Howard the Duck

Year: 1986 (USA)
Genre: Sci-Fi Comedy
Directed: Willard Huyck
Stars: Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones, Tim Robbins, Ed Gale, Chip Zien, Tim Rose, Steve Sleap, Peter Baird, Mary Wells, Lisa Sturz
Production: Lucasfilm


The first five minutes of Howard the Duck (1986) has Howard (played by a multitude of little people) and his recliner being beamed into space by some unknown force. Confused and screaming, Howard lands in (of all places) Cleveland, Ohio where Beverly (Lea Thompson) takes pity on him and takes him home. As the plot wears on we discover Howard’s trip was the result of a laser beam experiment perpetrated by scientist Walter Jenning (Jeffrey Jones) and his assistant Phil (Tim Robbins). Can Howard find his way home or will he be captured on earth for slicing, dicing and sautéing.


It’s not that Howard the Duck is a bad film. Sure it’s on the level of Waterworld (1995) and John Carter (2012) for being a big, huge miscalculation on the part of the studio. And sure the story of an alien anthropomorphic duck causing trouble on Earth seems like something a twelve year old would come up with after learning to draw in the lines. The acting is terrible, the dialogue very much phoned-in and the special effects…well you got me there.

Character originally cut from Xanadu

Yes Howard the Duck despite all its faults is a tremendous spectacular mess with some pretty impressive set pieces. In fact Howard the Duck should probably be in a film industry museum, studied by wannabe special-effects gurus. One scene involving a roadside diner is basically a crash course in effects work involving stunts, miniatures, photo animation, prosthetics, animatronics, air cannons, squibs and light computer effects. After the diner scene there are two more massive and impressive set pieces, one involving an Ultralight and another involving a gigantic monster done with clay and stop-motion. With a bloated budget of $37 million dollars it’s easy to see where that money went.

Originally children were cast which really made the romantic
scenes hella awkward

If only more money went into making the character of Howard look more real. The fault was not entirely on the creators who I’m convinced did what they could but if Peter Jackson can make Meet the Feebles (1989) a no-budget Muppet parody that same decade and make the characters much more believable, I’m sure George Lucas and director Willard Huyck could have come up with something better than “let’s stick a bunch of little people in a stuffy duck suit.”

Actors’ career’s like Lea Thompson and Howard’s voice Chip Zien never really recovered from Howard the Duck. Likely because Thompson’s new found niche for characters falling in love with odd things (Her son in Back to the Future (1985) than this?) is a bit too narrowly tailored. Willard Huyck’s career also took a tailspin which started on a high note with screenwriting credits for American Graffiti (1973) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). Somewhat ironically Ed Gale, one of the seven little people stuffed in the aforementioned duck suit has said that he gets more fan mail from his performance in Howard the Duck than any of his other movies which includes Spaceballs (1987), Child’s Play (1988) and O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000). Then there was the relatively green UCLA graduate who later made waves. I’m talking of course about Tim Robbins who went on to win an Oscar for Mystic River (2003). As for Jeffrey Jones; the less we say about him in this review the better.

The unbelievably clunky execution of the duck in conjunction with a bad script and horrid acting deservedly puts the film in bad movie territory. Yet deliberately and knowingly making a movie of this caliber naively thinking it’s going to be a big hit does not a “worst movie” make. It’s almost like the film was done on a dare. I can imagine the back story to how this foul picture got made is similar to The Producers (1968). Let’s go all out and make a profit out of the worst idea that could be found. Was it callowness; gumption; hubris? Who cares we got a train wreck of a movie out of it which for many including yours truly, isn't altogether the worst thing.

Just very close to it.

Final Grade: F