Howard the Duck (1986) Universal/Sci-Fi-Comedy RT: 111 minutes Rated PG (language, violence, sexual humor, brief duck nudity, scary moments involving an ugly alien monster) Director: Willard Huyck Screenplay: Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz Music: John Barry Cinematography: Richard H. Cline Release date: August 1, 1986 (US) Cast: Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones, Tim Robbins, Ed Gale, Chip Zien, Paul Guilfoyle, Liz Sagal, Dominique Davalos, Holly Robinson Peete, Richard Edson, Miles Chapin, David Paymer, William Hall. Box Office: $16.2 million (US)/$37.9 million (World)
Rating: ****
Howard the Duck laid an egg during its brief theatrical run. Critics and audiences alike roasted it. It nested in theaters for about two weeks before flying the coop for a winter video release. I still managed to see it three times at the movies. Yes, I like this movie, I really like it!
Based on the cult comic book from Marvel, Howard the Duck was an unlikely choice for a major motion picture, but obviously somebody with great power in Hollywood thought it was a good idea. That would be executive producer George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars universe. HA! He probably has the clout to push through an adaptation of the Wyoming telephone directory. You’d think somebody as clever as Lucas would hire a big-name director to helm a big-budget production with a lot riding on it. NOPE! He got Willard Huyck whose last movie was the costly 1984 flop Best Defense (with “Strategic Guest Star” Eddie Murphy). Howard the Duck certainly didn’t help his career. Quite the opposite, it ended it.
Every time I think about Howard the Duck, it puts a big goofy smile on my face. It’s just so ridiculous. It starts off by showing us how Howard T. Duck comes to be stranded on a strange planet called Earth. While relaxing in his apartment on the Duck Planet one fine evening, a laser beam hits Howard and drags him through space to a grungy Cleveland nightclub where he meets struggling rock musician Beverly (Thompson, Back to the Future). She invites the talking duck to move in with her until he figures out his next move. Luckily, she has a scientific friend Phil (Robbins, Bull Durham) who claims he can help Howard. Never mind that “Philsy” (as Howard calls him) is actually a janitor at a science museum…. and a complete bozo.
Following some friction and a near-encounter with interspecies sex, Howard and Beverly meet a legit scientist named Dr. Jenning (Jones, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) with an explanation of the giant laser that brought the sarcastic duck to our planet. He thinks it can be used to send Howard back home to his world. Unfortunately, it malfunctions and causes one of the “Dark Overlords of the Universe” to take over Jenning’s body. Now it wants to bring the other Dark Overlords to help him take over and rule our world. It’s up to Howard to play the hero. LOL! Well, you know what they say about every duck having his day.
Yep, Howard the Duck is silly as fork. The plot becomes increasingly dopey as it goes along. It’s filled with corny jokes and stupid one-liners about ducks. Here are a few sample lines from Howard himself:
“I’m a dead duck!”
“No one laughs at a master of Quack Fu!”
“That’s it, no more Mr. Nice Duck.”
“If God intended us to fly, he wouldn’t have taken away our wings.”
There are a few other gems like:
Beverly: “I bet you were born from a very hard-boiled egg, Duckie.”
Flighty diner waitress: “You know, hostility is like a psychic boomerang.”
And this exchange….
Lt. Welker (Guilfoyle, Beverly Hills Cop II): How the hell am I gonna explain a manhunt for a duck?”
Officer Hanson (Hall, Leonard Part 6): “It’s a duck hunt.”
I know these jokes are groaners, but it’s all part of the grand appeal of Howard the Duck. Let me ask you this, what place does intelligence have in a movie about a three-foot tall talking duck from another planet, one with a healthy sex drive I might add? This movie is inherently stupid. It’s also quite brilliant in its stupidity.
Aesthetically, its high noise level and flashy special effects would make Michael Bay green with envy. The main difference is that Huyck can tell a coherent story. The duck world created by the writers and production design team is nifty and not too far off from our own. Howard’s apartment is adorned with posters for movies bearing titles like “Splashdance”, “Breeders of the Lost Stork” and “My Little Chickadee” starring Mae Nest and W.C. Fowl. He looks at the centerfold of the latest issue of Playduck. I wish the movie had spent a little more time there. The alien creature at the end is one of the ugliest creations in filmdom. Howard the Duck might be PG, but it’s far from suitable for young children. Besides the off-color humor and sexual suggestiveness, that monster will give them nightmares all through elementary school.
The actors do what they can with the goofball material. Before I get to the human cast, let’s talk about the lead duck. Howard is accomplished through duck suits, puppetry and animatronics. The actor inside the suit is diminutive actor Ed Gale (future stunt double for Chucky in the original Child’s Play) while Chip Zien (Love, Sidney) lends his voice. Howard the Duck made me believe a duck can walk, talk and make wise quacks (sorry, couldn’t resist). Thompson is sufficiently perky and cute as sweet Beverly, the lead singer of struggling girl band Cherry Bomb (a reference to The Runaways perhaps?). Based on his daffy performance here, it’s hard to believe Robbins would become a respected actor with credits like The Player, The Shawshank Redemption and Mystic River to his name. As for Jones, he fares well in evil scientist form.
In the years since its release, I’ve watched Howard the Duck many times. I wore out my videotaped copy from HBO years ago. It’s hardly the best movie ever made; I never claimed otherwise. It’s one of those flicks I like to watch when I want to laugh at something really stupid. I wish more comedies weren’t afraid to wear their stupidity as proudly as Howard the Duck. It’s really not the stinker its reputation suggests. It’s a great bad movie actually. It’s a lot more fun that today’s big-budget craptaculars. I’ll take it over the likes of The Last Airbender, Batman v Superman and any given Transformers sequel any day of the week and three times on Sunday.
