Rating: 
Summary: Ageless
Review: I loved this movie as a kid, I love it even more as an adult. The casting is simply brilliant, not just the main players, but everyone you see on screen. Everything to be said about this movie has already been said in other reviews, so I'll spare a lecture. This is just a wonderful movie and I dare you not to get at least one song stuck in your head.
Rating:
Summary: POPEYE ON DVD! ABOUT TIME!
Review: Ever since I started buying DVDs, the first one I wanted was Popeye. I had to wait nearly 4 yrs for this to happen but now it's finally here! It was a wonderful movie as a child to me who loved Popeye. The characters were great, the music was great and of course I have to say hats off to Altman great vision & Robin Williams superb performance as Popeye. The only disappointment to this classic DVD is that are no extras, behind the scenes, deleted scenes, outtakes or documentaries. Fans pray and if Mr. Altman if you happen to read this, PLEASE, PLEASE, make a special edition Popeye DVD or maybe a director's cut to this cult classic!
Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets.
Review: E.C. Segar, the creator of Thimble Theater and Popeye, is inarguably one of the greatest cartoonists of all times. His ability to weave crazily compelling stories around a cast of the bizarre and comical was as amazing as his perception of human nature. His art was second-to-none in it's simple and unique expressiveness. He's up there with Herriman and above McCay. Maybe Kurtzman and Cole deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. Maybe. Well, Jules Feiffer did Segar great justice in penning this film, and Altman did the world a favor in creating the world so compellingly, as did the miraculous cast. It is a tribute to the world's best comic strip and to the early, fun Fleischer cartoons. William's first starring role and still one of his finest. The only thing this movie is missing is the Sea Hag. I absolutely loved this movie as a kid, when I knew none of this info (though I'd read and adored a fair amount of the original comic strip), and I love it just as much today. I've been checking regularly for this release on DVD, just like I did with The Hustler, and I'm just as happy to have this classic in widescreen. Get it for your kids, get it for yourself. Suspend adult cynicism at the door and you won't regret it. The film critics who panned it when it was released were braindead and drove Altman to Europe. Lucky for Altman, but unlucky for American film fans.
Rating:
Summary: Popeye comes to life!
Review: I have seen Popeye cartoons on Cartoon Network, and this has been a great remake of "Popeye". Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, make a great team. He's strong to the finish,
cause he eats his Spinach,
He's Popeye the Sailor Man. (TOOT, TOOT).
Rating:
Summary: Popeye comes to life!
Review: I have seen Popeye cartoons on Cartoon Network, and this has been a great remake of "Popeye". Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, make a great team. He's strong to the finish,
cause he eats his Spinach,
He's Popeye the Sailor Man. (TOOT, TOOT).
Rating:
Summary: "He neeeeds me, He neeeeds me....I yam what I yam"...yay!!
Review: This film is fun. When I was younger, I used to catch this one summer on HBO when they were playing it continuously. But, somehow although I fought hard not to like it and to say that it was rubbish, I could not. It was and is a fun film. I love the songs. In fact, not since 'Mary Poppins' and 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' have little ditties from a movie stayed in my mind by using one of the songs. Just the other day, I was watching 'Punch-Drunk Love' (another film recommended), and to my surprise it was not just I who had remembered the little songs when I was younger. P. T. Anderson has given tribute to this fun movie in his film as well. Robert Altman has made better pictures ('The Player' and 'MASH') but who is comparing? He made this for fun (or perhaps some extra cash), but who cares? It is a fun film. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a DVD today
Review: Finally! "Popye" on DVD in letterbox format! If only there were extras extras extras -- hours of them. Lots of lesser films get the special DVD treatment, so why not this one? Robert Altman's Popeye is simply one of the most delightful films I've ever seen. But for full enjoyment, you have to keep your eyes and ears open. There's even more taking place in the background nooks and crannies of "Popeye" than there is up front. And all of it is a clever, inventive, respectful homage to a comic strip/cartoon character that has never received his much deserved place of honor alongside Mickey, Bugs and Daffy. And the music is wonderful. It's what grabbed my attention one day when I still mistakenly trusted the critics who panned this film. I was channel surfing and I heard Olive Oyl singing "He Needs Me," and I was hooked. And then there's Popeye singing a glorious, heartbreaking lullaby to Swee'pea. And then there's Olive singing about Bluto's greatest asset ("He's Large"), accompanied by some ladies who sing impeccably, beautifully, hilariously off-key. "Everything is Food." "Sweet, Sweethaven." All the music is wonderful, and when you add it to everything else, Robert Altman's "Popeye" is a jewel. See this movie. ("The Rock: It's a hard place.")
