Xanadu
Tags: cult, flashback

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with a large mural of the Nine Muses of Olympia coming to life, with the women emerging from the painting and flying into the sky. One of them returns to Earth.
Sonny Malone is a talented artist who dreams of fame beyond his job, which is the non-creative task of painting larger versions of album covers for record-store window advertisements. As the film opens, Sonny is broke and on the verge of giving up his dream. Having quit his day job to try to make a living as a freelance artist, but having failed to make any money at it, Sonny returns to his old job at AirFlo Records. After some humorous run-ins with his imperious boss and nemesis, Simpson, he resumes painting record covers.
At work, Sonny is told to paint an album cover for a group called The Nine Sisters. The cover features a beautiful woman in front of an art deco auditorium (the Pan-Pacific Auditorium). Earlier that day, this same woman had collided with him, kissed him, then roller-skated away. Now, Malone becomes obsessed with finding her. He finds her at the same auditorium, now abandoned. She identifies herself as Kira, but she will not tell him anything else about herself. Unbeknownst to Sonny, Kira is one of the Muses that emerged from the mural.
Walking near the beach, Sonny befriends Daniel "Danny" McGuire, a has-been big band orchestra leader turned construction mogul. Danny lost his muse in the 1940s (who is seen in a flashback scene to bear a startling resemblance to Kira), and Sonny has not yet found his muse. Kira encourages the two men to form a partnership and open a nightclub at the old auditorium from the album cover. She falls in love with Sonny, and this presents a problem because she is actually an Olympian Muse ("Kira's" real name is Terpsichore, the Muse of Dance). The other eight women from the beginning of the film are her sisters and fellow goddesses, the Muses, and the mural is actually a portal of sorts and their point of entry to Earth.
The Muses visit Earth often to help inspire others to pursue their dreams and desires, but in Kira's case, she has violated the rules by which Muses are supposed to conduct themselves, as she was only supposed to inspire Sonny but has ended up falling in love with him as well. Her parents, presumably the Greek gods Zeus and Mnemosyne, recall her to the timeless realm of the Olympian gods. Sonny follows her through the mural and professes his love for her. A short debate between Sonny and Zeus occurs, with Mnemosyne interceding on behalf of Kira and Sonny. Kira herself then enters the discussion, saying the emotions she has toward Sonny are new to her; if only they could have one more night together, Sonny's dream of success for the nightclub Xanadu could come true. Zeus ultimately sends Sonny back to Earth. After Kira expresses her feelings for Sonny, Zeus and Mnemosyne decide to let Kira go to him for a "moment, or maybe forever." They cannot keep these straight because mortal time confuses them, and the audience is left to wonder what her fate is to be.
In the finale, Kira and the Muses perform for a packed house at Xanadu's grand opening, and after the final song, Kira and the Muses all return to the realm of the gods in spectacular fashion. With their departure, Sonny is understandably depressed. But that quickly changes when Danny asks for a drink for Sonny from one of the waitresses -- a waitress who looks exactly like Kira. Sonny approaches this seeming double and says he would just like to talk to her. The film ends with the two of them talking, in silhouette, as the credits begin to roll.

Review: XANADU is one of the most critically and commercially panned films in Hollywood history, a 'Nouveau Art' musical with Art Deco themes, a weirdly conceived animated interlude, and performances of such widely varying caliber that a viewer might wonder if the actors were all reading from the same script!
But all that being said, I would like to offer a minority opinion, and say that I didn't find the film THAT terrible, and there are some aspects of it I actually enjoyed...First and foremost, it offers the legendary Gene Kelly, in his last musical, as charming and wonderful as ever.
As retired musician/businessman Danny McGuire, Kelly has the film's best moments, including a 'classic' song-and-dance scene with Olivia Newton-John and some silly but endearing 'post-disco' routines with the talented young dancers of the cast (including future CONAN star Sandahl Bergman).
Kelly could do it all, and with style!The premise of the film, of a Muse coming from Olympus to inspire an artist, is far-fetched, but had been done on film several times in the past (ONE TOUCH OF VENUS, with Ava Gardner and Robert Walker, and DOWN TO EARTH, with Rita Hayworth, are the examples most often cited), and while Olivia Newton-John is oddly cast in the role, she tackles it gamely, with a smile and a wink, and isn't THAT bad.
