoroughly enjoyable experience though it's not hard to see why Spielberg and Scorcese never inundated Olivia with scripts!

This DVD edition is reasonable enough. The widescreen anamorphic picture is great in spots, though there is some print damage evident. The 4.1 surround sound is good too, though it's a little murky on some of the tunes. Extras aren't so hot. There's a few limp biographies and the original trailer, but that's your lot. Still, Xanadu has never looked or sounded better for home viewing before.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: happy movie, it's a keeper.
Review: forget the critics. they are soooo far removed from ordinary life. this is a happy movie. a feel good movie. a silly movie. a relaxing movie. and anyway why are there no used dvds for sale cheap?? the movies loved by the critics and that win lots of oscars seen to be listed for sale under $10 prety quick. buy xanadu enjoy xanadu its a keeper.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fun!!
Review: Okay, i'm guilty of loving this movie. Sure, the story is rediculous and at times tedious and boring, but just leave your brain at the door and sit back and enjoy the great music and songs and cool visuals. I'm a huge fan of ELO's and ONJ's music. The soundtrack cd is great! It's a cheesy and fun movie that i'm glad i have on dvd finally.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's Fun!
Review: Xanadu is a corny movie but it's corny in a fun enjoyable way and Olivia Newton John is adorable and Gene Kelley is a delight and this movie has made me a fan of his and I love to watch his old classic musicals. Xanadu has great music with catchy lyrics and I love this movie even if it's corny, I just think it's nice to watch and listen to cool music and it's a great movie to watch when you just want to unwind and chill out but I only recommend this movie to people who find corny movies fun and don't get all uppity because the plot is goofy.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: One of the worst films ever made
Review: Xanadu recently came out on DVD but that's no reason to go out and buy it. The only goods thing about this movie is the Soundtrack featuring ELO, Olivia & Cliff Richard. I remember when the movie hit the cinemas. The word quickly got out how bad it was, so everyone avoided it and just bought the LP Record. Yes, it's hard to believe that a brilliant soundtrack could accompany a dreadful film.

Olivia Newton John is a fantastic singer, but she is no actor! A fluke OK acting role in Grease helped her secure this part, but along with a bad script she helped send this film into the garbage can. Add Michael Beck with no singing or dancing talent and you get the picture! And how they got Gene Kelly to get involved in this, is anyone's guess. Olivia went on to further demonstrate her poor acting skills in the 1983 film "Two Of A Kind" with John Travolta. And what was that other movie? Something along the lines of "A Mum for Christmas". Mmmm.

Listen to the Xanadu soundtrack, avoid the film. That's one positive out of this movie.


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