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Topic:
The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #1: The tyranny of the opening weekend box office
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
8/7/07 3:19pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #31: Sean Connery & Harrison Ford with Russian accents
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30. Howard the Duck.
Long before George Lucas unveiled Jar Jar Binks, there was the 1986 sci-fi comedy about an extraterrestrial cigar-smoking fowl. Of course, as executive producer, Lucas didn't create Howard, but he bears some responsibility for this cinematic bird ****.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
8/7/07 4:51pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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This is a notorious movie, but I can't say I've ever seen it, nor met anyone who has. Was it even released?
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KnightWriter
Title:
Administrator Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '01
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Date Posted:
8/7/07 5:03pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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It was definitely released. Just ask Lea Thompson, who deserved better.
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DarthBoba
Registered:
Jun '00
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Date Posted:
8/7/07 5:27pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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I've seen it. It's really not bad; just takes some getting used to. 
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TOYB!
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ForceJumpAnakin
Registered:
Dec '06
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Date Posted:
8/7/07 7:51pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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I haven't seen it in years. The only thing I remember is the kissing scene with Lea and the Duck.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
8/7/07 8:06pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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I didn't really need that mental image...
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JohnWesleyDowney
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
8/7/07 8:43pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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The special effects in Howard the Duck were absolutely fantastic for 1986. Superb work by ILM. Favorite line: "Smog Inspection."
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How many movies do you think Industrial Light and Magic has worked on? WRONG. http://www.ilm.com/ilm_services.html "Films fulfill an unconscious spiritual desire that human beings have to share a common memory." - Martin Scorcese
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The2ndQuest
Title: :
-LACWAC
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Registered:
Jan '00
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Date Posted:
8/7/07 8:50pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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Yeah, the love angle was really quite..bizzare on many levels (though not as bizzare as the brief nude scene on the Duck World...). It's actually quite funny that a movie like this includes Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones and Tim Robbins in it's cast.
I will give it one thing- the Dark Overlords are some of the coolest looking movie monsters ever, made even more creepy by the stop/go motion used to bring them to life. And even when in human form, Jeffrey Jones is so damn fun to watch.
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K'Kruhk, 140 ABY: "Why haven't I come forth earlier to share my Jedi knowledge with Skywalker?
Well, it's kinda a long story, see, I had this freaking sweet hat..."
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JohnWesleyDowney
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
8/7/07 10:35pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
- Date Edited:
8/7/07 10:55pm (6 edits total)
Edited By:
JohnWesleyDowney
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Tim Robbins Career Highlights: The Shawshank Redemption, Howard the Duck!
No, they don't really go together do they? Tim doesn't talk a lot about the duck movie.  But William Shatner mentioned it at the AFI tribute honoring Lucas last year. 
I think this one sentence summary explains the failure of this film. What were they thinking?
A sarcastic humanoid duck is pulled from his homeworld to Earth where he must stop an alien invader. The Duck Planet? 
I always thought the thing that was the worst was the choice of Howard's voice.
It might not have been QUITE as bad if they'd taken a different tack with the
character's voice. Honestly though, it has it's moments, and I think part of the
problem was the success of Star Wars and the two Indiana Jones films, the expectations
were just insane. And of course, the scintillating dialogue didn't help:
Howard: "No one laughs at a master of Quack Fu!"
Here's some fun stuff from IMDB on this legendary flop:
Popular vocalist Tori Amos auditioned for the part of Beverly Switzler, eventually played by Lea Thompson. Jay Leno was up the role of Phil Blumburtt. In a 1986 interview in "Star Hits" magazine, singer Belinda Carlisle stated that she auditioned for a role in the film. Phoebe Cates auditioned for the role of Beverly that eventually went to Lea Thompson.
Howard landed on Earth on 8 September. It was on that date in 1966 that "Star Trek" (1966) premiered on NBC.
Widely considered one of the biggest movie bombs, with an overall budget of $37 million and a box office gross of $16 million, a loss of $21 million. Executive producer George Lucas spent $2 million on Howard's duck suit, and eight different actors worked inside the costume.
Shortly after the movie was released, Frank Price quit his job as the head of Universal Pictures, the studio that funded the film. "Variety" reported the story with the headline, "'Duck' Cooks Price's Goose."
According to reports at the time of the movie's release, George Lucas was heavily in debt (having just built the $50-million Skywalker Ranch complex) and was counting on this film to get him back in the black. When it bombed, he was forced to start selling off assets to stay afloat. His friend Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Computer, offered to help by buying Lucasfilm's newly-launched CGI animation division for a price well above market value, and Lucas, in desperate straits and thankful for the assistance, agreed. That division eventually become Pixar Animation Studios.
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How many movies do you think Industrial Light and Magic has worked on? WRONG. http://www.ilm.com/ilm_services.html "Films fulfill an unconscious spiritual desire that human beings have to share a common memory." - Martin Scorcese
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
8/7/07 11:29pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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Good comes from quackery. [groan]
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
8/8/07 6:14am
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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Thaqt IMDb stuff is really interesting. Thanks for sharing 
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yankee8255
Registered:
May '05
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Date Posted:
8/8/07 6:19am
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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I remember when it came out, there was alot of hype because Lucas was involved. Expectations were pretty high. And then it turned out to be a disaster, both critically and at the box office. It sort of became shorthand for "Highly regarded director makes absolute piece of crap film and spends millions doing so." I've never seen it, I imagine it would be like having a movie all about Jar Jar.
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
8/8/07 2:31pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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This is a bit off-topic, but has anyone seen the movie Willow? I have a couple times and I really liked it, but I think I was too young (or not yet born; I don't know the release date) when it came out. Anyway, for those of you who remember, was it a flop or a not-flop? Just curious since it's Lucas.
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dp4m
Registered:
Nov '01
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Date Posted:
8/8/07 2:42pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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NYCitygurl posted:
This is a bit off-topic, but has anyone seen the movie Willow? I have a couple times and I really liked it, but I think I was too young (or not yet born; I don't know the release date) when it came out. Anyway, for those of you who remember, was it a flop or a not-flop? Just curious since it's Lucas.
It was a relative-flop, but not in the same vein as HtD.
Basically, it attempted to amalgamate the heroic journeys / fantasy and Biblical narratives into one fantasy film. *I* loved it (and still do) but other disagreed...
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Eeth-my-Koth
Registered:
May '01
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Date Posted:
8/8/07 2:56pm
Subject:
RE: The 50 Biggest Hollywood Disasters -- #30: Howard the Duck
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I have always loved Howard the Duck.
Must have seen it countless times.
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