An actor with limited range and no singing or dancing talent, Beck lacks the charisma to pull off the role (one wonders why British pop star Cliff Richard, who voices Beck's animated duet with Newton-John, 'Suddenly', wasn't utilized to play the part).While the film often veers off in bizarre directions, the 'Battle of the Bands' scene between popular 80s rockers, the Tubes, and a 'Tommy Dorsey/WWII'-style orchestra (as Beck and Kelly envision what the 'look' and 'sound' of their club, XANADU, should be), actually works, and is fun to watch.
The entire score, by Barry De Vorzon and John Farrar, and Jeff Lynne (with ELO) is terrific (and made the soundtrack album a hit).Sure, the ending is hokey, but it was also the same ending of ONE TOUCH OF VENUS and DOWN TO EARTH, so XANADU can't be totally faulted!All in all, XANADU isn't the WORST film ever made, and if you give it a chance, you might find it a guilty pleasure!.
Out of all the movies that I loved from my childhood, none of them entranced me more as Xanadu starring Olivia Newton-John.
It's movies like this that bring back great memories and take you back to a time when innocence wasn't such a bad thing.
Yeah, bad acting abounded and the plot line may have had its issues if you're going to critique it but I'll bet you caught yourself tapping your feet along to the music more than once.I saw this movie when I was about 8.
Xanadu consists of two parts, each of which can be divided into two parts depending on how successful each scene making up those two parts are.The first part is all dialogue, in which Michael Beck, Gene Kelly, Olivia Newton-John, or combinations thereof, spend a lot of screen time talking about the importance of following one's dreams.
According to Olivia Newton-John, the film was literally being written as it was shot, and nowhere does this show more than in the final musical sequences of the aforementioned rollerdisco scene.
Then in 1972, she was in a movie with Cliff Richard where she sang her latest record ("Banks of the Ohio") and a duet with Cliff.Flash forward 8 years and history is repeated with "Xanadu," only this time Olivia is the star and Cliff joins her for a song ("Suddenly").Filming started on "Xanadu" with no script.
All that existed was an 18-page treatment (plot summary) and an overarching theme: The Big Band Era meets the 80s Rock Era.Because everyone hired to work on the film was given this overall theme to work with, they all went off to their respective departments and started working: Set designers began designing sets, location scouts went out looking for shooting sites, costume designers started their work...and while all this was going on, development of the script was largely ignored.The music was written and recorded long before what can be called the "final script" was written.
Allan Carr, the more vocal of the "Grease" producers, said of Olivia's refusal, "She's a pretty face, but she ain't no Streisand." The film Allan Carr wanted Olivia Newton-John to star in was called "Disco Heaven," which was later retitled as "Can't Stop the Music." Instead, the lead role went to Valerie Perrine ("Superman: The Movie").
Her costars...none other than The Village People."Can't Stop the Music," although not without a charm of its own, is arguably THE worst musical motion picture of all time.Another strong contender for worst musical motion picture of all time would have to be Olivia's other film, "Toomorrow." The movie was produced by the same folks who played a role in creating "The Monkees." Because "The Monkees" was such a money-making concept in the US, producers felt they could repeat the success in England.
Instead, people dance in place and, I must admit, it is amusing to see Newton-John gyrate like Goldie Hawn did on "Laugh-In." Don Kirshner, the man credited for having invented The Monkees, The Archies, and Toomorrow, still holds the rights to the 1970 movie.
Today, however, she embraces it, having recently hosted a successful and fun midnight showing of the movie.Many people feel the saving grace of "Xanadu" is its music.
Vic Kemper (who recently passed away) is the man behind the cinematography and special effects for both "Xanadu" and "Toomorrow." "Xanadu" effectively put a huge black mark on Newton-John's credibility as a big screen actress ("Two of a Kind" put to rest any doubt on the matter), but I am glad that Olivia is still alive to see "Xanadu" and "Toomorrow" finally get the acknowledgment and recognition the films deserve, even if their worth as works of art is found only in their nostalgic value.For a musical that had its songs written before the script, the film came together nicely in the final analysis.
He made a telephone appearance during a "This Is Your Life" program honoring Newton-John a few years back and his snide comments made Newton-John squirm in her seat.Gene Kelly never mentioned regret for having participated in the film, although he did say something was terribly wrong with the way modern movies are made.
Gene Kelly and Olivia-Newton John were really good in this movie.
Michael Beck would have had a movie career, and we would have been spared from watching "Oh-I'm-so-cute-but-so-poor-at-moving-my-legs-around" Olivia in a second film (or maybe not).That said, I'm particularly ashamed to admit that I actually like "Xanadu".
The music is the main reason - years before I had seen this film or even heard of it, I had heard "Magic" in the radio, and managed to get a two-minute snippet of it on tape, thinking it was an Abba song I hadn't heard before (no, I'm not an Abba fan - they have a few good songs, but I hate their albums).
