Rating: 
Summary: XANADU a Guilty Pleasure!
Review: XANADU is one of the most critically and commercially ravaged films in Hollywood history, a 'Nouveau Art' musical with Art Deco themes, a weirdly conceived animated interlude, and performances of such widely varying caliber that a viewer might wonder if the actors were all reading the same script! But all that being said, I would like to offer a minority opinion, and say that I didn't find the film THAT terrible, and there are some aspects of it I actually enjoyed...First and foremost, it offers the legendary Gene Kelly, in his last musical, as charming and wonderful as ever. As retired musician/businessman Danny McGuire, Kelly has the film's best moments, including a 'classic' song-and-dance scene with Olivia Newton-John and some silly but endearing 'post-disco' routines with the talented young dancers of the cast (including future CONAN star Sandahl Bergman). Seeing him on roller-skates again, leading everyone around the club he builds, to the music of the Electric Light Orchestra, makes one realize just how irreplaceable he is. Kelly could do it all, and with style! The premise of the film, of a Muse coming from Olympus to inspire an artist, is farfetched, but had been done on film several times in the past (ONE TOUCH OF VENUS, with Ava Gardner and Robert Walker, and DOWN TO EARTH, with Rita Hayworth, are the examples most often mentioned), and while Olivia Newton-John is oddly cast in the role, she tackles it gamely, with a smile and a wink, and isn't THAT bad. On the other hand, Michael Beck, best-known as the gang leader in clichéd but powerful THE WARRIORS, is totally miscast as the artist she falls in love with. An actor with limited range and no singing or dancing talent, Beck lacks the charisma to pull off the role (one wonders why British pop star Cliff Richard, who voices Beck's duet with Newton-John, 'Suddenly', wasn't utilized to play the part). While the film often veers off in bizarre directions, the 'Battle of the Bands' scene between popular 80s rockers, the Tubes, and a 'Tommy Dorsey'-style orchestra (as Beck and Kelly envision what the 'look' and 'sound' of their club, XANADU, should be), actually works, and is fun to watch. The entire score, by Barry De Vorzon and John Farrar, and Jeff Lynne (with ELO) is terrific (and made the soundtrack album a hit). Sure, the ending is hokey, but it was also the same ending of ONE TOUCH OF VENUS and DOWN TO EARTH, so XANADU can't be totally faulted! All in all, XANADU isn't the WORST film ever made, and if you give it a chance, you might find it a guilty pleasure!
Rating: 
Summary: A CULT CLASSIC and an EXCELLENT SOUNDTRACK
Review: When this big budget Olivia Newton-John vehicle hit the silver screen, it actually did make money at the box office. However, because of the high expectaions of the film's star, Olivia Newton-John's performance in "Grease", it was called a bomb, which, financially it wasn't. It also became one of the top selling videos in 1981 in days when Vhs and Betamax both ruled the markets! The soundtrack went #1 and has 5 hit songs spun off of it, and it later gained a bigger following when it hit the movie channels! Critics hate this movie, but I don't care! I LOVE IT! Olivia Newton-John is so gorgeous and sings some great tunes as well as dances it up with Gene Kelley(in his final movie role). Michael Beck, however, falls flat on his face, showing no charisma and terrible acting chops. But Olivia and Gene pick up the slack, thankfully, and the end result is a very glitzy, campy,yet dazzling old fashioned musical tinged with 80's songs by Olivia, E.L.O. and The Tubes.Light on plot, heavy on song and dnace and special effects, Xanadu is fun for the entire family. Just don't expect anything more than to be entertained and you'll love it!
Rating:
Summary: Roller-Disco epic from the 70's! Outrageous!
Review: .
