Xanadu – Magical Musical Edition (1980 DVD/CD Set/Universal)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+/B     Extras: C+     Film: C+     Soundtrack: B-

 

 

If you had told film critics that Xanadu would return as a hit stage musical to critical acclaim back in 1980 when the feature film first arrived, most would have scratched their heads.  If you have ever tired to sit through the film (directed by Robert Greenwald, who has become one of the most important documentary filmmakers around since then) then or now, you would too.  The story of an artist (Michael Beck of Walter Hill’s The Warriors) who dreams of launching a grand roller disco is a crazy idea in itself, but that his drawings would magically unleash muses from Greek Mythology and one of them (Olivia Newton-John) is going to help him open the place is a plot that never stood a chance of working.

 

But the resulting film is far worse than that premise would suggest, making the worst possible decisions and turns at every corner, wasting Gene Kelly, who tires to bring back that old MGM Musical Magic and a supporting cast that does not always seem with it.  But unlike similar bombs of the time like Can’t Stop The Music, The Bee Gees/Peter Frampton Sgt. Pepper’s and Phantom Of The Paradise, this came with a soundtrack that spawned a remarkable-for-the-time five hits.  Reissued on DVD with its CD soundtrack as a bonus as the Musical received several Tony nominations and continued to clean up at the box office, we actually reviewed the soundtrack to the stage revival.  You can read more about it and the film at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6470/Xanadu+On+Broadway+–+The+Origin

 

 

Looking at the film today, the leads were not horrible, but the pacing and some of the execution is just plain bad.  Many still criticize the misuse of the #1 hit Magic in the film, left in the background here, but used to better effect in the stage spoof.  Besides Electric Light Orchestra in the end of their last orchestrally-inclined hits, Suddenly with Cliff Richard and Newton-John remains a favorite hit and besides the title song, ELO had two hits on their own without anyone.  Add the non-hit duet Dancin’ with Newton-John and The Tubes (later of the annoying hit She’s A Beauty) and you have a soundtrack more akin to hits like Grease or Saturday Night Fever, which is why we are still talking about this film today.

 

Sadly, this music is trashed by then-barely-state-of-the-art visual effects and a bad sequence of badly drawn color animation that looks more like bad TV commercials than feature film quality.  The attempt from the beginning of the film with a revival of an older Universal logo to recall the Musicals of the 1940s is a bomb from the start and all seems more like the 1970s at its kitschiest than anything else.  As you watch, you wonder where the movie that goes with the music is.

 

As for that soundtrack, each song is a grander production than one might have originally considered, until you compare it to recent bad pop music and the spoofy stage revival versions.  The songs work for the most part and the bonus CD has the following tracks:

 

1)     Magic

2)     Suddenly

3)     Dancin’

4)     Suspended In Time

5)     Whenever You’re Away From Me

6)     I’m Alive

7)     The Fall

8)     Don’t Walk Away

9)     All Over The World

10)  Xanadu

 

 

With this convenient set, you can now compare for yourself, see and wonder how they got it so wrong.  Imagine if this had worked and rollerblades did not come along, this could have been a minor classic.  Instead, it is a camp classic.

 

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is soft with some detail limits, depth limits and color that is uneven, though some of that is simply bad color from optical printing.  Maybe the color could be upgraded to make some of these sequences more tolerable, but that is up to the makers.  This was ambitiously shot by Director of Photography Victor J. Kemper, A.S.C., doing his best to capture the action, actors and money that is on the screen.  An earlier DVD was issued in DTS, but this DVD only offers Dolby Digital 5.1 and it is as dated-sounding as it is lame.  Barry DeVorzon’s score is often ignored, but it actually balances the different styles of Newton-John and ELO more than it gets credit for.  The CD has none of his music, but the PCM 16/44.1 2.0 Stereo sounds much better than the DVD and for a film that was a Dolby 4.1 70mm magnetic stereo presentation, the DVD should have the edge, but does not.  Hope the Blu-ray sounds better.

 

Not counting the CD, extras include Going Back To Xanadu with on camera interviews with the cast/crew and behind the scenes information, plus a photo gallery with rare stills.  An audio commentary would have been interesting, but by whom would be another matter.  At least our copy came with a paperboard slipcase that has glitter around the logo and Newton-John.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo