I can't remember the exact year or age that I first witnessed Howard the Duck, but I'm assuming it must have been around 1990 or there about, considering I could remember most of the film while dealing with the nightmares that plagued me until early adulthood. But yeah, I watched it for the first time when I was say around 6/7 and I was BLOWN AWAY! I was like, "Whoa, this is f**king" well, not the 'F' part, but I was in awe, it gripped me from beginning to end on this crazy roller-coaster of a journey that I had no idea where it was going to go and I was about to witness some of the most, I guess, trauma-inducing nightmares I would ever experience...
So, back to the film. Thinking about it, it's a weird one. I mean Howard the Duck was the FIRST theatrically released Marvel movie, you know, what? Howard? The talking duck? It's quite insane to think about, especially when it was originally intended to be an animated film. But here it is, Howard the live-action film.
Howard the Duck was released in theatres on August 1, 1986 and the film hit HARD. I'm not sure if it was a result of word-of-mouth, early reviews or if people just simply didn't care for Howard when Marvel had the likes of Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Captain America, to name just a few in their extensive catalogue of characters, but Howard, in the end would make a worldwide total of $37,962,774, just about $1 million above the production budget. It was what many would call a box-office bomb.
But for me, as an impressionable 6/7 year old, I loved it just as much as I do some nearly 30 years since I first watched it. You know, I'm not going to go into much of the plot, you know it, you've seen it and I'm sure many of you are trying to forget.
But Howard the Duck had a story that was, for me, engaging, full of suspense, wacky comedy and elements of horror. It had everything you could want in a film to be entertained. Howard is a likable character, okay, he does come across as a little arrogant and a bit of a jerk-off, but, c'mon, this dude was just getting into his latest edition of Playduck, when he's suddenly violently propelled in his armchair throughout outer space to land on Earth in freakin' Cleveland, Ohio? The hell? I'd be a bit of a jerk-off, too.
But Howard soon meets the lovely Beverly Switzler played by Lea Thompson and they hit it off, maybe a little too far in some peoples eyes, but as a young 6/7 year old, they were just having some fun. Now, Thompson was BRILLIANT in this. She made Howard seem, well, real if you get me. She really helped make Howard become a likable character and she was just so fun to watch, and what a freakin' babe, right? Critics would criticize the acting, but I had no problems, even now after re-watching it, they played the characters well and it's just fun.
Howard the Duck had an INCREDIBLE cast, what with he previously mentioned Lea Thompson, but also Tim Robbins as Phil Blumburtt who played a scientist... Well, actually a janitor, and it was such a fun, quirky role especially when Blumburtt and Howard were in the little airplane, which included some truly awful puns, but that just adds to the charm of the film.
And, of course, probably one of the greatest antagonists who is always overlooked is Dr. Walter Jenning's (Jeffrey Jones), who becomes possessed by one the Dark Overlords of the Universe after his laser spectroscope malfunctions while trying to reverse the same process in which they initially, unintentionally, brought Howard down in the first place, and this is where the nightmares came for me.
Possessed Dr. Walter Jenning's is truly terrifying. And this, I believe was granted a PG-13 (PG) rating certificate when it was initially released, and upon re-releases of the film it has now been bumped up to a 12 certificate in the UK. But, yeah, back to Jenning's. His entire demeanor completely changes, he goes from this, loving, innocent scientist into something more close to a Cenobite out of freakin' Hellraiser or something, and that's not all. His physical appearance progressively changes throughout, in what begins to look like the aftermath of someone who has been exposed to a high level of radiation, in which he later does when he needs "More power."
He face begins to turn read, sweat builds, his eyes begin to change, his flesh resembles almost the effect of a burns victim and then he's able to project these insane powers. Levitating objects, causing fires, projecting laser beams and then that goddamn truck. This is perhaps the catalyst to some of those dreams; Jenning's tongue becomes this snake-like mutation which proceeds to extends, just touching Beverly as it turns until it locates the cigarette lighter in the cab of the truck to extract some power. Truly hideous, but oh so awesome. You know it's good when you can have a lifetime of nightmares after.
And this comes to the outstanding practical effects. Many will argue that Howard has too many human features, but honestly, I've never had a problem with his appearance. Yes it differs from the original comics, but as for a live-action film adaptation, it looked awesome, and how Ed Gale was able to see through just a tiny hole through the bill of the duck and still be able to give Howard life, with the help of multiple actors is astounding. I'd still, to this day choose a physical, warts and all animatronic over a CGI rendition.
And just when you think the special effects were done, in comes the amazing climax of the Dark Overlord, courtesy of Phil Tippett, who utilized stop-motion effects ranging from clay models all the way up to more intricate and sophisticated pieces. I think the stop-motion effects were rightly praised during its initial release, whereas the film was nominated for worst visual effects, and still I can't understand why, I think they still look great to this very day.
Howard the Duck is certainly not for everyone and I can see why those you adored the original comics may have a bad taste in their mouths when watching this one, but Howard the Duck is a highly fun film and I still think it is wrongly labeled as "One of the worst films." Worst should be when everyone involved just doesn't care, but you can tell in Howard that they truly tried to make a fun film, perhaps it's just a victim of being in the right place at the wrong time.
But I'm happy to see that there has been a cult following and I see more and more realizing that Howard really isn't that bad, and it deserves a better response. If you don't own Howard the Duck, check out 101 Films' dual-format release which features a ton of new features such as new commentaries and it's fully uncut, some recent re-releases have cut come of the scenes such as the truck-cab scene, so this, I believe is the definitive Howard release and you can grab your copy from Amazon.
So, am I truly wrong in thinking that Howard the Duck isn't as bad as many would lead you to believe or am I absolutely quackers?
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