You have to wonder what they were thinking when they decided to re-make the Rita Hayworth film "Down to Earth" as a roller-disco musical epic starring Olivia Newton John. It's interesting, but when you realize that the running time of this film itself lasts longer than the actual fad of roller-disco did, you have to wonder why they bothered! Gene Kelly seems lost in a musical nightmare, and the production numbers seem to scare him silly. It's as if he wonders how he got on the soundstage at all. The music is cute, the production numbers are a perfect example of 70's excess, and the story is ridiculous. All in all, I think it's a guilty pleasure to watch. Just don't tell anyone you enjoyed it, because they'll probably make fun of you. A perfect double-feature evening would be to watch this along with "Can't Stop the Music" starring the Village People. (Read my review on that one!) To quote Olivia Newton John: "Xanaduuuuuuu, Xanaduuuu-uuu-uuu!"
Rating:
Summary: XANADU was and still is pure MAGIC!
Review: I truly love this movie! I was 10 years old and had and still am a huge OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN fan!I went to see this movie on it's first opening night with my mom and we stayed and watched it over again! When it finally came out on tv on HBO, I watched it as many times as I could! I finally bought the movie on VHS,Laser Disc and now on DVD. Though I love it on DVD and I just wonder why it wasn't 5.1 instead of 4.0 audio? You have to turn your volume up a little more, but overall the picture is fantastic! I truly love the movie all the way through, sure it's a little campy, but so what! It never bores you, it's entertaining and will appeal to anyone who has good taste in music, unlike the so call stuff you hear today. "XANADU", was and still is pure Magic! My favorite scene would have to be when OLIVIA comes out at the finale singing XANADU and her and her dancers doing that famous OLIVIA head bopping. She was wonderful and she still is! I just seen her in concert and man, let me tell you she still turns my head! She is charming and so real! XANADU I love 100%, more so than GREASE, don't get me wrong I love GREASE, I just can't stomach John Travolta, I usually fast forward his scenes in the movie. It's the beauty and voice of Legendary Mega-Superstar OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN that had me crazed! She is wonderful and charismatic and she is the most beautiful female entertainer that ever graced Hollywood! Her appeal is true and genuine and she doesn't have to act or try to be sexy, she just is. Madonna, Tina, Mariah,etc eat your hearts out, OLIVIA is a true Diva without an attitude. It would be so nice to see her again on the big screen singing and acting and hearing her music on the radio.They'll never be another OLIVIA! I hope all of OLIVIA's work will be available on DVD soon!
Rating:
Summary: Merely the Ultimate Musical
Review: I've watched "Xanadu" probably about fifty or sixty times - or more. I've worn out two VHS videos, and am now, even while typing this, watching my Xanadu DVD. I can't believe that anyone would call this undiscovered wonder of the world "wimpy" or "anemic". This movie deserves its current status as a cult classic. The Stars. I'll have more to say about Gene Kelly later. Olivia Newton John, still on the top of her conversion from Country Western to Pop Rock, never sounded or looked better. Her ability to seemingly switch back and forth on a moments notice from her old image of sweetness and nice to her new image of almost a dominatrix was great. Her combination of any boy's fantasies with a girl you could take home was wonderful. Mike Beck does a good job as "Sonny" - the modern-day version of Danny McGuire, although, in comparison to Kelly and Olivia, he looks kind of flat. But who could hold a candle to that caliber of actor or actress? The scenes. The scene where Danny dances with Kira and ends up with her in his arms ("Whenever You're Away from Me"), followed by a similar scene with Sonny and Kira minutes later in the movie ("Suddenly"), only help to reinforce the Deja-Vu like sense of wonder that permeates this entire film. We are treated to this sense of deja-vu over and over again. The scene where the Big Band era meets the rock-and-roll era still gives me a thrill. Olivia Newton John's singing blends virtually perfectly with Electric Light Orchestra's symphonic sound, but heavy rock influence. The musical numbers. Done by Electric Light Orchestra and Olivia Newton John, they include the pop hits "Xanadu" and "Magic", as well as: "I'm Alive", "All Over The World", "Dancin' Round and Round", "Suspended in Time", "Whenever You're Away from Me", "Don't Walk Away" and "Suddenly". Imagine, if you can, a blending of the best of the 30's and 40's Big Bands with the best of the 70's and 80's rock and disco. Now imagine it on the same stage - blended almost perfectly. That =is= what happens in this movie. The dancing. What can anyone