;) The movie contains: people following their dreams, roller skating (and roller dancing), love, the beauty of the California coast, talented artists (painters, musicians, actors, singers, dancers, etc.), a wide variety of cultural experiences, a sound track that is the ultimate in great music, energetic dancing in many different forms, vivid colors, interesting special effects, good-looking people, an upbeat and positive message, and a general appreciation for all forms of art.
Unfortunately, later on, Kelly goes through a series of color-challenged pimp outfits in the silly costume number set to ELO's toe-tapping "All Over the World".But Kelly is not the only victim here as silly moments abound - a hilariously overdone 1945-meets-1980 musical fantasy extravaganza, "Dancin'", featuring 80's rock band, the Tubes, and outlandish, Solid Gold-type choreography; and there are a couple of gooey pas de deux numbers between Newton-John and Beck - one amid rising palm trees and other props set to "Suddenly" and the other set to ELO's "Don't Walk Away" with the pair wackily transformed into fish and lovebirds in a Don Bluth cartoon sequence.
The most spectacularly inane moments are saved for last - the tacky final production number with a split-screen Kelly skating and Newton-John singing the title tune as she goes through a gamut of irrelevant musical genres and variety revue costumes.The pacing of this movie feels very off and the editing choppy, as the 93-minute movie alternately skitters and drags along coming to a dead halt with Newton-John's overlong number in Tron-like heaven on "Suspended in Time".
I'm just glad that for the past 30 years I was able to keep cynicism out of my life and watch it again (by chance) with pretty much the same eyes and spirit I did back in the day when I was only 11.Like many here I saw Xanadu when it was released, which happened in 1981 here where I live.
I loved this movie, An Artist struggling, A contractor needing a new dream, and a muse to bring them together to create magic.Acting,Not the best!
Olivia Newton John is awesome and electrifying, Gene Kelly still shows us what made him so wonderful in all his movies.If your looking for a real gem then take a chance on this movie.
XANADU is more of a series of incongruous elements and ideas the director and producers thought up (most likely while on drugs) and were haphazardly stitched together with no idea of what constitutes good storytelling in a musical format.The whole "film" is totally wonky.Case in point: the fact that Olivia Newton John rarely sings on screen, even though this is a musical and we hear songs sung by Olivia and yet Olivia is probably seen performing her songs just a couple of times on screen.Imagine hiring Julie Andrews for a musical, for something like THE SOUND OF MUSIC, and have her sing most of the songs but never show her perform her songs on screen.XANADU starts with the muses appearing from the painting, all dancing and smiling to "I'm Alive", sung by...ELO?!?!
This annoying "technique" or "style" (don't know what to call it) is repeated a couple of times during the "film", including the whole "All over the world" moment: we watch Olivia grinning and silent while ELO sings.Then there's the whole 1940s - glam rock melding scene, when we actually hear Olivia's voice on the soundtrack during the 1940s scenes but then, whoa, Olivia is nowhere to be seen.
Huh?But the stupidest aspect of this "musical" is that Magic, the best song of the whole disastrous project, doesn't even figure prominently in the film.I could go on and on about how bad this "film" is (bad fx, annoying transitions, ultra kitschy fashions, even for that time, etc) but I think I've made my point of how truly embarrassing the whole thingamajig is by having a popular singer like ONJ in a musical and rarely have her sing on screen.
3. Olivig Newton John, Gene Kelly & Michael Beck do a great job of showing a beautiful appreciation, collaboration (for lack of better words) of mixing the energy of the big band 40's era with the high energy rock bands of the early 80's.
4. Great music from Olivia Newton John & ELOOverall: A great family movie, especially for people of mixed generations who love romance and fantasy.
Especially with things as bad as they are in the world, a romantic fantasy about making dreams come true coupled with Olivia Newton John's singing and both her and Gene Kelly's dancing are exactly what the doctor ordered in these troubled times.
Aside from all that, the story works, it is easy to follow the plot, the animation was good for the era, The cast was great thanks to Olivia Newton John and Gene Kelly.
The acting is marginal  (forgive me Gene Kelly), the dialogue is trite, and the plot, well...Olivia Newton-John is sent to help Michael Beck realize his dreams by becoming his muse.