Rating: 
Summary: One of my Favorite Movies
Review: After Hollywood wunderkid producer Robert Evans (see The Kid Stays in the Picture) came out of the life affirming musical Annie, Evans wanted to make it into movie, but couldn't get the rights (it was later bought by someone else) so instead he got the rights to E.C. Segar's Popeye and made that into a musical. He got Robert Altman to direct with his ensemble cast, even though Altman hadn't had a hit in years (actually, Popeye ended up resembling M.A.S.H., what with its overlapping dialogue, large cast of characters, and self-contained set: instead of a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital you have the town of Sweethaven, constructed in Malta). He got Jules Feiffer to write the script, due to the fact Feiffer was a writer in a similar vein of Segar and loved Popeye as a child (Feiffer also wrote the incredibly cynical screenplay for Mike Nichol's Carnal Knowledge). Harry Nillson (The Point) wrote the music, with players including Klaus Voorman (a member of the Plastic Ono Band) and Van Dyke Parks. The cast is impressive as well, featuring Robin Williams in his first starring role. But the film flopped : those that wanted a life affirming fable were confused by the obvious cynical and confusing storyline. I, as a child, was completely fascinated by it, as were alot of children of my generation: Popeye was the one valiant character in the whole thing, which makes it resemble more the original Thimble Theatre strip rather that the Fleischer's cartoons. Looking back at it, it's a great film, one that deserves some special features that are, unfortunately, not on this DVD release.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Costumes & Sets, But Story & Songs Needed More Spinach
Review: Director Robert Altman, who is best known for his direction of the 1970 film "MASH", directed the less successful 1980 film "Popeye", so named for the similarly titled comic strip/cartoon created by E. C. Segar (1894-1938). The characters Olive Oyl, her first boyfriend Ham Gravy, and her family Cole Oyl, Nana Oyl and Castor Oyl first appeared in the 1910's in Segar's comic strip known as the Thimble Theater. The character Popeye did not appear until 1929, but became extremely popular. Segar drew Popeye with exaggerated muscles in his forearms and calves, but with skinny upper arms and thighs. He also drew Popeye with an exaggerated jaw and with a corncob pipe in his mouth. Popeye became Olive Oyl's boyfriend. Segar drew her tall and lanky with very thin extremities. A mutual friend for Popeye and Olive Oyl was Wimpy, a short, fat man who obsessed about eating hamburgers. Also, there is Bluto: a bearded & physically strong pirate who had an eye for Olive Oyl, but was also Popeye's mortal enemy. Turning a cartoon into a live-action film is not an easy task, but the set designers, wardrobe designers and make-up artists involved with "Popeye" created a very accurate representation of Popeye's world. Robin Williams was physically transformed into an accurate caricature of Popeye, Shelley Duvall was the ideal candidate to portray the very lanky Olive Oyl, Paul Dooley became the hamburger-infatuated Wimpy and Paul L. Smith becomes the fierce Bluto. Other characters from the comic strip included Popeye's father (Poopdeck Pappy played by Ray Walston), the baby Swee'pea (Wesley Ivan Hurt), Cole Oyl (MacIntyre Dixon), Nana Oyl (Roberta Maxwell), Castor Oyl (Donovan Scott) and Ham Gravy (Bill Irwin). Unfortunately, the writers & composers for "Popeye" were not as prepared in creating an enjoyable story and musical score for the venerable Popeye character and his friends to match the efforts of the visual teams. The story begins with Popeye's arrival in the town of Sweet Haven where he meets Wimpy, Olive Oyl and Bluto. He finds his long lost father, adopts the abandoned Swee'pea, becomes Olive Oyl's boyfriend, fights Bluto and all to the addition of music. My rating (out of 5 stars) for each of the rather forgettable songs performed in the film are as follows: * "Sweet Haven" (3, sung by the residents of Sweet Haven).
* "I Am What I Am" (4, sung by Robin Williams).
* "He Needs Me" (3, sung Shelley Duvall).
* "Everything is Food (2, sung by chorus).
* "Blow Me Down" (3, sung by Robin Williams).
* "I'm Mean" (2, sung by Paul L. Williams).
* "He's Large" (2, sung by Shelley Duvall).
* "Sail With Me" (3, sung by Robin Williams & Shelley Duvall).
* "It's Not Easy Bein' Me" (2, sung by Ray Walston).
* "Children" (2, sung by Ray Walston).
* "Popeye The Sailor Man" (3, sung by Robin Williams & chorus). With his keen ability to do various voices, Robin Williams does make a passable Popeye and Shelley Duvall does a reasonable job as Olive Oyl. However, Paul L. Smith's portrayal of Bluto was uninspired. For its visual appeal, but less than memorable story, dialog & music, I rate "Popeye" with an overall rating of 3. My advice to anyone that is considering to purchase the film, but has not yet seen it, should consider renting it first. Perhaps the writers & composers should have eaten more spinach before undertaking this film project.
Rating: 
Summary: He's Large
Review: So, you have just seen the Robin williams movie Popeye, how did you like it? The glassy eyed father with the 2 kids who are glad the movie is finally over says "He's Large". The music is not memorable at all. All I had in my head was the rundundant line from a song that sung by Olive Oil in answer to the question of what she liked about the man she was thinking of marrying... She sang: "He's Large". Dumb story, poor music and an ending that took way to long to get to. The ultimate test is that my children didn't care for it either. Don't bother.
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