say about Gene Kelly that hasn't been said already? Watching Gene trip the light fantastic with Olivia was worth the price of admission all by itself. This was, I believe, Gene Kelly's last movie, and it is a fitting send-off to his long career. It was kind of fun to see him as a clarinet player and construction company boss. He doesn't look the least bit "silly" - it's easy to see where he could have been Kira's love interest back in the 40's. It was appropriate to see Gene's character called "Danny McGuire" as that was actually the name of one of Gene's characters in another movie. In addition, to cap off this film, Don Bluth did the animation for a wonderful sequence ("Don't Walk Away") where Kira and Sonny are transformed into fish and birds. This provides a perfect sense of surreal to Sonny's and Kira's developing love. This movie means more than its outer shell of "a muse is sent from 'heaven' to help with the creation of a disco roller derby". It means it's OK to have dreams - because a dream is a wish your heart makes. The emphasis, told in various ways, that you should always follow your dreams, is a message that needs to be emphasised today. Both Danny's dream of opening a new club, and Sonny's dream to do something more than his boring job of painting recreations of album covers are fused together by Kira (or should I say "Terpsichore"? :-) into a single dream that they, with her help, make a reality. Do a search on the Greek Muses and you'll find a lot of the inspiration for this movie. If there really is a real Xanadu, I would love to go there. If there never really was a real Xanadu, there should be. This still ranks as one of the most underappreciated musicals ever. Get it. You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Xanarific!
Review: I recently bought the DVD of this movie, and I LOVE IT! This was my all time favorite movie as a kid. I am now 28 and it still is number one to me. I have the compact disc and the VHS. This movie is a keeper. The music is awesome. My favorite song in the movie is "Don't walk away". It is an animated love scene between Kira(olivia newton John) and Sonny(Michael Beck)It is not only cute, but the song is great! I rememeber wanting to be Olivia Newton John in this movie. I used to dance around my living room to the end song "Xanadu". This is one movie that is a must have. If you don't own it.... I suggest you get it before it's gone.
Rating:
Summary: XANADU IS A GEM!
Review: Xanadu did exactly what it was supposed to do - entertain and make you imagine what it would be like to have a muse like Olivia breathe life into your dreams and have a sugar-daddy like Gene finance them! This movie was not supposed to provoke political though, cure world-hunger or make you a better person. It was created to make you dream, for your mind to be mesmerized by the colors, the music and the beauty of its entirety. The music was great, the plot was cute, and while today many might laugh at the roller-boogie of the last scene, it takes me back to my high school years where going to the rink was THE thing to do! Thank you Olivia, Gene and ELO for making a movie and music that I still enjoy to this day!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great songs with nice special effects and a fantastic start!
Review: This was way better than grease. Most musicals are stupid anyways but to me this is still better than most and the only live musical I ever liked. Grease was aimed at the 50's but this movie was a true example of the early 80's. My decade and thus my style of music. To me this was Olivia at the height of her career. I only gave four stars because I don't like widescreen dvds. Each dvd should have the option for full or widescreen so people don't have to choose which one to get at the store.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Worth Seeing....Even for the Music
Review: I don't like writing negative reveiws and being a child of the 80's I normally am a huge fan of cheezy, leg warmer, roller boogie 70's and 80's musical films, however this one unfortunately did not live up to my expectations. It went beyond corny and simply became just a film made with bad taste. Since the movie and the plot were so bad, I was at least hoping that since this was a musical, the musicical performances would have been impressive (considering the very talented Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly were teamed up together). However even the musical performances couldn't revive this movie. The songs sounded like they came straight out of a Hollywood studio's recycling bin. Folks if you are interested in seeing this film, I would strongly recommend renting it first.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious...
Review: Probably the most ridiculous film ever made. Newton-John gives her generic, startlingly boring performance (rivalling Grease!). You wonder if it is all just a satiric romp...
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