I'm constantly having to defend it - we all realize that roller-skating muses who inspire artists on Earth isn't Oscar-worthy material, but it's hysterical and fun to watch!The soundtrack featuring Olivia N-J and E.L.O. is great and I never get tired of watching the movie or listening to the cd - both of which I own.I've read that a Xanadu play was produced in California and it was a big hit - hope it hits Toronto, because I'll be first in line!Glad to have discovered this website and other appreciative fans!!!.
One of them, played by Olivia Newton-John, returns to "inspire" down-on-his-luck artist Michael Beck to realize his dream of opening a roller disco and they naturally fall in love.
Given Gene Kelly was in the film,maybe they expected great dance numbers too.The plot overall really is not "that" bad.
This movie gave dear Miss Olivia Newton-John a lot of publicity and a big start in acting.
I loved seeing the film for exactly this reason and can also recommend ROLLER BOOGIE and THE APPLE as two other contemporary musical movies that are just as abysmally bad--so bad they are good!.
But instead what we get out of it is XANADU, a really bad script (blame Richard Christian Danus and Marc Reid Rubel for this one, folks) that somehow got Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly attached to it.
I can even believe that they thought Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly would make a great dance team, that Greek muses would come to Earth (on roller skates, no less) to fall in love with commercial artists and old timers and help them make their dream of opening a roller rink come true.
No wonder it ended the careers of Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, Gene Kelly, and ELO.
If the music styles can't merge for the choreographer, then why attempt it?Speaking of zombies, whenever Michael Beck and Olivia Newton-John dance on roller skates, they do little more than circle each other slowly.
And if we have a few seconds left over, we could discuss the only good points -- the big band dancing and Olivia Newton-John's legs.Or better yet, let's discuss good musicals like Singin' In The Rain, West Side Story, or Pennies From Heaven.Jason Hones, you are right on!
Neither Olivia Newton John's beauty and singing, nor Gene Kelly's dancing could save it.It's a musical/fantasy, and weak at each.
Even without the memory of how the scene played out in the movie (Gene Kelly and the artist had their opinions of how Xanadu should be, and slowly their ideas merged.) I guess that answers the question of what you get when you mix Big Band with Glam: you get a 70's Roller Disco.The one song that SHOULD work, but DOESN'T is the duet between Newton-John and Kelly in "Whenever You're Away From Me".
Even as a kid I was wondering about that one) but the wonderful scenes such as the one where the Muses come to life make it worth it.The combining 40's and 80's music sequence was great as well.I've seen this movie get panned over the years and it's considered a failure.The way I see it, this movie took some chances and came up short in places but that didn't deserve condemnation.But maybe I'm too forgiving, because whenever I look at Xanadu, I look at it through 12 year old eyes.
Or even simply for albums by Ms Newton-John & ELO, which will have the very best music from the movie.
I was somewhat interested, I am a fan of Gene Kelly and I have liked Olivia Newton-John since Grease.
Kelly was 68 years old in Xanadu and not only was he pathetic to watch during his dance numbers (just like everyone else was), but his screen-charisma, in my opinion, registered at a complete "zero".Besides that, I thought that the trite and snivelling on-screen romance that transpired between the 2 lead characters (played by Olivia Newton-John & Michael Beck) sucked to the 10th power, and beyond.I can't believe how utterly dismal Xanadu's visual effects were.
Inspired by Ms. Newton-John, Beck and Mr. Kelly open the roller-disco "Xanadu"...This poorly presented film reached a new low in wasted resources.
There are moments (seconds, really) when the picture gets some life pumping, but in none of those scenes does Michael Beck appear (as an artist desperately in need of inspiration, he's a gaping hole in the screen); Olivia Newton-John is very pretty but lethargic as his mythical muse (on roller-skates!); Gene Kelly is doing the same thing he did 40 years ago, telegraphing us he's being "cute", winking slyly as if to say it's all a put on.
Grease was the last of the great musicals of that era, not to mention the tangible chemistry between her and John Travolta, which for many of Olivia's fans' certainly has never been bettered since and is nigh-on impossible to live up to.The Xanadu script was not really up to scratch; the male lead had the charisma of the plank of wood - I'm sure Michael Beck is a nice enough bloke but I get p*ss*d off every time he's on screen; and there is virtually no chemistry between the 2 young leads.It wasn't really a good acting day for Olivia either, although to be fair she doesn't actually have to do much, other than sing and dance, look lovely and rollerskate.
Gene Kelly is a pro -- even in a bad movie he's able to showcase his talents, and a dance duet between him and Newton-John is a highlight.
I understand why this film has a terrible reputation and it's not like I really disagree with the general consensus regarding its quality, but even bad movies can have good qualities, and "Xanadu" is rather fun if watched in the right mood.